azume | Week 2.

Week 2.

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!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Yeah.

[It's...definitely something, anyway.]

If he's pursuing, I haven't seen him. And I don't tend to miss very much.

I wonder what is stopping him?

[ Just the threat of Cynthia??? ]

I'm not too sure anything is.

[Well, anything external, anyway.]

He looked right at us back at the city, so he knows we were there and probably can't be too far by now, right? I don't know, maybe he just thinks we're not worth his time right now. Or we're not his business, either-or.

[ Hmmm... ]

He must know that we have defied them, and have access to our feelings, as he and Cynthia do. We can't possibly be that great of a threat there it wouldn't be prudent to simply follow us.

[ Maybe they are and they're stealthy. ]

It's not like we saw him long enough to know what's going through his head. Just that he wasn't too happy to see Cynthia.

[And he didn't seem willing to use the, like, dozen guys with him as meatshields for some reason.]

That's also true. Any hypothesis we could form would right now be, at best, a theory.

[ Which kinda sucks. ]

Not like there's anything too wrong with theories, we just can't commit all the way.

[That's when it starts becoming a problem, after all.]

I don't know, the only thought I've really got on the guy right now is that he doesn't seem to be trying very hard. I know Cynthia said she'd keep him busy, but there were no signs of a fight until this weekend, and it doesn't seem like they're too subtle when they fight. I also didn't see any of those Galactic guys looking for us at any point.

So either we're not a priority, or he's doing a really bad job for whatever reason.

Or Cynthia and him have some sort of agreement with each other, despite being enemies...?

[ but that seems silly. She glances at the horizon, and glances at Beldum - oh! it's leaning in as if interested in this plotting, that's fun... ]

[...cute...]

...It looked like they have some kind of understanding, anyway. Not like a nice one, but...

[How do you word this without sounding fucking paranoid. Or stupid.]

Did you notice? He gave her his back when they were done talking. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't turn my back on the chick with the giant murderdragon unless I knew for sure she wasn't going to attack me with it.

So there's definitely no love there, but he seemed pretty sure she wouldn't kill him.

[ she mods at that, smiling at her Beldum before adopting a more thoughtful pose. How to articulate this... ]

She did urge us to not harm Cyrus... while do doubt she also wished for out safety, between both that and that battles in this world are done between pokemon... perhaps it simply is not the culture to kill one's enemies?

[ Which does sound weird. ]

Yeah, maybe. Seems kind of dumb to me, though - you'd think that it'd be easier to end a battle by aiming at the people.

Despite our first meeting... I do not disagree.

[ It's said sheepishly, though, because she would... you know. Much rather not shed blood if she can help it? She glances at Jake, and then looks off to the horizon. ]

... The fact the main force of Galactic ... [ Soldiers? cultists...? mmm ] ... of Team Galactic did not engage also intrigues me though.

[Nah, he gets it, Zelda, we're cool; he won't comment on it, anyway.]

Yeah...? How so?

Well, that he didn't order them, that they didn't engage independent of that... it shows the bounds to which they are unresponsive, but unless the battle was a performance shows something of this world or his own character to have engaged Cynthia alone?

[ Or cynthia is like... that strong? Which is possible ]

...That's true, yeah. It would have made more sense to rush her, just make it a numbers game. But he looked like he went at her by himself.

[ She nods ]

So I wonder if that's a matter of them not being reliable, or pride... or... perhaps something else?

Like what?

[...He's not really good at the guess-the-motive game; he usually shoots first and asks questions later.]

I don't have a strong theory... I suppose that ... perhaps reputation still somehow matters?

That's possible...

[Hm.]

Well, here's hoping Cynthia didn't completely jinx it by telling us to stay out of his way. We can try to do that all we want, but we can't do shit about it if he decides to get in ours.

[ she nods, and hesitates - no, he did not like touches. She crosses her arms in front of her, looking off at the new day's sun ]

We can try, at least. Either to escape or to fight. Or a mix of both.

Knowing this group, probably both.

[MICHAEL'S GONNA THROW A CAT AT HIM, ZELDA, IT'S GOING TO BE GREAT.]

Probably.

[ Honestly, yeah. She laughs a little at the idea ]

I promise I won't jump the guy myself, though, okay? It'd actually be pretty stupid to do that, from what I figure.

[ . . .She blinks at that.

Once, and then twice.

Chelsea's words echo in her head, that she's respected, because of wanting to be helpful. She doesn't... believe it per se, but she doesn't doubt it. But for Jake to up and promise that out of the blue does throw her for a moment. ]

Ah... it would. About the only reason I could see to would be the buy time for others...

[...Zelda.]

Did you see the fucking dragon Cynthia had on her? Literally the only thing we know about his Pokémon is that they are presumably slightly less badass than that dragon, which still comes down to "I don't wanna fuck with him until I know what he's carrying."

It'd be tactically stupid.

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