#internet is still spotty but less frustrating than yesterday???

[vagrantblvrd]

fahc fishing jamboree, or battle buddies if they had pokemon? Hope your block dwindles away soon and your internet behaves decently!

Oh my God, okay, I love the Battle Buddies pokemon thing so much? (Because Pixelmon 2: Electric Boogaloo or whatever those dorks are doing in Minecraft these days? XD)

Like.

Just.

Some AU that’s a mix of Battle Buddies world and pokemon world (games/anime/Detective Pikachu and so on?) where pokemon are very much A Thing but it’s not weird if some people don’t pokemon.

Before Ryan gets partnered with Jeremy he’s on this mission somewhere and there’s this tiny little houndour he finds, right?

Doesn’t know much about pokemon other than some people go crazy about them, which okay, fair.

Okay, no. He knows the basics because sometimes he has to deal people using pokemon as guard animals/pokemon and therefore how to neutralize them as threats – type advantages and so on and he’s got specialized pokeballs not available to the general public? Like. Ones that will allow him to capture these guard animals/pokemon even if they do belong to someone to get them out of the way so they won’t be forced to otherwise hurt/kill them?

(Said pokemon either get left with the proper authorities later or handed over to the agency to be assessed to see if they can be integrated into his agency’s own pool of pokemon partners for various agents/security or their allies or quietly adopted out elsewhere because no sad end for them in this AU.)

Maybe he gets a few odd looks from his co-workers for not having pokemon of his own, but there were were always reasons he never got into pokemon like some people he’s met.

Maybe his family moved around too much as a kid for him to get to know the other kids where they were at the time.

It was just easier to stick to himself  and read his books and play his games – no real opportunity to get a pet pokemon or look into training his own because “they’re a big responsibility” and “when we get a place with a big yard” and all these reasons that add up to him never getting his own, y’know? Stopped thinking it might happen because hey, some people just don’t pokemon and it’s fine, okay.

But then he ends up working for the agency and sure other agents have pokemon partners they go into the field with but Ryan’s not one of them.

Could probably get one if he wanted, but it’s better if he didn’t? (Ignores the worried looks he gets because it would be nice to know he’s not on his  own out there sometimes, but Ryan insists he works better alone and so on and so forth.)

And then!

One mission that gets a little out of hand on him he finds this tiny little houndour huddling under a rusted out car or in an alley somewhere when he’s running from some baddies. Dead-end and this general air of oh, shit knowing he’s about to get caught when he hears this noise and sees something dart away from wherever he is.Through this gap in a fence or something he didn’t notice at first glance and while it’s probably not the safest idea to go chasing after it, he figures it’s better than getting caught by the baddies. (Whatever just ran away from him can’t be worse than what the baddies would do if they caught up to him, so he slips through that gap in the fence.)

Finds himself following these paw prints through mud or whatever on the other side, angry voices behind and ends up in an unused subway tunnel or some such after he loses the baddies, because of course. (Plot Reasons! :D)

Still following the paw prints – mix of curiosity and vague gratitude because whatever ran from him didn’t set out to help him or anything but it did anyway. (And also, safer to stay out of sight for a while, just in case so why not find out what led him here?)

Terrible weather outside anyway, rain coming down hard or just turning to mixed rain/snow and something, something reasons.

He sees a pair of eyes watching him from a hidey spot that’s a tangle of rusted out car parts and other stuff tossed away and forgotten and has this huh moment of not knowing what to do now?

Because, look.

Ryan may not pokemon like just about everyone else ever he’s not heartless, and whatever is hiding in that pile of junk helped saved his life just now, so.

Coaxes the little thing out from hiding with a bit of food – military rations so not the best? But the poor thing is starving and better than whatever scraps it’s been living off until Ryan came along, so yes.

Hard to ell what it is at first, it’s all covered in mud and the whatnot and nearly skin and bones.

But then it sneezes and shakes some of the excess water/mud from its fur and he realizes it’s a houndour. Little on the small side of things, and clearly wary of him but after he talks to it for a bit and feeds it the rest of what good he has on him it lets him pet it.

He doesn’t want to leave it behind, but isn’t sure it’ll follow him, but when he gets up to leave – it’s late and should be safe to head back to wherever he’s staying. (Still has a mission to finish, figure out where he went wrong and how to fix that so he can deal with his target.)

To his surprise the houndour follows him out of there. Wary, leery, but it follows him all the same.

(Ducks into shadows and hidey spots at first when he glances back to see if it’s still there like it thinks he’s going to turn on it, and he muffles a laugh because it’s pretty damn good at stealth, you know? Dumb little jokes to himself about it being a better operative than he is, because dork.)

He makes it back to the cheap little motel he’s staying at and is kind of ??? at what to do with the houndour now?

Sure it’s out of the weather and somewhere warm, seems a little less wary of him now but they’re not BFFs, you know?

Still.

There’s a couple of menus on the dresser for places that deliver and he’s pretty hungry himself, and he calls one of them up and places his order. Something for him and stuff that should be safe enough for the houndour to eat for the time being.

Spends the time waiting for the delivery person to get there watching the houndour explore the motel room, getting brave enough to come up to him. (Tries not to smile when it just looks at him like it doesn’t know what to make of him, either, other than being a goddamned weird human.)

When the food gets there he sets the houndour’s share on the ground and fills the ice bucket up with water for it and eats his own food as he boots up his laptop and other techy gadgets he’s been using.

Tries to figure out what the hell happened that things went so badly sideways on him and gets so caught up in that he startles when there’s this little whine at his side and he sees the houndour looking at him with its head cocked.

Doesn’t know why at first, and then laughs when he realizes he hasn’t finished his own food – too caught up in his work and all – and he splits the last of it between them.

Sits back to watch the houndour scarf it all down and lick its lips like it’s hoping for more, but not starving about it.

It’s still dirty, mud and muck dried in its fur and such and Ryan figures a bath wouldn’t hurt. (He’s not thinking long-term decisions about the houndour yet. Maybe has the vague idea he’ll being it back to the agency once things are done with here if it’ll let him, see if the agency can’t use a good houndour or if someone will want to adopt it as a pet if not a working pokemon.)

He’s a little surprised when the houndour lets him give it a bath.

Has it trotting along behind him as he goes to fill the tub, all curious and adorable as hell until it realizes what he’s got planned for it. There’s this moment he can see where it’s debating whether or not to let this strange human give it a bath – not harmless after all – but there’s a sort of trust between them and it’s been scratching a bit too, so it lets Ryan give it a bath.

Little motel shampoo sample bottles or whatever that smell vaguely of flowers or something else that tickles its nose, has it sneezing and splashing water on Ryan.

Little barks and yips at the  bubbles and whatnot. Some confused growling, but it’s not aggressive and Ryan is kind of charmed by this adorable puppy pokemon, okay? (Not that he realizes it yet.)

Gets it all nice and squeaky clean and dried off and watches it wander around the motel room exploring everything again before he could do with a shower himself.

When he comes out the houndour’s settled down some, curled up under the table his laptops set up and lightly snoozing.

Ryan goes back to work on his laptop and sees there are some messages waiting for him. Hints the agency was fed bad intel, possible mole in their midst or whatever and watch his back and blah, blah, blah.

Ryan is like, well, obviously, because things haven’t gotten this fucked up in a while? (Or ever, really.)

SO.

He finds a way to untangle things for his current mission and falls asleep at some point. (Wakes up to the houndour hopping off the foot of the bed and this spot by his feet it was clearly sleeping before then, but whatever, right? If the houndour wants to go back to be all Aloof or whatever it’s been doing while he’s awake that’s fine.)

He grabs some food – sticks to rations in his stuff and gives most of it to the houndour before going out to finish his mission.

Not the easiest one now the target and his people are on alert, but he manages without getting seriously injured/killed and that’s always nice.

Surprised when he gets back to the motel room and the houndour’s still there – he left a window open or some other way for it to leave while he was gone if it wanted – but nah. It’s dozing under the table again and cocks its head when it sees him limp inside. (Maybe fucked his leg up a bit, but nothing a few stitches and some bandages won’t fix.)

He’s just there to check on the houndour – not a great idea to stick around after the hornet’s (beedrill’s nest?) he just kicked up – and get the hell out of town before he gets caught.

No real idea what he’s doing (when does he ever?) but he grabs his stuff and shakes his head in amusement when the houndour jumps up and follows him when he leaves.

Sneaky sekrit agent/operative getting out of the city and somewhere safe to report back to whoever he trusts back at the agency. (Potential mole/breach back there but there are a few people he still trusts and  they find a way for him to get back home.)

He looks at the houndour who seems intent on going with him and finds a way to get it back too. (Still in denial that it’s his now, whatever that entails, but let him have this one.)

There are some shenanigans getting back – bribery to get the houndour past customs and whatever is going on at the agency trying to kill him? But the bribes work a treat and the houndour helps save his life – in more direct ways this time as it attacks a few baddies to save him and Ryan is like, well, okay, guess I’m pokemoning too now, huh? when the dust settles.

Gets back to the agency and helps clear up the last of the mess (that they know of at the time) and his superiors are all laughing at him when they see this feisty little houndour defending Ryan against potential threats. (He’s been so adamant all this time he works better alone/doesn’t need a partner human or pokemon and so on and so on, and here he is with this houndour, so yeah.)

After that Ryan sekrit agents/operatives his way around the globe with his houndour partner. Trains with her before he takes new missions first to make sure she’s suitable for it – would rather not take her out if she doesn’t have the right temperament, you know? (Let someone else adopt her as a pet than force her into being a working pokemon if it’s going to make her miserable, but she takes to the training/job like nothing else and his superiors are not so secretly relieved there’s someone watching his back on missions now.)

Thing is, though.

Now that Ryan’s got his houndour at his side he ends up picking up all kinds of pokemon while he’s out and about. (Away on a mission for the agency or back home for a change and a quick run to the grocery store.)

Finds all stray and abandoned pokemon that he can’t just leave behind – not with his houndour giving him this sad little look and soft whine and he’s a soft touch more than ever before when it comes to pokemon now.

Most of them go to the closest pokemon center where trainers or people looking for companion pokemon will adopt them into a forever home. (All kinds and most not suited for agency work one reason or another and really, really, he’s not suited for more pokemon at the moment with his work and time away from home and so forth.)

A few end up at the agency after they’ve passed the usual checks and whatnot to make sure it’s a good fit for them, but yeah.

It turns into this running joke about Ryan coming back from a mission with a few extra friends, you know? (And yeah, okay. Some of the one that end up with the agency don’t all go into the field, some just end up office pokemon keeping desk-bound agents/operatives other staff company during work hours and such.)

Things go on like that for a while and eventually Jeremy ends up at the agency, this kid fresh out of some academy or other with a different agency who got snapped up by Ryan’s.

Bounced around a bit in the beginning because there’s a reshuffling going on at the time – still rooting out whoever was behind the botched mission attempted coup back when Ryan met his houndour and pockets bubble up from time to time.

Eventually Ryan’s superiors stick Jeremy with Ryan and his houndour, right?

One of the few they can trust to keep Jeremy under watch/keep him safe. (They like him, he’s got all this potential and such but the timing of him coming into the agency while they’re dealing with this ugly mess is a bit suspect, so yes.)

By this time Ryan’s taken to incorporating his houndour’s little skull/bones aesthetic as his own? Like. Not blatant about it or anything, but the guy’s got all that theater kid to him and he’s dork enough to be unironic about it.

Jeremy notices of course, the times they go out on missions where Ryan pulls out the face paint and the  pattern on his own face matches his houndour (which he’s gone and named something ridiculous like Crossbones or something ~cool, idk.)

He and Jeremy get along well and at first Ryan thinks Jeremy’s like he used to be because he’s never seen him with pokemon of his own? (Sure, Jeremy loves pokemon, spoils Crossbones when she lets him and so on and the office pokemon adore the hell out of him, but yeah. Doesn’t seem to have any of his own.)

But then there’s a mission that goes south on them – nothing suspicious about it, just bad luck on their part – and just when things look dire for them Jeremy whips out a pokeball and this voltorb.

Gives Ryan this reckless grin, all battered and bloody and backs to the wall as he sends his voltorb out and sweet Jesus, Jeremy, what the hell -

Jeremy’s voltorb packs a hell of a punch, like his trainer/partner and they manage to get out of that little pickle (more or less) in one piece.

Get back home where Jeremy is all :DDDD as he tells Ryan about his voltorb that he’s had for years now. Jokes about it being a secret weapon no one ever expects and so on and Ryan is just well, obviously, because lunatics and voltorbs and it makes so much sense voltorb is Jeremy’s favorite now.

Anyhow, anyhow.

Shenanigans galore with the two (four of them?) out sekrit agenting/operativing all over the place.

At some point they either manage to rip out the baddies infiltrating their agency by the roots and put an end to that nonsense for good and stay on with the agency for forever? (OR until they decide to retire from fieldwork, train the next generation of agents/operatives or just retire completely.)

OR they have to go fake their deaths and go into hiding somewhere and end up in the FAHC where Ryan decides to call himself the Vagabond and everyone assumes Crossbones or whatever he calls her was a deliberate choice because reasons?

AND.

Or course Crossbones evolves into a houndoom at some point. Some critical moment on a mission that ends up saving Ryan’s and Jeremy’s lives and is Super Dramatic?

Fierce little hound evolving into a vicious houndoom and oh Jesus Christ, the baddies are in for it now.

And you know, Ryan getting his hands on houndoominite at some point?

A gift from Jeremy for his birthday or something because they’re not mutually pining idiots over here or anything. Ryan giving Jeremy a heart attack on a mission where he almost dies and Jeremy figures giving Ryan something like that might keep him little bit safer? (God knows Crossbones would never let someone hurt Ryan if she can help it, has proved it time and again in the past, so this can only be a good thing?)

Whichever route things go, Jeremy thinks it’s hilarious as hell that Ryan is forever picking up all these random pokemon wherever he goes?

If they end up sticking with the agency and training up future agents/operatives the rookies/newbies are like !!! when instructor Haywood plops a pokemon in their arms and tells them to look after it for him for a bit?

Either Ryan thinking the two would be a good fit – as partners in the field or just adopting the pokemon as a pet, whichever – or he’s just fucking with them for the lulz?

Some rambunctious pokemon that’s proven a good way to root out unsuitable agents/operatives before they can become a liability in the field or whatever.

OR.

The spooky Vagabond picking up stray pokemon all over Los Santos, right.

Hanging out at the penthouse with bby!pokemon (omg, pichus) climbing all over him and looking one of the others dead in the eye daring them to say something about it when he’s new to the crew and they don’t know what a doofus he is yet.

Jeremy coming in later and being like >:DDDDDDDD when he sees Ryan with tiny pidoves on his shoulder at some meeting spot or other. Itty bitty igglybuffs hopping around his feet somewhere with their tiny little arms held up asking to be picked up.

AND.

Ryan showing up at his and Jeremy’s place one rainy day in either scenario.

Crossbones shaking water off the moment she gets inside. Ryan opening his jacket up when Jeremy notices it moving and what do you know, it’s a Toxel. (Amped form, because Spyro.)

Jeremy’s wanted to get one for himself ever since Gavin told him about them, but for whatever reason hasn’t done it yet? So of course Ryan decided to get one for him or had the luck to stumble on one and was like !!! JEREMY.

So, you know.

Yes.