40 - video/action for Vermilion;

[islandshore]

[It was kind of strange, really. After their match in the tournament, Riku hadn't seen hide nor hair of Xion. He thought he might've kept missing her and that she was somewhere in town; the city's huge, after all, and with so many trainers, it'd be easy to lose her in the crowds.

But when he tried contacting her over the Pokégears, he got no response. Then, when he checked his PC, he caught several familiar Pokémon inside what would've been an empty box (the others were safe at the TC, after all). Then there was that note... Really, it didn't take much to add two and two together.

So, when he addresses the network, it's with a somber expression. There's an Arcanine bounding around in the background, but Riku doesn't pay him much mind. Making it to the semis in two cups is worth celebrating, sure, but not when he's lost a close friend.

He hesitates before, finally, he speaks up.]

To those of you that knew her, Xion's gone. I've got Bahamut and a handful of her other Pokémon, but if anyone else wound up with some her roster, could you let me know?

She probably wouldn't want us to worry about her. If anything, she'd probably want us to keep smiling, but I know she made a lot of close friends here. It's only fair of me to give you guys a heads-up.

[There's a pause, followed by a sigh.]

And good luck to everyone else in the tournament.

[With his message complete, he shuts off the gear and wanders out to the docks with Flare by his side. It's still mind boggling to think about. After over a year, he hadn't expected her to just... vanish. And after he beat her in the tourny, too.

How ironic... depressingly so.]

Comments

[islandshore]

Actually, it is.

[Really, he hasn't had people question his hair right down to the styling before. Talk about bizarre.]

[for_realsies]

So. Unfair.

*She's pulled back from the camera, her hair in two neat balls on either side of her head. She's got pencils holding them.*

I might just have to start wearing my hair like normal people to stand out if you all have cool hair.

[islandshore]

Well, you have to consider that these hairstyles might be normal for some of us.

[Heh.]

[for_realsies]

I just figured more people would have hair like normal for me then they would normal for here.

Cause hair can get really weird here.

I'm mostly jealous. Until I find someone with hair like yours that I can play with. Can I play with your hair?

[islandshore]

Why would you want to play with my hair...?

[Such a baffling concept! Not to mention a little strange.]

[for_realsies]

*Yes and yes. Baffling and Strange. That's Imogen.*

Because it isn't like the hair of anyone where I'm from. So I'm curious what I could do with it.

[islandshore]

No offense, but I kind of like my hair the way it is.

[for_realsies]

Well, it does that cool foofy thing.

...Your suuuure you don't want to try something different?

[islandshore]

Yeah, I'm positive about that. But maybe you'll luck out and find someone to take up that offer.

[for_realsies]

You're probably too far away for me to get to anyway.

*That was only a little tsun.*

So are you going to tell me your name, or should I call you foofy hair forever.

[islandshore]

...Yeah, no. That won't be necessary.

Just call me Riku.

[for_realsies]

...You know there's a girl with that name, right?

That'll get confusing, maybe I should call you foofy hair.

[islandshore]

They're not spelled the same, if it helps. Just... think of it as a coincidence and try not to stress it too hard.

It's not like we're twins or anything.

[for_realsies]

Yes but "Riku that isn't spelled the same as Rikku" is a bad nickname. Takes too long to say, doesn't really help when spoken.

Boyku? Hmm. Silverku? Foofyku? Rikardo?