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

Investigation!

[heritrix]

—mmph.

[Thursday morning, before they've left Route 214, Rin's incomprehensible as she wakes. Part of this is due to a long night, and part of it is due to the fact she's never been much of a morning person in the first place. Mostly though, it probably has something to do with the purple face-hugger attached to her mug.]

Ugh, Abbey. [Nose pinched shut by a pincer, her voice comes out nasally as she tries to pry the Gligar away.] Gebt off alreaby.

[...how Rin got be in this situation is probably best explained with a flashback to last night. As they passed yet another set of cliffs, she'd hoped to be able to get a view of Lake Valor if she climbed up hard enough, and that went super swell. Despite poisoning Rin's Mienfoo, though, the creepy gargoyle intrigued her. Probably because it's the first creature she's seen that picked a fight with them first, even if she gave up the moment she realized she wasn't getting an easy meal.

Shame she hasn't shown much initiative since then—unless you count more face-hugging. With a grunt, Rin manages to pry Abbey off, shooting the Gligar a withering glare as she rubs at her sore nose.]

We've proved you can take direction, if nothing else. You get brownie points for not poisoning in my sleep last night. [Abbey... nods, after a moment. Sure? You said not to, so. Rin looks away from her, and scoots over to her Mienfoo. There's a little bandage wrapped over his shoulder, and she checks it now.] Speaking of, are you feeling better this morning?

[The Mienfoo... Glances over itself, then shrugs, not sure what his trainer wants. Rin's not having any of that though, heaving a sigh and poking his nose with her finger to get his attention.]

Don't give me that! You better listen up, Capsule Monkey. I'm not a mind-reader; you have to tell me if something's wrong, or if you feel worse. I have another antidote right here, so it's no problem, but I can't help you if you don't let me know. Capiche?

[Um. Yeah, sure. ...wait, is his name really Capsule Monkey now?]

It looks better, though. [Rin sighs, and puts the bandage back into place. She should get her pokemon something to eat.] We did enough training last night. Let's just take it easy for the day.

[Later in the afternoon then, once they've hit the new route, Rin can be found walking along the beach. Per orders, Monkey's sitting in the sand, watching over a pair of empty boots and eating berries in the sun. Nearby him, Abbey seems content to hawkishly watch a buzzing Yanma rather than join her trainer by the water.]

Cold, cold, cold...! [Rin hops from foot to foot before deciding to gutzball it and dive in, clothes and all. She resurfaces a moment later with a gasp.] That's brisk!

[It feels so nice to be clean, though. Rin spends about an hour in the water, washing up and just relaxing. When she gets around to leaving later, it's in search of a place to dry off without getting sand stuck to her. Her pursuits lead her away from the water, further and further along until she stumbles across a path north of the beach. Huh. Curious, she decides to follow it to see where it goes.]

beach

[niceoppai]

Thanks for the warning! [Chelsea pulls her jacket over herself and looks down from the beach.] It's safe, though, right?

[heritrix]

As safe as anywhere else in this world.

[Rin shrugs, kicking her legs energetically under the water both to stay afloat, and to warm her up faster. Just gotta adjust to the temperature. Putting a hand over her eyes to shield them from the sun, she looks down, trying to see past the surface of the water. The waves roll with glimmering light and deep shadows alike.]

I think I see some fish-like pokemon further out, but they seem content to keep their distance.

[niceoppai]

Guess they're just going about what they do, too. Though I noticed Lemonade got chicken of a fight recently. At least she's doing something, huh?

[heritrix]

She actually got scared? And you're sure it wasn't that she just didn't feel like it? None of the pokemon I've encountered seem all that eager.

[niceoppai]

I dunno, but Sunflower was still totally okay to fight when I told him to. I mean, if blindly following orders means okay.

[heritrix]

Huh... [Maneuvering her body carefully in the water, Rin floats on her back.] That's interesting.

[It makes her think over her interactions with her own pokemon more carefully.]

[azumods]

[Rin is just made of gutzball today, good job.

That said, however, the path seems to be a little rough in that nature seems to have reclaimed it a bit, but it also seems to be showing some signs of use. So it's not used frequently, but recently? Probably.

Pressing onward?]

[heritrix]

[You bet she is! ...soon as she gets her shoes back on, at any rate. The path looks less whimsically friendly to bare feet the further she goes along it, so she's just going to slip those back on first. She taps the toe of her hiking boot against the ground, tapping it into place.]

Let's take a look, huh?

[Her two pokemon are significantly less enthusiastic than her, but they're here for the ride. Onward!]

[azumods]

[...I mean, given the state of things, "along for the ride" is probably the most we can ask for.

All right, then! Onward we go. We're going to start moving uphill again, but it isn't a terribly steep climb - in fact, there seem to be stairs built into the rocks here? Almost like this place was meant to be found at some point or another. Upwards?]

[heritrix]

[Pretty much.

Though after a few steps forward, Monkey does like... Reach to lightly tap her leg, as if trying to get her attention for something. This is just as Rin discovers the stairs, however, so he misses his chance when she skips ahead, testing the ground. Somebody sure was good at landscaping.

Climbing the steps, Rin looks ahead of the path. It's not a steep climb, but how far does it look like these stairs go?]

[azumods]

[Not too far, it looks like it might even out a ways above.]

[heritrix]

[Okay, cool. She doesn't feel like she's going too far ahead of the group in that case. Let's continue up!]

Thursday Morning

[takestheblame]

[Kiryu had already gathered his stuff, and was outfitting his still-unnamed Heracross with its own load to carry, when he noticed the strange creature Rin had nearby]

Is that...a scorpion?

[That's a scorpion tail, at least. Kiryu can't identify what the rest of that Pokemon is]

[heritrix]

If it is, she was crossbred with a bat.

[Leaning over, she pulls at Abbey's wings so Kiryu can see her wingspan, demonstrating them.]

Part scorpion, part bat, and heavy as a gargoyle.

[Abbey flaps her wings once when Rin releases them, straightening the muscles out. If Kiryu looks closely, she has big pincers for hands too, another trait like a scorpion. Rin's nose still has marks from where Abbey pinched her earlier.]

[takestheblame]

[A scorpion crossed with a bat. Sure, why not. Everything's fine]

Another creature that doesn't make any sense.

[Still, Kiryu can't deny he's kind of curious]

[heritrix]

I bet our worlds would seem just as strange to them. Though they'd probably feel more like themselves.

[She bops Abbey on the... Well actually, Gligar don't really seem to have noses. In the general face area though! Not that it matters. Good or bad, she doesn't seem to have any opinion of the gesture.]

Anyways, she's still like a scorpion in the ways that matter. If you see any creatures like her, be careful of the tail. Her strike is poisonous.

[takestheblame]

Tell me you didn't find that out because you got stung.

[The last thing they need is someone getting poisoned, that's for sure! But yeah, are you okay, Rin?]

[heritrix]

[She huffs, pulling a long lock of hair behind her ear.] I'd really be out of luck if so, wouldn't I? There weren't any antidotes for humans at that department store.

[Which really raises all kinds of questions, but she reaches behind her to pet her Mienfoo on the top of his head. He doesn't react much to it other than to glance on her, eating a berry he must have found.]

Monkey was the one to learn that lesson, but I patched him up quickly.

[Or at least she thinks she did? It's hard to tell when they don't react much either way, sick or well.]

afternoon

[enjoymyatelier]

...You know, there's a cabin up ahead where you can get a shower if you want one.

[...he really booked it the second he saw something resembling a house, okay, he wanted to be clean in a civilized way....]

[heritrix]

[...SO THERE IS.]

Maybe I just wanted to go for a swim! It's not every day you get a chance to see the ocean.

[enjoymyatelier]

Well, in fairness, I'm sure none of us brought proper swimwear, but I feel like you're going to regret all the salt drying into your clothes.

[heritrix]

[Look, that's future Rin's problem, okay. Present Rin... knows he's right, and lets herself sink a little deeper into the water, up to her chin, and glowers balefully.]

Spoilsport.

[enjoymyatelier]

Well, if nothing else, you now know where you can wash your clothes off to keep them from getting too stiff.

[heritrix]

Yes, thank you for the information.

[Lightly batting her hand at the water, she inadvertently splashes. Careful, Kayneth! If you're too close, you might get wet.]