[ any Trainer would be familiar with the welcoming atmosphere of a Pokemon Center, though this one isn't in the Hoenn style. he watches from afar as he takes in his surroundings and eventually hears that voice - a familiar one, though not deeply so. the thought process troubles him - power and loyalty are certainly important traits, but not the only ones that should be treasured.
he doesn't speak until the memory fades away, leaving darkness around them. ]
Is that how you still think?
[ there's no judgement in his tone; only curiousity. ]
[The first sensation after Steven's voice rings out is like ice, Blue's consciousness freezing up as he grapples with the logic of that voice- who owns it, where it's coming from... In this dreaming state, logic doesn't have to make sense, but there's a strange sense of lucidity to that particular voice that can't simply be shrugged off like the rest of a dream.]
Why are you here!?
[Guilt and shame cascade in a sickening torrent, aided by their malfunctioning crystals, but they're not quite the same single emotion that was bubbling up from the dream itself. Something else almost manages to form in the dream, called forth by association with the rush of emotions- the silhouette of a familiar older man, before Blue forces it down.] --What business is it of yours!? Get out!
[ he doesn't particularly want to be here, but this isn't the first time this has happened to him. he's been a guest in a handful of people's dreams this week, but Blue's is the first one he's felt enough interest to comment on. ]
I would like nothing more. Unfortunately, that would necessitate you waking up. [ so that's on you, lad. ] You don't have to answer my question - I was only curious.
[ he can draw his own conclusions from his reaction and what he already knows about Blue, but won't share them outwardly. he was just wondering if he'd be proven right or wrong. ]
[Even though this is still in a dream, Steven's calm and measured replies help to make it more lucid, like they're conversing awake, which allows Blue to focus enough within the dream to reply in kind. There's another flash of shame, except this one is closer to embarrassment, at perhaps the idea that he'd somehow subconsciously invited Steven in. This isn't even the first time this week that it's happened (which helps to keep him from questioning it as it happens).... But the first one somehow managed to be more pleasant than this, despite an even worse set of emotions fueling it.]
[There's certainly a deep mistrust in here too, but it's not exactly focused on Steven himself; it's more general. He doesn't know how this keeps happening.]
[Within the dream, Blue's glower remains on Steven- a few paces between them in the inky void. Blue is still holding Pidgeotto's ball in one hand, except the logic of the dream has fixed things to be more up to date, no longer the boy that hovered indecisively in front of the PC but the teenager that Steven met, the ball containing the older Pidgeot.]
Tell me why you want to know. [Blue retorts, after all the anger and shame and grandstanding evens out a little] Since you'll just assume whatever you want anyway. [Like everyone does, he doesn't add.]
[ it's painfully clear that Blue is feeling hostile, but not in a particularly malignant way. it feels more like a defense mechanism, and for a moment Steven regrets acknowledging something that might have been out of line. unfortunately, it's too late to back out of it now - Blue has posed a question to him, and he intends to answer truthfully. ]
I've met countless Trainers over the years. From those meetings, I've learned that no two will ever think exactly alike. Every person has a unique way of approaching training and strategy, and I find myself curious about why they think in those ways.
[ there was a time that he was incredibly closed-minded, focusing on proving himself to be more than his family legacy by pushing himself beyond his limits and inevitably burning out. it was a learning process to get past it, and moving past it is the only reason why he's found the success that he has. ]
On the contrary, I try my best not to assume. It goes against our natural instinct as humans, but I find that making an effort keeps my mind open to ideas I may not have thought of before.
So what you're asking me... [Blue repeats slowly, with a hard stare back.] Is my philosophy as a trainer? ..Hmph.
[After a moment longer, Blue closes his eyes slowly, maybe a subconscious show of his attempt to concentrate, to think within this dreaming state. In a dream there's no necessity to just verbally convey things; and as for Blue's feelings on how he had trained his Pokémon, versus how he has come to grapple with his past actions to grow with them now, it was an awfully complex situation. Memories are shared loosely, abstract thoughts and images: the time he invested in fishing, finding a Magikarp who showed just the right mettle; the days, weeks he spent simply training one-on-one with it, pushing the weak little fish to its limits until finally it evolved. Doing drills with Pidgey, later Pidgeotto, hours upon hours of speed training darting about the air and ground; the ways, unlike any of his other Pokémon, that it had picked up on his personal hostilities and made them its own. Eevee, pushing his little body to its limits, eventually learning to use the power he'd naturally stored up towards evolution to become more powerful just as he was.]
[Maybe he'd pushed too hard sometimes. Maybe back then, he hadn't been thinking of their well-being or happiness, deadset on victory at any costs. But eventually all that hard work would have paid off- and Blue'd known it would. He'd acknowledged and second guessed himself, in the aftermath of his lost Championship, recognizing the weakness in their personal connections, the lack of traditional bonds of love and trust he'd had towards them, but all that time he'd believed unequivocally in their potential all the same- had to, to get them to that point.]
"Absolute Potential"- that's what I'd call it. It's true that I've always demanded nothing less than perfection from my Pokémon. Go ahead and accuse me of being too harsh if you want. But my team is with me because they had that drive, too.
...As for my philosophy in battle, [Blue's eyes open again, a flash of challenge in them.] There's no point in just telling you something like that, huh? That's what battles are for.
I don't think I have the right to do that. Your style may be strict, but it clearly isn't reckless. I don't think you would have gotten to this point if it were.
[ no one can make it to the Hall of Fame by sheer luck or aggressiveness. battling is a competition of strategy - you may be able to win by using brute force at first, but eventually a time will come where you can't force your way through to victory. it's clear to him that Blue has potential of his own - not quite the same as what he saw in May and Red's eyes, but something undoubtedly similar.
the challenge, however, makes him smirk. ]
Fair enough, but I'd much rather you state your intentions during waking hours. Dreams being as fickle as they are, there's no guarantee that I'll remember this interaction when I wake up.
Changed your mind? [Blue snorts, but his expression says that he's not here to make an issue of it... this time.] Well. Don't try to butter me up or anything, I know exactly what my own limits are.
[By this point, he's had it perfectly drilled in. Lose to Red... lose to the Johto Champ. He can see where he hits a wall, even if it doesn't bother him quite as much as it used to. It's fine, he thinks, if it's some young upstart beating him down with a fresh new mindset. He's a Gym Leader in order to look forward, not back.]
[Blue rolls his eyes with a slight flush at the edges of the dream- it's hard to tell the difference; he still half-thinks his coming here at all is some extended hallucination.] Wake me up, then. [He retorts snottily. But after another moment, he tries to concentrate, to force himself awake in that way one does when becoming cognizant of their own nightmare. The faster he can wake up, the faster he can make that challenge real.]
I wouldn't dream of it. Still, don't misunderstand me - your style isn't reckless, but I'd argue that your personality still is.
[ Steven aims to be a mentor to Trainers, but it isn't his place to intervene unless it's required to protect another from something dangerous. how one reacts on the battlefield and in day-to-day life may hold similarities, but they aren't necessarily identical. don't get cocky, boi. ]
That much is out of my hands. Let's speak at length when we're both conscious.
[ and because this is a dream, he can simply smile, walk away, and fade into the inky blackness of Blue's subconscious like a cool, cocky bastard. wakey wakey, sleepyhead. ]
[Blue makes a defiant sound.] Thanks for the observation. [And as long as Steven doesn't intend to nag him on that point, he doesn't see any reason to acknowledge it- he knows his limits They're not any of this man's business.]
[--Ugh, look at this high-and-mighty schmuck. Blue wonders if he's rolling his eyes in his sleep as he subconsciously wills the man out of his head and himself awake--]
[And when he manages, he just lies there, half-awake and annoyed for a few minutes, before deciding to broadcast as annoying a ping as he can muster in the middle of the night.]
Next week. We'll use the lake stream bank as our battlefield. Don't wimp out on me, cuz you know I won't let you live it down.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
he doesn't speak until the memory fades away, leaving darkness around them. ]
Is that how you still think?
[ there's no judgement in his tone; only curiousity. ]
no subject
Why are you here!?
[Guilt and shame cascade in a sickening torrent, aided by their malfunctioning crystals, but they're not quite the same single emotion that was bubbling up from the dream itself. Something else almost manages to form in the dream, called forth by association with the rush of emotions- the silhouette of a familiar older man, before Blue forces it down.] --What business is it of yours!? Get out!
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[ he doesn't particularly want to be here, but this isn't the first time this has happened to him. he's been a guest in a handful of people's dreams this week, but Blue's is the first one he's felt enough interest to comment on. ]
I would like nothing more. Unfortunately, that would necessitate you waking up. [ so that's on you, lad. ] You don't have to answer my question - I was only curious.
[ he can draw his own conclusions from his reaction and what he already knows about Blue, but won't share them outwardly. he was just wondering if he'd be proven right or wrong. ]
no subject
[There's certainly a deep mistrust in here too, but it's not exactly focused on Steven himself; it's more general. He doesn't know how this keeps happening.]
[Within the dream, Blue's glower remains on Steven- a few paces between them in the inky void. Blue is still holding Pidgeotto's ball in one hand, except the logic of the dream has fixed things to be more up to date, no longer the boy that hovered indecisively in front of the PC but the teenager that Steven met, the ball containing the older Pidgeot.]
Tell me why you want to know. [Blue retorts, after all the anger and shame and grandstanding evens out a little] Since you'll just assume whatever you want anyway. [Like everyone does, he doesn't add.]
no subject
I've met countless Trainers over the years. From those meetings, I've learned that no two will ever think exactly alike. Every person has a unique way of approaching training and strategy, and I find myself curious about why they think in those ways.
[ there was a time that he was incredibly closed-minded, focusing on proving himself to be more than his family legacy by pushing himself beyond his limits and inevitably burning out. it was a learning process to get past it, and moving past it is the only reason why he's found the success that he has. ]
On the contrary, I try my best not to assume. It goes against our natural instinct as humans, but I find that making an effort keeps my mind open to ideas I may not have thought of before.
no subject
[After a moment longer, Blue closes his eyes slowly, maybe a subconscious show of his attempt to concentrate, to think within this dreaming state. In a dream there's no necessity to just verbally convey things; and as for Blue's feelings on how he had trained his Pokémon, versus how he has come to grapple with his past actions to grow with them now, it was an awfully complex situation. Memories are shared loosely, abstract thoughts and images: the time he invested in fishing, finding a Magikarp who showed just the right mettle; the days, weeks he spent simply training one-on-one with it, pushing the weak little fish to its limits until finally it evolved. Doing drills with Pidgey, later Pidgeotto, hours upon hours of speed training darting about the air and ground; the ways, unlike any of his other Pokémon, that it had picked up on his personal hostilities and made them its own. Eevee, pushing his little body to its limits, eventually learning to use the power he'd naturally stored up towards evolution to become more powerful just as he was.]
[Maybe he'd pushed too hard sometimes. Maybe back then, he hadn't been thinking of their well-being or happiness, deadset on victory at any costs. But eventually all that hard work would have paid off- and Blue'd known it would. He'd acknowledged and second guessed himself, in the aftermath of his lost Championship, recognizing the weakness in their personal connections, the lack of traditional bonds of love and trust he'd had towards them, but all that time he'd believed unequivocally in their potential all the same- had to, to get them to that point.]
"Absolute Potential"- that's what I'd call it. It's true that I've always demanded nothing less than perfection from my Pokémon. Go ahead and accuse me of being too harsh if you want. But my team is with me because they had that drive, too.
...As for my philosophy in battle, [Blue's eyes open again, a flash of challenge in them.] There's no point in just telling you something like that, huh? That's what battles are for.
no subject
[ no one can make it to the Hall of Fame by sheer luck or aggressiveness. battling is a competition of strategy - you may be able to win by using brute force at first, but eventually a time will come where you can't force your way through to victory. it's clear to him that Blue has potential of his own - not quite the same as what he saw in May and Red's eyes, but something undoubtedly similar.
the challenge, however, makes him smirk. ]
Fair enough, but I'd much rather you state your intentions during waking hours. Dreams being as fickle as they are, there's no guarantee that I'll remember this interaction when I wake up.
[ say it to his face asshole!!! ]
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[By this point, he's had it perfectly drilled in. Lose to Red... lose to the Johto Champ. He can see where he hits a wall, even if it doesn't bother him quite as much as it used to. It's fine, he thinks, if it's some young upstart beating him down with a fresh new mindset. He's a Gym Leader in order to look forward, not back.]
[Blue rolls his eyes with a slight flush at the edges of the dream- it's hard to tell the difference; he still half-thinks his coming here at all is some extended hallucination.] Wake me up, then. [He retorts snottily. But after another moment, he tries to concentrate, to force himself awake in that way one does when becoming cognizant of their own nightmare. The faster he can wake up, the faster he can make that challenge real.]
no subject
[ Steven aims to be a mentor to Trainers, but it isn't his place to intervene unless it's required to protect another from something dangerous. how one reacts on the battlefield and in day-to-day life may hold similarities, but they aren't necessarily identical. don't get cocky, boi. ]
That much is out of my hands. Let's speak at length when we're both conscious.
[ and because this is a dream, he can simply smile, walk away, and fade into the inky blackness of Blue's subconscious like a cool, cocky bastard. wakey wakey, sleepyhead. ]
no subject
[--Ugh, look at this high-and-mighty schmuck. Blue wonders if he's rolling his eyes in his sleep as he subconsciously wills the man out of his head and himself awake--]
[And when he manages, he just lies there, half-awake and annoyed for a few minutes, before deciding to broadcast as annoying a ping as he can muster in the middle of the night.]
Next week. We'll use the lake stream bank as our battlefield. Don't wimp out on me, cuz you know I won't let you live it down.
no subject
I'm sure you wouldn't. I'll see you there.
[ bitch is sleeping now. bye!! ]