mostlyajerk | Like no one ever was

"You should try to keep it warmer." At this time of the year, it wasn't unusual to come across fledgling trainers after dark, so Hartley wasn't surprised when he spotted the campfire. He did however take note of the egg and so some advice might not go amiss. "Do you know what egg it is? Doesn't look like a fire pokémon, so you don't need to put it in the embers, but a bit closer to the fire couldn't hurt."

That said he stopped, now standing right by the other boy. Hartley had a rattata perched on his shoulder, which made for good muscle, and there was a much shyer pokémon hiding behind his legs. No pokéballs that could be seen, but he still looked like a trainer. "You're all alone?"

"I don't want to risk accidentally cooking it or something." He wanted it warm but not too warm in case he accidentally boiled the egg and he really didn't want to do that, it was so lucky to find an egg like this and he'd spent so long caring for it, he didn't want to ruin it this early. "I think it's close to hatching, I have no idea what it is but I can't wait to find out."

Barry grinned up at the other... trainer? Maybe? It was hard to tell. Either way, Barry gave off a whole friendly vibe as he shifted the egg a little closer, looking back up at the other with a small frown. "Of course I'm not alone." Shuffling back on the grass, he grabbed the tent flap and pulled it back so Hartley could see the sleeping Cubone, curled up in his own sleeping bag, clearly wiped out. "We walked a lot today so he's napping but usually he's right here with me."

"He does look exhausted." But also healthy, as far as he could tell at first glance, so there was no problem here. Hartley decided to simply sit down, looking at the egg, even though he wasn't rude enough to actually touch it. "I don't think you're in any danger of cooking it unless you actually throw it into the flames. Where did you get it?"

They should really be stricter about who was allowed eggs, but at least he seemed to be trying, which was more than what he could say for some. Echo climbed off his shoulder and ended up sniffing the egg, then nuzzled it. What else was new? "Sorry. Very affectionate."

"We walked for most of the day so I don't blame him. I'm exhausted too but I need to eat first." Hence why he had modest scraps of food cooking away over his fire in a little pan. Nothing special, just a tin of hot dogs he got at the store and was slowly trying to cook. He looked up at the rattata fondly and reached out carefully as not to offend it, waiting to see how it reacted before petting it.

"Hey buddy." Barry laughed as Echo nuzzled him back affectionately. Clearly, this one loved to be loved. "That's a really cool pokemon. I totally want one of those some day." He wanted one of all of them but right now the egg was so much to worry about, he didn't really focus on catching them all.

"He's in the top percentage." Hartley smirked and watched Barry, amused. "They are not hard to come by. I just found one that wanted to come with me." As he tended to. He let his whismur climb on his lap, stroking her back as she hid against his stomach. Not really any less affectionate, his Mumble, but a lot shyer. "I stopped using pokéballs. These days I just travel with the ones that feel like going somewhere and I meet others whenever I check in."

"I never really get much use out of mine." Not out of any other reason than being so fascinated, he often forgot to catch them. And most of the ones he wanted tended to resist being caught and then he'd feel bad. It was a mess. "I met Cubone when I was really tiny and I found the egg by accident. Right now, that's kind of my team. I know, I know, it's pathetic but I'm getting there. I'm still new." People often told him he needed a bigger and better team and to train them up but Barry was happy to keep rolling as he was. He watched the other pokemon as she burrowed against Hartley and smiled fondly. "A little shy, huh?"

"She scares easy." Hartley looked down at her with a smile of his own. "I found her a few days ago and she won't leave me alone now, so she might as well come along. But most of my travel companions aren't that fond of humans, so you won't see them. Only Echo has no qualms." Literally. Right now he was trying to persuade Barry to pet him by bumping his head against his knee. "You better never evolve, Echo, you'd just scare people."

With a shake of his head, he looked back at Barry instead, trying to get a good idea of him. "So, what are you on the road for?"

Barry didn't take much prompting, he soon picked Echo up into his lap and began to pet him, knowing that it as pointless to resist and he kind of liked the attention, if he was honest. After all, it was kind of cute. "I don't know, if I'm honest. I started doing this because I wanted to get out and see things, you know? There are things I just need to see." And he wasn't going into details on what they were because he wasn't overly fond of looking crazy.

"Besides, my cubone never likes being stuck inside anyway." With a fond smile, he looked towards the tent. "He'd say hello but Scully is so wiped. And he's really shy too so he'd probably just hide behind me anyway."

Edited 2016-07-16 12:29 (UTC)

"There's a lot to see. A lot to learn. You're probably going to buy a pokédex from STAR labs, aren't you? If you don't already have one." Hartley took his backbag off and dug through it until he found what looked like a miniature, futuristic flashdrive. He handed it over to Barry and waited for him to take it before pulling his hand back again. "When you get it, upload that. It's an update." Corrected information. Well. Less corrupted information.

"I think the biggest danger these days is that people forget that pokémon are real beings. Living, thinking and feeling. They often just use them. You don't seem to be like that, but keep it in mind."

"That was where I was heading. Professor Wells is amazing, right? I read all his research, it's so cool to see Pokemon from a scientific point of view." Barry had been a fan of his since he saw his first video lecture online about Pokemon. He took the flashdrive and looked it over before nodding his head. "I'll give it a shot."

Once he looked it over, of course. He didn't need to virus up his pokedex. "Oh, I know, I don't get how people can't. Scully is like my brother." Barry smiled fondly and shrugged his shoulders, looking down. "I've known him forever. We both found each other when we were really young. I was hiding out and crying because -- well, my mom was murdered when I was eleven and I had to run away from it, it was all too much. I was just in the middle of nowhere and then I heard this sound. And there was this cubone crying too, just like me. He was so sad, I stopped crying and tried to make him feel happier. Turns out he lost his mom too."

"Seems like you found each other. I'm sorry about your mom." So was Echo, apparently, suddenly with his paws on Barry's chest and trying to reach his face for more nuzzling. "I think it often happens, when people let it. Finding the perfect pokémon, even at a very young age. Mine's around here somewhere too, but usually he avoids company." At least undisguised. Sometimes they walked together, looking to anyone like two kids travelling together. It was good, especially since he had always had a hard time actually connecting to people. Pokémon was easier.

"Just try to be critical about anything you hear. Research is important, but not even Wells is right all the time."

"It's fine, I'll get justice for my mom, it's gonna be okay." Barry smiled down at Echo to try and show he wasn't upset, petting his head fondly and hoping get something positive out of him because hell, he didn't like to make anyone feel bad. "I want to learn as much as I can about them, I already started taking notes. Nothing new but I like to have my own data. I'm hoping by the end, I'll have something interesting to report. That, you know, doesn't get laughed at."

Because he'd been there, done that and didn't need to repeat it. One humiliation was enough. "Wells is usually right now, he's amazing, isn't he? I hope I actually get to meet him when I go in there. I hope I get to see at least some of STAR labs too."

"I used to feel like you about it. But, you know? There's a lot going on behind the surface that took off the shine for me. Maybe you'll see it too." Hartley leaned back on his hands, smiling as his whismur tried to climb under his shirt. "I'm Hartley, by the way. I don't recall ever having heard of someone studying a cubone, so your observations could probably be interesting."

He seemed like a good kid. He hoped Wells wouldn't take too much of an interest in him. That man could corrupt anyone.

"I'm Barry, Barry Allen." Barry grinned and then got to his feet, moving his pot off the little makeshift shove he'd made and empty the water on the floor. He set the pot between them before he grabbed a hot dog for himself. "Go for it, I have enough to share. I don't know if your pokemon are hungry but I don't really have much else but these. Still, they're welcome to them." So if they didn't eat them, he was kind of stuck of what else to offer. He started to eat, watching as Echo studied him eating curiously, clearly jealous that the food now got his attention instead of him.

"Where are you heading anyway? You never told me what you're doing along here."

"I heard talk about something unusual happening at the Lake of Rage, so I want to check it out. Unusual amount of evolution among the Magikarp population, that's not supposed to happen." Hartley shook his head at the hot dogs. "Thank you, I'm good. My friends share food with me usually. Echo's just greedy. You already ate. You keep that up and you'll get fat. No more rides on my shoulder then." That got through to Echo and he hid his face in his paws. Meanwhile Mumble put her paws into Hartley's pocket, retrieving what looked like a mushroom and starting to nibble on it.

"Oh, that is weird. Why do you think that's happening?" Barry was interested in all things pokemon and anything unusual always took his interest. He crossed his legs and eat his hot dogs at a speed of which should have been considered dangerous but Barry always did have a big appetite. He had three and then slid the pot near the tent. When Scully woke up, he'd have food. "Have you reported it to STAR labs? Maybe they know something about it?"

"I'd assume they know all about it," Hartley said drily, then he shrugged his shoulders. "It could be any number of causes, but it's unlikely to be natural. Usually only one out of, what, a million Magikarps ever evolves? You'd not usually get more than maybe five Gyarados in total at a place like the lake and even that is getting dangerous. They have a temper. I'm guessing they had an exposure to some kind of energy, some rays, something like that. The question is whether it's an accident or not."

"I'm sure it's an accident, why would anyone do that on purpose? It doesn't make any sense." Was Hartley implying that STAR labs had something to do with it? Huh. Why would they ever get involved in that kind of thing? They were only interested in the natural world of pokemon, that's why they never brought them to the labs. Barry frowned and tilted his head to the side a little. "You think something dodgy is going on, don't you?"

"Sure I do. But that's me. I always think something dodgy is going on." He was usually right, but there was no reason to really drag Barry down all that yet. However, he could explain. "When a pokémon evolves, a unique kind of energy is released. It's quite powerful, if anyone could figure out how to harness it right. Recently, a lot of people have tried. Actually, I'm researching this right now. I believe that this and other unique forms of energy related to pokémon have been used and unfortunately often abused a lot throughout history."

"Energy? I didn't realise that could be harnessed, I thought it was exclusively for pokemon." Barry knew about the energy in theory, he'd read some stuff online about it but he never thought it was actually possible to use it. Why would anyone abuse a pokemon for such a tiny gain? "Seems dodgy. So you think the Magikarp evolving is linked to this idea? And you think someone is trying to get the energy? ... Well, that's creepy."

"Bioenergy, yes. It makes sense. There are ways to harness it that wouldn't harm pokémon, it's a renewable energy source. A lot of our technology has been making use of it without us being entirely aware." There was the theory of infinity energy, but Hartley knew that as it stood right now, it wasn't possible to make use of without danger to both pokémon and human. He wish he still believed that would stop Harrison Wells from using it. "I think that it's possible. If there's anything there, I should be able to stop it. I have someone who drops by sometimes that is very good at detecting things."

He looked up at the sky and smiled, finally calling out. "Reverb!"

What landed by the fire was a noibat and three seconds after landing he had Mumble hugging him. Less shy there, apparently.

"Very few things escape his notice."

"Woah!" That thing was impressive. Barry couldn't help but stare because he'd never seen one of those up close. It was fascinating, he kind of wanted to reach out and touch it but he knew better, it didn't seem overly like it was friendly. Well, friendly to anyone but Mumble, who it just seemed to allow to hug it with an air of aloofness. "Reverb?"

That was a weird name. Kind of cute though, he dug it. "I've never seen one of those before, it's so cool!"

"He's a noibat. He can emit ultrasonic waves from his ears that are capable of stunning any opponent, so Reverb seemed like a fitting name. I met him trying to calm down Mumble, so since Mumble won't leave me, he usually checks in on us too. He's Dragon type. I know, he doesn't look it. He's actually close to evolving, if I'm not mistaken."

Hartley watched them both, while Echo was conquering Barry's shoulder. "He'll be able to tell me whether there are any unusual sonic activities going on by the lake."

"Oh cool, I'd offer to come with and help but I really want a pokedex and I need some more balls too, if I want to ever watch anything." So far he didn't and he hadn't but he didn't think pokeballs were a bad idea. If he had an injured pokemon and needed to get it somewhere fast, it seemed like a cool way of pulling that off without having to carry one of his guys. Or if this egg turned out to be scary as all hell, it'd be handy to have a place to put the little monster.

"The rumour is one of the guys working at STAR labs has made like a new pokeball. Sounds amazing." Of course the rumours also included that the pokeball kept exploding but hey, nothing was perfect.

"Cisco Ramon, yes. He makes new things all the time. Call me when he makes something that works." No, Hartley didn't sound impressed. He had spent too many years working there and ultimately, he mostly regretted it. But he had learned a few things that definitely came in handy now in his research to help right the world, little by little. "But maybe I'll meet you again some time, Barry Allen."

Hartley pulled his pokécom out and held it out, waiting for Barry to do the same. "You really can call me if you ever need help. I'm not a trainer any more, I suppose I'm somewhere between researcher and nothing much, but at least I know a lot."

Like no one ever was

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