From now on; you'll be like bubblegum
"You're right, I can't be sad now, we've got much to do! And I have a feeling if I get in a bad mood I may end up snapping Iris's neck...We don't want that, do we?"
Konan had reacted quite favorably towards Atton; and the male was blatantly joyful when he noticed he had cheered up his friend's sorrow. Konan's smile and subtle laughs; like times before, gave Atton an amazing feeling of warmth and happiness; and knowing that he had been the one responsible for her ecstasy made him elated. He wasn't the coolest as a mood-upper; but he did his best always, and when something you work for pays off; the feeling of satisfaction is great. "No. Or, do we?" Atton responded rhetorically as he stood in front of Konan, laughing a long and pulling out a small beam out of himself with his comment. Really plain and simple; but something nevertheless. Then, pretty much out of nowhere, the dripping weather gave birth to a blazing sun and ardent heat. It had been a pretty rapid and dramatic change, and Atton's sensible skin alerted him of the change almost immediately. Konan, too; noticed it, and she was the first one to say something. As she pulled out her wallet; she asked; "Ah, shall we take a swim? It's getting hot."
"I didn't bring a swimsuit with me." Atton responded absentmindedly in a hidden whisper; wondering if Konan did actually have enough money like to squander in recreation on her, and if it would last the whole trip. I mean, Atton hadn't spent almost anything yet, and these new clothes he was wearing were the ones he found on the Pokémon Center. Then he realized… He was probably acting too carefully. He hadn't used almost anything, as stated; so why should he do so in the future? After all, the gold tokens from the Leo tribe he carried with him were really pricey, and he had a few PokeDollars to spare.
"I could stand to buy a new swimsuit, and you just need one!" Konan squealed excitedly as she approached Atton and took his hand, beginning to drag him back into the inside structures of the large ship. Déjà vu was a feeling Atton didn't experience, but being on the same ship he was around 2 days ago and being dragged around by Konan again made him laugh. As the two ventured through the ship; Konan, who was leading, bumped on a man of obscure clothing and rough built. Atton was impressed; this guy could actually match up to Atton's height. By no means did he come close to Gado's stature of muscular mass, but he wasn't Gado at the time. A mysterious aura surrounded him. Atton stood next to Konan protectively as he saw the young Neko look up to the man with a hint of despair on her face. He did have some pretty sadistic eyes and a vicious mood, and the fact that he didn't respond to her apologies and stared down at her in such a furious way made Atton's muscles contract and prepared him to fight.
Without saying anything, and after an exchange of glances, the man smirked and walked next to Atton, their shoulders brushing but the two never making any eye contact.
"You can't save her, that girl, that girl belongs to us as well as her powers to, so don't become to attached to her, she is our property. And sometimes property must be...Compromised." The man said in an almost familiar voice tone as he swiftly walked away, vanishing and blending with the crowd really fast. Atton stood there, astonished and with a dumbfounded look on his face as he pondered. ~What? What the hell was that? How does he know about Konan's powers…God… His eyes were… His voice… I recognize them…Who is he supposed to be? Gado? Know anything? Gado… … … Gado?~
In mindscape; Gado stood in the middle of a white room, speechless and with a tear drooling down his eye. His fists were clenched so tight that his own claws punctured his palms, his arteries looked like they were going to explode, and one could tell it wouldn't be long before blood started to come out of his mouth and ears. ~It can't be… It can't be… It can't be…~ Gado muttered over and over schizophrenically as he rocked his body back and forth; delivering savage punches into the thin air after a while. ~No, no, no, no!!!~
~Gado?! What's going with you? Dude! Calm down! What's happening?~ Atton yelled within him desperately, the sight of Gado shaking making him scared. It was Gado who was really cold and cool; and seeing him like that wasn't normal.
~Just…~ Gado whispered in between painful sobs. ~Go on. Keep your eyes on Konan, and on the other anthropomorphs. I got your back. You can't get distracted. Atton… That guy… Remember the jacka—… Ugh, no, I can't. This is serous business, Atton; I can't tell you know. But remember, take into consideration what he said. Do not let him get near you, Konan, or the others.~
Gado sounded ridiculously worried here, and it was obvious he was holding his emotions down so his head didn't blow up just like that. It was pretty crazy, really. ~Ok, Gado…~ Atton responded in a caring tone. ~Fine… I don't know what all this was, but it scared the living crap out of me. I'll keep an eye around.~
After a quick while, Konan continued to drag Atton, and soon they were in the desired swimsuit shop. Many times did Atton feel like asking if she felt some sort of connection, whether it be good or bad, with the man, but after what Gado said; Atton didn't want to scare Konan. The man was sadistic, one could tell by his irises and pupils; and until Gado elaborated, he'd rather stay with his mouth shut. Soon, and before walking away, Konan asked "So, so what do you think I'll look good in, a bikini or a one piece?"
But Atton was spaced out, meditating; frenetically looking around for something that was out of place. He was pulled back to his senses, though; when Konan spoke again. "You know the least you could do is pay attention when I'm talking to you. Atton? Yoo-hoo! ATTON? If you don't come back to earth sometime soon I'm going to buy you pink swim trunks!"
~Huh? Oh~ Atton yapped to himself as he came back to earth, his eyes focusing back on Konan and away from his own brain cells. "Anything, but the color pink, Konan, please." Atton then said in an almost mechanical response. "Pink makes me look fat." He then said, complementing the last phrase with another one of his weak jokes. Then again, he snapped back to her question. Bikini or one piece? Atton didn't care much; they were both for going to the water, anyway. But that probably meant much to a girl, and Konan had asked for his opinion; and he didn't know what to say. If he said one piece, could a girl feel bad about her shape or something and feel insulted? Or, if he said the bikini, would he look like a pervert? "Dunno, whatever you feel more comfortable in." Atton the muttered with a smile, that being the first thing that came to his head. "You know," Atton the said with a smile, "I'll go look for one myself."
Without anything else, Atton turned around and began to look around the nearby area for the trunks. They were in vicinity, after all. As he said, he could care a lot more about clothes, so the only thing he really cared about was that it fit. As Atton looked around, anyway; all of a sudden a loud thud was heard coming from the main deck; the ceiling for the shops they were in, to be exact. It was like a giant suddenly landed on the ship; and it was quite an abrupt sound. The lights even flickered more than twice, at that. ~Snap!~ Atton thought to himself as he turned around and broke into a rush back to Konan, easily knocking 5 heavy shelves out of his way in order to get back to her. Instinctively, he stood next to her in an excessively protecting stance; you know, with closed fists, clenched muscles, semi-bent knees and an alert face. That thud triggered Atton's response because Gado said to be alert always. However, when the sound proved to be nothing more than that; everybody inside the store, probably including Konan, gave Atton a weird look. "What's wrong with him?" they muttered to each other as Atton turned to Konan, her body being just slightly away from his still flexed self and blushed; nervously yapping an embarrassed "Tee-hee… Uh… That was weird, huh?"
"Sorry! It's all Ok!" Atton then said as he faced the confused crowd and lifted one arm, immediately proceeding to picking up the dropped shelves with relative easiness and paying for the first pair of trunks he saw in the floor, a plain brown one.
Outside, Iris and Lance ran up to the surface at the sound of the same hit Atton and Konan heard. When they were there, they were surprised to see a batch of giant and mutated Pokémon inconspicuously landing on the ship. "Whoah! What's this all about?" Lance asked as he hid behind Iris, who didn't squander to much time before noticing Andrew, and seeing as he was fighting another winged person, she intuited he knew something. "Andrew!" Iris yelled as she too hid behind the corner of a wall, keeping herself invisible to the still faltering and arriving Pokémon. "What's going on?" Iris yelled, being too shocked like to actually give any importance to the fact Andrew was about to be hit.
