IC CONTACT

[blueser]

"Hello... Whatever... Don't worry about me. I'm doing peachy over here! I was just looking for something to do! Wanna battle me again?"

[telepathy | Pidgeot-mail]

Comments

[blueser]

How lame Hoenn is

Nothin's changing my mind yet!

[broceanic]

It's fine, I get people from Kanto don't know quality when they see it. Considering what they live with...

I almost feel sorry for you.

[blueser]

Just out with it, y'coward, what are we living with? Huh? Faster trains, better Gyms?

[broceanic]

Slower trains, worse gyms. No good original media has come out of Kanto. Your mountain paths leave much to be desired.

Hoenn is far superior. Have you ever hiked up an active volcano? Of course you haven't.

[blueser]

[blueser]

Didn't hear about Cinnabar, huh?

Doesn't get much more active than that...

[broceanic]

No. What?

[that mental tone goes from joking to ICE COLD SHOCK.]

[blueser]

[He doesn't really mean for it to happen this way, but Archie receives the mental image of a scene Blue knows all too well- the red and gray ashes of Cinnabar's volcanic ruins set against the calm blue waves and sky. It had become his most ubiquitous getaway spot, these days.]

Oh.

Whatever... It's nothing.

[broceanic]

That's not nothing.

[there's an underlying fear to the firmness that he says it. did they manage to evacuate...?]

Are you alright, Blue?

[blueser]

Huh? Why wouldn't I be? I don't live there...

[You know, apart from that he regularly sits in the ruined ashes of civilization (instead of doing his job at his Gym)]

Anyway, the town evacuated ahead of time... If that's what you're worried about.

[broceanic]

That doesn't mean knowing it happened so close to home doesn't make you scared or feel crappy.

[the fact that blue even visited it to send a clear image...]

I was, slightly. Thanks. Good to know no-one was hurt.

[blueser]

[A long and struggled silence]



Why would I be scared...? Oh, forget it. They only counted the people and their Pokémon, anyway. Why's this old fart being so nosy...? Like he cares. Not to mention old man Blaine lost everything...


...
Yeah, whatever. I'm fine.

[broceanic]

Blaine... poor man. The League would help him rebuild, wouldn't they? He's still a Gym Leader?

I won't press. I'm sorry you had to go through that.

[blueser]

He heard that!?

[blueser]

W-Whatever. He resettled in Seafoam for... the time being...

Stop apologizing to me. I told you, it doesn't have anything to do with me.

[broceanic]

If you were affected by it, it does. Or am I just projecting that onto him...? He's so young and had to see such destruction, just like May.

[his own mental tangent causes a pang of pain that's felt over the connection.]

I'm not saying it to be sorry personally. Despite what you think of me after what I did - and I don't blame you for any of it, you're right - I still do actually care about other people going through something terrible like that. I'd feel the same for anyone from Kanto.

Just like Hoenn. I still owe so much to that region... I don't want to be here.

[blueser]

Ahhh, stop that! I don't want your baggage!!

[Blue shouts over the crystal as hard as he can, clenching in an attempt to force the stupid crystal to stop oversharing. He doesn't really mean it to Archie, but... well, he's collateral to the sentiment.]

I don't wanna talk about this crap! You don't even know anything about me, so don't apologize to me about something you feel bad about!

[The crystal's connection is suddenly severed with a harsh, forced sensation, as Blue finally manages to force it shut.]

[broceanic]

I didn't mean to... send that...

[archie says a little impotently, looking down at the crystal in his hand. his nose wrinkles, annoyed at what he's just accidentally put blue through. he clenches his fist, then throws the amulet out his window.

...


shit. he needs that.]