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starter call / @flyingfalkner

{     –     ✦     –     }     ░     Violet City reminds him of home. It’s comforting when he’s so far from Kalos, though he’s glad to have made the journey here. Johto is a calm region, for the most part - but then, he tends to avoid trouble as much as possible.

It’s night by the time he arrives in Violet City, as is his usual luck. There’s nowhere he can stay the night  ( as far as he’s aware ) ,  so Quin is already preparing a mental list of supplies he needs to purchase before continuing on - though to where, he’s unsure yet.

For now, Quin makes his way to the Sprout Tower. As with every time he visits, he’s immediately struck by the deep strength within the tower, and he knows how easy it would be to get distracted by the pillar’s swaying. He avoids that, instead following the walkway along to settle himself against one of the walls –

– and sure enough, a Ghastly drifts over before too much time has passed, and he’s smiling as he offers it a berry. Only when he hears footsteps does he pause, the Ghastly licking his hand going unnoticed now that Quin’s possibly been caught. “I’m not intruding, am I? The Elder has never had an issue with my presence.”

          THE  TOWER,  ESPECIALLY  AT  NIGHT,  is peaceful.  it’s calm and quiet compared to when trainers battle the sages to reach the top ─  the way the pillar sways methodically ;  the way it feels untouched by time ─  it’s quaint atmosphere is soothing,  in a way.  even with all the ghost pokémon around  ( though,  perhaps he’s grown used to them due to his close friend’s specality with the type )  ,  sprout tower has a unique effect that makes it an oddly relaxing place to visit after a long,  rowdy day of pokémon battles.

upon entering that night,  it’s easy to tell the atmosphere is different ─  he isn’t alone,  and it’s more than the ghostly presence of pokémon.  he can hear a disturbance among the pillar’s groan ;  the sound of footsteps.  surely all the sages have gone home so there’d be no one for a trainer to challenge,  driving falkner’s curiosity.  he follows the extra set of feet that echo the walls until he discovers another mingling with the ghosts and he’s pleasantly surprised:  he’s seen trainers come to fight the ghosts before,  but it was a rare occurrence to see someone interacting with them as such. 

falker offers a peaceful smile and shakes his head in response to the stranger’s inquiry. 

          THE  DAY  HAD  BEEN  QUIET thus far.  in fact,  falkner was surprised when it was nearing the latter half of the day.  a few challengers had made their way into his gym ─  but nothing outside the norm.  well,  other than the word he got of someone snooping a little too deeply into the ruins that wasn’t a scientist.  falkner wasn’t too phased by the news ─  it wasn’t rare for someone with a sense of adventure and curiosity to venture into the ruins.  he completely brushes it off,  his mind settling on caring for his avians until he’s called to meet someone at the front of his gym ─  odd,  considering most trainers make their way to him for a challenge.  perhaps a fellow gym leader?

     he recalls his pokémon to greet whomever has shown up ─  and he’s a little bit surprised when he recognizes just who’s come to speak with him. 

     they’d met briefly through their mutual friendship with morty ─  outside of that interaction,  falkner can’t recall a time where he’d had a  REAL  conversation or spent  ACTUAL  time with the legend enthusiast,  so he’s somewhat surprised to see eusine of all people at the doorway of the gym.  he’s curious above all else,  but also feels a bit awkward and at a loss for words ─  does he speak formally?  or casually,  since they’ve met?  

     ❝ hello,  eusine. ❞  he greets,  poise relaxing a bit,  ❝ it’s a bit surprising to see you here.  how have you been? ❞  an attempt at being both casual and respectful has all but crashed.  sometimes he forgets how weird social interactions are outside battles.  hands find their way into his pockets,  for lack of anything to do.  he offers a smile ─  quite subtle and , admittedly,  a bit awkward,  but a smile nonetheless. 

Deep in the Blackthorn Gym’s secluded arena, Clair rolls left to dodge a swinging Dratini tail, grimacing as the jagged terrain digs into her knees. The small dragon is quick to launch another strike, but the well-built Gym Leader lunges back to her right, managing to avoid contact once again. Panting slightly now, she holds up a gloved hand for a ceasefire, icy-blue eyes narrowed at the young owner of the Dratini. The Trainer in question, a fledgling Dragon Clan student, immediately drops his own gaze to the floor out of shame.

“Your attacks are too slow. How are you going to hit a Pokemon when you can’t even touch me?”

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          HE  INITIALLY  FEELS  A  SENSE of hesitance when she first replies.  he wonders if this was a good idea in the first place.  OF COURSE  she’s busy ─  she’s clair ,  a gym leader and dragon tamer.  dumb question.  he’s surely interrupted something.  a training session,  perhaps?  at least,  that’s what he assumed from the commotion he heard before entering.  part of him wonders how clair does train with her dragons and students.  he stows the thoughts away for another time.  he’s here on another matter entirely. 

❝ i understand,  and i do apologize for my sudden intrusion. ❞  he bows his head slightly,  feeling another pang of doubt.  how informal,  for someone trying so desperately to prove himself to the other gym leaders ;  to prove himself as the inheritor to his father’s gym.   well,  there’s no turning back now.  he reminds himself that even a master of their type would need help SOMETIMES.  he nods when she prompts him to elaborate,  straightening himself out and casting away self - doubt.  this is no time for such insecurities ;  the issue at hand is much larger than that. 

❝ there’s a wild aerodactyl outside of violet city ─  i know how it sounds,  i’m surprised,  too ─,  and it’s been causing issues for the people and pokémon. ❞  he decides that cutting to the chase is best.  no need to waste her time any further.  ❝ it’s becoming increasingly agitated and violent.  i can tell it has an injured wing,  so i don’t want to cause further harm by attacking it. ❞  short and simple,  but to the point.  he knows well his own limits as someone who’s still learning,  and he knows when a task is outside his skill set.  pushing his limit could result in his own injury or the pokémon’s ─  not a risk he wants to take. 

          THE  WIND  THAT  RUSHES  BY impairs most of falkner’s senses ─  but it’s nothing he’s not used to.  riding atop his pidgeot,  falkner soars through the skies at speeds only obtainable by someone who’s mastered the art of flying.  in most cases,  he wouldn’t fly at this speed,  but he’s in quite the HURRY after a rather distressed call from morty.  at the time,  falkner didn’t have any challengers so locking the gym up early wasn’t an issue.  he’d have probably done it regardless of how busy the gym was,  though.  after all,  this is  MORTY  calling him.

     pidgeot makes the flight quick and easiest,  being falkner’s most experienced,  fastest, and strongest flier.  they’ve traveled to ecruteak before,  of course,  but it’s been a while since the two have been so occupied with their gym leader duties.  he wishes he could be visiting on more...  causal terms.  he likes visiting morty.  the duo make the trek in record time ─  despite their rush for the sake of a friend,  falkner’s quite impressed with how quickly and smoothly the flight was.  falkner’s leaping off the bird before he’s come to a full stop,  leaving pidgeot outside it’s pokéball as he approaches morty’s door.  normally,  falkner wouldn’t simply  BARGE  in,  even if morty’s granted him permission several times.  but it’s a special case,  so falkner opens the door without hesitation.  it’s the first time he’s actually done so. 

Restored from DNA found in amber, this Pokémon exhibited ferocity that was greater than expected. Some casualties resulted.

          EVEN  AS  PIDGEOT  CIRCLES  BLACKTHORN in search of a place to land,  falkner worries that this could be a bad idea.  but,  he reminds himself,  he wouldn’t have flown all the way here to disturb johto’s dragon tamer if it  WEREN’T  an emergency.  even a gym leader must face when a task is too much for them and falkner,  after spending all morning trying to deal with violet’s problem,  has finally resolved to asking for help.

     an agitated aerodactyl has proven too much for him to handle. 

     the report had come in early in the morning.  the townsfolk had complained of a disturbance just outside of the city and falkner,  being the gym leader,  sought out to investigate.  it didn’t take him long to discover a wild aerodactyl harassing the environment,  wild pokémon,  and passing trainers.  falkner almost didn’t believe it ─  such a rare pokémon in the wild?  almost unheard of!  but the problem was, IS,  very real.  falkner could immediately spot a wing injury but wasn’t able to get close.  it’s no surprise given the injury that the aerodactyl had been reacting so ferociously,  but falkner couldn’t just stand by.  not wanting to resort to hurting it further,  falkner decided the best course of action would be to request the assistance of someone who could help ─  a fellow gym leader. 

     aerodactyl isn’t a dragon type,  of course.  but he figured that,  out of everyone near,  she’d have the closest knowledge in taming the rampaging fossil.  the WORST she could do is say no.  or...  falkner hopes he doesn’t appear weak in asking for help.  but pidgeot is finally landing so there’s no going back now.  leaving himself little time to hesitate, falkner walks right in.  it’s quiet.