pinkrival - Tumblr blog

[pinkrival]

❝ release the LEORB —— ! ❞

[pinkrival]

there is nothing especially IMPORTANT about today, and he refuses to acknowledge anything to the contrary.

[pinkrival]

genshin au bede where he’s a dendro vision holder      ( and catalyst user ) currently living in mondstadt with some mysterious connection to the ley lines even he doesn’t fully comprehend.      ( yet OPAL has promised him answers —— and so he will begrudgingly accept her guidance. )

he technically hails from snezhnaya      ( specifically, the ORPHANAGE he grew up in was located there ) but good luck actually getting that much out of him. he certainly doesn’t consider it his home.

[pinkrival]

@hattricks​ said: “The League Committee is going to vote on raising the minimum age to participate in the gym challenge.”

oberon scrunched up his nose a bit at the very thought —— not even putting forth an effort to hide his DISGUST. ❝ raising the minimum age? ❞ he echoed, almost incredulously. as though the very idea was something so ridiculous as to be mocked mercilessly.      ( it was. ) lips pressed into a thin line. the gym leader crossed his arms, the pastels and lace decorating his opal’s tea room clashing terribly with his SOUR mood.      ( the league’s continued nonsense had that sort of effect on him. ) an inhale. an exhale. feeble attempts to cool his simmering temper.

❝ that is, ❞ oberon continued after a moment, ❝ without a doubt, one of the most idiotic propositions i’ve ever heard. you are serious, are you not? ❞ of course she was; he could tell.      ( though that did little to CHANGE his opinion on the matter. )  ❝ if someone has the talent to be deemed worthy of an ENDORSEMENT, then that should be the end of it. young or old —— what does it matter? ❞ a huff. ❝ the so-called unbeatable champion was young when he took center stage. the same could be said of the trainer who overcame him. ❞ there were countless examples of such —— child trainers of exemplary TALENT, effortlessly defeating opponents decades their seniors. such was the appeal of battling; anyone could take part. anyone could become someone important.

hadn’t that been the very thing that FASCINATED him so as a child?      ( that even an unwanted brat could claw his way to greatness through work and skill? )

❝ i sincerely doubt anything will come of it. ❞ oberon eventually concluded, leaning back in his seat. ❝ after all, the league cares more about weaving a marketable NARRATIVE —— and what holds more intrigue than a child prodigy? ❞ much as it disgusted him to say, the fairy trainer liked to think he knew how they operated. they wouldn’t dare sabotage their profits.

[pinkrival]

               the things he would      ( publicly ) say were the LEAGUE not in some way responsible for a considerable percentage of his income...

[pinkrival]

               he squints.

[pinkrival]

               he’s busy GLARING daggers at the sky as if it’s done something to personally offend him.      ( it has —— it’s SNOWING. )

[pinkrival]

oleasters​:

“I’m glad to hear it.” Though her tone was deceptively unemotional, the meaning was twofold. She was glad—to see that at least one small bit of Rose’s influence had ended in a positive.

“I admit I questioned Mr. Rose’s judgment when she hatched—and I suppose you might have as well, in hindsight. A Hatenna is perhaps not the ideal choice for a child… Regardless, he insisted that you would take proper care of her. Neither of us was equipped to train her ourselves, you see.”

                ❝ yes. i feel inclined to AGREE. ❞ he had been asked several times by aspiring trainers how to train a hatterene —— or where to catch a hatenna for themselves. bede always made it a point to try his hardest to DISSUADE them from the idea.      ( to pick a different fairy type to start with. one with a more even temperament. ) ❝ it was unimaginably difficult for quite a while. i kept... upsetting her without MEANING to. ❞ an understatement. the very beginning of their partnership bordered on nightmarish. a pokemon sensitive to emotion and a child filled to the brim with rage against the world were akin to oil and water.

                ❝ i felt terribly guilty. ❞ bede continued, frowning at the MEMORY. ❝ i felt as if everything i did only served to hurt my own pokemon. ❞

                a sigh. ❝ i suppose in the end, it taught me how to better CONTROL myself, though i wish it hadn’t come at the cost of hatenna’s discomfort. ❞

[pinkrival]

@tokiwahealer​ liked for a STARTER —— !

               the forest was ALIVE —— in more ways than one.      ( more ways than the statement brought to mind. ) fairy type pokemon were always quick to FLOCK to bede’s side, peeking around the foliage and nesting in the trees. watching him —— or perhaps seeking the gym leader’s attention.      ( maybe a bit of both. ) the tangle itself seemed to hum with a strange sort of energy, ebbing and flowing as if pulled along by an invisible tide. the deeper one wandered in, the stronger the FEELING became. it was alluring and dangerous in equal measures —— something bede was aware of, perhaps better than anyone.

               he hadn’t been expecting COMPANY. few people were brave enough to stray so deep into glimwood tangle. fewer still could do so without invoking the IRE of the fairy types that called it home. yet the sound of approaching footsteps were unmistakably human, bringing bede pause.

                ❝ ... is someone there —— ? ❞

[pinkrival]

@morpekotude​​ said: Marnie is here and pops a confetti popper over Bede, blowing a party favour, too. She is wearing a Santa hat.

               to say bede seemed less than THRILLED was an understatement —— the gym leader glared straight ahead      ( like looking through marnie, rather than at her ) with his lips pressed into a thin line. as if opening his mouth would SHATTER his fragile composure entirely and lead to a holiday-themed flood of verbal vitriol. a few seconds passed in uncomfortable silence, before the boy sighed heavily —— shoulders slumping as he did so, like the tension left him with his EXHALE.

               he brushed a bit of confetti off of his shoulder and scrunched up his nose at the sight of marnie’s hat, as if NOTICING it for the first time.

                ❝ ... i’m not CLEANING this. ❞

[pinkrival]

                ❝ ... if anyone needs me, i’ll be BUSY training. alone. ❞ the festive atmosphere is already beginning to make him feel bitter.

[pinkrival]

cafemayhem​:

  at this point nothing could be helped. he made the baker’s lips quickly perk right up as she tried to hold back her giggling. his entire features just reminded her of her yamper when something didn’t go right, and he sat there with the biggest pout.

 ‘ just - chocolate cake?’  of course the friend had asked with a little suspicion lingering in her voice as she held her hand out to ask for the mug which held the scorched chocolate burned to the inside of the cup.  

‘ do you want just a chocolate cake - or a lava cake?’ lava cake was something she could easily make, so was chocolate cake. but - an ask never hurt as she glanced down towards the other.

                ❝ just chocolate cake. ❞ the gym leader repeated, a touch of SHEEPISHNESS coloring his tone. ❝ well, that was the plan, at least. ❞ looking at the results now, it was almost impressive how spectacularly he had managed to FAIL. the charred remains barely looked edible —— let alone like the DESSERT they were meant to resemble. bede held out the cup with a defeated sigh, wanting to banish it from his sight as soon as possible.

               ... lesson learned. BAKING was not his strong point.      ( or perhaps recipes on the internet simply weren’t to be trusted. )

                ❝ lava cake sounds INTERESTING. i haven’t had anything of the sort in quite a while. ❞ a pause. ❝ ... would you like help? or... perhaps it would be best if i stayed out of your way. ❞ lest he cause another baking DISASTER.

[pinkrival]

WHICH IMAGINARY ILLNESS DO YOU HAVE —— ?

SHEDDING

you are losing yourself, bit by bit. your own skin is peeling away, moths forming out of it as you shed more of yourself. your breaths birth hummingbirds and doves as they abate, your fears turning into savage things of teeth and claw. how much more of yourself will you have to grate away until you fit the mold you set yourself today? how much more will have to go tomorrow? how much longer until you've shed too much of yourself - until the pieces you left by the roadside are more than what little you have left?

[pinkrival]

oleasters​:

If it did bother Oleana in any way, she gave no indication of it.

“I see,” she said blandly, her gaze lingering on the screen. Listening to him, she was reminded of Rose in a strange way—but she had the sense to keep that to herself. “While that is admirable, Gym Leader Bede, there is nothing wrong in taking pride in your successes. I would advise you as well to take care that you do not overextend yourself.”

Advice. He surely had no use or desire for such a thing from her of all people, when any previous advising she’d offered him had been ultimately self-serving. Still it came to her now naturally, without ill intent or much thought at all. She did not think to silence it.

In the screen footage, the camera panned up to show the towering form of his Hatterene, Gigantamaxed, her graceful tentacles snapping through the air as they crackled with fairy energy. The sight mercifully—or perhaps just the opposite—prompted Oleana to suddenly change the subject.

“I see you’re still using the Pokémon that Mr. Rose entrusted you with. She is the same one, isn’t she?”

               a hum —— more like a way to ACKNOWLEDGE her words, really.      ( without forcing himself to confront any truth they might have held. ) certainly bede was no stranger to pushing his own limits, but could oleana claim to be any different? if he was being honest, the gym leader didn’t know how to LIVE without striving for some sort of goal. he didn’t want to grow complacent because doing so would rob him of the DRIVE that pushed him ever forwards. in some ways, bede felt like a piece of MACHINERY —— if he remained idle for too long, he would crumble into a pile of rust and broken parts. 

               he took another sip of his drink. ❝ ... i’ll try keep that in mind. ❞ the boy eventually said, gaze flicking back to the SCREEN. a polite response. ambiguous in its level of commitment.

               he watched the battle proceed in SILENCE for a few more moments, recalling each move as they came —— the triumphant culmination of the strategy he had been carefully laying throughout the MATCH.      ( such a flashy victory... bede supposed that was what made it so news worthy. ) oleana’s words unceremoniously cut through the gym leader’s thoughts like a hot knife through butter, and a sharp inhale soon followed. the pokemon rose had entrusted him with. on the screen above, hatterene rained down glimmering bursts of starry energy —— like a weaponized meteor shower.      ( even now, the sight filled him with PRIDE. ) ❝ ... yes. ❞ the gym leader said, after a short pause. ❝ she is. ❞

                his fingers suddenly ITCHED to reach for hatterene’s great ball. ❝ she’s been my most trusted partner since the very beginning. we were always there for each other. ❞ even when no one else was. an abandoned boy. an abandoned pokemon. a FAMILY of two. ❝ i’m... grateful to have met her. ❞

[pinkrival]

               A MOMENT, IF I MAY but please look at this cute and festive bede i commissioned from the very cool and very talented @asviatan​      ( same name on twitter! ) he and his cotton candy sweater are going to be my header for the holiday season and i honestly envy how cozy he looks.

[pinkrival]

                ❝ tomorrow... is the first day of DECEMBER. ❞ he’s trying      ( and failing ) to mentally prepare himself for what’s to come.

[pinkrival]

toshelter​:

[ mamori would argue with his first point for she herself, given the opportunity, would have made those childish, eyesore-inducing scribbles crumble at her feet ( or at least, covered them with proper art! ) but thankfully bede’s witty comment prevented the professor-in-training from unecessarily linger on that topic. ]

“ pffft — it was definitely the worst !  from an outsider’s prespective, that … thing kinda ruined the whole town’s vibe, ya know? the statue’s waaaay more fitting, yeah. ” [ she winks, raising a thumb upward in approval. ]   “ and hey! they might have given you the stinky eye, but from what i’ve heard, you were granted the very sweet gym leader title, right? so, who really won in the end, huh ? ”

                ❝ ah, well. i can’t ARGUE with that, now can i? ❞ a smile pulled at the fairy trainer’s lips.      ( he was never one to turn down praise. ) ❝ i suppose my actions ultimately benefited not only myself, but stow-on-side as a WHOLE, in the end. tourism must be flourishing. ❞

               bede tilted his head, regarding the other with a touch of CURIOSITY. ❝ we’ve established you’re well aware of who i am. ❞ he quipped —— arching one pale brow as if to herald the QUESTION to follow. ❝ however, i’m afraid it isn’t mutual. ❞ but i would like it to be —— words unspoken, yet clearly implied.      ( anyone willing to so adamantly defend his past actions was WORTHY of such interest. ) ❝ might i ask for your name? ❞