[Game thread] Skull Ruins Pokerole

[Lord Windos]

(...)

Nathan quietly and patiently waits for Terra to begin the story.  He knows this is sensitive territory.

(Well, if they can Teleport out, Terra will not begrudge the option at all! A flight back by himself would also calm him down more/give him time to collect his thoughts, so that benefits my chara too!)

Minutes passed in silence riff with tension, until it was broken by the simple monk *Sighing*, and he began.

"....It happened a long time ago. When I was a young child, living in Dewford."

His eyes too a distant, long searching look, as he reminiscented of old memories of yor. 


"....Back then, I was small. Tiny. Weak. Frail. Scrawny.  …More Dumb than I am now."

A frown tugged on his lips as he spoke, growing deeper with each deagortory term that he uttered.

"....My parents were merchants. Very wealthy. I was their only child. Mama got real while she had me, so she and Papa didn't try to have more. They knew I was a dumb runt, and they were....sad about that."

His frown inverted itself at this point, and he was now sporting a small, fond smile.

".....Mama and Papa still loved me very much, though. Spoiled me, and made sure I was taken care of.  *Smile widens* Raised me well. Taught me their trade, and sent me to a good school to try and make me less dumb. More....educated. Learned well and much from them....."

As he trails off, his smile rapidly diminishes, like a candle doused in the rain.

".....Not so much from school."

He went silent for half a minute, his façade losing its stoicness, discomfort taking its place.

".....Classmates and others picked on me. ….Bullied. For being a dumb runt, and for having rich parents."

A gloom descended upon the room, holding tangible sense of misery and disquiet.


"…They teased me. Called me names. Made me looks bad …Made sure to make me feel bad. About being pick on....and about myself."

...

"The Teacher....didn't care. Thought I was too....dumb and weak to be taught. Always.....frustrated them when I learned so slowly, or didn't understand stuff without lots of help."

...

"...I was a burden in their eyes. They wanted to get rid of me....but couldn't. …So most started to ignore me. Only....helping so much. 'The bare minimum'. Let my classmates do whatever they wanted. …And some of them picked on me too. It was all....payback for them."

Tension was now so thick, you needed a hatchet to cleave through it. The mountain of a man eyes were tightly closed.

"....Didn't say anything to Mama or Papa. Didn't want to trouble them, or get anyone else in trouble. …Thought it was all my fault too. That....I was responsible. .....Was a big enough....screwup and weakly that....everyone was right to treat me....badly. Just....took it all. Accepted it was....normal."

…

"My classmates.....didn't like that. Didn't like I didn't....react, or fight back. Got.....boring for them, I think. So they.....started doing worse."

*Long stretch of silence, before he let out a heavy sigh and opened his eyes, which were downcast*

"....Couldn't take it anymore. Didn't want to tell Mama or Papa about it. So I.....started to skip school. Choose to explore and wander around the town, the island. Tiring, and got in trouble a few times.....but it was.....better than going to school and being......bullied."

"....One day, I decided to go look around the big cave outside of town.....Granite Cave. Though it would be fun, and wouldn't get caught their."

He slowly shook his head, deeply grimacing.

"I was wrong. Very, very, very wrong."

*Beat*

"..... Couldn't see much....didn't think to bring a flashlight. Went to deep into the cave, and got lost...."

"....And a Sableye found me. A big, mean-spirited, and wicked Sableye."

This was it. This was the moment. The moment that he has been building up to all this time.

"....It hurt me. Scared me. Much, much worse than my classmates. .....It.....chased me all over the cave. Never let me rest, always.....laughing and swiping at me if I stopped. So I had to keep running.....no matter what."

…

"....Got corned by it after....don't know how long. Sableye…I think it wanted to....to.....escalate things."

"....I thought I was going to die. …Or worse."

Grim.

Bleak.

Terror.

All of these feelings were Terra's, as he relieved that moment. That horrible, terrible moment. His arms were laid across the table now, hands clenched into fists so tight you could almost imagine he was grinding his flesh and bones.

"But."

Suddenly, all the tense, despair, and frightened filling up the simple monk drained out of him, and in its place.....warm, safe feeling of awe and relief started to well up

"But I didn't." 

"I was saved."

"Saved by a Makuhita."

He reach down to his belt, and pulled off his Pokeball. He placed it down in front of him, and simply stared at it.

It was none other than Shiranui's.

"...He KOed the Sableye with one Knock Off. Grinned at....it, and laughed. He look proud. Accomplished. Strong."

"Then, he came over to me. Got me off the ground, checked me over, and gave me a Sitrus Berry to heal my wounds."


"After that, he held out his hand. Wanted to keep helping me. A dumb weakling like me."

...


 "....He was friendly. Kind. Strong. Brave. Heroic. Still is, now."

...

"...He was everything I was not, back then."

……


".....I took his hand. He lead me out of the cave. Kept away other wild Pokémon too. Made very sure I was safe."

"....All that time, I could only think one thing...."

" 'I want to be like that.' "

……


"....After that, when he turned to go back....I stopped him. I...asked him to help me. Make me strong....tough....good. Like him."

"He was surprised....but then he just laughed, and nodded his head."

Terra was smiling now. It was thin, and it looked worn, but it was a genuine smile.

"I became his student that day. From then on, we trained. Both of us grew. Stronger, tougher, and braver. Bullies at school stopped bothering me, after I caught and crushed a rock one threw. He could take on Pokémon he couldn't before, like Mawhile and Axew."

...


"Alone, we just were. Unchanging. Together...."

He picked up his sumo wrestler's Pokeball...


"...We are more."

...and grasped it, bring it close to his chest. The atmosphere of the room felt.....lighter now. Not entirely free of stress, strife, or tension, but it was more.....bearable now, less oppressive....and now held an undercurrent of relief, contentedness, and gaiety.

".....And that is why I do not like Sableye....and how I became who I am today. That....is all."