Strangers Waiting [Social | Open]

[David]

Benny flicked another pebble across the pond, looking out across the water toward Kanto, thinking over how things had gone thus far. Here he was again, back in New Bark, having barely traveled down Route 29 before turning back to come get the Pokedex. And there had already been so many strong emotions, as Benny was prone to feel, that he had to stop and process for a moment. The sadness of running into Kent and his sickness, the worry about facing Professor Elm and that the man might think he came back to report a failure, to the excitement of being told by the Professor that he showed promise and that he wanted Benny to be a field assistant, to this finally sense of... burden he felt on his shoulders. He was already worried about facing all the gyms and now he had to try to catch and see all the Pokémon there were in Johto.

Benny had stopped by the pond to let his Pokémon rest outside of their balls for a moment, Bulby and Kitty resting a few feet from him, Quackers playing in the pond, and Hope sitting quietly by his side... but had this all just be to delay the the inevitable. To not get going back on his journey again. Benny let out a sigh, tossing another pebble to skip, before he felt the little hairs of Hope's rub closer against his legs. It pulled him out of his stupor and he turned to look down at her with a smile. "Hey, hey," Benny cooed softly, leaning down and pulling Hope up into his arms, seeing a look of concern from him on her face, "Everything's okay, I swear." A warm, loving smile spread across his face, wanting her to feel better and not worry about him. He got the feeling she had to look up at her previous owner to worry over him a lot, and Benny didn't want that for Hope with him. "I made a promise to Kent, and I'm going to keep that promise. We're going to get moving here in a bit, for real, so you can see the world."

He set the little bug Pokemon down by his side again before grabbing one more pebble. He flicked his wrist and it went skipping further than the others had so far. And as it reached its last jump, suddenly a explosion came out of the water. "Wow," Benny said breathlessly as a Magikarp jumped several feet into the air where the little stone had just sank from, before it fell back into the water with a loud splash. Benny blinked a couple of times in wonder. Was this some kind of sign? A sign to keep going to see incredible things like that. He had barely anytime to consider it when he suddenly heard a commotion close in the water to his right where Quackers was.

Benny turned his gaze just in time to see the Quaxly flapping its wings in excitement. He turned his eyes toward where she was looking and saw that someone was approaching, and he knew full well why Quackers was excited. "No wait-!" he started to call out to the water Pokemon, waking up both Kitty and Bulby in the process. But it was too late. She had already been inhaling before he shouted, and, with what looked like an impish grin, was shooting a stream of water from her beak at the person playfully. Benny turned to the approaching stranger, waving his hands in warning and yelled, "Watch out!" hoping it was enough to save the poor soul from being drenched by the water gun attack.

[OOC: Open to anyone!]

[SpinnerNite]

Timeline: Set after the beginning post of A Little Pokedex Quest, but 1 hour before Restart Through New Bark

---

Cole sighed in relief. When he got his starter, he never expected how handful his new Charmander was. He had to recall him back in his Poke Ball for a while to cool down. Yet, he didn't have the heart to leave town without him by his side. So for now, he was looking around while learning how to use his new Pokedex Professor Elm entrusted him as part of his part-time job as an assistant researcher. Maybe he would try sitting on the bench and checking his new map to decide on his first destination.

At least that was the plan until a certain duck Pokemon sprayed water on his face. Cole coughed out the water while an older man rushed to him and warned him about his duck Pokemon too later. "I didn't expect that kind of greeting... Ack! Ack!" After coughing, he took a few deep breaths to recover. But when he looked down to take a closer look at his unexpected "attacker", he gasped in shock. "Whoa... Is that a Quaxly?"

[David]

Of course, this was going to be his life, wasn't it? Benny, the trainer whose Pokémon attacked unsuspecting teens. he winced as he watched the kid's face splashed with water. He wasn't sure what kind of reaction that was going to illicit so he immediately decided it was best to put Hope away safely, returning her to her ball. He then made his way over to the young trainer as quickly as possible. Thankfully, the kid got that the water gun was her greeting him. "Yeah, she has a interesting way of saying hello," Benny replied with a nervous half smile, "I'm so sorry about that. I wish I had a towel." He was probably going to need to start carrying one if this was how she was going to be.

Yet Benny hadn't quite expected the excitement over Quackers after having just been attacked by the water Pokemon. "Y-Yeah!" Benny stammered, rubbing the back of his head with a sheepish grin, "My sister just sent her over from Paldea since she knew I was starting my... journey through Johto." He didn't want to say his second time journeying, since that might bring up questions he didn't want to answer. Instead, he turned to look over at the Quaxly and motioned for her. "Come on, come say hel--" Benny had started to request, only to have a mouthful of water as the duck Pokemon shot him with her water gun as well, "ACK! Gargargle gurgle!"

Now it was Benny's turn coughing up a bunch of water. He took a moment to catch his breath and wiped his face, before shooting a disappointed glare at the Quaxly. She had already gotten out of the water and was headed over, flapping her wings happily with a quacking laugh, which was echoed by the Bulbasaur and Purrloin behind Benny. She stepped up next to her trainer and gave a wave of her little right wing to the boy. A real greeting this time. "Thank you," he murmured, shaking his head a little to brush off the annoyed feelings, before turning a smile at the kid, "This is Quackers and I'm Benny."

[SpinnerNite]

Cole sheepishly chuckled as he rummaged through his messenger bag. "Don't worry, I have mine with me." He took out a blue face towel and wiped the water off from his face. After that, he stared at the duck Pokemon while hearing Benny's explanation about it. Of course, he had to wait until his Quaxly finished its Water Gun. Feeling a bit awkward after seeing it chuckle from his trainer's predicament, he offered his towel and said, "Here you go."

After that, he stretched out his arms and looked not only at the Quaxly but also at Bulbasaur. "Nice to meet you, Benny. I'm Colby Tsukiyuro, but you can call me "Cole". I just recently got my starter Pokemon. Although I don't know if I let you guys meet him right now considering his fiery attitude and your Quaxly's...greeting," he introduced himself. "As for your Quaxly, I'm surprised to see her in Johto. I was an exchange student in Uva Academy and I traveled around Paldea as part of the school's independent project."

[David]

Seriously, Benny needed to be as prepared as the other trainers around him. Note to self, he thought, pick up a towel when I get home to Cherrygrove. It seemed especially important now that he was getting his own water gun to the face by Quackers. If this is how his journey was going to start out, it wasn't looking good. At least someone around here was kind as he was offered the other trainer's towel. "Thanks," he said quietly, taking the towel and wiping his face before handing it back over. He listened politely to Cole's introduction, nodding his head along.

"It's nice to meet you as well," Benny chimed with a smile back on his face, before turning his head at the mention of Cole's starter with a fiery attitude, "You know, probably best I put her away and any other troublemaker anyways." He forked a thumb over at Quackers and then at Kitty the Purrloin as well. The dark type Pokémon was actually already making his way toward Cole as they spoke so it was good that Benny zapped him and Quackers up immediately to their respective Pokeballs. It just left out Bulby, which was the only one Benny could be sure wouldn't cause an issue. The Bulbasaur did end up right behind his legs, its eyes trained on Cole as if studying him.

Satisfied, Benny listened to the remainder of what Cole had to say and his eyes grew wide with excitement. "Really?!" he chimed, eyes twinkling with delight hearing the kid went around Paldea, "That's so cool! I've heard a lot of neat things about it. Don't you guys have those like glitterballs or something?" His energy getting the better of him, Benny held out Quackers Pokeball as if it was one of those tera orbs glitter balls. "And you like throw it and it glitterfies the Pokémon or something? Sounds really pretty to look at and super neat!" he continued, pretending to throw the Pokeball in his hand, but thankfully did not. He did add a sound effect like an explosion but in his head it was a like a glitter bomb. "Why would you come out here to Johto?" he tacked on at the end, turning his head to look at Cole curiously. Benny had been in Johto his whole life and never heard of anything quite as spectacular as a glitter ball.

[SpinnerNite]

Cole sheepishly chuckled upon seeing Benny agreeing to his statement. He and Kagetch were new to the world as a Pokemon trainer in the Johto region and first partner Pokemon respectively, so he had a lot to learn when it came to disciplinary treatment. He learned it the hard way with his Fuecoco in his first days of the Treasure Hunt. "Probably a good idea. I do plan to keep him out when we head off to the next city or town. But for now, he's currently on cooldown."

Suddenly, Benny's twinkling eyes widened and suddenly asked questions about his time in Paldea. He was so surprised to see how excited he was with a mere mention of his past adventures that he almost faint if it wasn't for him taking a deep breath before answering them. "If you mean the Tera Balls and the Terestal phenomenon, I agree they're neat. But it doesn't just make them "glitter-fy" them. They temporarily change the Pokemon's typing into their Tera Types. At least with my current knowledge about them." He then scratched the back of his head. "I would love to show how the Terestal phenomenon works, but I left my Tera Orb along with my Pokemon back at Unova."

When the question regarding Cole came to Johto, he was prepared this time to answer it. "To make a fresh start, of course. Well, my Dad suggested Johto once I had done my schoolwork at Unova. He said the gym leaders in the Johto League might be the perfect trainers to battle along with police work here. I'm hoping to gain not only new friends here but to gain some experience along the way."

[David]

Benny nodded along with Cole's plans for his Charmander, yet again chiding his own ideas to just let all his Pokémon run around wild. Yes, it was good to give them some fresh air, but then the situation he had just faced with Quackers happened. At least Bulby wasn't one who caused a huge ruckus problem. But at least the next piece of conversation pulled him out of his self defeat. The mention of another region of the world that Benny had never been to always seemed to spark this sort of reaction out of him. Heck, even some of the far off cities and towns from Cherrygrove could even provoke him into excitement. But somewhere like Paldea? His curiosity and need to hear more was at an all time high.

"Tera balls and Terastal Phenomenon," Benny repeated back, almost tasting the words on his tongue given how much he loved saying such spectacular things, "So is a Tera Type the same as their regular type? Like would Bulbasaur become some kind of grass poison tera type?" His curiosity kicked into high gear now and he had even more questions than that. But he didn't want to overwhelm the poor kid with an avalanche of inquisition. Benny also tried his best not to show how disappointed he was to hear that Cole didn't have a Tera Orb with him. He didn't want to dampen the mood. "That makes sense," he said with a smile of encouragement, resolving to agree, "You wouldn't want to lose something so precious."

Benny could understand the fresh start for sure but he was surprised that Cole's father had suggested Johto. Sometimes Benny wished he could be anywhere but here, though he never really mentioned that to anyone. If only he could get over his anxiety of failure. To fail somewhere he had never even been before would be terrifying. It was bad enough to fail here. He could at least agree with one part Cole's father had to say about Johto. "Yeah, they can be pretty tough," Benny admitted, though he quickly snapped his lips tight. He still id not want to bring up the fact that he had faced the very first gym leader, Falkner, many years ago and had failed any attempts to get past the flying type expert.

It was probably best to change the subject and a part of what Cole said stuck out to him. "Police work?" Benny asked, tilting his head quizzically, "Were you looking for experience in police work? There's definitely the IPF here in Johto, do you know about them?"

[SpinnerNite]

"You can say that. However, a Pokemon can only have one Tera Type and there's a rare chance they will have one that is not their natural type. For example, a Normal-type Lillipup can have a Water Tera Type, and a Grass/Poison-type Bulbasaur you mentioned can have a Fire or Psychic Tera Type." And that's all he could tell Benny before he would get stuck here explaining more about Paldea and the Terastal Phenomenon. "I did leave my orb because it might be too advantageous and there's nowhere for me to charge it outside Paldea. But you're right about one thing. My Tera Orb is my precious treasure from my Uva Academy days and my heart will break if I lose it."

Then, Benny asked about the "IDF" in Johto and Cole hummed in thought. "Well, Dad did say their work revolved not just in Johto, so you're half-correct. But I thought you must be about 18 and up to join the IDF. Plus, I must still focus on the Johto League before becoming a police." It wasn't the only reason. If he wanted to, he would have asked his father about it. But he'll get there when he might have a chance.

[David]

Benny nodded along enthusiastically to everything that Cole was saying. It was kind of comically, someone so young being the teacher to someone almost ten years older. But Benny always loved to learn and believed that anyone could teach you something new. Still, he acknowledged internally that Cole was far more worldly than he ever had been at the age of thirteen. He had sunk himself deep into the comfort of staying in Cherrygrove and never leaving to see anything else. He had even waited until he was sixteen to take his first chance on a journey through Johto. Cole was far braver than he ever was.

"Oh wow, so they also grow way more powerful?" Benny asked when Cole mentioned using the Tera Orb would be too much of advantage, a small part of him now wishing he had his own Tera Orb. Maybe that would get him through the first gym at least. "Yeah, best to have it somewhere safe," Benny agreed, hearing about it being Cole's precious treasure and wondering at how it sounded like that was something more specific than he understood. Benny didn't really have anything that he'd call his precious treasure. Before, he might have said being at home with parents, but now he was leaving all that behind to head out into Johto... Maybe it was something he'd have to consider.

"Oh yes that's true. I think I've heard about the IPF being in other places," Benny nodded with a smile, "Makes sense since they're International in their name." He laughed softly at that, listening to Cole mention the age limit. Benny furrowed his brow thinking if he had heard anything about that but he really didn't know much else about the police force. "That makes sense," he stated, tilting his head thought, "Though it would be cool if they had some kind of program that teens could join. Some kind of youth program or something. Give people who wanted to one day join them a bit of advance training." Still, it was surprising for him to hear someone Cole's age already knowing what they wanted to do. But most people did leave on their journey around Cole's age so it was probably not as uncommon for others, just Benny. "Is that what you want to eventually though, join the police? I have no idea what I want to do honestly. So far, just getting through the gyms has been my plan," he mentioned, pausing for a moment to think, "Yeah I don't even know what I'm going to do after that."

[SpinnerNite]

Cole nodded. While it wasn't like Mega Evolution from Kalos or Dynamax from Galar, it would power up any attack that matches their Tera Type. Besides, he felt it wouldn't be fun if he relied too much on his Tera Orb all of the time. And like he said, it was his precious treasure and he mentally hoped his parents would take care of it while he was gone.

Back to the subject at hand, Cole wondered if such a program existed in IPF. If it was, then he might gained some experience before he could sign up as a real police officer. Then again, it was just a theory. A police theory. "Yeah. As much as I want to become a champion, I simply want to become the best battler. I doubt I can get too far with the current Pokemon Champion," he explained. "Once I'm old enough, I'll sign up as an officer and work my way up so I can protect other people like my Dad. He sacrificed himself a few times for me. He even got an honorable discharge after saving me from a hostage incident. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be here right now. So I'm planning to give back and become the police officer who can give their lives for the people. At least... That's what I wish for once I join the police force."

[David]

Champion. A position Benny never even thought he'd ever see. The idea of being the strongest trainer in the Johto region sounded daunting and out of reach. "Yeah, I feel the same way about that," Benny agreed, nodding his head along with Cole's statement, "I can't even imagine the idea of doing something like that. Being that strong at battling." He rubbed the bridge of his nose in thought, a bit of his self-consciousness taking hold again. If he wasn't trying to become as the champion then what was he really in this whole thing for with the gym challenges?

Lost to this thoughts, Benny almost missed what Cole said next. It wasn't until the boy mentioned that his dad had sacrificed himself a few times for Cole, including a hostage situation, that Benny really took in what was being said "Arceus!" he blurted, eyes widening in surprise, "That sounds amazing..." He stammered for a moment, thinking how uncouth that sounded, before quickly interjecting, "...Not amazing for you to be in a hostage situation but amazing that your dad would do those things. The hostage part sounds terrifying. I'm happy you're doing okay now?" The last part was said as a question, and Benny's eyes looked Cole up and down as if he would spot some wound or something from the situation Cole had been in. Obviously, it sounded like it had been a while ago that this occurred to younger trainer but Benny couldn't help himself but to worry.

"You're really brave," he finally said with a nod, thinking about how someone so young had been through so much and still wanted to do something as dangerous as being a cop, "I don't know if I could ever do something like that. I mean, not that I wouldn't want to help people but I just don't think I could face danger like that." He paused for a moment, looking back over the water, before tacking on, "Not that I've ever been in anything dangerous so I suppose I wouldn't know." He turned back to look at Cole. "I do think about being a coordinator maybe, but that's certainly less danger. More fancy costumes and performance," he said, giving off a soft laugh at himself and his goals that could appear frivolous to someone who faced as much as Cole had in his short years. Still, he kind of wanted to change the conversation to something a little less scary, "Have you ever seen a contest before?"

[SpinnerNite]

Cole sheepishly chuckled in response. In truth, defeating the Indigo League's champion might be tempting to him to take the challenge. But realistically, he would take a lot of commitment to not only achieve that feat but to keep that title for a long time. So he rather focus only on the Pokemon Gyms than sacrifice his true dream to obtain a title that would signify him as one of the greatest trainers in the world.

When it came to his past, he briefly grew silent. He was glad Benny quickly realized how traumatizing his hostage memories were, but it still stung him since it was that very incident that caused his father to sacrifice his future as a police officer. When he told him he was brave, Cole's smile returned. "Yeah. I'm scared of the dangers that lie if I follow my father's shoes. But that's the reason I have to do it. If no one is there to take a risk, then what's the point of becoming someone who is supposed to protect everyone? Whether it's minor or grave, I'm willing to jump in to save what I can."

After that, the topic of Pokemon Contests came up, which gave Cole some thought. "I watched some, but I had no interest in them. I'm not a battle maniac, but I'm no contest kid. No offense."