[Game thread] Skull Ruins Pokerole

[Dragonstrike]

Spoiler

*Flashback!*

The scene of Nathan's Pokemon having fun during their time training easily brings a small smile to Terra's face too. That sort of combination of hard work, passion, and fulfillment is exactly the sort of thing he likes seeing in almost any activity, as it shows not only are the people involved dedicated to improving themselves, but enjoying the effort too! 

Emolga's mere existence naturally draws the sagely monk's attention, as he's naturally curious about Pokemon he's never seen before.

'Hm...seems to be Flying Electric type. Like......mix between a Plusle and Zubat. Interesting......'

Nathan's response initially only strengthened his fears/concerns over the rest of the group's safety, judging by his frown growing more severe by the second. That changed quickly when they said that T.V. was essentially a safe enough area for anyone to wander about if they minded their surroundings, causing him to pause and mull things over, before slowly nodding back to the boy, tension leaving as he calmed down.

"Hm.....You are right. Worried about them still......but everyone should be fine. Can look after selves, and Ranger around to help if they....can not. ......I hope."

When the scholarly trainer mentioned their preparations for the S.C. , that earned them further interest from the rugged wanderer's , as he silently raised both eyebrows at them. 

Naturally, he's heard of the competition himself to (As he's was always keen to look for challenges of any sort), but he more or less immediately became disinterested in it after reading up on the rules.  To the monk, Pokemon Battling was all about Fighting with all your might and achieving great things with your trusted partners, and one of his mottos for battling in general was NEVER Fight unless you were fully prepared for it. Given the goal of the Safari Cup was 'Obtaining and then Fighting with only newly caught Pokemon' , the tournament's premises ran completely contrary to his principles, he found it to be 'not good' for him, and therefore choose not to participate. 

In other words, the S.C. was not his cup of tea. The fact it also costed $5000 Poke was only more disincentive, as he could (and indeed did) invest that much money in better endeavors.

However, just because he had zero interest in the wildlife competition doesn't mean he begrudges his friend for their's. Surprised, perplexed, and curious about their decision, yes, but no ill will. If they wanted to join and Fight in the S.C., then he'd have no problem with it, and wish them the best of luck. Simple as that.

Seeing them flip through there money (which he is able to accurately deduce exactly how much they had at first glance) and grumbling about how he's going to cover all the cost of the S.C. did cause Terra to frown at their dilemma, before he abruptly pulled out $5000 Poke from one of his many pants pockets and brusquely deposited in the boy's wallet. He crossed his arms and nodded, satisfied with so neatly solving his friend's financial crisis.

"There. Now you can afford to enter Safari Cup without worry. Good luck, and be well. *Waves* See you later."

Terra then departs from Nathan like he came to them, resuming his exploration of T.V. and content all was well with the group now. Of course, his friend is free to stop him if they want to continue to chat!

*Flashback End?*

Well, that was...definitely abrupt.

Nathan's a little stunned at first.  Gallade's also been half paying attention to what's been going on with Nathan and Terra, and has briefly paused his training (he literally stops mid swing and immediately turns his head to look at the two trainers, as if he was a passerby who thinks he just heard something shocking, but needs to stop and try and listen in on the conversation to understand the context) as he mirrors Nathan's surprise and wonders what the heck just happened to cause such a reaction...

As Terra turns to leave, Nathan almost doesn't manage to say something, but he does at the very last moment.

"...Terra, why did you...are you sure you want to just...give all of that to me, no questions asked about what I'm going to do with it and why, nor asking for anything in return?"  Suffice to say, Nathan's still kinda surprised, mostly because Terra kinda just did the opposite of what merchants usually do as far as Nathan can tell...

And to say the least, I also wasn't quite expecting the conversation to go in this direction...