THE SWORD .

INDEPENDENT   BLOG   FOR   VICTOR   OF   POKEMON   SWSH .  written by pen.     ( they / them. 25. est. ) headcanon based. crossover, original character &&. duplicate friendly. please note this blog is MUTUALS ONLY. if i follow your sideblog, know i consider us mutuals.

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hiroshi blinks a few times with surprise. at first he wasn’t sure if he was even the one being addressed, with how often people let him pass by without so much as an acknowledgement. so to be offered food like this is… well it’s a nice change of pace.

“sure– i mean, that’s very kind of you, thank you.” he stumbles over his words with how much it took him off guard, but he wasn’t about to refuse free food. traveling around the way he does means unstable finance after all. as he settles down for a plate, he acknowledges victor’s intelleon with a smile.

“i take it you’re not a fan?” he attempts to make light conversation so that it didn’t make the exchange feel one-sided. god knows if it worked or not, but he’s amusing himself with his own quips.

“what’s in it anyway? it smells great.”

❝ don’t mention it. ❞ victor replied with an offhanded wave, rummaging through his camping gear for another plate. ❝ treat others how you wanna be treated and all that, huh? besides, i think it’s fun getting to know new PEOPLE on the road like this. ❞ it never failed to be interesting —— likely in no small part due to his upbringing in such an isolated town.      ( where he saw the same small HANDFUL of neighbors and little else. ) it was even better to run into people who didn’t recognize him —— there wasn’t any pressure to conform to the image of the perfect champion that way.

inteleon, meanwhile, seemed less than enthused. ❝ don’t mind him. ❞ victor said flippantly.      ( the water type huffing melodramatically in response to the question. ) ❝ lancelot’s going through this phase where he wants to seem too COOL for everything. deep down, he’s just a big softie. always used to cry at the drop of a hat, too. ❞

❝I certainly hope you’ve thought up a definition for your newest term, then? Bedeiest.❞

He scoffs out the word, falling silent for a moment or two.

❝… I propose a tournament to find out which of us is superior.❞

❝ m’not really a BEDE. ❞ that much was obvious. ❝ i don’t think it’s my place to come up with a definition. you’d know more about that than i would, right? ❞ a brief pause —— one in which lips curved in a distinctly IMPISH smirk.      ( as though stirring up mischief was his intention all along. )

❝Break it? I sure hope not… haven’t we already had our hands full stoppin’ that??❞

    A pause.

❝… D’ya wanna give it a try, then?❞

❝ far as i can yell, yeah. but that just means we’ve got more EXPERIENCE fixing it than anyone, doesn’t it —— ? ❞ double the experience, even.      ( at least between the two of them. ) the fate of reality couldn’t possibly be in better hands.

and for what? victor never WANTED to be the champion. there were so many other gym challengers with compelling reasons to win —— and he was only there because he wanted to support a friend. maybe go on a little trip around the region. have some fun. it was never a competition he aimed to win.

it was only when he got to wyndon when victory became a very real possibility. as much as victor didn’t want to be the champion, there was one thing he and his family did      ( desperately ) need. money. as mentioned previously, his parents’ business took a SIGNIFICANT hit when a pokemon center was built in wedgehurst —— and why would anyone come to them for aid when the center would do so free of charge? a handful of patients stayed, of course. those requiring specialized care, friends of his parents and the like. but it wasn’t enough —— certainly not to support an entire FAMILY. as the years crawled by, they struggled to stay afloat. his father took a second job that ensured he was hardly around. victor wanted so BADLY to do something to help      ( to fix things ) but what? after all, he was just a kid.

... but he knew being the galarian champion was an incredibly lucrative job. he knew he was good enough at battling that he had a genuine SHOT. it was a once in a lifetime opportunity to save his family. he could make things right again.

@227th​

“…Then I guess we’re just going to have to have problems, champ.”

It was in this quiet exchange, Kris knew she’d met a kindred soul in such unfamiliar territory. Even the stars, supposedly familiar, felt distant, even foreign. More foreign than typical. But it was in that unknown, she felt most herself. Away from the hustle and bustle, truly. This kid has the right idea.

A strong urge of purpose too, she can recognize. It brings Kris back to her earliest days of adventuring through Johto. a nostalgic smile slowly making its home on her face.

“Curry, you say,” she perks up, having expected to continue on her way after this brief respite. “I’ve yet to partake in Galarian cuisine, but from everything I’ve seen on the television, it looks incredible.” She can’t seem to hide the slight rumble of her stomach, her famished state becoming increasingly hard to conceal politely enough. A nervous chuckle, in between acceptance of this kind stranger’s invitation.

“If you wouldn’t mind entertaining a dinner guest, we’d be happy to oblige.”

a faint SMILE tugged at the corners of his mouth. ❝ well, you’re in luck. you could call me an expert in the curry arts —— not to brag, of course. ❞ even if that was definitely what he was doing. victor thought he had earned the right to brag a bit, however; he’d recreated the dish enough times on his travels that he could do it with his eyes CLOSED. that, in addition to being      ( in his completely unbiased opinion ) a half-decent chef to begin with.

❝ you can let your POKEMON out, if you want. ❞ victor continued, turning back to his bag. it only took a moment to get his collapsible cooking pot set up.      ( the entire process was practically muscle memory at that point. )  ❝ the best part about this recipe is they can ENJOY it, too. makes for a real convenient dish when you’re cooking for yourself and your party. ❞ besides, it was always better to eat with company, wasn’t it? that was why he had invited her to stay —— well, that and common courtesy. victor’s parents had drilled SOME semblance of manners into him over the years.