newberktown | Sixteenth Flight. [audio/action for travel party.]

Current Location: Blackthorn City.

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Sixteenth Flight. [audio/action for travel party.]

[Among the background bustle--familiar sounds for anyone who's set foot in a Pokemon Center--there's a small whine from an Eevee, almost like a prompt for Hiccup to speak. After another second or so, he does.]

Uh... Has anyone ever, uhmm. [There's another pause. How should he put this...] Lost...half their pokemon? [He clears his throat before continuing, quicker this time like an excuse.] I still have all their pokeballs, and those are registered to all of them still, according to the people at the Center. But I can't find them anywhere...

[Hiccup sighs, and there's a subtle clunk as he moves his hand to the 'gear to shut it off. Before he does, though, there's one last mumble.]

I can't believe this is happening again...

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[What?! Did he really just hear that right? He can't believe it!]

You've got to be a real idiot to be able to lose half your Pokemon.

[You certainly did, Hikaru.]

It's not like I meant to, you know. I always let them stay in my room when I go out. They've never done this before...

Perhaps they're plotting against you!

[It's a bit before he replies, trying to go through a mental checklist of which ones were and weren't missing.]

Some, maybe. But I can't imagine some of the ones that aren't here doing that.

[He gasps as he thinks of something!]

The ones you can't imagine plotting against you... Are they the quieter ones? The quiet ones are always the one to plot your revenge. I would know!

...What kind of pokemon are you around? [Maybe another time, he might have been able to see some sort of...humor in this bizarre interaction, but not this day.] Sometimes being quiet just means they're quiet.

Or does it?

[Hmphs!]

Let's just say I have personal experience in this sort of thing thanks to my sneaky brother.

Your brother may be sneaky, but that doesn't mean my pokemon have to be, you know.

And that still doesn't mean your Pokemon aren't, you know. You just never quite know!

I'd know more about them than you would. I don't think they'd go off just for some stupid trap or joke.

[He raises a brow at that, not that Hiccup could see. But he huffs.]

What makes you think they won't?

Because they're-- they're my pokemon.

[He's a bit incredulous, but if Hikaru is paying attention, he'll notice a bit of doubt. After all, he'd been confident that his dragon wouldn't ditch him, and look where that had gotten him.]

Yeah, well, I may not know much, but if they can walk and talk, then they're also free to do as they please.

[He sighs boredly.]

They're a pain in the ass to deal with sometimes, but that's just how it is.

I'm not saying that they can't do what they want. I just don't think they would do that.

[Aaaand now he's secretly thinking it's Hikaru's pokemon that should have left, not his, with the other boy talking like that.]

You don't really sound like this is your thing.

[Snobby sigh.]

It isn't exactly. I just like all the cute ones. Raising them and traveling is far too much work!

How are you supposed to get to know them at all, if you don't put effort in?

Who said I wasn't getting to know them? That's the fun part! All the other stuff, like traveling and catching more, as well as being patient with leveling up, are the tough parts. I like my party, even if some of our personalities clash sometimes.

Being patient with them and learning how to battle with them is part of getting to know them. You can learn a lot about someone even just from how they fight or train.

[Not that...he trains all of his pokemon, actually.]

I just... Not everything is easy when it comes to friendship. Even if you think you know everything about somebody, you can always learn more.

[He would have never expected Toothless to take off, after all.]

You must think I'm some kind of idiot, but I'm not.

[He's just a tiny bit insulted.]

Don't misunderstand me. While it's not my thing, that doesn't mean I'm not putting in the work. I don't want to, but I have to if I wanna get anywhere in this place.

[...He'll refrain from commenting on that. Hiccup might get more snarky the worse mood he was in, but he also wasn't a complete idiot.]

...Good. As long as you realize that.

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