Week 19.

[azumods]

WEEK 19 Despite the setback early Sunday morning, the physical trip to Solaceon Town is an easy one; it isn't a large distance from Hearthome City, though the town itself is so small it's a little blink-and-you'll-miss it. It's nice and temperate, though, with the ruins off to the east of the city and the houses of the townspeople nestled among the trees and fields; it's somewhat similar to Floaroma Town in feeling, and that's only amplified by the flowers near the daycare. The townspeople don't seem to know how they got there; they simply bloomed one day, bright patches of bright pink Gracideas along the fence. It's a reminder, perhaps, that you aren't alone, and your work isn't in vain. It seems the world is slowly starting to get back on its feet, too; it's a slow process, but there are changes you can see here and there, however slight. You have a lot of work ahead of you, but there's a lot that's behind you now, too; maybe it's just a matter of continuing to try. CURRENT LOCATION: SOLACEON TOWN POKEMON AVAILABLE: WITHIN CITIES SUNDAY | MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY | FRIDAY [OOC: Welcome to week nineteen of Azume; feel free to make as many top levels as you'd like and tag out to other characters! This post is for all of your interactions this week... at least until the weekend.]

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SUNDAY

[azumods]

...

[azumods]

[Before you leave for Solaceon Town, there's something noticeable among your group - a pair of people who aren't as spirited as the rest of you, who are far quieter than usual and generally more withdrawn than they have been in weeks.

With the quietness comes a sense of unease, and with the morning comes an unpleasant realization - you're two people short, their belongings and Pokémon having vanished along with them, and the locals around you insisting that they were never there if questioned.

Aya Maruyama and Noctis Lucis Calem are gone. But as much as the world tries to insist that they weren't, you know they were with you.]

[discutio]

[He'd always known in the back of his mind that it was possible. How many of their group had vanished, after all? Even so he'd sensed the change and stayed even closer to Noctis' side, hoping that it wasn't the same trend over again. But morning came, and with it the inevitable conclusion.]

[One would be forgiven for thinking Ignis disappeared as well, for how he'd made himself scarce shortly before dawn. And if someone that happened to be awake heard distant sounds not unlike frustrated shouting and punching the nearest solid object just outside of town...that was probably nothing.]

[When he did return well into the morning it was hard to tell whether Ignis or the silver Eevee often in his arms had less spirit. Hemera at least seemed to have sense enough to be worried, sticking close at his side in the rare moments one could even see Ignis around. Most of his time was spent in the ruins, running a light hand over the walls to get a better idea of the writing there. They had work to do, after all.]

[...You're all probably on your own for cooking today.]

ruins

[niceoppai]

...Hey, Ignis. You, uh... you find something?

[Chelsea hesitates, not really knowing how to approach this.]

Outside of Town

[anythingforyou]

[Somehow, Camilla feels she should have expected this. Finding Aya and Noctis gone was bad enough--Aya didn't deserve any of the shit that was happening, but knowing that she was gone was heartbreaking. It was just the same with Noctis, even though she knew damn well that someone else was going to be a lot worse off than she was.

...Really, she had thought Ignis had disappeared too, and that was something that got her pretty close to flying off the deep end as it stood--it's what sees her outside of town today, and seeing Ignis is both a relief and a curse. Even so, there's...no doubt in her mind that he is not okay, and she's not about to leave this alone as she walks over slowly.]

Ignis. [It's more or less just to not freak him out or anything.] You're going to break your hand if you keep doing that.

Outside of Town

[eudaimonikos]

[As long as we're talking about things he isn't qualified for...

Michael stops some distance away, first, when he figures out where the sounds are coming from. He could still just walk back to the Center and pretend he never saw this. Ignis may not have heard his approach yet, and even if he did, he wouldn't say anything. It isn't what a good person would do. But Michael doesn't think he's quite capable of doing what a real good person would, and it doesn't seem exactly wrong either.

Well. Not on a grand-scale, ethical philosophy sort of level.

Okay. Okay. Strong as the temptation to go get Emmeryn or Camilla or literally any other person is, Michael comes closer, mulling over what to say for the few seconds it takes him to close that distance.]

None of us are going to be able to fix your hand up if you break it, you know.

[Fuckin. Swing and a miss.]

outside of town;

[ventulus]

[ They say that things get more difficult before it gets better. There were signs of their progress, but even if they were slight, Ventus had take notice of them. But, it didn't keep them from losing four of their number.

...It wasn't anything he'd expected to happen, and then this week, again.

Well, he'll find himself outside of town when he'd heard the man's frustrated yelling, and came closer. ]

Ignis? How long have you been doing this?

[ He doesn't know how to approach this either, but he figures he can try to help. ]

[gekkaju]

[It's happened again.

Atsushi had only seen it happen once when he joined up with the group, but it had happened more frequently as time passed. People arrived, they left...and it left everyone- himself included- with a sense of wondering just what exactly could have happened. It's only stronger of a reminder when he realizes just how familiar Solaceon Town feels when they arrive.

Anyone looking for Atsushi today will find him at the Pokemon Center, helping out with the duties there as he'd taken to doing in most towns they visit. He's subdued, quiet. His Pokemon are all out of their balls and resting nearby while he works behind the counter, his brows furrowed. It's clear that the work he's doing doesn't have his full focus.

Different from when they arrived, however, there's a small glass on the counter with a few fake flowers similar to the Gracidea in town. He just couldn't bring himself to pick them, not when such things were so sparse these days.]

[discutio]

[Eventually, Ignis did have to come back to the Center rather than hide out in the ruins all night. He looked drained more than merely exhausted, like he had as little emotion and spirit as the shiny Eevee carried in his arms. Hemera stuck closer than usual at his side, letting out the occasional plaintive whine.]

[Perhaps the most blatant red flag was that for a change, he simply hadn't seemed to realize anyone else was there.]

MONDAY

[azumods]

[greydients]

[There's something rather nice about returning to a small town, after the past few weeks spent in larger cities; Rey is still finding herself overwhelmed by the bigger establishments, but, to her credit, she is getting more comfortable with them. Solaceon Town is incredibly pleasant to explore.

...especially from the air.

Throughout the day, should you be looking up, you'll see a bird a plane an extremely big Golett gliding over the town, Rey positioned comfortably on its back and looking happier than she has in quite a while. So happy that she'll even wave to you, down there on the ground.]

Hi!

[Or, at least, it seems to be directed at you; it could be directed at her Pokemon, who are waiting near the entrance to the Day Care. Kirlia and Gabite don't seem to be reacting all that much (Kirlia by nature, Gabite because...Cyrus), Clefairy is clapping excitedly and Lucario looks ready to faint.

It doesn't take too long for Rey to direct the Millenium Golurk to land, her Pokemon spreading its arms and reducing its thruster power, switching back to...generally having legs at the last moment.

When Rey jumps down from its shoulder, she can't hide her excitement.]

That was bloody brilliant! It's like having my speeder back, except I can actually fly!

[...no, her Pokemon don't know what she's talking about either.

Evening sees her back at the Pokemon Center, her blanket wrapped around her shoulders. She's sitting facing her Clefairy, who is currently doing an...odd manoeuvre, rhythmically moving her arms back and forth at a constant pace.

...Rey may or may not be copying her, index fingers similarly pointing upwards.]

This is a metronome, right? It's quite hypnotic, really.

[...they don't seem to be stopping any time soon, but you're free to come and ask Rey just...what it is they're doing.

Spoiler; she doesn't really know, but Clefairy seems to be enjoying herself. Her Kirlia is sitting nearby, playing with what looks to be an evolution stone.]

the day

[enjoymyatelier]

[...you know, he just happens to look up while Rey's flying around and-]

...

Those fly!?

evening

[discutio]

...A metronome? [Ignis tilted his head slightly, the silver Eevee in his arms twitching an ear but not much else.] I can't hear one, what is it you're doing?

Day

[takestheblame]

[Congratulations, Rey, you get a moment of genuine and unrestrained surprise]

He flies?!

[He can't believe this. This is...wow]

day

[divinedescendant]

[holy shit




holy shit

To Latona's credit, she has learned well the art of the mom friend and just sort of hangs out in the vicinity of Rey's poor Lucario in case he does faint... Emmeryn manages to wave back to Rey while she's up there, and—god, how can she internally panic about any of this when Rey is so happy? Look at her? So Emmeryn can't help but jog up to meet her as she lands, Heim in one arm as she holds her skirt over her feet with her other hand, Audhulma sitting on Duma's back as he follows behind.]

My goodness, Rey, how marvelous! Oh, look at you, I've never seen you so overjoyed—Are you certain of your safety up there?

[listen, she has to ask,]

TUESDAY

[azumods]

investigation!

[enjoymyatelier]

[You know what? Sure, Kayneth is a little curious about the day-care center and whatnot but holy fuck there are ruins here. He is definitely going to hit up some goddamned ruins. So obviously, he'll be in the ruins for a lot of Tuesday, just looking through and trying to see what he can see. You can pretty easily find him writing down the inscriptions pretty eagerly as he goes through if you're also exploring, and he's definitely willing to discuss his findings!

...Especially the Unown floating around? They're not really doing anything, but...]

Hm. I wonder if these are worth catching or just observing...?

[Well, anyway, after a day of that, his Pokemon are essentially going to drag him over to the Pokemon Day Care to play with other Pokemon. Like, yeah, Kayneth doesn't really feel like playing with Pokemon that aren't his, but he's stuck chaperoning while Velasquez tries to do crafts with everyone there...]

ruins;

[ventulus]

...They look kind of funny, don't they?

[ Sure, Ventus has seen a lot of Pokemon, but these ones are definitely in the unique section along the lines of things. ]

Investigation-ish

[hyruglyphics]

[ Four people vanishing (Rin among them) in the last two weeks, a blur of studying once more in the previous town, only really going out to the park outside of that (she knows so much more about space travel than someone from a steampunk/fantasy world ever needed to know) and just a general confusion about things have seen Zelda's mood all over the place even if she hasn't. Today, though, she resolves to not even look at a book, instead going out to spend time with various people and her own Pokémon.

To that end on the Outskirts of town in the foothills of it, she's out riding Bosphoramus the Onix with the little Mime Jr. riding on top of him with her! And then Saber the Lickilicky and Urbin the Graveler are rolling around down there, basically playing hardcore beyblades with each other while she's watching from her perch. It's something that's of interest with her, and she's speaking to Bosphoramus as they do ]

So ... do you truly not have as much interest in evolving? I've come across the methodology in one of the books. ... It's true it would diminish your speed though, and you do take such pride in it... [ She hums. ] Though Urbin has shown interest in his own - I wonder ... if it works the same as the native Gravelers? My studies have shown that method, but ... [ She hums, watching the beyblade some more, but maybe you wanna come across all this or even overhear her as she's petting the sad clown

That said, she will eventually head back to town, and this is when she's around it with Miphanus the Metagross and Vah Daroh the Porygon2. Both of them float behind her (though Miphanus takes up much more space) as she heads towards the News Station there if only because she's... curious? Knock knock, is anyone there? Maybe they'll have some stories about what was going on before all this started? But other than that investigation, the two of them are mostly just hanging out around the Daycare to hang out there. ]

[anythingforyou]

[If there's one place that Camilla is going to be spending a lot of her time at, it's the Daycare. Camilla has been more than happy to try to assist in egg making around here, at least, even if she's...got no real clue how to encourage them to get together. She's a wyvern rider, not their raiser, and quite frankly, she's more than content to leave that to Altena, who one might see outside seeming to try to talk to the other Pokemon. It's...going about as well as expected, but she seems to be trying to encourage some Pokemon to hang around each other, if nothing else? Maybe just playing a mini game of matchmaker.

Inside the building, however, Camilla can be found doing just about anything; she can be found assisting in feeding the Pokemon, where she'll be doing that very happily, or perhaps even where the few eggs are, alongside Melady, as she seems to be wrapping them in blanket swaddles. Melady seems to be taking to knitting even more, considering that they're her handiwork; they're a little lumpy and some of the stitches were definitely lost, but they're still very serviceable little things that Camilla wraps around the eggs and sets them back warmly. She'll even be found outside sometimes, attempting to encourage the Pokemon to play with her own partners, with...varying degrees of success. It's something, though, and Camilla looks utterly ecstatic.

It's the evening, however, that sees Camilla outside of town; she still needs to train her dear partners after all, and even if they've had fun playing, they needed to get serious. Of course, this also sees a very interesting thing happen, after Arion bests Altena in a fight; he starts to glow.]

Oh, Arion! You're evolving?!

[Camilla and the rest of her team shield their eyes as he does, Camilla undoubtedly excited to see what becomes of her sweet partner; once the light settles, what Camilla sees is what she believes to be a marvelous creature. She's not entirely sure if he's two different creatures now or not, but Camilla practically barrels over to Arion and lavishes both heads with pettings.]

Oh, sweetheart, you look wonderful! I couldn't be more proud of you for coming this--

[Of course, therein lies the problem. One of those heads practically melts at the praise, rubbing his head against Camilla's hand easily and eating it all up. The other...isn't so adjusted, and lashes out to bite Camilla, causing her to jump back.]

--Arion, no! No biting! I thought I taught you better than this!

[The head that was lavishing in the pets seems to take offense, looking to the other head and practically screaming at it. The other just...screams back, before attempting to ram Camilla down. She thankfully dodges in time, but...]

What on earth is the matter, dear? Did something happen?!

[It doesn't get an answer, except for one of the heads trying to bite at the more violent one while the other just tries to bite on back and practically shrieks in the process. Camilla herself tries to get between them, as futile of a task as it may be; she might. Need a little bit of help here, dear gods.]

WEDNESDAY

[azumods]

[eudaimonikos]

[Today, for some ungodly reason, Michael's spending some time in the daycare!

Jane Doe is here, cradling an egg in each claw and singing that little Haun-haun-ter-ter song to them. It's good that somebody here is responsible, because Michael's sitting on the floor with several eggs in front of him, just...looking at them, for the moment. They sure are eggs. It was easier with Lena, he'd basically just shoved her in his backpack and not worried about it. Now they're supposed to hatch all of these for some reason?

Michael picks one up in both hands and lifts it to his face.]

Hatch now.

[.....nope, didn't work.

Afterwards, he goes to the news press to screw with the...well, the news press. He's trying to figure out how to print his own stuff with it, from the looks of things. Thankfully, he's at least avoided getting ink all on everything.]

This is old even by my standards. Why do they have this?

THURSDAY

[azumods]

FRIDAY

[azumods]

Letters.

[azumods]

[Some of you requested some sort of contact from Saturn, just to let you guys know he hasn't, you know. Died or been brainwashed or just up and vanished again. Early Friday morning, correspondence will arrive for you in the form of letters – Ignis has one as well, though it's done up in Braille, along with printed text in the event that he doesn't do Braille. At least the thought was there?

Either way, they're written in impossibly neat cursive script, and they're largely variants on the same sort of message – he's doing well enough, he's been good and staying in the base to look after the grunts as opposed to returning to Master Cyrus, and he's still working through some things but he's generally trying, at least.

The second portions of the letters, however, regards information that he was able to find by way of some work on his own time – namely, he's aware that several of you want information of some sort on Master Cyrus. While he's unwilling to pry into the matter too much himself, he can tell you that the hometown of the man in question is Sunyshore City, to the east; though it's been a while since Saturn himself has been anywhere near the place, he's heard enough about it that he thinks it may go a decent way toward explaining some things for you.

That's about all on that front; it's something, at least. Either way, you should probably decide how you feel about acting on it.]