Week 2.

[azumods]

WEEK 2. The new week begins with new surroundings. The city you've been growing accustomed to over the past week is now well behind you as you set out on your journey proper; the terrain still seems rocky and steep here as you move downhill and to the south, dotted here and there with small ponds to the east and rocky outcroppings that you can climb on to the west. There are also large expanses of tall grass here, and the entire route is flanked with tall trees leading off into the forest a short ways. You're more than welcome to explore; just don't stray too far from the group - you wouldn't want to be left behind out here, for any reason. Wild Pokémon are abundant here, as anyone venturing into the tall grass will discover; they aren't inclined to attack you, however, simply watching with dull, dead eyes as you stumble through the area they've come to call home. The trip is difficult, and it's a lot of walking, but it's not unmanageable; fortunately enough, the route you're on should lead you directly to Valor Lakefront, assuming there are no complications along the way. From Thursday and beyond, the route takes a sharp turn west; in front of you lies what's clearly the ocean, large rocks jutting out just offshore tempering the waves. It's safe to go in the water if you so choose - assuming you can swim, that is - and the forested terrain has given way to a large beach with patches of tall grass here and there. Interestingly, there's a house located on the beach; whether it's inhabited or not is difficult to tell. Of course, exploring slightly north of the beach will reveal a path. Maybe it leads somewhere important... CURRENT LOCATION: ROUTE 213 POKEMON AVAILABLE: NEAR WATER SUNDAY | MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY | FRIDAY [OOC: Welcome to week two 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. Don't forget that a write-up is due next weekend!]

Comments

[eudaimonikos]

[The walk is a little harder than expected. He sticks to the grass and avoids the rocky bits, but after a while Michael's forced to acknowledge that maybe he'll have to consider a different type of shoe before they go on the longer treks. To himself, that is, he isn't admitting discomfort to anybody else for the world.

He maintains a position around the middle or the back of the group while they walk; keeping everybody more or less within eyesight seems important to him, and he'll hang back if he notices anyone getting sidetracked. It's a way to keep busy. Even so, this is a lot of time without much to do, so Michael will also work on training his Pokemon during the walk! The Purrloin seems a little more active lately: she'll pick up her pace to easily keep alongside Michael while they go, and darts forward to face wild Pokemon directly instead of having to be placed there.]

Okay, Cat Janet. Do the thing.

[They've been working on condensing some battle commands; in this case, "do the thing" seems to translate to "kick sand in its face and then use Double Team a few times before it recovers". After that, it's usually easy to scratch the enemy into submission. Fair fights are overrated.

This strategy seems to work well enough. Cat Janet still takes hits, of course, but she successfully takes down quite a few wild Pokemon, before they meet with an obstacle in the shape of a colorful and weird-looking parrot. It shakes off the Sand Attack without fuss, and immediately pinpoints which of the several Purrloins is the real one, pecking Cat Janet in the head. Michael frowns and keeps the battle going, watching as Chatot picks out the right opponent without fail, over and over.]

Huh. Interesting.

[He doesn't so much end the battle as walk over and pick the Chatot up, holding it gently in both hands as if to keep it from flying away. Not that it's trying; it just hangs out while he looks it over.

That evening, Chatot is still here when everyone settles down for dinner. Michael gets both of them some Pokémon food, then sits and eats whatever someone else has cooked.]

So, are we going to start hunting Pokémon for food at some point? Apparently people do.

battle

[niceoppai]

Wow, it's pretty smart for a bird, huh?

[eudaimonikos]

I have no idea how it did that.

[He's moving a finger around in front of Chatot, watching it track his motions.]

I might expect that from a Psychic, but this is a Chatot. It's just a plain old bird.

[niceoppai]

Yeah, but maybe that's just its special talent! Seeing through illusions! Or just being really, really observant.

[eudaimonikos]

Hmmm. Good to know that that won't work on everything...

[Of course, he did have other potential plans in the wings. But still.]

Maybe I'll keep this. I bet I could figure out what it's doing, given a few days.

[niceoppai]

You mean, so you can plan for if another one shows up?

dinner

[bloodspent]

I'd be kind of surprised if people didn't. Do they even have normal animals around here? Cynthia didn't seem to know what the fuck a goat was.

[He hasn't exactly seen any sane things?]

[eudaimonikos]

I don't think so. But I know humans can get weird about which animals are for eating and which ones aren't. Like, just because you keep them as pets, they're suddenly completely incapable of being meat. Just wanted to see if we were all on the same page.

I mean, either way, we should be able to make fairly regular stops for provisions until we start north towards Lake Acuity. Assuming all the cities are in about the same condition as Veilstone, or we aren't in a hurry.

[bloodspent]

[He seems to mull that over for a moment.]

As far as I'm concerned, if it won't kill us when we eat it, then I say we can eat it.

[Why...is this hard for people...]

[eudaimonikos]

I imagine anything that isn't a Poison-type would be safe? We could always see what our Pokemon are willing to eat - they might be screwed up, but I don't think they'd poison themselves.

[bloodspent]

...I don't particularly want to find out I'm wrong the hard way, but it depends on the Poison-type. If it looks mostly like it could be made of meat, you could probably cook the poison out of 'em.

dinner

[enjoymyatelier]

[...look he doesn't want to talk to Michael more than necessary but that just.......... that just....]

What, they do?

[eudaimonikos]

[Michael's not the biggest grudge-holder in the world, but Kayneth hasn't exactly done anything to make a better impression, so.....ehhhhhhh, pass.]

Yeah, they do. Cynthia told me some of the cultural norms around it, so we won't offend the lake gods. I wasn't even asking her about eating them.

[enjoymyatelier]

...

What are the cultural norms. Is there anything special we should do?

[eudaimonikos]

You're supposed to consume as much of it as you can, then clean it down to the bones and put the bones in a body of water. No word on where the rest of the squishy parts go, I guess the bones are what's important.

[enjoymyatelier]

Ah... well, that makes sense as a tradition. I suppose other Pokemon could always eat the offal parts, since animal stomachs tend to be stronger than human stomachs.

Dinner

[takestheblame]

It'll have to be done at some point. Doesn't make it any less undesirable.

[Because these creatures are so intelligent they're steps above mere animals. Kiryu doesn't mind letting Daigo go seek its own food because it's natural for a Pokemon to eat whatever it finds or hunts, but...for everyone in the group to do the same...

It's kind of weird, yet it could be necessary someday]

It will be difficult to know which species should be hunted and which ones we shouldn't touch.

[eudaimonikos]

Morally, you mean, or which ones aren't poisonous?

[Two different questions; he was mostly asking about the first one to start, but as long as other people are fine with it he's okay moving to the second.]

Either way, fish are probably a good starter.

[takestheblame]

Which ones aren't poisonous, mostly, but there's other problems. We can't know for sure how their biology works depending from their type.

[For example, what if fire types are too hot to handle properly, or if ground types are inedible? Who knows]

[eudaimonikos]

One way to find out. I'm pretty good with cutting things open.

[don't like...ask why or anything.....]

Anything fleshy, anyway. I'm sure we can't eat the rocks.

[takestheblame]

The rocks could simply be a carapace.

[Although the thought of flesh underneath rocks is kind of unsettling]

dinner

[fatalstrikes]

[...why are you like this, Michael.]

I hadn't really stopped to consider it before. Now I'm kind of disturbed, so thanks for that.

[eudaimonikos]

Well, Cynthia's the one who brought it up.

[He's not even lying, she totally did! Like a week ago but still]

[fatalstrikes]

Did she...? Huh.

I guess we're probably going to have to at some point, but it's not something I'm looking forward to.

[eudaimonikos]

I wouldn't say I'm looking forward to it. But it's something we should probably think about before we have to do it. Just in case anyone has any issues, or whatever.