- ⇀Ａｘｅｌ Ｎｅｕｖｉｌｅ!!
xxxmale • eighteen years old • ho-oh hero • location: global terminal, jubilife city • tagged: ardyn
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- It wasn't like Axel to be taken by surprise all too often, but upon feeling a hand on his face, he couldn't help jumping. It was too late to avoid startling him, though from the sound of the voice, that had been the intent. Calming himself, a sheepish expression crossed the teen's face. Unlike him however, Kotaro seemed less than amused. Puffing out its cheeks at the newcomer, the dewott's eyes narrowed and a few sharp squeaks escaped its throat as he wiggled his way out of the boy's arms. Blinking in surprise Axel averted his gaze down to his companion. While he was aware Kotaro was protective over him, he had never seen him act out in such a manner. Clearly he was taking it too far. "Kotaro, I'm okay. It's fine, I promise," he coaxed, hoping his soft voice would be enough to put the pokemon at ease. Luckily for him, it was. Seeing the dewott calm down, the teen smiled before moving his eyes towards the man that had approached him. "Sorry about that." Again the sheepish expression returned, this time accompanied by a rub of the back of his neck. To say the least, he was embarrassed, not only for his jumpiness, but his companions behavior as well. Who could blame him though? Everything around him was brand new and he was doing his best to take it in.
With his apology out of the way, Axel finally could answer the stranger properly. "I suppose it's no use hiding it, though compared to everyone else here it's pretty embarrassing," he said, a sigh of defeat following his words. Nobody around had even seemed the slightest bit nervous, or maybe they simply were better at hiding it than he was. It was entirely possible. Either way it didn't matter. His own emotion had been too evident and it had drawn attention to him. "I'm sorry if you were worried or something like that. I'm still trying to adjust to being chosen by a legendary and all that. None of this is familiar territory for me." Why was he saying so much? He wasn't even sure, but it wasn't as if he had anything to hide in the first place. These others were in the same boat as him after all, or at least that was what he assumed. It was possible that this man before him was nothing more than a trainer that was willing to aid the heroes. It wasn't as if he'd be able to tell the difference with a simple glance. All he could tell was that unlike him, Ardyn was calm and confident. If only he had such confidence himself, maybe then he wouldn't be so worried about his position or even be as scared of Ho-Oh as he was. That was something that would take longer to grow accustomed to than he wished to admit.
Before he could drift into his thoughts too far, Axel pulled himself back to reality. Now wasn't the time to let his mind run rampant and dwell on his slight fear of fire. He needed to focus on something else. Racking his mind for some kind of topic, the teen was left unaware of his blank stare, until he felt Kotaro tug at the end of his haori. Blinking a few times, an awkward chuckle escaped his lips as he ruffled his own hair. "Are you one of the chosen ones as well?" he finally blurted out, allowing the first question that came to his mind to be his conversation starter.
- ⇀Ｔａｋｕｍｉ Ｓｕｚｕｋｉ!!
xxxmale • twenty-three years old • sinnoh champion • location: route 218 • tagged: solace
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- A few moments passed and Takumi's sharp gaze stayed on the sky overhead. While it comforted him no more than staring at the water had, at least he didn't have to see his reflection. It had disgusted him enough already. Looking so tired only caused others to worry and that was the last thing he sought. Despite the frustration he current felt though, he was oddly at ease. The usual tension in his shoulders was seemingly gone and they slouched, hinting at some form of relaxation. Such was a rarity for the likes of him, but it was a welcome one. Eventually, his head even began to dip and with it his eyelids became heavy. For a brief moment, he nearly found himself falling into a light sleep, but that moment was quickly taken from him as the sound of a voice hit his ears. Immediately, his eyes opened and in that brief moment all tension seemed to return to his body. Sitting up in a more alert position, Takumi couldn't help but grumble softly to himself. Of course someone had to show up and ruin his relaxation. How stupid of him to ever think he could be alone, especially in the current times. Someone always was hounding him for one thing or another, and to him this was no different. The thought alone disgusted him. However, unlike most situations like this in the past, the voice speaking to him was one of unfamiliarity. Had his usual pursuers sent someone else to nag him instead? While the possibility was there, he wasn't sure how to feel. Besides, how they spoke, it seemed unlikely. Even so, he had no desire for idle conversation.
"Avoiding people," Takumi finally answered. His voice was cold and gave a clear hint he had little desire to engage in conversation. Meeting kindness with such hostility was nothing new for him though. Almost anyone in Sinnoh that was even slightly aware of him would be able to tell a stranger that their champion wasn't exactly the most people friendly. Then again, Takumi always stated he cared little for how others perceived him. Now was no different. How the stranger behind him perceived him would ultimately effect him very little going forth. He hadn't even looked at her and he was already assuming they wouldn't cross paths again. Sadly, that was how he viewed most people. It was the one way he could justify his own behavior, although most disagreed with his antics. "But if you have business here, I'll be going." Again, his words oozed with bitterness. If he hadn't made it clear before, it was certainly clear now that conversation was not an interest of his.
Scoffing to himself, the champion finally brought himself to his feet, although his back still faced Solace. Even if he had no desire of speaking directly with the woman, he also did not want her getting a good look at his face. Usually, such a thing wouldn't bother Takumi, but given his current state, the last thing he wished for was concern over his wellbeing. However, this did lead him to an unfortunate predicament. How was he supposed to get past her? He did have the option of taking to the sky with Pyra's help, but given how friendly the bird could be, he doubted escape via her would come too easily. His other option was to use Trident and make way for Canalave on the other side of the pond, however knowing how his Empoleon swam, he had no desire to find himself drenched by the time he arrived on the other side. That left him with no escape options. Cursing softly to himself, he prepared himself to briskly move past her, but before he could even make his move, he felt a ball at his hip begin to shake. No matter how quickly he could have reacted, it wouldn't have been fast enough to stop his Manectric from escaping his ball. Of all his pokemon, this was perhaps the worst case scenario.
"Bolt!" Takumi scolded, but it was to no avail. Much to his dismay, the canine already had made his way towards the stranger. A quick escape was no longer an option. The "betrayal" of his companion was enough to get him to finally turn as well and glare towards the electric-type. Despite how friendly he usually was towards his own pokemon, in the moment any evidence of such was gone and replaced purely with frustration instead.
