Iɴʙᴏx ✉ Vɪᴄᴛᴏʀʏ Rᴏᴀᴅ

[bertall]

Um... This is Bertolt, and if you're hearing this I'm probably busy. You can leave a message here or call back later if you want? ...Can I start over?

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[schachmeister]

[Armin goes to perch on the edge of the bed, his hands automatically knotting together in his lap.

When Bertolt mentions he looks different when he talks about Newt, Armin almost wants to ask how. If it had been any other occasion, he probably would have. He had tried very hard to hide the dumb things he felt for Mr Newt, not wanting anyone, and especially not Mr Newt himself, to find out. But maybe he hadn't been as successful in that as he had hoped. Though... at the very least tell him he hadn't been as bad as Jean mooning over Mikasa.

But... not right now. Maybe he'll ask later sometime, but right now it actually just makes his chest sting as he swallows hard.]

No. No, it's not that. Mr Newt has-- [His hands tighten together on his lap.] He's gone. From this world, I mean. He's gone home.

[bertall]

<sub>[It was always the little things that stood out to Bertolt - he may not have been a social butterfly, but watching people was easy. He can't pin down the exact reason but it was at least clear that there was something about Newt that made Armin's voice change just a bit, or he'd smile a certain way. From his point of view Armin seemed genuinely happy when he'd come up.

Bertolt's brows furrow, his eyes wandering to Armin's hands for a moment before he looks up to meet Pecan's gaze. He's never been great at comforting people, but godsdamnit--]</sub>

...Do you know when? I-I mean... How long ago was it?

[schachmeister]

Just- Just a few days, I think. That's when some of his pokemon suddenly showed up in my possession.

[It had been a rough blow, made rougher by the fact that it had come so closely on the heels of Angel disappearing. At least Jean had woken up, so that was not an additional load of stress on his mind.]

[bertall]

_{[Gods, so many people keep vanishing...]}

...I'll have to find a way to tell Gwenog.

_{[And that in itself will be heartbreaking]}

Which... Which ones did you end up with?

[schachmeister]

I don't know if you know, but before Mr Newt left, he started a new project. He wanted to build a pod of Lapras and use them to rebuild their numbers in the wild.

[A very noble and honorable goal, we can all agree.]

They are mine now. All eight of them.

[Armin glances at Bertolt.]

Which is why I am here.

[bertall]

That's...

<sub>[That's a big project.

Really big.]</sub>

That's a lot of Lapras.

_{[Like. A lot. He knows how big they are!]}

How, uh... What do you need?

[schachmeister]

[Tell Armin about it. He's only barely starting to remember their names and be able to tell them apart --some are easier than others-- and the idea that he is now responsible for them is more than a bit daunting.]

Well. Uhm. At first, I thought about finding an experienced breeding and having them take on the pod. But then I realised if I'd do that, I'd have no influence over whether or not Mr Newt's intentions would be carried out and-- [a short inhale] He was important to me, Mr Newt, I mean. I admired him a lot. Even if he is gone here now, I still want to make sure that his dream becomes a reality. So I've decided to keep them but--

[He glances up, looking at Bertolt.]

I don't really know anything about breeding. I've read about it a bit, of course, but I've always focused on being a trainer.

[Do you see where he is going with this, Mr Professional Breeder Friend.]

[bertall]

<sub>[Even Bertolt would balk at the idea - while he may not have a lot of experience with water types or much of a desire for larger ones thanks to that darn sea sickness, he couldn't imagine passing them off to someone else if he were in Armin's position.

Still... Hoo boy. Let's think.]</sub>

W-Well, uh... You'll need a space big enough to keep them without too much issue. Do you have somewhere in mind? I'm assuming that, uh... That he had a place he was doing all of this at before.

_{[Bertolt has his place up in Blackthorn for example and even though he hasn't had a good chance to practice breeding full-time up there, he knows the spots his Aggron has laid claim to in terms of territory which could easily come in handy for when those times roll around.]}

[schachmeister]

He did. But that was near Ilex forest, which is too far away.

[Armin lives on the islands, after all. And while he still has travel plans, he also likes his life here enough that he definitely wants to spend his time not-travelling right here.]

I've been looking for a new place for them. There are a lot of small bays and inlets along the coast here, so I am hoping to find someplace with some shelter so they can stay there safely. And of course, I want it to be near enough that I could easily visit them without needing to travel for hours.