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

[heritrix]

I still have mine as well, actually. I even kept the wig. I thought it might come in handy later.

[hyruglyphics]

I have mine as well, in my pack.

[ Just... you know, in case I guess. ]

[perfectselfie]

I didn't want anything to do with the uniform, so I left it behind.

[Aya thinks. This is all 100% speculation, but...]

...I wonder if a couple of us could dress up, sneak into their camp, and see what's going on.

[heritrix]

[Rin nods. She thinks this idea has merit actually, even with all the risk.]

It would depend on how well we could integrate ourselves. They just saw us, so we can't afford to move too quickly. That said, unless they just got here, it's strange they're just standing outside the area. Leaving men behind to block the way makes sense, but Saturn's their leader. Whatever he's here for, we can probably expect him to lead the charge on.

So if he's still there... Maybe they're waiting for reinforcements, or there's going to be some kind of meeting. [Reinforcements would be great, they could just blend in along the way.] Either way, if we're careful, there's probably some window of opportunity here.

[perfectselfie]

Right. Do you think it would be easier if someone snuck in at night? Michael and Kayneth have a point, they knew our faces without the uniforms on. In dimmer light, they might not be able to make out our faces as well.

[heritrix]

That would be ideal, but we might not have time. It's morning now; unless they're missing what they need to go ahead, I doubt they'll wait for nightfall.

[Which is... Kind of why she wants to do something now? Most of the others seem to think they should go on to Pastoria, but it took them two days just to get here from Veilstone.]

[perfectselfie]

That's a good point, too.

[Aya hums, tapping her fingers against her leg.]

There's the bird plan. That might at least give us enough information to know whether it's worth sneaking in further or whether it's better to try and beat them to Pastoria.

[niceoppai]

Yeah. Remember, Saturn recognized all of us by those numbers. He'd know if there were an extra Galactic member. The bird thing's a better idea.

[perfectselfie]

The more I think about it, the more I agree.

[eudaimonikos]

I’ve got mine, but you know that would be incredibly risky? They just saw us.

[enjoymyatelier]

Their commander also recognized us by our designations from when we were brainwashed cult members. Granted, a possible reason for that is he saw us before the uniforms got involved, but it's also very possible that they're better at facial recognition than we'd like them to be.

[eudaimonikos]

We'd be better off sending a Pokemon to spy, if they could communicate what they'd seen. [He turns to his Chatot.] And we're not at that point, are we?

.......are we. [The parrot repeats after a moment of staring. It’s a parrot still.]

Yeah.

[enjoymyatelier]

...ah, now that's an idea.

[fuck it why is he starting to respect this asshole]

Especially since this commander fellow has more life to him than the other members of the organization. Maybe we can catch him contacting someone.

[eudaimonikos]

Does anyone have a Pokemon that might be able to carry and use a camera? Not the ones we got at the start, but new ones?

[Not immediately volunteering Zelda's tablet, but. Kinda low-key considering it.]

It might be a little conspicuous, but Saturn is the only person we need to really be worried about seeing them.

[enjoymyatelier]

I've got a Murkrow who's quite intelligent, so I think she might be able to. She's already fairly good at carrying messages, and if I showed her what to do...

...

Or if someone did, if it's more advanced than 1994's technology, anyway.

[eudaimonikos]

Zelda, do you think a Murkrow could manage your tablet? Or did anyone else take a smaller camera from the store?

[discutio]

I think sending a bird is a far better idea than direct infiltration. If anyone is captured in the process, they will likely wind up back where we began; in the same state as the test of Team Galactic. Given our comparative numbers as well as inferior strength by this world's standards, a recovery mission following such an incident will not be an option ending in anything but failure.

[heritrix]

[She does! And freely admits as much there.]

Even if we don't make it past the lakefront, it might still be worth it. So long as we blend in and don't make an immediate move, at the least we could gain some good intel.

[enjoymyatelier]

...hm. Talking about intel, I'm kind of wondering if we might be able to use our Pokemon to accomplish that. I know some of us have captured Pokemon that won't be immediately identifiable as ours, given that a lot of the Pokemon we woke up with don't seem to be native to Sinnoh.

[heritrix]

[—! That brings her back to what she was discussing with Michael earlier.]

That's right, you had a bird pokemon with you the other day. [The one he used to send a message to her.] A Murkrow, right?

[She thinks that was the name of the crow-like creature she saw in a guide of Sinnoh Pokemon, at the department store.]

[enjoymyatelier]

Yes, that's correct. I caught one in case we got separated and had to communicate with each other, but now that I'm thinking about it, she'll be very useful for these purposes, as well.

Admittedly, I think Michael's Chatot is a little more useful for reconnaissance at the moment, but I think I could also send Huginn out and teach her some sort of signal for if it looks like we need to double back to the lake immediately.

[heritrix]

[The Chatot definitely has the advantage, given how many of them they've seen in the area. It would blend right in. But she was never intending on sending Huginn in in the first place.]

It would be a good insurance policy, if nothing else. She's pretty intelligent if you could train her to find me before we'd seen each other; I'm sure she'd be able to learn something like that just as quickly. I'd like to get an idea of their numbers, but if we could just keep track of their movements, that would be enough.

[enjoymyatelier]

Right, exactly. I'll see what she's capable of in both regards; she might be able to arrange twigs to communicate numbers or something if I teach her.

[eudaimonikos]

I've only had him a few days now, but all the Pokemon seem fairly intelligent. I'm willing to send him and see what happens. There's enough wild ones around here, the worst case scenario is probably just him coming back with nothing useful.

[heritrix]

If you're comfortable with it, we could probably start on that while we deliberate what else to do.

[They probably don't want to do it right this second, but the sooner they get him in, the more he'll have a chance to overhear.]