walla walla [OPEN]

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"Uh-uuum," Ezra stammered, lost in his apprehensions. An impatient chimchar busily set the grass ablaze out of boredom as the trainer carefully retrieved his phone and started punching madly for the navigator once more. This stupid gizmo must be busted, he huffed. Figures his one dependable resource would malfunction right when he truly had need of it. Ezra abruptly turned on chimchar and caught a whiff of ash and smoke. His eyelids pulled wide in mock horror.

"S-Stop that, Kong! What are you trying to do?!" Ezra stamped at the smoldering grass frantically as Kong chortled over its accomplishment. Honestly, you're hopeless. It would be the confines of Kong's pokeball immediately, if Kong's rump hadn't been he ideal lighting in the dense forest as late evening approached.

"You're lucky you're useful, y'know that?!" Kong couldn't help but tumble onto its back and grasp its abdomen in fleeting hysterics. Like I said, hopeless. He pressed forward, Kong tailing him once it realized he had resumed walking for an exit.

At this stage, any exit would suffice.

Ezra slid into the brush with Kong and wasn't seen for a time.

The sound of twigs and leaves brushing and snapping against his form gave slip of his approach, and Ezra came crashing out of the treeline and smacked the ground, his hair riddled with leaves and small twigs. Kong was busy sorting those out for him when Ezra noticed the clearing ahead was mostly barren. A short ways ahead was a stump on which nestled another trainer; he could visibly detect something fuzzy on their shoulder, perhaps resting. C-cute. Then he tensed.

"Uhm, h-hi," he offered, suddenly wishing his entrance had been more natural. Or perhaps less, considering.

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"Uhh, kind of?" Sitting up cross-legged and dusting himself off, Kong nestling in his lap, Ezra tried to recall his voyage thus far. Let's see, came in from the east end, took a left... From that point he drew a blank because an angry sounding pokemon had startled Kong into a sprint, which left Ezra little choice but to follow or remain defenseless. He hadn't the time to mind the direction. He could be anywhere by now.

"Hehe.. yeah, I'm kind of lost. Stupid Pokenav is busted, too." He slipped his phone out of his pocket and rustled the phone, showing an app that had frozen up on screen. These sorts of things happen, but it didn't make him any less frustrated.

"I just wanted to catch some pokemon, ya know?! Now I'm just hungry." An expression of wanton hunger crept over his face. I forgot to check my lunch. Curious hands went digging into his satchel, but all he found were sticky fingers lathered in jelly and peanut butter sloppily.

"That'd be the PBJ," he admitted, flustered before startling himself back to his senses. Oh, I haven't even introduced myself. Hunger had forced a slip of courtesy from him. He immediately amended the discourse, giving his name.

"The name's Ezra, my dude... What're you called?" He asked meekly, feeding Kong the remnants of the meal sullying his fingertips as the Chimchar suckled the paste voraciously.

"Wow, you must've been starvin'! ... Sorry about that."

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"Theodore... Emile?" Where have I heard that before, he inquired mentally. Theodore, Theodore Emile... It was a name muttered out loud before. Did he hear it in the general public? No, the memory was vividly distinctive. It wasn't just happenstance that he heard the name, it was directed at an enthralled audience. When it clicked in his mind, the cogwheels shifted and Ezra's face became less amused and impartial.

"Oh, you're one of th-... us," he blurted, almost annoyed by the revelation. I guess I was bound to run into one of them soon. It particularly bothered him that it had to be now, so incidental yet suspicious. Ezra had been quite grateful of his time alone, and up 'til one of them was gawking back at him an arm's length away, he truthfully hadn't given their affiliation any thought. It had been better that way, he felt in hindsight.

Normally Ezra might have been level-headed, but he was keenly frustrated to have given away his name so freely. His spoken name with Team Galactic was intentionally Ajax. Only a few necessary correspondents knew his actual name. This whole ordeal presented a vital complication. Just what could someone leverage out of him with that alone, Ezra wondered.

"Y-you should call me Ajax," his voice faltered. Crap! That didn't sound very convincing at all... Just what was he going to do now that his name was compromised? Theodore didn't come across as threatening or conniving, but appearances could be misleading. What could he do to convince him to keep his mouth shout, short of gag him?

He grew weary of his second-guessing and huffed with an air of uncertainty, almost pleading for some compassion but knowing too well the extent of cruelty and barbarism that was likely to perpetuate most if not all Galactic members. Theodore was technically an ally, but Ezra secretly despised Galactic, and yet Theodore seemed remarkably innocent for a 'crook.'

Yet even so, was it worth confiding in him?

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"... Okay. Any ideas?" He rubbed his fingers through Kong's fur, who took it for affectionate stroking less so a means to cleanse Ezra's own hands of the spittle. Ezra was staring down at Kong when he took a moment to consider... How good is his memory, I wonder... He doubted Kong had been paying any more attention than him, and from the ground it was difficult to see past the–That's it!

"How high up can that thing fly?" He meant the swoobat, of course. If it could get a gander just over the tree canopy and see the nearest spot the tree line ended... The forest couldn't be that big, right? Surely if it flew high enough, it could catch a glimpse. Otherwise they would be stuck with intuition and what little directions could be gleaned from natural landmarks.

Luck on their side, they may come across a sign specifying which ways led to where. But Ezra had the feeling this forest was mostly left to its natural state to spare the expense.

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"Well I suppose it's official then," Ezra began mouthing in sarcastic frustration, "I must be retarded." So much for his ego; it was choking on itself. Theodore humored him though, which was polite. Even if we get a direction, how far is it? Ezra wasn't fond of a late night walk in the woods. In fact that notion gave him goosebumps, his heart racing.

"Did he see anything?" He hoped Theodore wasn't the type to chastise him a slip of the tongue in a dire circumstance. "Or should we just try our luck with a hunch?" That seemed like just the idea to get them lost. It followed that Woobat had indeed gleaned a direction, and Ezra was in high spirits for such news. There was a chance they could get out tonight.

"ALRIGHT! At least we have something to go off," he spoke. Grabbing up Kong and brushing himself off as he rose, Ezra began moving in the right direction. They weren't formally accompanying one another, but at this point, it felt safer to move in a group than alone. Ezra made sure to lag behind, and managed to keep pace with Theodore.

"So, whatcha planning after... this," his voice slipping into a blue hue once more. It was more business than friendly banter; Ezra was genuinely curious, not aggravated in his questioning but intent on the idea they had crossed paths for a reason. He doubted it was purely coincidental.

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"I think I'll just keep flying solo, until something big happens." It was better that way; he would run fewer risks playing it safe. He wasn't with Galactic for their cause. Ezra was just another child looking for his dormant talents. It wouldn't bode well if he was caught up in a failed heist.

"You think Galactic has some big endgame planned?" It was hard to tell if they were just gangsters or fanatics. The higher up you got with the spies and admins, the more you knew. And Ezra was still just a measly recruit groveling for scraps. Their leaders could be cooking up a terrorist plot right under their noses, and he wouldn't even know.

He'd just continue believing they were nothing more than petty thieves. Like the leaves around them as they brushed past the foliage, they would all eventually change their true colors. Ezra tried to relax and ease into a different conversation, one that left him less edgy and indifferent.

"You plan to take the Gym Challenge? I've been thinking about it all week." Truth being told, he could hardly stand to pass by a town without staring into the glass panes and gawking at the interior trainers. So many pokemon gathered there, and Ezra could hardly contain himself. But he had never truly felt ready. Experience was something he lacked.

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"You'll never know if you don't try." Ezra wasn't sure how else to explain it. But if Theodore was worried about failing it, he shouldn't be bothered. "I failed once. Came back a week later and BAM, got my badge." His fist smashed into his cupped palm to help assure Theodore that it had been possible.

"But waiting until you feel more than ready never hurt anyone." He was beginning to feel like the trees around them were blurring, as though the pathways were just starting to look familiar. "Are we heading the right way still?" Nothing would be more embarrassing than getting even more off track.

"Should Woobat take another peak?" Perhaps it could help.