Post by Fox on Jan 22, 2024 3:58:01 GMT 11
Weather: Chinook
Time: Mid-afternoon in January before Haru gets his starter
Haru walked around and stretched, yawning as he tapped his legs against the floor of the boat to wake them up.
He'd had a long flight from Unova to Alola to Johto the previous day. Even after resting in a cheap youth hostel in Olivine City for a night, he still felt an ache in his muscles and a dull headache.
I need to drink more water, he thought before feeling flustered again. He sheepishly lowered his paperboy cap over his face as he felt a flush of embarrassment. Since this was his first time dressing as a boy for so long, he felt anxiety about visiting the loo. Was his guise good enough to use the male toilet, or would he be chased away to the ladies' room?
Besides that, his parents should have noticed he had left by now. Haru wasn't sure how long his brother could stall them. They discussed telling their parents about a post-graduation trip where Haru wouldn't have a phone, but they didn't know how long this deception would work. Haru was indeed on a post-graduation trip of sorts, but he purposely left his phone shut down and hidden at home.
Although Haru's elder brother was reliable, their parents began treating him differently after he was diagnosed with his mental illness. It was like they had no hope for him anymore, and Haruna became their "favorite" child. In other words, "she" got the most attention by having her live controlled to the point of every minute of the day being scheduled to their preferences. If she hadn't studied the importance of complete and quality sleep every night and spoke to them in detail with a convincing argument about its value, she would've barely had six to seven hours of sleep scheduled per night. Considering that teenagers needed a minimum of eight to ten hours per night of sleep in order to develop their brains properly, consolidate their memories, and stimulate creativity, this was atrocious.
I can probably use the toilet at Professor Elm's lab, he thought. Since the professor had many visitors and surely some assistants as well, there were likely to be adequate waste facilities present.
With a sigh, he sat back down on the bench inside the boat before continuing to to write in a cheap journal.
The page showed a list of pokemon, and Haru wrote the rationale for having each one on his team next to them. After some hesitation, he crossed out misdreavus.
Too naughty and tends to cause trouble, which would interfere with an investigation. Instead, he kept shuppet on the list. Since shuppet fed off of negative emotions, which were ample at crime scenes, it was a far more suitable as a ghost-type companion...
Half an hour later, the shipman announced their arrival and docked at the port. Haru quickly packed up his tumbler, notebook, and other items. He carefully maneuvered them into his satchel, which, surprisingly, held a decent amount of fruit he'd bought in Olivine.
Given the cold weather and recent holidays, the population was sparse both on the ship and outside.
Cold bit into Haru's nose and ears, making him tighten his scarf around his face. He pulled his gloves back on, feeling grateful to have at least brought those to hide his feminine-looking hands. Unfortunately, his warm jacket was not enough to keep out the chilly air.
I need to buy a winter coat once I reach Cherrygrove City, he noted.
His brand-name shoes crunched into the thin layer of snow frosting the ground.
The city "boy" in his teens with a dark blue ensemble of brand-name clothes, a pair of blue-framed glasses, dyed blue hair, a suitcase, and a satchel could only feel out of place in this small, quiet country town.
