Week 20.

[azumods]

WEEK 20 This past weekend was a bit...much, perhaps - between everything that happened both in and to Sunyshore City, it seems that the group as a whole may need time to recover and process everything that's happened recently. Fortunately enough, there are several cities and towns that are welcoming, full of memories that are pleasant and inspiring thoughts of that which you're working so hard to restore; Floaroma Town is one such location, and after some deliberation that's where you'll find yourselves this week. The changes to the world, unfortunately, aren't as drastic or noticeable as they were the last time you were here; just the same, however, the town itself is peaceful, calm, and quiet, and the flower beds all seem intact and blooming brightly despite everything. There's even someone waiting for you in the meadows, should you choose to look for them, and they seem perfectly willing to brighten the spirits of anyone that needs it. CURRENT LOCATION: FLOAROMA TOWN POKEMON AVAILABLE: WITHIN CITIES SURROUNDING ROUTES: PLAINS/FOREST SUNDAY | MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY | FRIDAY [OOC: Welcome to week twenty 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 this weekend!]

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SUNDAY

[azumods]

[gekkaju]

[To be honest, Atsushi never thought he'd see this town again. He's very glad they decided to come back here, whatever the ultimate reason, because it had been something of a source of comfort in his early days here. It was calm and pretty and just...familiar. And after everything with their encounter with Cyrus, he needed that. He thinks they all need that.

Atsushi spends all day in the meadow with his three Pokemon, letting them wander among the flowers as much as they'd like. Chazuke sits and uses his huge claws to somehow delicately weave stems together to make flower crowns while Natto snoozes nearby, allowing Mizushi to lounge in the fluff of the nape of her neck.

As for Atsushi himself, he just...finds a soft patch of grass or clover and lays flat on the ground, his arms and legs spread with taller grass and flowers surrounding him, staring up at the sky and watching the clouds go by. It's...peaceful, for once. It's nice.

He certainly won't mind company out here though, be it from people or Pokemon.]

[anythingforyou]

[This meadow is the best possible place on earth, honestly. Camilla's honestly just been content wandering around the field with Altena close in tow; she happens upon the sight of Atsushi and his team, walking over to take a seat a little ways away from the boy.]

It's like you've come home in a way, isn't it? [It's gently said, and Camilla smiles.] You look so very at ease. It's quite good to see.

MONDAY

[azumods]

[anythingforyou]

[Gods, Camilla is more than happy to be back in Floaroma, honestly; the wonderful memories they made here stick out so much in her mind, and compared to the shitstorm in Sunyshore, it's so utterly welcome to be back in a place that feels so safe and secure. Camilla is, for the most part, sticking to the meadow; she does have someone she intends to visit and snuggle with, after all, and the meadow itself is so calming and nice that it's hard to go elsewhere.

The morning sees her training her Pokemon in the fields; now that the Pokemon have begun showing a willingness to defend themselves again, all of her Pokemon are more than willing to go out and train some more, even if she has to keep an eye on Arion and Travant due to their lack of coordination. It's at least nice to see Melady able to fight again, even if there's still some reluctance behind it.

Of course, if Camilla sees you, she might just gesture you on over or call out to you, smiling.]

Excuse me, might I be able to borrow a moment of your time?

[She may as well see if a battle can be arranged, at the very least.

The afternoon sees Camilla taking a bit of a break, for once; she's a little bit further out this time, but she's managed to find Shaymin again and is just cuddling the everloving crap out of the dear. Good gods, she's missed it.]

By the gods, you're just as cute and sweet as I remember, darling! Yes you are, yes you are-- [it seems that nobody was wrong about the fact that she is babying the shit out of this thing, holy fuck] I'm so sorry that we weren't able to come and visit again, and left you so lonely. But don't worry, it'll be more than made up for, my sweet~

[She just loves this little hedgechild, okay. They are a good, and she's definitely going to be cuddling and spoiling the damn thing for a long while. Screw Cyrus, she deserves this.

...she actually stays there long enough that alternately, one might actually find her taking a light doze in the field. Please try not to trip over her, she didn't quite mean to do that much--

The evening, once she wakes up from that much, sees her back in town; she's actually got Melady out with her, seeming to tie off some paper and be placing it in a bag for the canary yellow balloon to take with her. The contents itself is a letter for Saturn, kind of giving him the rundown of what happened in Sunyshore and what became of it, along with a bit of a general sentiment to stay safe. And generally, that if anyone happens to give him a hard time about what took place, when it wasn't something he knew about? To let her know and she'll give them an earful.

...Dealing with Cyrus put a lot in perspective, okay, that doesn't mean they're friends, it just seems like common courtesy--]

Do be careful, won't you, Melady? If you're met with any turbulence or a dangerous situation on the way to Veilstone, report back to me immediately. I don't want something happening to you.

[The Drifblim gives a firm little salute and smile, before seeing herself off in the direction of the city. Camilla's going to be worried sick, but at the very least, Melady should be fine. She genuinely hopes.

Otherwise, she's just going to be walking around the town a little aimlessly. She won't mind any company, though.]

Afternoon

[takestheblame]

[After everything that happened with Cyrus, sure is a relief to see Camilla still can relax. He almost feels like bringing that up, in an admiring way -- but he judges discretion is important. If she's relaxed he sure doesn't want to ruin that.

So instead he goes for something else:]

This isn't the kind of thing you'd think you can do with a deity, yet here we are. Life's strange sometimes.

morning

[swiftasacoursingkawa]

[Sena seems to be in the middle of explaining something to Yan, although it's not entirely sure if she gets it. There's a glint in her little buggy eyes that hints at some kind of sharp mind, but with how muted it all is, it's hard for Sena to tell. Especially when Nin decides to give a more explicit demonstration. By, uh, bullying Yan some more, Nin, stop that.

So yeah, Sena's totally up for whatever distraction Camilla has in mind.]

Huh? What's up?

morning

[enjoymyatelier]

[Well, Kayneth's crew is sort of ambling around in his general vicinity, so he might need to gather them up, but...]

Well, I don't exactly have any plans today. What were you thinking?

Morning

[eudaimonikos]

I'm not doing anything much.

[So you may have some time, Camilla! What's up?]

[discutio]

[The previous week had been a disaster to say the least, but Ignis knew damn well he had to pull himself together and quickly. For everyone else's benefit--it was easier if he framed it like that. Doing things for his own benefit just wasn't a concept he was really prepared to approach. So, with that in mind--Hemera sitting at his feet and nameless silver Eevee curled in a chair nearby--Ignis was in deep thought in the kitchen. Back to work as usual, but what? Considering group morale in combination with the weather, he'd have to make something designed to be warm and comforting, a reassurance that things would be alright-]

[Ignis snapped his fingers as the obvious conclusion clicked neatly into place. It...felt right, now of all times, and he set to work immediately.]

[By afternoon there would be the old standby of berry-filled pastries waiting in the Pokemon Center lobby, with a little extra care put into making sure they were absolutely perfect.]

Kitchen

[takestheblame]

...if you're making something please allow me to lend you a hand.

[Because Kiryu figures everyone needs support in these trying times, so here he is, ready to support Ignis]

TUESDAY

[azumods]

[eudaimonikos]

[This morning, Michael and Jane Doe once more gather all the ghosts in the area in front of the Pokemon Center. He's not doing his usual patter this time. After all, he's met all these ghosts already!]

How're you doing, guys? This is fun, right?

[It's really not. He remembers these ghosts being a lot more spirited. Michael hangs around and feeds them for a while anyway. But it's...man, it's kind of depressing.

After a while, he gets an idea! Waving his arms to herd them, Michael troops at least a large portion of the local ghost population over to the meadow. They float around in a big cloud, picking the occasional odd aimless fight with each other, while Michael wanders around until he figures out where the hell this magic god hedgehog is hiding.

When he finds it - and it actually is kinda cute - he brings all the ghosts over to say hi too. Maybe proximity to a minor deity will help? It can't hurt, anyway.]

So. You feed on gratitude? [He's holding Shaymin up to look at it. Gratitude is not something Michael considers himself exactly overflowing with.] I better let out Ky.

[The Milotic is just always so happy! He starts to chase some of the ghosts around excitedly, not even trying to initiate a battle. After a while, Michael calls Quaver over as well. Time for a weird horrible ghost party in the flower fields!]

WEDNESDAY

[azumods]

[fatalstrikes]

[If it seems like Yuri's been distant lately, it certainly isn't your imagination. He's been focusing on training - both himself and his Pokémon. In the morning you can find him out on the edge of town doing just that, with his Pokémon sparring against one another while he tries to work out strategies with them. They're all willing to fight and they all seem capable of holding their own at least somewhat, but Yuri doesn't really look all that pleased. You're free to spar with him or battle him if you'd like, but it won't be long before he gives up on training for the day.

You can find him and his assortment of Pokémon out in the meadows in the afternoon. They're all parked on the ground, with Yuri's five Pokémon sitting out in front of him while he talks to them. The closer you get, the more it'll become apparent that he's not just talking, he's telling them a story, and they're all pretty interested in it (except Tsurugi the Zubat, who is still really lacking in the feelings department). Yuri's got his back to you, so you're free to approach and listen in without him pausing.]

—Just when you think things can't get any worse, Ragou's already got a ship outside, ready to go at a moment's notice. We're barely able to get on it in time, but the trouble doesn't stop there. Ragou's hired some mercenary thugs from the guilds, and it looks like they've been collecting blastia! Unfortunately, the aque blastia wasn't there, but before we can find Ragou we're confronted by the leader of this mercenary guild - Barbos. He's a big guy with one eye and a blastia in place of a hand. So that's gotta be him right, the core thief! But we don't get to challenge him, instead he sends out someone else to face off against us while he and Ragou flee - it's Zagi, that crazy assassin from before and he hasn't exactly forgiven me for the last time we met...

[Some of his Pokémon will look up if you approach, but otherwise they'll keep their focus on Yuri and his story. He actually seems to be getting pretty into it? Huh.]

afternoon

[niceoppai]

You're a pretty good entertainer, huh?

Morning

[anythingforyou]

[Camilla's honestly on a walk before she goes to settle down in the Meadow again today--needless to say, seeing Yuri and his team out here gives her a bit of a pause. He has seemed a little distant, hasn't he? Hmm...

Camilla walks over, clearing her throat a bit while he trains as to not startle him.]

Hard at work as usual, hm? [Camilla looks out to his Pokemon with a bit of a smile on her face.] They seem to be doing quite well for themselves.

[enjoymyatelier]

[Well... there wasn't really a way to stock up on allergy medication before they headed to Floaroma, unfortunately, given that Sunyshore was just gone. So... allergies are back, which is absolutely wonderful, but Kayneth is at least going to try and leave the Pokemon Center this week. So... Wednesday he's going to head to the PokeMart to see if he can find any medication for it, but, uh.]

...are they really out of it...

[...maybe it's not too surprising, but still. In any case, he's going to head off to spend some time by the river between Floaroma and the Valley Windworks training a bit, since it's a little easier on his sinuses than the town itself. He's trying to spend a little more time working with Antonia, since... well... it's been hard to tell but she's definitely a lot more motivated than she had been, and the Pokemon are kind of vaguely more willing to battle than they had been.

This gets results when, after a very nearly spirited battle with a Shinx, Antonia finally gets all glowy and evolve-y... and comes out a bit stranger than before.]

...Ah.

[...she's his firstborn child whom he hatched from an egg he can't act weird about her becoming an even weirder blob...]

Well. Let's go and celebrate, shall we?

[...well, they do end up at the flower shop later, but Antonia doesn't seem to quite get this whole "picking out accessories" thing, considering she's just kind of staring at them and occasionally arranging them in ways that she clearly finds interesting but don't really make much sense to Kayneth. Maybe he should've bought her a snack or something...]

[semistableman]

[Bucky being completely distant might not be a shock-- he'd been one of the people who acted most strongly upon finding out the fate of Dawn, after all. Even days later, he's still not doing well, even in the cozy town.

In the morning, he can be found at the Pokemart stocking up. At his side are Flora, and his latest edition, Lipkiy the Magnemite, who is doing their absolute best to stay firmly on Bucky's right side, not daring to float anywhere near Bucky's left arm.]

What do you think, Flor, think I need to stock back up on berries?

[In the afternoon, Bucky can be found in the meadow, seated next to the cute friend where he's happily feeding it berries. He looks in better spirits here, with something to do. Having a soft-spot for animals absolutely extends to lesser gods. Shaymin, for their part, looks pretty content, Bucky things.

Anyone in the meadow is going to get waved over, because who doesn't need a cute green hedgehog in their lives?]

THURSDAY

[azumods]

[omissions]

[Since the encounter with Cyrus this past weekend, Ari has been even quieter than usual: he had not spoken much, if at all during that meeting, and frankly, it has to do with the unsettling feeling the man gives off. It reminds him a little too much of Beiloune, honestly.

Maybe that's why he's been trying to train and keep in shape the past few days--not just his Pokemon, but himself as well, as today you can catch him outside swinging a stick he's picked up off the ground like one would with a sword. His Pokemon are not participating as opponents, they're just sitting nearby and watching with some amount of curiosity as Ari spars with an enemy that isn't actually there.

Later, he's at the Pokemon Center for lunch, and while his Pokemon are eating, he's fiddling with his box of strange gears again. No matter how hard he tries, he can't get the gears to form the shape of his Gear Sword that he once had before. Aside from the gears, it seems he's missing parts to form a cohesion, or whatever talent it was that the man who had built his sword had used to put all these parts together.

Finally, sometime later that night, Ari visits the meadow. He's not actively looking for the little Pokemon that he has heard lives here, but is otherwise not opposed to it or anyone else's company as he appears to be lying back and looking up at the night sky and whatever stars might be up there tonight. There's a length of silence before Ari will suddenly speak up.]

... Do you want to hear a story? It's a really popular one that used to be told a lot back home... or well, I guess it might be considered more of a joke than a story, depending on who you ask.

[thunderwolf]

[As much as Eustace had prepared himself for another encounter with Cyrus, he wasn't prepared for the man to drop the bombshell that he did. He meant what he said to Ventus during their trip into Darkrai's realm, that kids shouldn't have to face horrors like the destruction of worlds or malevolent primal beasts on their own, like Dawn apparently got urged into doing. The whole thing is just sitting very badly with him.

Worked up from all of that, this week he's been focusing on re-balancing himself and trying to get back into that peace-and-quiet bubble of his. Floaroma Town ended up being a really good choice for a place to do that, even if it isn't quite how it was their first time here.

Today, he's spending time with the newest member of his team: a shiny Rhyhorn by the name of Quake. She's been gradually perking up as of late, most notably in her desire to run around with Pup (the sight of a Mightyena gracefully running down a path with a Rhyhorn lumbering after is a very amusing sight). At first he settled for playing fetch with her, but today he's busted out something he bought back during the most recent visit to Veilstone: a saddle.

During the day, he can be found on the outskirts of town with Quake...or rather, atop her. They're...not getting very far, though. While Quake is easy-going, she seems very weirded out by the idea of a person on her back and is digging her heels at any attempt to get moving. Frowning, Eustace slumps forward and rests a hand on her head.]

Come on, Quake. You might have to help us out down the road. I'm trying to get you used to it now.

[And he's being truthful about that! ...but he also kind of likes the idea of racing down the paths on her too. He read about Rhyhorn racing being popular in other regions. Maybe Sinnoh Rhyhorn aren't into it as much?

At night, he ventures out into the meadow to partake in one of his favorite new activities in Floaroma Town: spending some time with Shaymin. It is entirely possible to come across him either wandering around in search of something or with what he was searching for. Shaymin is getting a lot of petting and chin scratches and Eustace looks extremely at peace with the whole situation. Petting a cute animal in the middle of quiet meadow with a gentle breeze rolling through the night sky...it's exactly what he's looking for when he says he wants peace and quiet.]

FRIDAY

[azumods]

Re: FRIDAY

[swiftasacoursingkawa]

[The group training with Camilla earlier this week has given Sena a lot of food for thought. Not only does he need to strengthen the teamwork between all his party members, it's also pretty evident that Monta, Vee, and Nin are the best battlers in his party by leaps and bounds above the others. While it's for a variety of reasons: the longer time they've spent together, the more combative personalities, and so on, Sena can't help but feel that it's a little unfair that Portus, Shell, and Yan are farther behind.

So he's having them gang up on Monta for team practice this morning.]

You just need to tag him once - no, Portus, holding him in place with Psychic doesn't count...

[Teleporting does, though. Monta was already nimble-minded enough to predict and catch Portus when they first met, after all, and he's only gotten better since then.]

And Monta, no fire attacks for the first few rounds, we don't wanna accidentally knock out Shell... [The ghost bug is proving to have a rather strange set of resistances, completely ignoring several types of attacks only to immediately faint at others. It's weird.]

You three can work together to tag Monta, when you do I'll swap him out for another member, and we'll keep going like that, okay?

[Honestly, it's also to see what they can do. Between their relative inexperience and how odd their abilities are to parse, Sena just really doesn't know what they're capable of. Pushing then to the limits like this seems to be his best option - it's what works back home, after all.

The training goes well into the afternoon, and the difference in coordination is like night and day. Instead of passively observing techniques like before, he's actually calling out combination attacks now - having Shell use Double Team to mask Portus' teleporting, Yan's Sonicbooms to disorient the opponent every time they manage to pinpoint a party member, and so on. It goes on like this until-]

Monta, I said no fire attacks!

[Yep, that sure is a ball of fire he's wrapped himself in there. Only he's not charging anyone, instead glowingbrighter, and then...

There's a larger monkey standing there, crowing triumphantly at its newfound strength.]

M-Monta! You-!

[-have increased the strength gap even further, goddammit. HE WASN'T EVEN TRAINING YOU.]

Looking for Shaymin!

[gekkaju]

[Knowing that they probably won't have much time left in Floaroma, Atsushi decides to spend Friday out training with his Pokemon. He'll be out in the plains/meadow for the first hours of early morning, things going as normal...

Seeing the wild Pokemon battling each other has been helping Atsushi be less hesitant to battle them with his own Pokemon, especially since his Buizel had been improving as the weeks progressed. He was much less apathetic and actually seemed...pretty cheery. He had a lot of energy hidden inside of him just waiting to bubble out, Atsushi could tell. So he focused on him and Natto today, allowing Natto to try out her new evolved form some more. At least until the Skuntank, as she tended to do sometimes, got a bit carried away.]

Natto, you know these Pokemon can't fight back like Chazuke or Mizushi! Don't bully them!

[He knows that trying to pull her off this time isn't going to help, so he returns her to her Pokeball before trotting over to the Pokemon she'd been batting around. A little brown and tan fox-like creature...Eevee, the Pokemon that could evolve into so many things. Without thinking, Atsushi gathers them up into his arms, stroking down the fur around their neck.]

Poor thing...I have some potions in my bag, hang on.

[Later on, Atsushi stays in the meadow, but this time keeps his Pokemon in their balls. He's more or less just enjoying the scenery, but he also might be looking for something...mostly because he swears he keeps seeing an unfamiliar shape in the flowers.]