bohren_rpg | A different sort of badge

This was it. Raz had waited ever since he got a brochure about the RTF for this moment. Aipom latched onto Raz's hat as they made their way to the office. Getting badges sounded fun, but Razputin wanted the thrill of being one of the RTF members.

Once he was inside, he looked around. Sheik was the first person he saw, so he asked. "Is this where we sign up to be a part of the RTF?"

Someone else? Sheik glanced up, eyeing the boy with some surprise. "It is," he finally confirmed, holding up his literature - there was more of it on the table, a sign saying, 'Please take one!' above it.

...Okay, he had to ask. "How old are you?" he asked uncertainly - surely the RTF wouldn't accept a child, would they?

Shadow, curled up at Sheik's feet, glanced up curiously as well, eyeing the Aipom a little warily.

"Cool," he got the pamphlet and sat down across from Sheik. Aipom got off and sat next to Raz, giving a smile and waving to Shadow.

"Hmm? Oh, ten. I'm old enough to count as a trainer. I'm Razputin, but call me Raz."

"Ten? Ah..."

He supposed he had been sheltered in Johto. Certainly, there were trainers that young, but generally they didn't take up potentially dangerous jobs like, well, this.

"Are you sure?" he said a little doubtfully, "There may be some dangerous things ahead... it's not quite like being a trainer."

"I know that. Trust me, I can pull my own weight," he said, giving a confident smirk.

After all, he was born and raised in a circus and that was no walk in the park.

"Well, if you say so," he shrugged, settling back. "Why do you want to join?"

Funny - most ten-year-olds wanted to become famous trainers, or tournament champions. Still, he supposed catching criminals may have appealed to the more justice-minded.

"Well, I got a pamphlet about the RTF a while back and I was just drawn into it. Don't know how to explain it, but it sounds even cooler than being a regular trainer."

Either way, it sure beats doing chores around the circus and the hard grueling training his dad put on him daily.

He nodded - that made sense. "Mm - I had a pamphlet in the tourist package when I came over from Sinnoh," he explains, "And then there was that Rocket broadcast..."

Definitely not looking pleased about that, actually - Shadow stood, resting his head on his master's knee comfortingly. Sheik scratched him absently behind the ears, still lost in thought.

"They caused a lot of trouble in Johto several years ago," he said suddenly, "Where I'm from. And I'd rather they didn't do the same here."

"Wow. You're from Johto? I think my family performed there way before I was born." He looked up at Sheik in amazement.

At the mention of Team Rocket at the broadcast the other day, he got a little serious. "Yeah, but didn't they broke up? If what they say is true about Team Rocket coming back, they're going to bring in a lot of trouble."

"They were supposedly disbanded," he nodded, "When I only a little older than you. And then, a few years ago, they reappeared. I'm not certain who stopped them, but..."

Shrugging, he glanced at the pamphlet again. "If they're active again, then yes, I want to help stop them."

"Wow. That's pretty cool. I want to stop them too. That is, if the RTF will let me in. I only just left my family but I'm used to living life on the road since my family owns a traveling circus show."

More like he ran away from the circus to join the RTF, but same difference. Aipom got bored with their conversation and jumped back onto Raz's head, fiddling with his goggles.

"A circus?" Sheik asked, eyebrows raised. "That must have been an experience."

And, quite frankly, it explained the Aipom.

Pausing, it suddenly hit him that he had forgotten some rather important information. "Ah, excuse my rudeness," he said sheepishly, "My name is Sheik."

"Yeah. You know how some kids say they want to run away and join the circus? I'm the opposite."

His getaway pokemon was 'The World's Tiniest Ponyta', so he really did come from the circus.

"Nice to meet you, Shiek." Aipom waved at Shiek, saying hello to him. It was then he noticed Shadow. "Wow, an Umbreon. You're pretty lucky to get an Eevee evolution."

Sheik's eyebrows raised. A ten-year-old runaway, really? Still, it probably wasn't his place... "That must have been interesting."

Upon realising he was recieving attention, Shadow turned, padding over to Raz and raising a paw for a handshake. "I don't know where he learnt that," said his bemused master, "But yes. My aunt worked in - well, still does, I suppose - a research lab in Goldenrod City, researching how different types interact, so they studied Eevees quite a bit. One of them was orphaned and couldn't go back in the wild, so they gave it to the director's daughter, my friend. When I left to start training, she gave him to me."

Sheik gave Shadow a fond smile. "We've seen a lot together."

Raz shrugged and then returned the handshake. "Still, that's pretty cool. It was nice of your friend to give you their pokemon. Aipom here was gift after my debut performance. We kinda just left the troupe, so it's my first journey by myself."

He smiled a little sheepishly, reaching out to scritch Shadow behind the ears as he padded back. "Well, he always seemed to like me better... and I believe she prefers psychic types," he added with a chuckle.

Giving the Aipom a little wave, he settled back. "Well, good luck... er, do you have anywhere you can go if the travelling gets to be a bit much?"

Raz had to think for a moment, scratching his head. "That's the funny thing. I don't really have a permanent place since my family moves a lot. Part of being a traveling circus after all. Guess if worst comes to worse, I'll join the league circuit." Going back to the circus was the last thing he wanted to do.

He nodded slowly - at least there'd be other trainers to watch after him in the league circuit. "Perhaps the partner you're assigned to will look after you," he suggests, wondering idly who he'd be getting.

At least, he assumed new members would be assigned partners.

"That would be nice. I hope you get an awesome partner too, Sheik."

Man, this waiting was starting to drive him crazy. Raz began to wonder what the hold up was. Still, he wasn't going to let this waiting game get to him. This was his chance to enter the RTF and he wasn't going to mess it up.

Yes, he was noticing the waiting, too. Still, almost no sooner than he had thought it did Shadow lift his head, followed a second later by his name being called.

"Ah, finally," he sighed, then gave Raz a nod of acknowledgement. "Well - good luck."

"Same to you, Sheik." Aipom waved to Shadow and Shiek as they left.

He got up from his seat and stretched out for a second. Aipom followed his trainer and make himself comfortable on Raz's head again. Soon enough his own name was called and he went inside.

Some time later, Sheik emerged from the office, looking vaguely dazed.

An Absol following him and a disgruntled-looking Shadow sulking as he stalked out ahead of him, the new RTF member looked around, shook his head in bemusement, and headed outside to find somewhere comfortable to sit.

Well, Iggly would be okay in the PC box for a while. And in the mean time, he had a lot to read up on...

Who would've thought the application process was this draining? At least now Raz obtained a new pokemon, much to Aipom's dismay. Raz walked out with the Absol following right behind him.

First assignment? Keep track of incoming trainers in Sheercliff. Seemed simple enough. He left office and saw Sheik again.

"Hey, so they got you an Absol too, huh?"

...Well, it looked like the RTF hired ten-year-olds after all.

Sheik gave Raz a quick smile, reaching back to scritch the new Absol behind the ears. "They did, yes," he confirmed, tilting his head curiously. "And I was told that my new partner would have one, too - I suppose that is you, then?"

Really, he didn't mind. He could, at least, keep him out of trouble. (He hoped.)

Shadow, still sulking, gave Aipom a rather disgruntled look. So they had both been replaced, huh? In the meantime, Sheik's Absol padded over to Raz's new one, nuzzling affectionately. At least they could still stick together (somewhat).

"Guess so. It'll be great." Raz gave him a smile. It did sound strange that the RTF would put two newbies together, but they could learn from each other. (So long as Raz didn't start up any trouble, he'd be easy to handle.)

Raz's Absol accepted the nuzzling and returned the gesture. Aipom puffed his cheeks and stuck his tongue out at the new pokemon.

Sheik smiled back, a little cautiously. To be honest, he had been expecting being partnered with a more... experienced agent, but he supposed they could muddle through it together.

"So, we are assigned to keeping track of incoming trainers?" Glancing down at the assignment letter he had been given, he snorted faintly, adding dryly, "...Would that include ourselves, then?"

Catching sight of the two Absols (and Aipom), Sheik raised an eyebrow. "It seems our Pokemon are jealous of our new party members," he said lightly as Shadow flopped down on the ground in a huff. "What will you call it?"

Raz shrugged. "Probably. Doesn't seem too bad though."

Seeing his Aipom taunting the Absols, he went over to the monkey pokemon. "C'mon, Aipom, just because we got a new team mate doesn't mean I'm gonna ignore you. Please try to at least get along with him." Aipom looked up at him before he climbed up on his shoulder.

"Hmm, I never really nicknamed my pokemon before. I'll have to think about it. What about you?"

"I haven't really decided yet," he shrugged, "I suppose a name will come to me."

Sighing, he crossed the ground to the sulking Shadow, settling cross-legged beside him as he stroked the long ears. "Please be nice?" he murmured to the Umbreon, "I promise I am not replacing you."

Shadow gave him another sulky look, then sighed and draped a paw over Sheik's foot. A small smile crossed Sheik's face, petting the paw gently. "That's better. Be nice to her, okay?"

Glancing up at Raz, Sheik looked distinctly embarrassed. "He's... usually not like this when we get a new party member," he explained sheepishly.

"Might be because Absol's a dark type like Shadow," he tapped his chin in thought. "I bet Aipom was acting like that because we never had dark-types in our show and Absol's the second pokemon I actually own. Ponyta actually belonged to the circus before I brought her along with me."

Raz brought out a pokeball and out came the Ponyta. The strange thing about this ponyta was how small it was. "She's not known as the world's smallest Ponyta for nothing." She gave a whinny as a hello to the new faces.

Sheik made a thoughtful sound. "Perhaps. But we have a Houndoom as well, and we've never had any trouble with her..."

Chuckling outright at the tiny Ponyta, he nodded solemnly. "I see how she got her name," he smiled. "A pleasure to meet you, Ponyta."

Shadow, for his part, was simply gawking. That was... a small Ponyta.

"Hmm, that is weird," he scratched his head. His Aipom mimicked him, using his tail to scratch.

The Ponyta whinnied again and circled around Shadow. She was a little shorter than the Umbreon, but wasn't too bothered by her size at all.

Watching Shadow and the Ponyta, he sighed softly. "Maybe he somehow picked up on those stories," he shrugged, then settled back, watching the two.

Shadow was watching said Ponyta rather curiously, reaching out to pad at her tail. Probably not the best idea - yelping sharply as his paw was burnt, he scrambled back, practically stumbling into Sheik's lap and curling into a miserable ball.

"Shadow..." Sheik sighed, cuddling the wounded Umbreon close as he dug one-handed through his pack for a burn heal. "You're not having a very good day, are you?"

"You mean how Absol supposedly bring disasters where ever they go?" The Absols just gave a look to Raz. "I'm not saying you do, guys but there's still that superstition."

Ponyta, worried about Shadow, neighed to ask if he was alright. "It's okay, Ponyta, we know it was an accident." Raz got down on his knees and stroke her nuzzle in reassurance. Aipom added his two cents as well.

"Mm - well, did the rangers tell you how they found these two?" he asked in a somewhat distracted way as he applied the salve to Shadow's paw. Immediately, Shadow tucked it away, still not moving from Sheik's lap. "Shadow was there - perhaps he decided it was a bad omen."

Glancing at the Ponyta, Shadow gave her a mildly put-out look, then heaved an Umbreon-ish sigh and confirmed that he'd be alright. Sheik was half-right, too - what would they say about his owner when they saw him with an Absol?

Jade strode into the RTF office, looking none the worse for wear; none of his Pokemon knew Rock Climb, as it happened, but with Albiore knowing Fly, Sheercliff held no real transportation challenges for him. (Okay, so the wind had buffeted them somewhat, but Jade had recovered and straightened himself out once they'd landed.)

He'd been planning on making a report, but spotting the twin Absols - and the young trainers accompanying them - gave him pause. Absols weren't exceedingly common, although he knew Dist had one. Of course, Umbreons like the one in the older boy's lap weren't very common, either. "That's an unusual assortment of Pokemon," he observed idly.

"Not really. They went on and on with orientation stuff, it probably went over my head."

Raz looked up when he heard Jade's voice. "Um, yeah. We just joined the RTF and they gave us these Absols." Aipom waved at the newcomer and the tiny ponyta whinnied a hello as well.

That was... possibly clumsily explained. Sheik winced a little, hastily clarifying - "They thought it'd be best if these two stayed together, and given their reputation, it'd be well-advised for the public to familiarise themselves with them."

And as for the other rare Pokemon... stroking Shadow's ears, he added fondly, "And Shadow has been with me for years. He is registered, of course."

Jade's eyebrows went up. Granted, he'd been doing some fairly advanced work at around the age these boys were, but that was hardly standard. "Aren't you a little young to be joining the RTF?" he remarked, addressing the question mostly to Raz. "And what will you two be doing, exactly?"

"I'm ten years old and I can take care of myself, sir," he said with confidence. "The office didn't seem to mind, or else I wouldn't have gotten my RTF badge right now."

He brought out his pokegear and it listed the mission as well for Jade to see. "They told us to keep track of the trainers coming into Sheercliff."

Oh, really now. Eighteen wasn't so young that he'd be lumped with a ten-year-old, was it?

"I suppose they just assigned us something easy because we're newcomers," he added, still just a liiittle bit huffy. "And, well, they wouldn't want to send a younger agent -" Yes, Raz, he did just subtly gesture at you - "Out on something dangerous."

Jade found himself amused. He really wasn't one to tell anyone they were too young to be doing anything, given his background, even in the full awareness that he'd been an exceptional case. And regardless of what logic might tell him, he found himself approving of the boys' confidence. The older one's huffiness even reminded him of himself, when he was younger.

"My apologies, gentlemen," he replied, with a slight inclination of his upper body that wasn't quite a bow, but was clearly meant to convey the meaning of one. "I suppose that makes us coworkers, then. And if your mission is to track trainers entering Sheercliff, then allow me to have the honor of being the first whose arrival you record."

It was exceedingly difficult - practically impossible - to tell if Jade was mocking them with his overly courtly manner, or if it was his way of apologizing. The difficulty probably lay in the fact that Jade likely wasn't making any distinction between the two himself.

Raz gave Sheik a look. He doesn't have to have his hand held all the time, guys. There was also the fact he was a psychic, albeit still inexperienced, but the guys who did his paper work recommended that he not say anything about it yet.

"Hey, thanks. I'm Razputin, but call me Raz."

Yes, maybe it would be a good thing for Raz to actually tell his new partner that.

"And I am Sheik," he added, nodding in Jade's direction - if there was any mockingness in his tone, Sheik couldn't find any (and really, given that he spoke like that on a regular basis, how would he ever identify it?). "You are with the RTF? Would you perhaps have time to run us through regular occurances and proceedures?"

Jade straightened to his full height, pushing his glasses higher on the bridge of his nose. "Sergeant Jade Curtiss, Ranger Task Force, Sinnoh Division." The excessive formality had given way to a more businesslike, clipped tone. "And no, I'm afraid not. I hate teaching. I don't take apprentices; I don't impart knowledge. And I have my own business to attend to here."

After a pause, he added, "Though I suppose, if you chose to follow and observe me, I could hardly prevent you." It was a small concession, only offered because they were new to the RTF and he ought to at least try to show somewhat willing.

Raz promised to tell Sheik later once they adjust to being in the RTF.

He quickly added the info into his pokegear. Despite the rejection, he couldn't help but be impressed with Jade. He seemed like a true professional. Not to mention he just hinted they could watch.

"Thank you, Sergeant Jade," Raz even gave a salute to him.

Well, that was... honest, at least. "I see... thank you, Sergeant Curtiss," he managed to say reasonably calmly as he glanced up from his own pokegear, "I suppose we must make our own way or find another teacher, then."

Or, of course, they could just follow him and watch. That worked as well.

A different sort of badge

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

Do you guys mind an RTF interruption? |D I can delete if it's a problem~

I am around, I swear! Derp derp

Order is Sheik-Jade-Raz, then?

Sure~

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject