Sarah shrugged and looked up at the voice. "Hey! It's Mr. Droolworthy follows-me-around-to-all-the-asylums!" She smiled, a little lighthearted about the encounter. "Y'know, that shirt's kind of annoying." It took her a moment, but she soon became apprehensive about him. "Why do you follow me around like that? It's creepy... and annoying."

“Oh! So he’s insane too?” The boy peered up at him curiously.

The man frowned. “You shouldn’t use that term,” he reprimanded the boy gently, “it’s a mental illness, and no, I don’t have one.” He then turned to Sarah, giving her a kind smile. “I’m merely concerned about your condition, Sarah… but in Kutho, I am just a trainer, like everyone else.”

"Nah, he just frequents visiting days... Why is it that every time I get out I end up meeting up with you at some point, and shortly after get transferred to another asylum? Who ARE you? And why do you know my name?" She stared at him, unimpressed at his 'defense' of her 'condition' "I'm not insane, and I DON'T have a mental condition. Why do you and the asylum jerks always say that!? I haven't done anything to you assholes!" Her voice had risen to just under yelling, and her physical gestures were growing more violent.

“I didn’t say you had a disorder,” the man answered, raising his hands to show he meant no harm. “I’m sure it’s just a coincidence that you kept moving, as someone could be watching you during visiting days and seeing that you’re not doing as well as he hoped there. As for me, I’m just concerned for your well-being… I haven’t noticed that you had many friends, until now.” His eyes lingered on the boy, and he smiled. “My name is John.”

The boy had winced when Sarah started yelling, looking back at her, but he looked back up at the man. “Hi, Mister John…. Um,” he added as he turned back to Sarah, “are you okay?”

"Yah, yah, yah. And it's a TOTAL coincidence that you just HAPPEN to be in the area EVERY time they find me again!" Sarah growled, sarcastically. "I had plenty of friends... a few everywhere I went... They could read, I couldn't." Her aggression still hadn't abated, but her tone dropped a little. "My 'condition' might have improved if anyone had, y'know, CARED? I can't even read or count. Am I the ONLY one seeing something wrong with that?"

“Of course someone cared,” John said softly. “But maybe they weren’t able to find out what really happened… does that mean nobody ever taught you those basic skills? Every single one of them failed to fulfill basic needs?”

“I know how to read,” the boy offered helpfully, still looking a bit lost. “I might be able to, um, help you somehow?”

Sarah left her angry glare to pierce the man she had no idea she was related to. As if to prove her point, she pointed up at the sign above the community center. "When I can tell you what any of that scribble means, I'll let you know." The sign still looked the same as before she'd acquired the Aron. 'Willow Town Community Center' and 'Starter Pokemon Available Here'. Or something to that effect. "And I can only count as high as 10. I couldn't even find my bags." she growled, returning to her arms being crossed.

"Stop following me. If anyone cared, they wouldn't be shoving me right back in the places I was purposely running away from. I wasn't running away JUST for the fresh air. That was a bonus." Somehow, her voice had calmed to an almost whispered, dissapproving growl, her aggression subsiding slowly. "Maybe you can teach me some of the simple stuff. Anything complicated makes my head hurt." She looked over at the boy again. "We leavin' or what?"

(I can't help wondering where the battle's gonna come from, since Sarah's just totally PWNED her brother with words... AND has no idea she did it... to her brother...)

(( Yeah, same here. Someone better with words themselves could probably make John, uh, the type to actually win fights with words. And smart, maybe, even. ))

“If that man did something bad, you should beat him up,” the boy said, nodding to himself.

John flinched, though it was probably more at Sarah’s words than the boy’s. “Now, look,” he started gently, though he hesitated. “People don’t always know what they need, so other people often have to intervene. However, often these people who intervene need professionals to help the first group. But said professionals don’t always do their job, so Person A suffers for it and thinks she’s proven right. Person B doesn’t always find out in time, despite his efforts, so he has to look for better professionals – and there are better ones out there, but it seems they’re hard to find – and Person A would only make it harder on the good professionals because of her prejudices.”

“Um,”—the boy scratched his head—“did you get that?”

(( I don't know what I'm doing, 'k? ; ; ))

(You're fine. I was just in a tizzy that day. Not feelin' well and crap... Does things to my writing sometiems...)

Sarah glared at him, pensive for a moment. "Yeah... You're right. I think I got what he said... Right..." She took a step toward the verbally-wayward man. "Person B?" She watched his response carefully, calculating her own to his obvious denial.

"We MUST be related... What are you? Brother? Cousin?... Might be old enough to be an uncle..." When... or if, more precisely, the man denied the identity, she growled, closing in on him another step. "If we're not related, and you're not person B, You're a stalker, and potentially Kidnapper... even if you don't do the work yourself..."

“W-what?” The man sounded a bit more flustered than before. “No I’m not a relative, I—”

He was interrupted by Sarah’s accusation. He drew in a deep breath, shaking his head. “I have no malicious intent toward you. If I did, then I would have acted before coming to Kutho, don’t you think? Coming here would give me a chance to live without being targeted by the police.” He looked around, only meeting Sarah’s eyes fleetingly. His eyes darted to the boy, then at the aron. “Just—ah, do you want to have a friendly battle?”

Sarah looked down at the little... whatever it was. Almost kind of looked like a dog, really. "Not really... How about one where I beat the shit out of you and you leave me alone?" The little Aron tugged at her pant leg and she shrugged, backing off to stand by the kid, wondering how she'd been so stunted in growth that the little brat was tall as her and not done growing. "So... How does this work? Does she have a name like your 'Moony'?"

“Um… no. Not if you don’t give her one.” The boy looked at the pokéball in John’s hand. “Are you going to battle? You can, um, get money if you win, and your pokémon gets stronger. Uh, and if you run away really fast, you don’t have to pay if you lose!”

He said this loudly enough for John to hear, and John frowned. “That’s illegal, however, so I don’t suggest you do, especially as losing means I have a conscious pokémon and you don’t. I’m not trying to threaten you, but I don’t suggest you don’t try that on people more likely to be hostile.”

The boy shrugged, muttering to himself, though Sarah could hear, “I have Moony.”

Sarah listened to the boy and the man, rolling her eyes. "Yeh, fine. I'll call you Thorn, I guess..." she said, looking down at the little Aaron. Thorn didn't seem to mind terribly, although she wondered how a piece of plant applied to the little ball of steel that she was. She looked up at her brother, curious, and scooted Thorn out towards him, confused. "Alright... So..." She decided to ask one more question before she owned this guy. "What's 'illegal' mean?"

(( Listing both abilities in your sig? ))

“Illegal means against the law. You can get charged for it, and it adds to your criminal record. You’ll probably just have to pay a fine for that, though.” John smiled. “But if you stay on the right side of the law, you don’t have to worry about such things.”

“He means it’s bad,” the boy whispered, “I think.”

“I suppose you’re ready for battle, then?” John tossed the pokéball on the ground, and it opened to reveal a broad, flat, circular leaf atop something blue. “This is Lotus, my lotad. If you’re ready… let’s begin with a Growl, shall we?”

(Well, I don't know which it is, so why not?)

Sarah again listened with little care for what was said. "Right... So what's the law, more rules? More walls to keep me 'reigned in'? More things I can't do, eat, say, or play?" Her expression held more disgust as she heard more from the man. "Another crazy house to put me in, right? Just another way to get me out of Society's mangled, pre-tangled hair." She glared at her brother, again, not knowing he was him. "Alright, then, Thorn. let's go with a Harden-charged Tackle. Jump to land in the lillypad after you land your blow and just scrape your claws accross the plant."

Her eyes held bloodlust: A willingness to kill for what she knew as freedom. "Maybe I don't want your rules. Maybe I WANT to be that little knot that gets tangled in the fingers and the brush every time they try to comb me out. Why shouldn't I be allowed to live the way I want? Which DOESN'T include the asylums and the fucking rules!"

(( Makes more sense to list neither, but okay then. ))

While Sarah paid little attention to John, he seemed to pay full attention to her. And he became more disquieted with every word that came out of her mouth. When she finished, he was silent for a few moments as he thought about what to say. He then opened his mouth and started to speak as the pokémon started to move, and continued speaking over the battle.

“What do you—you’re joking, right? Please tell me you’re joking. Because I can understand that the asylums didn’t do their jobs as well as they’re supposed to, but I cannot accept that they failed to show you how to be a human being. You – do you truly have no understanding about rights and responsibility? It’s the very basis of human society, and”—here, his words were punctuated by a loud growl that made it impossible to make out the words—“alive.” He seemed to totally ignore the growl, and wasn’t paying much attention to what was happening in the battle at all. Even as the pokémon finished, he kept talking. “Society exists for a reason, Sarah, and even if a particular sector may have failed you, it doesn’t excuse your actions. Even if for only selfish reasons, you have a reason to obey the law because of law enforcement, but that shouldn’t be the reason why you do.”

It appeared that he would keep talking, but he paused for breath, or perhaps to let his words sink in.

Like Sarah, the pokémon ignored him, although Lotus was paying a little attention just because John was its trainer. Regardless, both pokémon mostly ignored him and focused on the battle at hand instead.

Thorn made out that she was supposed to use Harden before the Tackle, so she did, concentrating. Her armour, invisibly, became denser though just a bit thinner as the particles pulled closer together. Sarah could hear John just fine as Thorn did this, if she even cared. It was Lotus’s loud snarl that covered some of John’s words, making it impossible to tell what he was saying. Thorn stepped back a little at the sound, surprised and a bit shaken, and a bit unsure about her attack.

Update: Thorn’s defence (+1) rose and her attack (-1) fell.

End stats: Thorn’s defence (+1) is increased, and her attack (-1) is decreased.

Terrain: The streets of Willow Town. Or more precisely, the cement sidewalk bordering the street. On one side, there is the much wider street that opens to a four-way intersection behind John. On the other, there is grass or more pavement and, after this, several buildings. The sun is shining brightly.

(( Just telling you now, because of speed they’re limited to an action a round, unless it’s the really simple combos or something that involve little movement. Also, here’s me cheating by not making talking a totally free action. :D ))

(You cheat... *sighs* hehehe...)

I watched quietly, only half-listening to the man, wanting nothing more than to cut his jugular so he'd shut the hell up. I leaned over towards the boy for a moment. "Hey, how much trouble do I get in if I just slit his throat? Or is there some 'lawful' way to get that jackass to shut the hell up? He's pissing me off..."

I looked up at him, seriously considering sicking Thorn on the man, rather than his pokemon. Although... That Lotad was terribly annoying. "Alright, Thorn! Use Tackle and see if you can jump to land in the leave on it's back! ... Er... Head... Whatever..."

"At home you can die for that, but only if the police catch you." The boy seemed as annoyed as Sarah was. "But I think here you get locked in a cage forever. Um, I usually hit them, but"--he made a face--"but then they start crying."

Over the boy and the battle, John was still talking. "Society is how humanity survives, because we all have to help each other! Nobody can do everything alone, after all, so we split the tasks and do it for everybody. That includes acting properly - morally and politely - so that others don't get offended or hurt! That's the basis of it"--another growl interrupting his oh-so-captivating speech--"perspective. But it should be your conscience, compassion for other humans, that guides you to, at least, avoid harming others. The law is there to protect those with this compassion from those without it, and to keep society from falling into chaos."

Lotus had yet to receive an order and was still waiting for one, so she made for an easy target when Thorn ran at it at top speed, trying to jump at the last moment. However, she was slow, heavy, and didn't have the muscles needed to truly jump; she barely left the air when her hard head crashed into Lotus's face. Her hesitation couldn't have helped - but she was still a hard, heavy object crashing into a softer, unarmoured face.

Lotus yelled in pain, stumbling backward and heavily bruised from the force of the attack. Its yellow top lip was split and bleeding, and part of its leaf was crushed inward. It glared at Thorn, and loosed a fierce snarl, using all of her rage to make Thorn regret it. Thorn blinked, shifting a little nervously, taking a step back.

Update: Thorn’s attack (-1) fell.

End stats: Thorn’s defence (+1) is increased, and her attack (-2) is decreased.

Terrain: The streets of Willow Town. Or more precisely, the cement sidewalk bordering the street. On one side, there is the much wider street that opens to a four-way intersection behind John. On the other, there is grass or more pavement and, after this, several buildings. The sun is shining brightly.

(( Rant rant rant. -___- ))

I tapped my foot at him, annoyedly, watching the proceeds of Thorn's attack. Ignoring the man was growing more and more difficult. 'Hey... Do me a favor... Find me a hard, sharp rock, will you?' I whispered sideways to the boy. "Do... You... EVER shut up? I don't give a damn. Shut the hell up before I thrown Thorn at YOU." I growled, watching the battle again.

"Nice shot, Thorn! Do it again! try jumping a little later and crush more of the... Lilly... thing... If you can." I decided I was bored enough to warrant a more visual reason for the idiot to shut up.... Or talk more... And delivered a few of the rudest gestures I happened to know his way, including, but not limited to, the 'bird', a sign that, loosely translated, meant 'Go Fuck yourself', and the old British insult of biting your thumb at someone, just to make sure to get the point across.