IC Inbox: Empatheias

[young_oldman]

[Your birds might get a little plump on bird seeds. Just saying.]

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[young_oldman]

[ --are you trying to blow up his head IS THIS KARMA FOR THE DRAGON rest in peace Lu Meng.

Anyway, Red's caught him in the rare moment when he's actually not doing anything for a change; it's been a busy day at the Welcome Centre, and sleep and rest are going to be crucial since the newcomers are likely to be pouring in soon. Lu Meng had just been sitting down to read the news when his head makes like a watermelon and goes squish Red's message reaches him.]

Ask away, Red. I'm not doing anything in particular at the moment.

[gottacatch]

[ can't believe lu meng is effin' dead. ]

Alright. Well...I was wondering if you know anything about hand to hand combat. Uh- [ ...this is weird for him. ] I've been thinking about trying to learn it!

[young_oldman]

[Wut. Peace-loving Pokekid asking about hand to hand combat? Red can't see it, but Lu Meng's eyebrows are knit with confusion right now.]

I have some proficiency in unarmed combat. Is there a reason for this sudden interest in the martial arts?

[gottacatch]

...When Silver and me were trying to learn how to use dunamis, the reason I wanted to learn it other than to control the energy when I got upset was so that I could protect my pokémon with it, and use it to make them stronger in battle.

...except, I've found it hard figuring how to do it. [ A pause. ] But then, I realised I don't know how it feels to defend. I've softened blows for my pokémon before, but my role in a battle is different from theirs. I'm not always on the receiving end of attacks like they are.

[ He directed, they attacked. They both took part, but in different ways. ]

So I had the idea recently that the only way I was going to learn how to use my dunamis like that was if I knew how it felt. How I feel when I'm in that position. ...And martial arts seemed like the best place to try.

[ It made sense to him. ...or had he thought about it a little too much? ]

[young_oldman]

...wait. How exactly do you soften blows for your Pokemon?

[Red you are a scrawny twig with noodle arms and legs, how can you do any protecting.]

[gottacatch]

Oh! I've caught them when they've been thrown my way. ...I don't do it a lot, but my feet move on instinct sometimes.

[ yep. ]

[young_oldman]

[OK, if it's Jolteon it doesn't seem too bad, and, and Gengar is...well she's a ghost so hopefully she goes through him instead of slams into him, but--]

...does that include Charizard.

[Please don't say yes please don't say yes please don't say yes please don't say yes ]

[gottacatch]

Huh? Yeah. [ why not- okay he knows why not ] ...Although, a pokémon threw him at me once into the water, so I didn't have a choice that time.

[ There's a flicker of imagery to accompany that, the sight of an orange winged back entirely filling one's view in a flash--no need to guess what that's about. ]

I earned a few bruises after that day and making Charizard land on top of me, but we caught the pokémon we went there for, so it was a worthwhile experience!

[ yes he does sound proud ]