Escaping the Hustle and Bustle [Extravaganza 2020]
Jan 3, 2020 3:31:24 GMT
Post by Cavespider_17 on Jan 3, 2020 3:31:24 GMT
This is an Extravaganza piece for Dramatic Melody .
Prompt Answered: A Day in the life of a Ryme City Resident with a Mudkip Partner
“Lastly, to present his introduction, I give you Mister Keaton,” the PhD student muttered, tugging his red hoodie down with his hands in his pockets.
“Hello, my name is Fredrick Keaton. I am twenty-two years old and was born in Hoenn,” Fredrick paused. His peers looking at him, or at least some of them. Others had their arms crossed with their heavy heads buried into the eclipsing darkness of a mid-class nap. “I moved to Ryme City to come here… to University.” He paused again, starting to feel his anxiety creeping inside his skin. “My Pokémon partner is a Mudkip called Zulu – I decided to take this degree because I have always had an invested interest in the classification of Pokémon types. I know in this city Pokémon battles are illegal, but back home they are everything. Type advantages are everything… so what makes a Pokémon a water type? For example, Zulu is a pure water type, yet his evolution, Swampert, is not. Don’t you find that just as fascinating?” His eyes looked towards his peers, but didn’t he didn’t look at them. Instead, he looked at the wall, which had its paint slowly starting to peel off as the Koffing floating around the back of the room began to lick away at its coat.
“Very fascinating Mister Keaton, and with that, your assignment for today is to read pages twelve through twenty-eight of Dr Colress’s theory on how Pokémon draw out their power and the effects of non-aligned type attacks. Do the readings, if you don’t, I will know about it,” the professor stood up, clapping his hands once as his black hair flopped over his forehead, drawing attention away from his blind eyes.
Fredrick watched as the other students raced around to leave the lecture room, knocking pens off tables. “Come on, Zulu,” he said, walking towards the door. The Mudkip’s head titled excitedly at hearing his name, wiggling his tail and pouncing forwards in his own sprint towards the door. ‘I don’t get the urgency here… this city, this place… everyone seems so busy. Pokémon outside of their balls, in the streets… Pokémon as big as Onix, Steelix… Snorlax… just around.’ Fredrick slowly scooped up his bag, placing it on his back and following the excited Mudkip out the door. He looked up to see the sun still rising. “Morning lectures are the worst, huh, Zulu?”
The Mudkip bounced around, seemingly unbothered.
He looked up to the sun once more. His brown hair was spiked up a little more than usual, making him seem slightly taller than he was. He tucked his hands in his pockets as he walked out of the building and down the stairs onto the bustling early morning streets of Ryme City. Zulu trotted along beside him, smiling. The darkened paving stones of the alleys clashed with the lighter stones of the main roads.
He took a sharp left, walking towards the crossing, each step narrowing in on his destination. Zulu jumped up onto his back, wiggling his tail as he did. He looked at all the food from the market stalls. The yellow canvas overhang designed to make them stand out in the city was swamped at night by the neon lights. His eyes then glanced upwards at the overbearing skyscrapers and the flying Pokémon who would swoop between them, occasionally landing on the tops to make their nests. Their shadows made him feel a cold chill pass over his body, as the light was sucked away.
Zulu slid through one of the Pokémon hatches of a Munch-Nom Café, one of the smaller rivals to the much better known Hi-Hat Café branches. The eastern side of the city was far more student-friendly than the rest, catering to the students who attended the city-based campus.
Fredrick pushed on the door to open it, letting his fingers rest on the fire-proofed wood for a moment as the bell attached to the string rung out. He walked towards the counter, his white laces on his red canvas shoes started to become undone, attracting the attention of a nearby Meowth, who lunged at his feet. “One tamato berry toastie and a wiki berry soup please,” he asked, shaking his foot trying to get the playful Meowth to back away. However, in response, it reared up onto two feet before pouncing back down onto his shoe. “Get away from me!” he shouted, a little nervous.
The café turned to face him; cold stares locking on.
He reached over and took the food, searching his pockets for his card, quickly swiping it over the pay machine and taking a seat in the far corner. The wooden chair was uncomfortable, but not any more than what he expected it to be. He placed the bowl of wiki berry soup down on the beige mat opposite him. Zulu leapt up and buried his face into the bowl, slurping the liquid up. Fredrick bit down into his spicy toastie and turned to watch the news, which was reporting on some of the repairs being done to the city from the event that occurred the previous summer – when he was still living in Hoenn. The time on the bottom of the screen on GNN’s coverage noted 10:09.
“An hour until ‘An Introduction to Pokémon Biology’,” Fredrick muttered, turning back to Zulu, who hiccupped, causing ripples down his blue body. He chomped down into his toastie, in thought. The lack of poké balls in the city made Fredrick a little uneasy; ‘Any Pokémon could attack at any moment and harm my tiny partner – or worse, if a dangerous Pokémon got out and wiped out the rangers… the only people who have really been trained to battle in this place…’ Fredrick reached over the table to pet Zulu; however, his hand felt nothing. “Zulu?”
“Outside in the fountain,” the Café owner said, pointing his large, fat index finger towards the door.
“Thanks!” Fredrick said, running out the door and into the plaza. The yellow paving stones diagonally placed making it stand out more than the average pavement. “Zulu… don’t do that,” he said, bending down onto his knees.
Zulu sunk down into the water, so his eyes were just visible above the water.
“We have been here just under a week, and you are causing all sorts of trouble, huh?” Fredrick reached down into the water, stroking the Mudkip’s cheek. “Will we ever get used to this place?”
Zulu splashed at him a little.
“I know I am being dramatic. New city, new life, new laws… no bank of mum and dad.” Fredrick turned around and slumped back against the fountain. “I don’t even know if I be-…” he stopped, reaching for his shoulder strap of his backpack that was no longer there. “Shit.” He scooped Zulu in his skinny arms and ran back to the café, shoulder barging into the door as he did.
Fredrick tossed the Mudkip onto his shoulder as he bashed into tables and chairs, rushing towards the table he had been sitting at. He sighed, relieved to find his backpack still resting against the chair, and an even more profound sigh of relief came once he unzipped it to find his laptop was still in there. “You okay up there, Zulu?”
Zulu nodded his already bobbing head, pressing his little paws against Fredrick’s cheek.
“Yeah, I like you too,” he replied, zipping his bag back up and putting it on his shoulder. “I guess we better get going, huh?”
Fredrick felt the next few hours drain his soul, each minute felt like it lasted for ten, as the monotonous lecturer had rambled on about synthetic biology in certain species, rather than covering the basics as the class had implied. Zulu’s big black eyes had closed as he had napped throughout the entire thing, leaving Fredrick to feel slightly jealous of his partner.
Fredrick felt his stomach rumble slightly, however, the awakened eyes of the Mudkip at the thought of escaping the lecture hall had led him to a different idea. As the sun reached its highest point in the sky, Fredrick felt the rays warming his hoodie. His skin started to stick to the cotton inside, making him kneel down and take it off. He wiped the sweat from his forehead. “Hot day isn’t it, Zulu?” he asked, stepping out onto the street, walking casually towards the bus stop.
He turned to watch the road to see if the bus was coming. To his shock it was; he scooped the little Pokémon up and sprinted towards the stop, sticking his right arm out to call the bus over. Zulu swiped at his arm as he did, spitting a little water out of his mouth excitedly. As the bus came to a slow stop in front of him, Zulu pounced forwards onto the steps and rushed into the bus.
“One student and one small Pokémon – a day ticket please,” Fredrick said to the driver, shuffling some Poké dollars through the little hatch, reaching over and taking the ticket from the machine. He looked at the middle of the bus. Zulu was desperately trying to get into one of the Poké seats, which were designed like little wooden hatches to keep smaller Pokémon safe on their journey from the wobbles of the humans and larger Pokémon on the transport. Fredrick bent down onto a knee and lifted up Zulu’s back legs to help him climb into the seat. With his sweaty left hand, he took the handle which was hanging from one of the bars, struggling to re-balance as the bus went around a corner. ‘Hoenn never had buses like this… it does feel weird, I hate taking the buses here.’
The windows reflected the sunlight into the carriage. The light made the city have a slight white tinge to it, as the window’s dirt made it harder to see; however, Fredrick kept an eye on what buildings the bus was zooming past. A sudden halt due to a Machamp being on the road directing traffic made him swing slightly on the handle, grabbing it harder. “You okay, Zulu?” he whispered, looking at the Pokémon seats.
Zulu nodded back, letting out a friendly cry.
The buildings started to become taller as the bus headed more towards the town centre. The shops littered the lower levels, as did the street stalls filled with food. Fredrick’s stomach groaned at the thought of passing them; however, he smiled as he watched Zulu roll onto his back as best as he could, before being forced back onto his belly as the bus shot forwards towards the park.
Instinctively, Fredrick reached the pole and pressed the human-sized ‘stop’ button. ‘Heh, they have big, human and small buttons on this thing… why?’ The bus started to come to a stop. Fredrick picked Zulu up out of the seat and walked towards the park. ‘I guess in this city, with such a small Pokémon it's important to keep them in an area where the air is cleaner and being a water type his skin will benefit from being here.’ The gate, open and inviting, led to towards a fountain, standing out on the white paving stones in the lush green grass. Fredrick took a deep breath, placing Zulu down on the paving stones.
Zulu rushed forward, knocking a Rufflet out of the way as he charged towards the fountain, he bent his tiny knees and leapt into the water, splashing around. Another trainer looked up to cover his face as the water sprayed up.
“Sorry,” Fredrick called out, jogging over. “Zulu gets very exci-” he started, however, before he could finish a Marshtomp sprayed him in the face with a water gun.
“Ha, ha,” the man laughed. “Marshtomp loves playing in the fountain here, it is the best place for water types other than the nature section of the park, but being such a little Pokémon, I don’t feel comfortable letting him in there just yet, even though he can swim – just because of the trainers with Gyarados.” He tilted his brown hat, looking at Fredrick with his green eyes.
“Ryme city is pretty big, I would have thought there was something more suitable for water types, or smaller Pokémon…”
“Here everyone treats Pokémon equally – no battles, no Pokémon discrimination.”
Fredrick nodded. “I’m still not used to this place; I will get there though. Fredrick.” He offered his hand to the man.
“David,” he replied. “I am a student at the University here, it was strange for me when I first came here, but once you get used to it here, it is pretty nice. It is just important to keep these water types hydrated on the outside – if they get too hot, their attacks get weakened and could make them pretty ill. Luckily it isn’t usually that hot here.”
“That’s a relief. I’ve lived here for about a week now,” Fredrick replied, throwing a little ball into the water.
“It will be fine. You want to hang out for a bit? Looks like our Pokémon are getting along well,” David said. “Maybe I can show you more of the city tomorrow if you haven’t explored it all yet.”
“Ha, ha,” Fredrick replied. “Sure, I’ve been most places, but I am sure there is much more to learn about this place, especially if I plan on living here for a while still.”
Prompt Answered: A Day in the life of a Ryme City Resident with a Mudkip Partner
Escaping the Hustle and Bustle
“Lastly, to present his introduction, I give you Mister Keaton,” the PhD student muttered, tugging his red hoodie down with his hands in his pockets.
“Hello, my name is Fredrick Keaton. I am twenty-two years old and was born in Hoenn,” Fredrick paused. His peers looking at him, or at least some of them. Others had their arms crossed with their heavy heads buried into the eclipsing darkness of a mid-class nap. “I moved to Ryme City to come here… to University.” He paused again, starting to feel his anxiety creeping inside his skin. “My Pokémon partner is a Mudkip called Zulu – I decided to take this degree because I have always had an invested interest in the classification of Pokémon types. I know in this city Pokémon battles are illegal, but back home they are everything. Type advantages are everything… so what makes a Pokémon a water type? For example, Zulu is a pure water type, yet his evolution, Swampert, is not. Don’t you find that just as fascinating?” His eyes looked towards his peers, but didn’t he didn’t look at them. Instead, he looked at the wall, which had its paint slowly starting to peel off as the Koffing floating around the back of the room began to lick away at its coat.
“Very fascinating Mister Keaton, and with that, your assignment for today is to read pages twelve through twenty-eight of Dr Colress’s theory on how Pokémon draw out their power and the effects of non-aligned type attacks. Do the readings, if you don’t, I will know about it,” the professor stood up, clapping his hands once as his black hair flopped over his forehead, drawing attention away from his blind eyes.
Fredrick watched as the other students raced around to leave the lecture room, knocking pens off tables. “Come on, Zulu,” he said, walking towards the door. The Mudkip’s head titled excitedly at hearing his name, wiggling his tail and pouncing forwards in his own sprint towards the door. ‘I don’t get the urgency here… this city, this place… everyone seems so busy. Pokémon outside of their balls, in the streets… Pokémon as big as Onix, Steelix… Snorlax… just around.’ Fredrick slowly scooped up his bag, placing it on his back and following the excited Mudkip out the door. He looked up to see the sun still rising. “Morning lectures are the worst, huh, Zulu?”
The Mudkip bounced around, seemingly unbothered.
He looked up to the sun once more. His brown hair was spiked up a little more than usual, making him seem slightly taller than he was. He tucked his hands in his pockets as he walked out of the building and down the stairs onto the bustling early morning streets of Ryme City. Zulu trotted along beside him, smiling. The darkened paving stones of the alleys clashed with the lighter stones of the main roads.
He took a sharp left, walking towards the crossing, each step narrowing in on his destination. Zulu jumped up onto his back, wiggling his tail as he did. He looked at all the food from the market stalls. The yellow canvas overhang designed to make them stand out in the city was swamped at night by the neon lights. His eyes then glanced upwards at the overbearing skyscrapers and the flying Pokémon who would swoop between them, occasionally landing on the tops to make their nests. Their shadows made him feel a cold chill pass over his body, as the light was sucked away.
Zulu slid through one of the Pokémon hatches of a Munch-Nom Café, one of the smaller rivals to the much better known Hi-Hat Café branches. The eastern side of the city was far more student-friendly than the rest, catering to the students who attended the city-based campus.
Fredrick pushed on the door to open it, letting his fingers rest on the fire-proofed wood for a moment as the bell attached to the string rung out. He walked towards the counter, his white laces on his red canvas shoes started to become undone, attracting the attention of a nearby Meowth, who lunged at his feet. “One tamato berry toastie and a wiki berry soup please,” he asked, shaking his foot trying to get the playful Meowth to back away. However, in response, it reared up onto two feet before pouncing back down onto his shoe. “Get away from me!” he shouted, a little nervous.
The café turned to face him; cold stares locking on.
He reached over and took the food, searching his pockets for his card, quickly swiping it over the pay machine and taking a seat in the far corner. The wooden chair was uncomfortable, but not any more than what he expected it to be. He placed the bowl of wiki berry soup down on the beige mat opposite him. Zulu leapt up and buried his face into the bowl, slurping the liquid up. Fredrick bit down into his spicy toastie and turned to watch the news, which was reporting on some of the repairs being done to the city from the event that occurred the previous summer – when he was still living in Hoenn. The time on the bottom of the screen on GNN’s coverage noted 10:09.
“An hour until ‘An Introduction to Pokémon Biology’,” Fredrick muttered, turning back to Zulu, who hiccupped, causing ripples down his blue body. He chomped down into his toastie, in thought. The lack of poké balls in the city made Fredrick a little uneasy; ‘Any Pokémon could attack at any moment and harm my tiny partner – or worse, if a dangerous Pokémon got out and wiped out the rangers… the only people who have really been trained to battle in this place…’ Fredrick reached over the table to pet Zulu; however, his hand felt nothing. “Zulu?”
“Outside in the fountain,” the Café owner said, pointing his large, fat index finger towards the door.
“Thanks!” Fredrick said, running out the door and into the plaza. The yellow paving stones diagonally placed making it stand out more than the average pavement. “Zulu… don’t do that,” he said, bending down onto his knees.
Zulu sunk down into the water, so his eyes were just visible above the water.
“We have been here just under a week, and you are causing all sorts of trouble, huh?” Fredrick reached down into the water, stroking the Mudkip’s cheek. “Will we ever get used to this place?”
Zulu splashed at him a little.
“I know I am being dramatic. New city, new life, new laws… no bank of mum and dad.” Fredrick turned around and slumped back against the fountain. “I don’t even know if I be-…” he stopped, reaching for his shoulder strap of his backpack that was no longer there. “Shit.” He scooped Zulu in his skinny arms and ran back to the café, shoulder barging into the door as he did.
Fredrick tossed the Mudkip onto his shoulder as he bashed into tables and chairs, rushing towards the table he had been sitting at. He sighed, relieved to find his backpack still resting against the chair, and an even more profound sigh of relief came once he unzipped it to find his laptop was still in there. “You okay up there, Zulu?”
Zulu nodded his already bobbing head, pressing his little paws against Fredrick’s cheek.
“Yeah, I like you too,” he replied, zipping his bag back up and putting it on his shoulder. “I guess we better get going, huh?”
Fredrick felt the next few hours drain his soul, each minute felt like it lasted for ten, as the monotonous lecturer had rambled on about synthetic biology in certain species, rather than covering the basics as the class had implied. Zulu’s big black eyes had closed as he had napped throughout the entire thing, leaving Fredrick to feel slightly jealous of his partner.
Fredrick felt his stomach rumble slightly, however, the awakened eyes of the Mudkip at the thought of escaping the lecture hall had led him to a different idea. As the sun reached its highest point in the sky, Fredrick felt the rays warming his hoodie. His skin started to stick to the cotton inside, making him kneel down and take it off. He wiped the sweat from his forehead. “Hot day isn’t it, Zulu?” he asked, stepping out onto the street, walking casually towards the bus stop.
He turned to watch the road to see if the bus was coming. To his shock it was; he scooped the little Pokémon up and sprinted towards the stop, sticking his right arm out to call the bus over. Zulu swiped at his arm as he did, spitting a little water out of his mouth excitedly. As the bus came to a slow stop in front of him, Zulu pounced forwards onto the steps and rushed into the bus.
“One student and one small Pokémon – a day ticket please,” Fredrick said to the driver, shuffling some Poké dollars through the little hatch, reaching over and taking the ticket from the machine. He looked at the middle of the bus. Zulu was desperately trying to get into one of the Poké seats, which were designed like little wooden hatches to keep smaller Pokémon safe on their journey from the wobbles of the humans and larger Pokémon on the transport. Fredrick bent down onto a knee and lifted up Zulu’s back legs to help him climb into the seat. With his sweaty left hand, he took the handle which was hanging from one of the bars, struggling to re-balance as the bus went around a corner. ‘Hoenn never had buses like this… it does feel weird, I hate taking the buses here.’
The windows reflected the sunlight into the carriage. The light made the city have a slight white tinge to it, as the window’s dirt made it harder to see; however, Fredrick kept an eye on what buildings the bus was zooming past. A sudden halt due to a Machamp being on the road directing traffic made him swing slightly on the handle, grabbing it harder. “You okay, Zulu?” he whispered, looking at the Pokémon seats.
Zulu nodded back, letting out a friendly cry.
The buildings started to become taller as the bus headed more towards the town centre. The shops littered the lower levels, as did the street stalls filled with food. Fredrick’s stomach groaned at the thought of passing them; however, he smiled as he watched Zulu roll onto his back as best as he could, before being forced back onto his belly as the bus shot forwards towards the park.
Instinctively, Fredrick reached the pole and pressed the human-sized ‘stop’ button. ‘Heh, they have big, human and small buttons on this thing… why?’ The bus started to come to a stop. Fredrick picked Zulu up out of the seat and walked towards the park. ‘I guess in this city, with such a small Pokémon it's important to keep them in an area where the air is cleaner and being a water type his skin will benefit from being here.’ The gate, open and inviting, led to towards a fountain, standing out on the white paving stones in the lush green grass. Fredrick took a deep breath, placing Zulu down on the paving stones.
Zulu rushed forward, knocking a Rufflet out of the way as he charged towards the fountain, he bent his tiny knees and leapt into the water, splashing around. Another trainer looked up to cover his face as the water sprayed up.
“Sorry,” Fredrick called out, jogging over. “Zulu gets very exci-” he started, however, before he could finish a Marshtomp sprayed him in the face with a water gun.
“Ha, ha,” the man laughed. “Marshtomp loves playing in the fountain here, it is the best place for water types other than the nature section of the park, but being such a little Pokémon, I don’t feel comfortable letting him in there just yet, even though he can swim – just because of the trainers with Gyarados.” He tilted his brown hat, looking at Fredrick with his green eyes.
“Ryme city is pretty big, I would have thought there was something more suitable for water types, or smaller Pokémon…”
“Here everyone treats Pokémon equally – no battles, no Pokémon discrimination.”
Fredrick nodded. “I’m still not used to this place; I will get there though. Fredrick.” He offered his hand to the man.
“David,” he replied. “I am a student at the University here, it was strange for me when I first came here, but once you get used to it here, it is pretty nice. It is just important to keep these water types hydrated on the outside – if they get too hot, their attacks get weakened and could make them pretty ill. Luckily it isn’t usually that hot here.”
“That’s a relief. I’ve lived here for about a week now,” Fredrick replied, throwing a little ball into the water.
“It will be fine. You want to hang out for a bit? Looks like our Pokémon are getting along well,” David said. “Maybe I can show you more of the city tomorrow if you haven’t explored it all yet.”
“Ha, ha,” Fredrick replied. “Sure, I’ve been most places, but I am sure there is much more to learn about this place, especially if I plan on living here for a while still.”
