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May 31, 2023 21:25:23 GMT
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Post by Raven on Jan 21, 2018 19:13:46 GMT
Kalani bursts into a fit of giggles before hugging Clay tightly. "Awww, Clayyyyy! That's so nice of you to say!"
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Post by carnackiArdent on Jan 23, 2018 3:59:05 GMT
Clay blushes brightly, but he returns the hug. He tries not to squeeze too hard though. "I mean, it's true." He has a feeling this relationship is going to involve even more hugging than it has up to now, but then, he knew the job was dangerous when he took it.
... He should probably not have Fan out in the open for too many of these visits, though. Right now she's just snickering at him.
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Post by Raven on Jan 23, 2018 5:48:12 GMT
Kalani insists that Clay spend the night, since she expects she won't see him again for awhile. He's given his own room, with plenty of space for small-ish Pokemon to rest out of their Pokeballs comfortably without crowding. She is mildly disappointed when he insists on returning to the Guild, but doesn't press the issue. She knows he'll come back to visit again soon.
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Post by Raven on Mar 10, 2018 0:48:17 GMT
Clay happens to spot his acquaintance from earlier: Sam. Seems he managed to survive being kicked out. Sam spots Clay and wanders over to say hello.
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Post by carnackiArdent on Mar 11, 2018 6:18:18 GMT
"Hey, Sam. I see you made it. How've you been?" Sam, who is of course Clay's biggest reference for non-jerk parts of the Fire Branch. He kind of wishes they'd gotten to know each other better before Clay got kicked out, if only to have someone else to commiserate over Ashley with, since Rei never interacted with her much and he's pretty sure Tiki's grudge against Ashley is only slightly less vitriolic than Ashley's grudge against him.
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Post by Raven on Mar 11, 2018 6:50:58 GMT
"Oh, I've been alright. Let me tell you, Clay, you got off easy. Well, relatively speaking. If you thought the training here was tough before, hoo boy, you ain't seen nothing yet. Things only got harder after people got kicked out. Seems like a smaller group means tougher training. To use Lady Ashandra's words: 'You survived this long. You can survive this too.' I'm not even sure what the point of all this grueling training is, to be perfectly honest. Everyone's afraid to ask for fear of being mocked or kicked out. Not sure which is worse, actually. Public humiliation or being kicked out after making it this far? I won't quit though. Not after coming this far." He suddenly realizes he's ranting and shuts up. "Sorry, man. Didn't mean to dump on you like that. Overall I'm pretty good. Even caught myself a new fire-type partner."
To hopefully make up for his ranting to you about everything, he produces an Apricorn Ball and releases what looks like a puddle of freaking lava onto the ground. Of course, if it were actual lava, both of you would be on fire/dead right now.
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Post by carnackiArdent on Mar 11, 2018 6:59:17 GMT
Clay chuckles quietly. "It's okay, honestly. I can understand needing to dump on somebody; better than holding it all in. The instructor I usually work with over in Fighting Branch says it can mess you up pretty bad in the long run."
He takes a quick step back when what looks like a glob of liquid fire splats onto the floor, and looks up like he's expecting it to have dropped from Sam's new Pokémon before he looks back at it, sees the eyes, and realizes it is the new Pokémon. "Wow, where'd you find this one?" He comes back over cautiously when it becomes clear that the Pokémon isn't quite as burning hot as it looks. "Never seen a Pokémon like this before. Got a name for it yet?"
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Post by Raven on Mar 11, 2018 7:18:43 GMT
"The Tome calls it a 'Slugma'. I found it just milling about in a particularly hot cave near Mt. Moon. Not sure what it was doing there, to be honest. I think it somehow got lost, maybe? The Tome said that it mostly lives in and around volcanoes, and the only one of those I know of in Kanto is Cinnabar, waaayyyy to the South-West of here. I call him Bubba. He seems to like it."
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Post by carnackiArdent on Mar 11, 2018 7:45:16 GMT
"Huh. Yeah, that sounds pretty lost, I'm pretty sure Mt. Moon isn't a volcano." Clay is slightly hazy on what a volcano actually is, but still. "Well, nice to meet you, Bubba!"
He straightens up, rolling his shoulders. "Lemme see... not a lot new on the Fire-type front with me since I left. Haven't been looking for new ones as much, obviously. Red Child evolved, though, which is cool! First one of my Pokémon to get bigger than me, haha. Seriously, Arcanines are huge." He rubs the back of his neck, smiling sheepishly. "I keep meaning to go out and look for more Fighting-types, but Tiki got depressed, and then Rei got smushed, and then that chick with the hammer showed up. I keep getting beaten up by crazy girls."
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Post by Raven on Mar 11, 2018 8:14:17 GMT
Sam looks at you quizzically. "You just seem to attract all the weird folks, huh? I don't know how you stand it, honestly. I think I'd go mad with all the nonsense you seem to put up with on a weekly basis."
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Post by carnackiArdent on Mar 12, 2018 19:58:11 GMT
"Dude, I'm probably one of the weirdest people here. I'm just learning to fake it." Clay chuckles wryly and scratches the back of his neck. "You shoulda met me a year ago, I'd've looked a lot more like the hammer girl. Seriously, though, it's not that weird most of the time, it's just the weird stuff makes enough of a fuss that everybody else starts paying attention."
Sam, of course, doesn't know about the big weird thing, and Clay is still pretty sure the big weird thing isn't something they want spread around, so he's not gonna spill the beans about it, either.
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Post by Raven on Mar 12, 2018 20:45:15 GMT
Sam shrugs. "Huh, maybe so." He glances over Clay's shoulder. "Seems like they're ready for you or whatever, so I'll skedaddle. Maybe I'll see ya around, eh?"
Turning around, Clay spots both of the red-haired fiery femme fatales. Ashandra looks amused about something, while Ashley seems either angry or embarrassed about something. With her it's impossible to tell, as she seems to have a resting anger face.
"You wanted to talk to me, Monkey Boy?"
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Post by carnackiArdent on Mar 12, 2018 22:14:12 GMT
Clay sighs quietly. "Here we go. Yeah, see you around, Sam."
He turns to face Ashandra and Ashley. He can't tell if Ashley's angry, embarrassed, or angry about being embarrassed. On her face they all kind of blend together. He tries to smile anyway.
"Hey, Ashley. I was just thinking... we're even now, right? You payed me back for that first day." Frankly he thinks she did a little more than that - getting him kicked out of the branch probably trumps just making her cry - but he doesn't really want to keep the grudge going. "How'd you like to spar sometimes? Not a revenge type thing, I just know a strong opponent when I see one."
He hopes that doesn't sound too stupid, but he's not sure how one goes about suggesting a rivalry. Normally stuff like that evolves naturally but he's pretty sure he could quite easily never even see Ashley if they don't try on purpose.
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Post by Raven on Mar 12, 2018 22:47:54 GMT
"You a masochist or something? If we fight, I'll hurt you. I don't pull punches. Ever. But I guess if the rumors are true, you grew up among Pokemon, rather than people, so you're probably used to that, right? You sure you want that, Monkey Boy?"
If Clay doesn't understand the word "masochist" from the context, Ashley will explain it.
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Post by carnackiArdent on Mar 14, 2018 18:02:22 GMT
Ashley not pulling punches would be a lot less of a problem if it didn't involve her actively setting him on fire, but Clay decides it would be impolitic to bring that up just now. "Trying to warn me off? When did you start not jumping at the chance to beat me up? I'll just have to remember to go all out against you, too."
Now he grins at her. "I'm not gonna play nice this time. That always seems to be what gets me beat up, so I'll just have to stop doing it. "
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Post by Raven on Mar 14, 2018 18:14:25 GMT
Ashley scoffs at the idea. "Warn you off? No. Just trying to make sure you understand that if you get turned into a little pile of ash that your Monferno has to carry home, it's on you. Not me." She narrows her eyes at him. "I'm serious. If you die from challenging me, you'll only have yourself to blame."
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Post by carnackiArdent on Mar 16, 2018 21:45:12 GMT
"Wow, if you seriously think you're going to outright kill me... well, one, you must think I'm even weaker than I look, and two, you seriously need to blow off some steam." Clay twirls his staff. "I've gotten a lot stronger since last time. My team has, too. Got some new additions, too - you haven't met Baigu yet. She's a proper little warrior."
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Post by Raven on Mar 16, 2018 22:23:01 GMT
"Oh please. Conflag rolled right over you and at least half of your team if I recall correctly. He's only gotten tougher since. Not to mention I've unlocked more of my own power." Her fists flare up dramatically to accentuate her point. Ashandra lurks nearby, continuing to smirk. If Clay wasn't so focused on trash talking with Ashley, he might be worried about that smirk. Then again, she's always smirking like she knows something nobody else does. It's a bit disconcerting, and part of what makes her so terrifying to others. "Regardless, I don't think you're ready to face me again yet. Come back when you're stronger still and then I'll consider it."
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Post by carnackiArdent on Mar 18, 2018 18:43:07 GMT
Clay rolls his eyes. "Yeah, because you burned me and it hurt too much to focus. I'm totally still gonna let him get all powered up next time and not switch to someone who can put him out."
He shakes his head. "Honestly, if you don't wanna spar today just say so. The whole you are not ready thing doesn't work when you're the same age I am. But fine, I already owe somebody else a rematch anyway. Just try not to, y'know, start picking fights like she did if I'm not in when you come looking for me."
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Post by Raven on Mar 18, 2018 18:56:32 GMT
"Oh please. As if I have nothing better to do than await your return, O glorious one." This last part is said with as much sarcasm as she can muster. "Let me give you an idea of what you can expect then. Smoke? Blaze? Come on out."
The first Pokemon to emerge, Smoke, is nearly identical to the only one of Ashandra's Pokemon that you've seen: that bear/badger-like thing. Naturally, Ashley's is quite a bit smaller, but they're obviously the same species. Not too much of a shocker there, as Clay had already deduced that "Smoke" was likely the earlier form of Ashandra's signature Pokemon. If the two fire-slinging redheads are related, as Sam once implied, it only makes more sense.
The second Pokemon is entirely different. It is a bipedal Pokémon with a red body that has yellow flame designs on it. A row of red spikes runs down its back, and there are two lumps on its forehead with a flame on top of each one. It has a puckered, yellow beak and small eyes. Its thighs are yellow, and it has red feet with two, clawed toes each. Its arms are covered in rigid, red scales and it has red hands with five, clawed fingers. It has black, metal shackles on its neck and ankles. At the tips of its yellow tail is a flame. Really, the only similarity to that tiny thing from before is the "beak" and the black collar around its neck, which seems to be part of the Pokemon.
"Mamgar." It states, spewing fire into the air.
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