Always trust your instinct !

     ‘ espeon – dodge him. ‘     you’re too special to be marked too.     ‘ spark– i don’t know what i’m doing. i know nothing. couldn’t we– i mean, it’s esther. ‘

playful esther, who happily dodged jolteon and gave him a playful flick of her tail.  gentle warrior indeed.

                         “It is, indeed!” Spark had never been a friend of hiding his excitement, and now, standing in front of Isaac after watching espeon dodge jolteon, he can’t help it but feel joyful. “You just dodged our attack, it’s your turn to tell espeon what to do.”

He’s waiting, eyes wide and smile big on his lips going up and down on the ball of his feet, bouncing and buzzing with energy already.

Crazy beautiful 

                 “Four. Like I said before,” Derek said, blatantly lying at Spark’s face. He had to however. If he told him that he had six, it might end up with Spark finding out about his… past life. He had three pokéballs he could show Spark. The rest would need to stay hidden for as long as possible.

Only the mere fact that Spark asked made Derek suspicious as to how much the other knew. If Spark ever found out, he would have to flee at best to another town or city.

                            “Right. I remember.” He arches a brow, turning towards the whinning sound before gesturing at the direction of the bed. “Do you mind if I...?” Reaching down to get one of his pokeballs out of its holster, he waves the ball around a little, not waiting for permission before setting jolteon free. “Little Jolly boy over here HATED his pokeball first, too.”

His gaze was wandering; taking in the claw, the bed, the few items Derek had unpacked... Before turning around to face Derek. “Maybe he can help your little stubborn friend to settle down a bit.” - Or spy. Find something that Spark wasn’t supposed to find...

And again, Derek really didn’t know what to think of Spark. For one part of Derek, he really just wanted to roll his eyes at how someone as silly as this man became a team leader of a group called Instinct. And the other part of Derek? Well, that other part was still trying to figure out what to think of him. For once, however, he just ignored the sort-of compliment ( he assumed ).

                                    “I mean. I guess? ---- People who look for eggs find ‘em. But you know, you can’t steal an egg from a nest. That’s not cool. And if you find an egg CLOSE to a nest and you assume it could have fallen out, you don’t take it along, either. ---- We collect the lost ones. Those that fell off the next and rolled away... You know? The wayward, if you want.”

He shrugs, getting up to his feet to refill his glass, drink, and refill it once more before returning with the full glass, putting it on the small couch table in the room.

             “I’m fine, but thanks for the input of how terrified I must look,” he said before walking to the kitchen section. “You know, that’s quite a new way how to say ‘please’, but sure.”

                  “Terrified but handsome. Being scared is not exactly that cures a pretty face.” 

Truth be told, Spark hadn’t exactly been asking for anything else than tab water and therefore had absolutely no problems once offered the glass, a small smile on his lips as he winked at his team mate, thanking him quickly before emptying the glass in one swift go. 

             “Well… come in, I guess,” Derek said as he was already looking at a Spark that was in his room. He had to say, he was quite perplexed by the sudden decision of the other to just invite himself into the room. But, well, it was rather the room that Team Instinct had provided him, so he guessed that Spark was in the right to enter… in a way.

                      “It hasn’t even been three days, Derek. So, I guess you aren’t. ---- You look like you’ve seen a ghost. Are you okay?”

             Derek didn’t exactly know why, but something told him quite clearly that it definitely was not the fun police knocking on his door. Spark – with all his goofiness – was… well, special. Not quite the same like his former superior Giovanni for certain. He walked towards the door at the same time Claws had just managed to hide under the bed, making Derek think of how bad of a guard Claws would make.

                “did you know it was me when i said fun police or do you have any REALLY funny friends? ‘cause if so, I wouldn’t mind meeting them.”

     ‘ – i don’t think she likes what you’re implying about her age. she’s only two and a half. ‘

entertained by her irritated death stare towards the overexcited stranger, he couldn’t help but snap to attention upon the return to talk of a battle.  again with the unease, he knew she could sense his fluttering nerves – she always seemed to feed on his emotions, however toxic they might’ve become.  with a reassuring stroke along her spine, his eyes lifted towards spark, teeth worrying along his bottom lip.

     ‘ i don’t know if this is a good idea… she’s not–… ‘

normal. it was on the tip of his tongue, a word ready to be spoken.  but the way she looked at him in that moment – the calmness of her demeanour – the word didn’t seem quite right.  she’d grown up.  she didn’t even have a limp anymore.  though a tuft of fur was still absent along the back of her ear, a reminder of where she’d come from; her roots.

maybe he was the one holding her back this entire time.  maybe he was a burden to her too.

     ‘ do you want to? ‘

quietly exhaled, the question was directed towards the most important entity in the vicinity, anxiety bleeding into his expression without consent.  how easy it would be, to cut and run.

instead, he’s met with a purr, her curiosity besting his nerves as she wandered closer to the jolteon.  trust her to be his courage.  she always had been in the past.  could he have expected this to go any other way? 

“She looks PERFECT to me, Isaac. Don’t worry. Look at her. -- I mean you know her better than I do but she looks pretty excited to me, doesn’t she?” Sure, he’d love to hear the story, but he has no doubt that sharing a sad story before a battle might compromise a pokemon that gets its strength from its trainer.

     ‘ she isn’t new. ‘

– far from it.  to hell and back, they’d been together.  and the idea of subjecting her to something they’re both unfamiliar with ( or perhaps – too familiar with ) made his skin crawl.  nevertheless, a pang of guilt caused unease – he’s always been aware of her disdain towards the dreaded pokeball.  but it was a means to an end.  a way to hide her away from the tragedy marring his bones.  nothing more.

     ‘ – and she’s soft. i don’t know if she’d like it… ‘

regardless, he released her, the soft purr exhaled uniquely espeon.  even the sight of her caused a flood of warmth to a hollow pyre, the teenager amused by her bored head tilt.

     ‘ we just spend time together, i guess. ‘

                                                         “Holy... ----Shit.”

He’s never SEEN an espeon before, as tragic and pathetic as that might have sounded, but these were RARE. More than that. You couldn’t just go out and CATCH an espeon, couldn’t make eevee evolve into it with force. Love. It was the KEY and it wasn’t even just that. No. Everyone (or at least most of the people) loved their pokemon; Isaac clearly was... worthy.

The idea of a fight was forgotten upon the sight of the rare pokemon, Spark getting his pokedex out to check it’s stats. ---- It was clear that this beautiful creature had never been in a battle before, a shame, really. Spark had no doubt espeon would kick HIS ass to the sun and back if Isaac would know HOW to make her.

Turning his pokedex around to show Isaac the attacks espeon could do, he explained: “See. -- Having her fight against other pokemon will level her stats up. She’s gonna be strong. She’s not young anymore but I’m afraid a wild eevee might already be capable of beating her. Look, these are defense attacks here. Espeon is GOOD at predicting. -- Ya knew this beauty can read her opponent’s MIND? When she gets attacked by a fire or water pokemon, whatever happens to her, happens to her opponent, too. It’s C R A Z Y, really. Espeon is...”, he looks up to look at the other male, smiling stupidly at him. 

                         “She’s A W E S O M E. But she won’t attack without YOU telling her to. So that’s what you gotta be careful about. ---- Look, both pokemon are out but they aren’t fighting. -- It actually looks like my boy is checking this beautiful lady out, please. Keep it in your pants, Jolly.” He laughed, still holding his pokedex out, thinking isaac might NEED it.

                “Oh, no! It’s not like that! -- Look.” Spark immediately reached into his pocket to free a Jolteon, his finger running through its spikey fur. “Using them in fights doesn’t hurt them. Pokemon trust their trainers and enjoy fighting and getting stronger. -- This little gem here? Should have seen her when she hatched.” The thought that Tall and Pretty might think of him as a monster, torturing his pokemons just in order to be a ‘team leader’ was something that did not and certainly would not sit well with him.