Starstruck Muses

A collection of muses from across the Pokemon World.

Managed by: Abi

Follows from: @abib918

He lifted his shoulders in something like nonchalance, despite the dejected look that edged in around the outline of his face. "I doubt there's enough good in the world to completely wash away Rocket's sins but, as you say, who knows? Colress was once tied with an organization whose name still darkens doorsteps in Unova and he seems liked well enough these days. Perhaps I'll get lucky." His enthusiasm seems manufactured at best but he brushes past the subject all the same. "I don't believe I was in Galar at the time of that particular incident and, to be quite honest, when my quest to bring the Dynamax phenomenon here ultimately ended in failure, I stopped paying close attention to what was going in the region. It sounds like everything ended up wrapped in a neat little bow, though, so I suppose that's all that matters." Wasn't that just the way? He had no doubt that if he looked into the matter, he would find another plucky protagonist at the helm of taking down the imminent threat. He'd failed often enough and paid attention close enough to notice the trend when it came to anyone who dared pose a threat to the status quo. One might think he'd be bitter after all his ill-fated luck with his own machinations-- and, perhaps, this endeavor with Silver proved that he actually was-- but he had the good grace to keep it to himself. "So tell me, what have you been doing in my absence? I'm curious what adventures you got up to while I was away. Anything of note?"

Silver could take a hint easily enough -- Archer's false positivity was enough of one that he moved on from the topic of the Executive's research.

His excuses for ignoring the happening of Galar make sense - to him, anyway. No purpose in wasting any energy on watching something that served no use to them.

And then, Archer turns the conversation to him.

"Nothing really important," Silver blinked, putting his head on straight after the shift in topic, "Been eyeing up the Battle Frontier - I know we're running the Magnet Train, but you know me. Battles are really where it's at. Throw some money at that place, maybe we could be in business."

A glance, "Unless the League would get on our asses for that. Don't want to be causing too much trouble with them yet." Or at all, really. Disappointing Lance of all people was on the very bottom of his list, if he was being very honest.

He smirked dramatically, sliding a finger along the curve of his chin. "Of course you can't tell me I'm wrong. When have I ever been as far as you know?" The expression dropped into something a little more sardonic and the pointedly jabbed a forefinger in Silver's direction. "Besides then, of course. We don't count that." When exactly he meant wasn't entirely clear and it became apparent he had no intention of elaborating. Something flashed behind those baby blues and it wasn't clear if the slightest twitch at the corner of his mouth was a stifled grin or grimace. "Colress. I'm... familiar with the name. He's rather well-respected in the field now, if memory serves. His contributions to scientific advancement and evolutionary study are highly regarded nowadays. Perhaps, if all things go right, you'll hear my name alongside his." He shrugged loftily following this statement, though, and waved his hand. "Not that I crave the recognition. After barely managing to scrape my name from the bottom of the barrel following the Kanto incident and the fallout from the Radio Tower besides, I'm quite happy to remain anonymous. It's... easier that way." "So what's this about Dynamax energy running amok? I'm not sure I remember clearly what happened there with 'those two idiot brothers' and I don't recall anyone mentioning it during my travels there."

Oh, the chance was tempting.

But alas, Archer beat his young protégé to the punch by immediately figuring out what event he could mention in which Archer had been wrong. His hands went up, feigning ignorance, "Hey, I didn't say anything. You're right, you're right."

He half wondered what Archer would even do were he to mention the Commander's favorite... incident. Aside from feeding him to Yeth.

"Hey, why not?" Silver shrugged at Archer's proposition of being famous for his work, "Rocket gets enough good credit to outweigh all the bad... who's to say? You might."

If he wanted to remain anonymous, though... so be it.

A hum, "Just a while back, these two brothers got mad at that Professor's new book about the history of Galar. Claimed to be descendants of the heroes of Galar or whatever,"

He laughed quietly, "They started Dynamaxing Pokémon with those Wishing Star things in the middle of stadiums. Crazy stuff. Heard their Champ stopped 'em, though. Last I heard they were still trying to earn back favor by giving a boatload of money to that tournament Leon's running."

Send Me 👫, and I'll Write Four Headcanons About Our Muses.

Silver absolutely loved kicking Archer's shins ( both metaphorically and actually ) as a shitty little kid. I imagine he was among the easier executives to annoy among the four of them ( along with one of the most accessible, given his proximity to Dad(tm) ), and he certainly wasn't going to go around annoying his parents, of course. If he wasn't annoying his older sister or the other executives, he was almost certainly trying to get under Archer's skin. This almost certainly got worse after Giovanni decided to trust his horrible little baby boy with a Sneasel.

Silver had debating trying to find Archer for some time, actually. But there was part of him, and there still is, that despises authority. More specifically Rocket, but just all authority in general. Thus, he kept delaying it and delaying it, if only to avoid the Archer he'd created in his head trying to stuff him into a box and force him into three piece suits for the rest of his life.

Archer's Magnezone, AM, was at least half of the inspiration for Silver to catch a Magnemite and train it on his own. Even young eleven year old brat Silver knew a solid Pokémon when he saw it, and AM was just that. And now Coulomb is one of his best teammates. I'm certain there's a certain phrase about broken clocks he'd put here...

“The Lake of Rage is only a small part of what I’ve looked into. My particular area of study tends to hover around Pokemon evolution and tapping into their full potential, either through traditional evolution or other means. I can admit the Lake of Rage was, perhaps, not the best place to start with introducing radio waves to force evolution, if only because it was such an out-in-the-open operation and the resulting Gyarados were impossible to control afterwards. That being said…” He grinned, mostly to himself, staring wistfully off in the middle distance. “It worked, didn’t it?”

An almost forlorn sigh left him then as he shrugged his shoulders. “Now I’m looking into alternate means of evolution. Although my primary point of visiting Galar was to acquire a new team-mate, I was also fascinated by the concept of Dynamax evolution and the energy involved there. Why was it unique to Galar? What about the region made it so susceptible to Dynamax evolution? Was it possible to recreate elsewhere? What could we do with it if we were to harness it to our own designs rather than simply deciding Pokemon battles?”

He waved his hand a little. “Not that it much matters these days. While I’m sure having the secrets to Dynamax energy in Johto would make for good sport as a tourist attraction now, it doesn’t suit Rocket’s designs as an entity striving for something better than simply extending our reach to the stars above. Perhaps we’ll find some use for it, but for now it’s on the back burner.”

Archer leveled Silver with a deadpan stare, one brow slightly higher than the other, his head tilted to one side. “Why, young master, I can’t think of a time I’ve ever been more flattered. Thank you for such an overwhelming compliment.”

“I can’t say you’re wrong, can I? It did work.” Silver admitted, unable to say anything to the contrary, despite the destruction that Gyarados had caused, “You got what you came for, I guess.” He thought for a second, before adding, “There was a guy running around Alola like that too, I think. Colress? I don’t know if you two do the exact same thing, but it sounds similar, from what I’ve heard.”

Silver tilted his head back and forth as Archer mentioned the faint idea of bringing Dynamaxing to Johto, “And I’ve heard if it happens to run riot, like with those two idiot brothers,” What the hell were their names again? They were the ones with the dumb hair, and that was all he could remember, “Things can go south pretty quick. And I don’t think we’d earn much favor plopping a huge stadium down in one of the cities, anyway.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Silver rolled his eyes as Archer expressed how absolutely flattered he was at his comment, “Sure. And I’m champion of the Indigo League.” He hummed, “You’re the alrightest -- don’t let it go to your head.” 

A pause. 

the complaint earns a glance from hassel, a furrow of his brows that becomes more stern. “somebody shouldn’t have been down here at all to begin with. while i could not be prouder of you for stopping such a calamity, you must understand that it was extremely irresponsible of you four.” yet he doesn’t ignore the thanks. he mounts his dragonite, giving his dragon a firm pat atop the head in thanks. “and of course, young olivier. i am more than happy to venture these lands besides you; merely know that if anything happens, i expect you to work besides me, and not do anything too brash.” he could already see larry in his mind eye, grumbling about how the kid had earned one of hassel’s patented lectures. it has him smile despite his former disciplining. he offers a broad grin to his student. “now with my lecture out of the way, let’s depart!”

As Hassel began to lecture him, Olivier rolled his eyes, "Yeah, yeah, I know." He sighed, "Thanks for being proud of me, though. Makes me feel a bit better, I guess." He knew the Area Zero mission he'd gone on with his friends had been a bit of a hair-tearing experiences for the adults around them, but still. He'd saved the whole region.

Not do anything too brash. "It's like you don't even know me." Olivier joked, before waving a hand, "Yeah -- I know all the typings of the Paradoxes down here, in case you don't, so... we'll help each other out, I guess."

Miraidon let out a growl as Hassel declared they should depart, Oli nodding, "Okay, okay-- Let's go." He smiled as his dragon started towards the edge of the platform, getting a rolling start before --

They leapt into the open air, getting some wind in their sails before Miraidon's gliders formed at the sides of their head, Olivier letting out a whoop of delight at the thrill of soaring through the air, soon disappearing beneath the Crater's blanket of white clouds.

if one had asked brassius, he would have chosen to keep the doors locked towards any visitors. the only person he willingly endured to see him when wracked in the grips of illness was hassel, and the dragon tamer had left his mark on his abode in the form of a tubaware of food in the fridge, or the assortment of remedies taking residency on his bedside table. yet olivier was a kind boy, despite all his sass, and that's what brought him to the doorway of the grass gym-leader's bedroom peering in as if he was checking to see if the virtuoso was alive. despite his pale skin taking on a more pallid hue (truly a marvel of nature, brassius thought cynically), and the sheen of sweat across his brow, the man lived. "... out with you, olivier. i have no want for you to fuss over me like old hass has. there is much more out there for you to occupy yourself with than myself being just a little under the weather."

Olivier had heard from Hassel that Brassius had fallen ill, and knew almost immediately that he wanted to help. Upon arriving to the Virtuoso's abode, astride his futuristic steed, he let himself in, struck immediately by the silence of the rest of the house, thanks to Brassius' absence.

And now here he was, peering in the door of the man's bedroom, being told he should find something better to do. "You look a bit more than under the weather," He remarked ungracefully, making no move to leave, "Besides, is it so bad for me to want to help my abuelo?"

"I just wanna make sure you're okay, you know? And maybe help out grandpa a bit so he doesn't stress out too much." Because knowing Hassel, he certainly would, on top of having work for the Elite Four and Uva Academy. And Olivier liked his grandpa sane, for the most part.

worried for his friend, professor gible moves close to nose at olivier’s side. he looks up at the newly emerged miraidon inquisitively, “graaawr?”

larry pinches the bridge of his nose when the topic of hassel was broached. no such luck. there were two roads ahead of larry: being honest, or giving some lie that olivier likely would push through.

the salaryman hasn’t spoken for a second too long. instead he’s earned some looks from concerned citizens in medali, his brows furrowed tight offering any onlooker the luxury of seeing a man thinking hard enough for steam to leak from his ears. “listen, kid. it’s just some elite four business. i’m dealing with it. you’ve got a lot on your plate as it is. just let me handle it.”

Miraidon gently nudged the inquisitive scholar, trying to play with him to lighten the mood --

"Agias!"

Olivier shook his head, "If it was just Elite Four business he'd of answered by now." He ran a hand through his dark curls as he thought, mind racing as to what could have possibly happened to his wayward art professor, "I- I need to go find him."

He wasn't proud of what came next, but it burst out of him anyway, and he snapped, "My grandpa's missing, Larry! Do you think I CARE what else I have to do right now?!"

hassel hadn't replied to a single one of his texts. this wouldn't have been an issue were the last message larry got himself detailing his venture towards a paradox sighting entirely solo.

his first thought was to message brassius, but something told him that contacting the artist to say his ... husband? (not husband? the logistics of it weren't his station) might have found the wrong end of a giant paradox pokemon's fangs wasn't one larry wanted to undertake.

focusing on it from a purely business sense made it easier not to focus on the guilt of not seeing that text until the morning. having hassel's psuedo-grandson ringing in didn't help for that nagging feeling that wanted to creep through his facade.

he answers the call, hoping somehow the kid hadn't caught wind of what happened. " yeah, i'm here. what do you need? "

Unfortunately for the everyman, Olivier had, in fact, figured out something was amiss. Nothing specific, but still.

"Have you heard from Grandpa at all?" He immediately asked, words tumbling out of his mouth, "He hasn't answered his texts in hours and I'm really worried--"

Deep breaths.

it wasn't like hassel not to reply within the hour. professor gible sits there patiently in the garden of the artazon abode, looking up at olivier while he checks his texts nervously outside of where hassel should have been.

the distinguished scholar tilts his head, chirping at olivier inquisitively before returning to the mud pie he was preparing for whenever his wayward trainer returned.

Olivier knew his grandpa. Knew him well enough that if he didn't answer is phone within the hour, something was desperately wrong. But how was he supposed to know what had actually happened if he didn't even know where the man was?

He looked down at Professor Gible, "You would tell me if you knew where he was, right?" When he got the reply he'd just about expected ( that is to say, none ), he turned back to his phone, pacing back and forth in the garden. Who to call? Who to call?

Suddenly, an idea. He dove into his contacts, clicking one titled "mr plain bagel" before hitting the call button.

the child was far too young for media scrutiny. the evasiveness of the public was constant, often sinking their claws in the moment they had the chance. thrust suddenly into the blazing fires of fame, brassius now saw firsthand one of the many detriments that brought with it.

the tears water the fabric of his coat like a downpour. tears had never deterred the artist before, so instead he keeps olivier secure to himself && gently shushes him. it's not that of an authoritarian voice silencing a youth, but more like a caretaker attempting to soothe a crying child. "i've got you. let it all out; there is no purpose in restraining one's emotions when they need out."

then the rotomphone shows off a request. brassius slowly untangles himself from the trainer, then nods. "of course. i'll get you that right away." he then releases his lilligant from her pokeball. the room welcomes the relaxing floral scent she brings as she gives a delicate trill of concern towards oli.

The lack of pressure the minute Brassius left was crushing.

Oli just nodded as he departed to get his water, leaving his Lilligant with him. She was much prettier up close, when Oli wasn't just focusing on defeating her as quickly as possible. The floral scent she emitted was comforting, allowing him to relax a bit, sinking into her trainer's couch.

"Vous êtes très jolie." He spoke to her quietly, "Merci de rester avec moi." He grew quiet, then, hugging himself and trying to focus on the smell in the air. He'd always been told that it was relaxing, and he supposed that was correct -- he did feel slightly better in the presence of the Grass Type.