#sumofn

@sumofn has sent: [[ Death battle between Kaiba and Salt, any verse. Including absurd nonexistent verses, like "if they were cats" or "coffeeshop au".

Send me “DEATH BATTLE” and 2 or more of my muses and I’ll tell you who would win a fight between them. >:3 [Accepting]

// You’re pitching THE MAIN inspiration for my Kaiba against him, I see how it is.

Lance always wins, no one can best that, it’s even canon in my Kaiba’s pokemon Au story. My Kaiba may have drawn inspiration from him, but he looks like a nerd next to the cHAD SALT.

Jokes aside, but it’s true, Lance is more likely to defeat Kaiba due to a number of reasons. They change depending on the plot:

In the pokemon AU: Kaiba may have been a strong trainer, however he didn’t have any sort of connection/bond with his pokemon, which was quite apparent. But don’t be mistaken, he put up a very good fight against Lance, who at the time was fresh off his journey throughout Kanto (this essentially means that he had a different team). In the end, it served as further evidence that, the one can only succeed as a trainer if they have a deep understanding of and a connection with their pokemon. Kaiba never got over this defeat, as he is vehemently convinced, that Lance either cheated or something of that nature happened that day. It drove him to abandon training, altogether not longer after.

Lance’s YGO AU: Lance became a sponsored duelist, by none other than KC. By the time he was picked up by the company, it had been years since Kaiba had stopped playing DM. They needed a face to represent them in tournamenbts, so that’s what led to Lance’s hiring. I don’t think it takes a genius to figure out, what would happen in a duel between them. Kaiba is very much, out of touch with the present time’s meta and new strategies, he knows about them but he wouldn’t be able to play them.

Meaning Ghetsis, of course. Ghetsis is undeniably tall.

Touya thinks about it for a bit, wondering who N meant. Who could it be...

Oh.

Oh.

"Yes!"

     Truthfully, Serena has not had a conversation like this before-- or, at least not with someone of this time. How could she, when the heroine is not surrounded by people who have been chosen by beings from ancient tales? There is only so much insight the former king she once travelled with could provide-- only so much she could glean from an immortalised Floette’s chittering and coos. Perhaps, then, it is unsurprising that when rumours of a hero from Unova reaches her ears-- one with a connection to Reshiram--, Serena seizes the opportunity to seek him out.      Even if she has not the faintest idea as to how one could even approach the topic that has long plagued her mind.

     After what feels like an eternity of walking and sifting through a sea of people, he falls into sight. Arms shift as the young woman’s strides carrying her form closer, careful to not disturb the Leafeon who comfortably rests both her head and paws atop the blonde’s shoulder. There are too many thoughts-- too many questions-- that race around in Serena’s mind, each born from a similar place; a similar desire to discern if what she experienced is universal for those in similar positions, or if connections to different legendary pokemon manifest in their own, unique way. Yet just as her mind threatens to race at a truly uncomfortable level, an exhale, light and unbothered, comes from the grass-type’s form-- an action that accompanies itself with a slight twitch of her ears, and the nuzzling of a head into the top of the heroine’s shoulder.      Right, she reminds herself-- just try to relax. The worst that could possibly happen is him refusing to have this kind of conversation, and the two leaving to go their separate ways. There is nothing for her to lose.

          “Sorry-- do you have a moment or two?”

     Hesitance clings to her voice, the words escaping from Serena’s form in a slower pace than usual, as though the trainer does not truly know how else to begin, yet has no choice but to see it through to the end. Silence ensues. Tips of fingers nestle themselves in amongst the fur on the creature’s back-- gently, as though it is more the feeling of it that she seeks, silent reassurance that the grass-type is still there, more than anything else. She attempts to focus on what she can feel of the slow, steady rhythm of her pokemon’s heart. It is only after such an action that a smile-- forced and betrayed by the rest of the expression she wears, but soft-- flashes across pale lips, unable to exist for more than a few, fleeting seconds.

@sumofn

Mal couldn’t ask for a larger venue or a livelier city than Castelia for the Meloetta Week of Arts & Music hosted by the Gym Leader Burgh, a patron of the humanities. It was right in the middle of Castelia Central Plaza as a stage had been set up for the performers. 

Mal tolerated cosmetics; she wasn’t a huge fan or being too flashy, but Burgh took one look at her and decided to mold her into something she didn’t recognize. She wore a black dress almost identical to the shape of Meloetta Pirouette, with her hair done up with a clip that looked like the Mythical Pokemon’s bunny-shaped musical note. 

Gym Leader Burgh gushed, “Oh my how lovely you look! Meloetta herself would be jealous of how dazzling you are right now!” 

Mal gribbed the hems of her dress. “I don’t want anyone to be jealous,” Especially not of me. She wanted to add, but kept quiet. 

“Dear, there’s no need to be humble. Just go on and do you thing!” Burgh winked and ushered the musician out onto the stage. 

Mal looked out at the crowd who whispered amongst themselves, “She’s a cutie”, “Look at all that glitter, I bet she’s full of herself,” or “I bet she’s going to lipsync”. Mal then spotted a green-haired man in the crowd. She wanted to scream out ‘N, save me!’. 

Mal shook herself. She couldn’t rely on someone all the time. “My name’s Mal Citrus. I want to dedicate this song to someone close to me, the trials he’s been through, and his kindness.” 

[Text: N] I know this is out of the blue but... can you come to Nuvema?

[Text: N] Something’s happened and I don’t think it’s safe to tell you over messages. Even though your pendant can’t be traced, I’m not sure about my xtransciever. 

@sumofn​

---

-At night, Ecruteak felt different.-

-Earlier in the day, the entirety of the Otsu household (or, rather, those who were in the country) had spent time in the old, yet new, city. Her grandparents had explained at breakfast that every year, just as summer began, the newly graduated kimono girls within the madams dance studio set up a festival to celebrate their growth. It was an event that they had partaken in every year since Koh - Hikari’s father - was but a boy. And now, they were excited to share this experience with her, too.

She had been clad in an old kimono that her grandmother had worn in her youth, her hair brushed and styled in a low bun that had made the roundness of her face stand out to an embarrassing degree. However… She had been complimented, spoken to as though she were a doll - and so, as they had left home, Hikari simply forgot to feel any shame in regards her appearance as a whole. 

She would have much more things to occupy her mind with as the day went on either way.-

-What Hikari had expected from the festival had, admittedly, been very little. The way it had been described to her had made it seem as though it would but a small event, mostly surrounding the property of the dance theater and the girls within it - however, that assumption had been wrong. The streets had been utterly transformed from their usual, plain selves, with lines of lanterns stretching overhead between the buildings, behaving like fairy lights in the sky as evenings slowly fell. Stalls were set up at every street corner, vending trinkets and charms, foods and sweets - the air, infused by the sweet aroma in a manner that, honestly, had made her feel quite dizzy. And, at the very center of an otherwise bare plaza... There had been an attraction propped up. One of which had stood barely taller than the buildings that surrounded it, yet tall enough to where Hikari had stood in awe at her grandmother's side.

Her hand, gently squeezing hers as though she was an excitable child.-

-A Ferris Wheel, it was – and Hikari had not been able to ride it once.-

-Hikari hopped off her bike as she neared the city’s outskirts, opting to instead lead it over the cobbled streets to save herself further pain upon her rump. Embarrassing though it may be, her trip from the farm to Ecruteak hadn’t been as easy as one may have hoped…-

---

“I’m… so stupid.”

-The only thing that had been heard through the night had been quiet, cricket humming - as well as the huffs and groans of the little girl known as ’Hiccup’. To her cheeks, her hair had clung - flustered due to the humid night air and it was to the point where, quietly, she regretted having thrown on a cardigan over her creamy nightgown. Her stomach, hurting from the way the tiles of their roof had dug into her guts….

What Hikari had expected when she decided – stupidly – to leave her family’s farmhouse unannounced, was that it would be a task as easy as it had been all the way back home. It was something she had done a thousand times over, and something that she undoubtedly would do a thousand times more once summer inevitably was properly through, but…This? She had not expected to get stuck, dangling off the edge of their covered porch roof, with her sandals already having succumbed to the fate of falling to the floor. The only thing that would dampen her fall, being that of hard packed soil.

She always has to get herself in trouble somehow… Didn’t she?

Now, one may then have wonder how – or rather, why – it was that little Hikari had found herself in this unfortunate predicament in the very first place. A question that she undoubtedly would have to answer to come morning, when there was bound to be a distinct, bald patch of tiling that no longer held moss over the front porch entryway – and why, therefore, it was that she had decided to leave home via the roof (for she knew she wouldn’t be able to lie to them), rather than simply exiting through the front door. And Hikari herself had started to wonder the same exact thing, too.-

-She already had been downstairs to get a spare house key, after all… And it laid heavily within her cardigan pocket as a mocking reminder.- 

-Quietly, her cheeks had huffed up from frustration as she wiggled her behind. Hikari dug her elbows into the tiles and, in a futile attempt, tried to raise one of her legs back on to the roof. She swayed herself, dangled and tried everything that she could think of to get back onto the roof but…Though her weight was minuscule compared to many her age, she simply hadn’t been able to hoist herself back up. Be it that her legs had had nowhere to find leverage, or the fact that the roof was slanted in such a way that didn’t allow for her to properly pull herself upwards. No matter her effort… Hikari simply had been stuck.

… That was, until she wasn’t.

By a slip of her hips (bruised, due to how rough the tiles edges were), she had slid further down the roof until it was her gut of which bent awkwardly at the figurative cliff's edge. Something that caused her heart to leap high into her throat, and her fingers to cling desperately to the moss that covered the old, sun-bleached roof.-

“No, no, no, no, no no no no-“-she repeated to herself, her eyes as wide as saucers as she had tried to stop herself from tumbling to the ground – yet, despite her best efforts… tumble, she had. Hikari slid off the roof, falling flat upon her rump upon the modest porch steps hard enough to cause ants feet to travel over her thighs and spine. Sucking through her teeth, she had tried her very best not to cry from the pain that traversed over her tailbone, her hands cupping the area as though it would do a thing to alleviate the pain.

Hikari remembered that, for but a moment, she had wondered to herself if this would’ve been a time where something like swearing would’ve been the most appropriate thing one could do. Instead, however – through a stifled cry and sucked in breath – she had simply said:- “… Oh, poop.”

-Turning herself the right side up, she snagged herself her shoes back before staggering up upon wobbly feet. Mechanically she had wandered down the trek to the farms modest shed - long blades of grass lapping at her bare shins.

Her hand had hurt as she hoisted the heavy beam lock off of the sheds door, as had her shoulder as she tentatively pushed it ajar. But the light from the sole, half window illuminated the inside for her. Something that was just barely enough to guide her through the many trinkets that her grandfather kept inside, until she found exactly what it was she had been looking for.

A pair of bikes leant up against one another, at the very far back wall. Old and rusty little things of which Hiroji - her grandfather - at an earlier date had admitted didn’t get much use anymore. The old couple had been avid cyclists back in the day, favoring it over taking the truck into town should their shopping be light enough.

Nowadays, however, it was an effort that brought more pain than it did joy.

The leathery handle of the smaller, pale green bike had felt cold to the touch within her palm... or, perhaps she simply had been so much warmer in comparison. Taking a hold of the steer properly, Hikari had lifted the bicycle with all of her might and soon enough, it was led outside.

The wheels creaked with rust, as did the pedals as she carefully straddled the seat. Her toes barely reached the ground when she sat, and she almost toppled over as the very first thing that she did. However… It was enough. She could stand for most of the ride anyways.-

-And off, she had gone.-

--- -Though it was the middle of the night, Ecruteak still stood out as a beacon against the surrounding forests. As lively as it once had been, it now certainly wasn’t – but the patrons of bar’s and yards joined in on disturbing the peace alongside her own rattling cycle.

Once or twice, she met with company. A young couple of which walked hand in hand across the street had whispering sweet nothings to one another loud enough so that anyone near would hear. Hikari’s cheeks had flustered and ducked her head as she passed them by, the unseemly words - though spoken in an unfamiliar dialect - foul enough to have her hurry past. She didn’t need to know what it was the man wanted to do with the woman’s private parts, thank you very much… No. All that Hikari truly wanted, as she passed empty stalls and fairy lights - as she turned into alleyways and smaller streets, was to find the plaza once more.-

-Though awed, she had been… The reason Hikari hadn’t ridden it, even when the opportunity had presented itself, was because she had felt quite childish for wanting to do so. It would’ve been a task she would’ve had to do on her own – for both grandma and grandpa cited that they did not do well with heights, no matter how miniscule they may be. And so, she had said she didn’t need to if it would be an inconvenience. She wasn’t a child, after all.

It was, however, a choice that had quietly eaten at her, as she and her family had made their modest trek back home.

Shaking her head, as though it would have her forget it all had occurred, Hikari pushed forth, careless in her handling of her bike as she passed by familiar signs and posters plastered upon dry, concrete walls until eventually - finally - she found her nightly goal.-

-The Ferris wheel.-

-Stood just where she had left it, exactly as she had left it. Just, perhaps, a little less… Lively and bright. 

As the event had come to an end, the operators of the attraction naturally had packed up for the day and left - turning off all the lights of which dawned the steel beams and brightly colored gondolas. However, this fact did not discourage the young girl from stomping her feet with excitement as she crossed the open space to set her cycle by a looming post, nor did it stop her from struggling with pushing down the bike's crutch.

Come on, come on, come on… There!

It was left on its own, unsecured, but safe - and Hikari tugged at her cardigan as she, with hurried steps, crossed the space between it and the wheel. All that she really wanted to do, despite not being able to actually ride the Ferris wheel for real, was to at the very least experience sitting within one of its pods.

If only for a little while.

It would seem, however, that she wasn’t the only one.-

-Her steps slowly faltered and, eventually, she came to a full stop. Just short of a boy who stood taller than herself, and most certainly taller than most of Johto’s population. A boy that Hikari - oddly enough - hadn’t thought could be there. As though she was the only one in the world who could think of visiting a shutdown attraction in the dead of night.-