roisa meets animal crossing pt. 2
“So,” Rose stared at the little creatures on her screen, her brows furrowing, “how do I know which one to pick?”
Luisa leaned over the back of the couch and rested her head on Rose’s shoulder. “You pick whichever one you think is cutest.”
Rose stared at the screen a little longer and then tilted her head to one side so that she could stare at her wife. “No, one of them has to be better at this whole battling system than the other two are. Which one do I pick to be better at killing everything?”
Luisa frowned. “You don’t kill anything in Pokemon, Rose.”
“But you fight things.”
“And they faint. And then they can get better and go back to fighting again.”
Rose’s eyes narrowed. “That’s more gruesome than killing things, Lu.”
Luisa sighed and pressed a kiss to her cheek. “It’s a children’s game, Rose. No one thinks about this stuff as much as you do.” She pressed her lips together and stared at the three starters. “I picked Grooky.”
Rose’s face went blank.
Luisa sighed again. “Grooky is the green monkey with the stick. The musician!”
“Okay, got it, don’t pick that one.” Rose turned to Luisa with a grin, tongue peeking out of one corner of her lips.
“You’re so mean!” Luisa stepped back, putting her hands on her hips, and glared at her wife. “Just because I picked the monkey doesn’t mean she won’t be good for fighting, and—”
“No, no, I mean for trading. Then we can each have a monkey and one of these,” Rose gestured at the screen with one hand, “other ones.” She met Luisa’s eyes. “That’s why you wanted us to have the different versions, right? So we could get all of the little animal things?”
“Pokemon,” Luisa corrected, “and we still won’t have whatever the third one is, but I think I can find us someone who will trade us one of those for one of our starters if I play nice enough.” She smiled and leaned forward again, resting her head on her hands where they rest on the back of the couch. “And, yeah, that’s a smart idea. Don’t get a Grooky. Get one of the other ones.”
Rose went back to staring at the screen. “So which of these two is the better fighter?”
“How am I supposed to know, Rose? I haven’t used them!” Luisa placed a hand on Rose’s shoulder and gripped it tightly. “And don’t you dare look it up. Pick the one you like!”
“I’ll like whichever one is the better fighter,” Rose growled. She met Luisa’s eyes. “Please let me check.”
Luisa stuck her tongue out. “No.” She brushed a hand through Rose’s frizzy red hair. “Besides, they’ll both be good fighters if you train them up well. They’re just better for different things.” She hummed. “I think the first gym is a grass type gym.”
Rose’s eyes narrowed. “Luisa, I don’t know what that means.”
“Okay, so,” Luisa stared at the screen, “each of the starter Pokemon are one of three types – grass, water, and fire. Grass beats water, water beats fire, and fire beats grass. There are a lot of other types and a lot of other strengths and weaknesses. Like fire beats bug but bug beats grass. Flying beats grass but electric beats flying. Fairy beats dark beats psychic beats fighting beats dark—”
“Okay, pick the fire one, got it.” Rose stared at the screen. “The bunny was the fire one, right?”
“Rose, that’s not what I—”
Rose raised one hand and waved it away from her. “I got it, I got it, and look,” she held up her rosy pink device and showed Luisa her screen, “I finally got my first pokemon.”
“What’re you going to name him?” Luisa asked with a grin.
Rose glared down at the screen. “Wait. Him? You got a girl!” She tapped the screen. “How do I make mine a girl?”
Luisa shrugged. “You don’t without resetting the—hey!”
“I want a girl,” Rose said, glaring at Luisa. “Now tell me how I get a female bunny so I don’t have to go through all of this again. I’ll just end up looking up all that which is a better fighter stuff and picking someone else and it might be your monkey if she’s better, so—”
“Ugh, Rose, you’re so—”
“What?” Rose asked, her eyebrows raising, meeting Luisa’s eyes again. “Annoying? Frustrating? Conniving? Mean?” She stared at Luisa, holding her gaze. “I was a crime lord, Luisa. I—”
Luisa flicked her forehead. “You’re not one anymore.” She frowned. “Just save it before you pick the bunny. Then you can just close and restart until you get a girl. It might take a while, but—”
“Got it.” Rose waved her hand again. “Go play your game and come back in a few minutes and you can see my new kiddo.”
“Rose, I don’t think there are any Skiddo in—” Luisa shook her head, rubbed her forehead, and curled up on the other side of the couch, pulling her own Switch out from under the sofa. “You don’t even know what that is.”
“Nope.”
Luisa stared at Rose as her wife started the game over, trying to race through the starting screens to get back to where she was. “What did you name your character?” she asked, finally.
“Hm?”
“What did you name yourself?” Luisa asked again. She pressed her lips together. “Are you Rose or Susanna or Eileen or…or are you Clara?”
Rose looked up, blinked a couple of times, and then met Luisa’s eyes. “I didn’t think about it that much,” she said with a shrug.
“But what…Rose, what was your name?”
“Sin Rostro.”
Luisa stared at her again. There was silence for a few minutes, and then she nodded once. “I…I guess…that makes sense. I just thought—”
“It’s a game, Luisa,” Rose said, trying to cut her off before she could start. “It’s not about my name; it’s about what will strike fear into the hearts of my opponents. Sin Rostro is a good name, despite all of its faults. And in a game where you can customize so much about what you look like—”
“I got it, I got it.” Luisa burrowed into her pillow, looking at her Switch instead of up at Rose. “I’m just going to go to my island again. Visit me when you’ve got time.”
Rose let out a little huff, but she knew better than to try and argue with Luisa when she was in that sort of mood. It wouldn’t end well. Not for either of them.