punchandkiss | Second Viking Assault

[It's hard to tell exactly where Astrid is when she turns her gear on, but there are trees around, and her Axew is visible resting against one behind her, keeping watch over two pokemon eggs. (She hasn't really gotten the hang of keeping them in pokeballs yet, it seems...mean.) Her attention isn't on them though, she's looking at the screen almost thoughtfully.]

I've been trying to get the hang of all the...little things here, so I decided to try and catch one of the wild pokemon running around on the paths. Which worked, except...

[She turns her camera around to reveal a Sentret happily sitting on the ground in front of her, bouncing up and down on her tail as she watches Astrid.]

I just picked it because it was the first one I found. And now I've caught it and I'm...not really sure what to do with it.

I mean...[She turns the camera back to her.] There are dragons here. And fire breathing dogs, and electric vermin, and so many other powerful looking creatures...

[She turns the camera back to the Sentret, who seems quite happy to be the center of attention.]

Then there's her. ...She looks like something babies sleep with. Or something bigger, stronger animals like to eat.

Do people really train these?

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I'm...alright. Tired. [There's a small smile on his face.] But my pokemon don't avoid me anymore.

He's a-- Well, hang on, I'll get him. [With a soft protest from Momowl, Hiccup crawls off-screen for a few seconds. He returns with pokeball and releases his Seadra, who is nothing like a mouse. Evolution caused him to nearly triple in size, though Dinkfin is still small for his species.] This is Dinkfin. He used to be a lot smaller, back when he was a Horsea... I could carry him around. He's a Seadra, now.

[Hiccup nods as he hears the name--not one he's familiar with, but he does remember them from Karkat's advertising. Now that he's settled again, Laila resumes her mothering.] So you got something from him, too...

Well, that's a plus. [She hadn't known his pokemon were avoiding him. He must have been worse than he even looked.] I'm heading in your direction. I think.

[She waits as he gets his...Seadra. Huh. She wasn't sure what to say about that, but it certainly wasn't a mouse.] He doesn't have to be in the water? [He did look sort of fishy...]

Yeah. Did he give you an egg too?

[Astrid the Snorunt hadn't! She liked the ice sickness. It was fun.]

No, he doesn't have to be. He prefers it, though. The same go for Fish and Flip, who are both, well, fish. [The name wasn't his fault.

Hiccup nods.] Two, actually. Last time he and this guy Vanitas were giving away eggs, I got a Swablu from them. They're like blue birds with clouds for wings. They said they'd keep me in mind if they got more Axew eggs, so now I'll have one of those, like you, when it hatches.

Fish that don't have to be in water.

[Astrid wasn't an animal expert by any stretch, but fish out of water died.]

Oh, cool. I've never seen a Swablu. [She almost laughs.] Honestly, Hiccup, I never know what anyone is talking about with these things, so far.

[Gosh, Astrid. Pogglemons.]

I'd show you, but they... [Man. What was a good way to describe the anxiety twins?] ...They're shy.

[His grin twitches up even higher.] Yeah. You'll get used to it, though. I did. Your pokegear also has a function called the pokedex that will help you identify pokemon and let you keep track of things like levels, attacks, and evolution. And if you want, I can show you some of the ones I have.

Shy fish out of water. That don't die.

[This is Astrid's 'what are you talking about, hiccup' face. He's probably used to it.]

I...someone showed me that, yeah. Well, I know about the fuzzball there anyway. [She points a thumb at the Sentret, who appears to be trying to show her Axew how awesome she is.] I haven't really seen many others...

[She thinks about it for a minute.]

Sure, Hiccup. Whatcha got?

[Oh, sure. He's spouted enough 'crazy' things for him to know that look well.]

...It's hard to explain.

[At her cue, Hiccup seems to perk up even more.] Okay. I can't show you Adder or Midgardsormr right now--they're too big for my room. But they're dragons, and Adder was-- [There's a slight pause.] ...She was Toothless's. When he was here. He left me two others, too. [He reaches up to pat the owl's cheek, causing her to pause in her grooming of her boy and to instead hoot a soft 'hello' to Astrid.] This is Laila, who's a Noctowl. She belonged to another friend of mine, before she was sent home.

[Once that bird is introduced, Hiccup crawls away again to pick up a few of his other pokeballs. Littlefoot, the two fish, the two dragons, and Urd remain where they are, as do his two eggs. When he's finished releasing the selected ones, there is also a Growlithe, Charmander, Mareep, Swadloon, Swablu, and Snorunt. He points to each as he names them, occasionally giving an affectionate pat or a scratch behind the ear.]

Let's see... We've got Hookfang, whose type that egg of yours will hatch into. He chews on my prosthetic. Then my Charmander and Mareep, Musphel and Zippleback... This is Stoick, the Swadloon. I got third place in a contest for catching him. And these two... Uhmn.

[Welp.]

Stormfly the Swablu, and my Snorunt. ...Astrid.

[Astrid is a little disappointed she can't see Hiccup's dragons, but there's probably time to see them later, with the way everyone is saying they're trapped in Johto forever.]

[Admittedly, though, she's curious, and watches as he introduces each of his pokemon, making a note of the names (which she might remember) and which ones he had received from other people. (With another little note to ask about those people when it seemed appropriate.)]

[And then he got to the last two and she just...blinks. Several times. And she doesn't seem certain what she thinks about this, her expression somewhat bewildered.]

You named a pokemon after me? [A hesitation as she looks at the pokemon on screen.] ...Why that one?

[Soon, Astrid.]

Well, uhmn...

[There had certainly been reasons why he'd named the tiny ice-type after Astrid. The question was whether he really wanted to share them. That could potentially be embarrassing. And Astrid could punch.

Meanwhile, the Snorunt is peering at the 'gear to get a look at her namesake.]

She's got guts? [He's technically not lying.] You should have seen the way she tried to charge Midgardsormr, after she hatched.

[Astrid Punches = Causing second thoughts for sixteen years.]

Right.

[Astrid doesn't seem to know what to make of the little pokemon, peering right back at her, one eyebrow slightly raised. And then finally she looks at Hiccup again, her expression...skeptical at best.]

[But she is a fierce, brave warrior...

Hiccup keeps quiet a second, then lifts the Snorunt up so each Astrid can get a better look at the other.]

...Don't you think she's cute?

[And indirect compliment, perhaps...?]

[Astrid blinks a few times as she thinks about this, staring at the Snorunt as it stares back at her.] Sort of. [It was something, anyway...]

[Still, she notices the 'compliment' of a sort, and smiles faintly.] I guess it's alright.

Second Viking Assault - [video]

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