leaveyourstarburning | 004. Text/Action for Goldenrod City

[It's been a month full of crises, it seems; Zulf has been aware of the attacks, of the assaults on civilians and gyms and the Centers, and out of all of that, it's the last one that angers him most. And then there were the mutations, the illnesses, things that couldn't be fought with words or actions, leaving him feeling rather useless, all things considered.

And then had come proof that whomever had said that bad things happened in threes hadn't been wrong; the third crisis was of a far more personal nature. Zulf supposed it was selfish to allow the personal issue to cut him far more deeply than the attacks against Johto as a whole; however, he found that it was something that he couldn't help.

He allowed himself to be useless for a short while afterwards, to give himself time to recover, to not be rash; following that period, he had returned to Goldenrod City and found work immediately, among all the people that were still alive and not burnt to ashes where they stood - how long would it be before Zia could see something like this again? - and the buildings that seemed a bit too tall to be real. It was what he did when he didn't know what else to do - he threw himself into his work, whatever that may happen to be in his current location.

Today, though, he's distanced himself from all that a bit, sitting in one of the open squares near the northern side of town, close to Route 35; the park is small but nice, and he's sitting on one of the benches occupying the edge of it, in rather plain sight. There are several Pokemon playing in the grass; some are his, some aren't, but they all seem to be getting along rather well; he glances up once in a while to see what they're doing, but for the most part he seems rather content with what he's looking at, and he's rather comfortable diverting his attention back to the 'Gear, on which he's been tapping out a message to send to the network. He shifts a bit once in a while, allowing his leg to brush up against the large bag at his feet as though checking to make sure it's still there, but it's not an anxious motion, though the text itself seems to be taking a while to set up.]

For those that knew her, Zia is no longer in Johto. May she feel Mother's love and protection in our home world. She liked creatures of all sorts and enjoyed taking care of them; now that she isn't here anymore, I would like to try to do so in her stead.

My name is Zulf; the Pokemon Centers are still down, but I have good numbers of Revives and Hyper Potions. I was not affected by the mutations, but I do not fear you if you were. Should you want to avoid the public healing center in town for that reason or any other and can't afford your own healing supplies, I can be found in Goldenrod City, near the route leaving town to the north. I'm told that I dress strangely/am hard to miss, and I always have at least a Scolipede out in the area with me (her name is Hanako, she is friendly and will not try to eat you). I'll try to be there in the evenings for as long as I'm needed.

[And with that out of the way, he'll be returning to...whatever he's been doing on that bench; it appears to be playing with a few rather large skeins of string, braiding them together in what appear to be bracelets of some sort while he waits.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Ryoji has a hard time dealing with loss - with his own, certainly, but it's even harder to think of how to deal with other's - and he takes his time with his words.]

A little. I taught her how to make simple faces using the PokéGear, and she seemed really happy about it. She was pretty worried about you.

...I saw the post; it wasn't quite as filtered as she thought it was. I didn't intend to make her worry like that; she's very kind, though, from what I know of her.

We came from the same world, though when I think about it, we didn't know each other very well. The circumstances weren't terribly good, though. That sort of thing tends to make people bond quickly.

I see. And you won't be able to learn more about her since she's gone.

[...That's kind of depressing.]

You shouldn't let yourself be down for too long though. I'm sure she wouldn't be happy about it.

Edited 2012-08-01 00:39 (UTC)

No, I agree with you. I'm not going to do anything that would cause her to worry, if she were still here.

Where are you located now? Have you been well since we last spoke?

Good. In Goldenrod, actually! Not too long after we talked, I met up with a group of cute girls who said they were idols and we travelled here together. We went out and got bikes too! I got sick though, with whatever was around last week, and it gave me a cold after the weird powers went away, but I'm better now! How've you been?

I'm in Goldenrod as well, actually - I just arrived a few days ago. I wasn't affected by the illness, but it seems like it did a lot of strange things to people.

It's good to know that you're all right, though; there's been a lot of...weird happening lately. Lots of attacks, too; I'm just trying to help where I can for now.

I wanted to help out too with my Pokémon, especially since my Absol's gotten a lot better around people, but I thought I'd just get in the way. I don't have a lot of money either, so I can't do like you're doing, with supplying people with healing items.

I understand. I guess I'm just used to getting out there and doing things; it's something I did back home, my work required it. But when I was first getting started, it was difficult for me, too; I always felt like I would always get in the way or wouldn't be able to do anything. Though in my case, it was because I wasn't the sort of person that was supposed to amount to much, I think.

It gets easier after a while, though. I had someone help me through it, but it takes practice, definitely.

I'm sorry if it seems a little intruding, but why would you say you weren't the sort of person who wasn't supposed to amount to much? You seem very capable to me, Zulf-san.

[Zulf pauses for a moment, thinking over the answer he'll give to that; he doesn't talk about himself very much, and the last person he had told anything to had been...well, not a very good person, to put it extremely lightly.

He supposes there's nothing wrong with the abridged version, however; sensitive details don't need to be given. This isn't like it was after the Calamity, where it only seemed natural to share everything with the only ones left; he can choose what to tell people here. It's nice, in a way; sort of stifling in another.]

I wasn't a good person when I was younger. I was often angry and difficult to handle; I don't remember being violent, but I know I was very hostile. I also stole a lot - sometimes from businesses and private individuals, but mostly from those doing charitable work because it was easier to avoid consequences; they were less likely to punish me if I was caught, or so I reasoned at the time.

I see. It sounds like you've had a hard life... You seem like a good person at heart, so I don't think you would've done it unless you had to. Please forgive me if I've assumed wrong though.

[...He was sort of like that, if he thought back ten years ago. But he can't say it was really him, either.]

004. Text/Action for Goldenrod City

[text]

[text]

[text]

[text]

[text]

[text]

[text]

[text]

[text]

[text]

[text]