Week 21.

[azumods]

WEEK 21 It's been a while since you were last in Eterna City. While it seems you've suffered another setback on Sunday morning, hopefully it won't completely break your morale; there have been many losses lately, but you have to keep going, especially once the state of things in Eterna City become more clear to you upon your arrival there. The city, for lack of a better word, seems torn - the buildings seem almost patchwork in places, having been torn apart at the seams and replaced with things that seem to have come from elsewhere and nowhere all at once. Parts of other buildings, parts of trees, parts of roads, even - stay in one spot long enough and you can see it happen. It isn't ripples or pulses, like it was with Dialga; this is violent, something sharp and harsh whipping through the air in a burst of energy, tearing through all inanimate objects in its path and replacing them with something that frankly shouldn't be there. Thankfully, the cause of this doesn't seem to be targeting you; it will leave you unharmed, though your Pokémon are definitely aware of it and the rending will cause them to flinch whenever it fires off, regardless of if it hits them or not. It's likely a stressful time for them - just as it is for the locals, who don't seem too willing to leave their homes at the moment... CURRENT LOCATION: ETERNA CITY POKEMON AVAILABLE: WITHIN CITIES SURROUNDING ROUTES: PLAINS/FOREST SUNDAY | MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY [OOC: Welcome to week twenty-one 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.]

Comments

[divinedescendant]

[The world can act however it pleases, but Emmeryn knows Ventus was here—and she spends enough time searching before they depart to Eterna that it almost embarrasses her. Their losses always affect her, she carries so much love for them all, but this...hurts. Tending to Duma looking for his lost playmate last month distracted her from that hurt, too, similar and strange, only at the edge of familiar. Now...

She wonders what happened to Chrom and Lissa, after—If they are safe now.

Duma might just have a sense of this, because while all the rest of her team eagerly returns to their Pokéballs when they arrive to the city in the morning, Duma stands firm at his trainer's feet, even though all two hundred and fifty goddamn pounds of him cannot stop shaking like a leaf. Sometimes the ground immediately under him rumbles a little while they wander the city streets.]

Darling, are you certain that...? [But she doesn't even get to finish before Duma squawks indignantly, right before proceeding to hide his face against Emmeryn's skirt. Thanks, pal. He receives many pettings for his effort, but all the architectural chaos keeps Emmeryn occupied.]

My, how dreadful...

[Route 205 doesn't provide as much distance from the chaos as Emmeryn would like without going into the forest, but her other options are dreadfully mountainous and Emmeryn is already not having an especially great day, so it's the best she can do so her team can take a walk and play for a bit in the afternoon. Heim spends a nice long while running at Latona and bouncing off her knee, then running back so he has a good head start to run at her again. At no point does he make any attempt to properly headbutt or tackle her, he just...doesn't realize she's in the way? Or thinks this is fun???

So, as it turns out, she's got another stupid one.

Tired of that, though, he turns around and runs right at Emmeryn instead and bounces uselessly off her legs, only for her to scoop him right up into her arms. That, somehow, is enough, and when the white glow that surrounds him all at once fades, he uses his new wings to flutter out of her arms and fly circles around her.]

Oh, darling, look at you!

[He gives a happy little trill, and zips off to go fly back and forth around Latona, who, as always, endures this absolute nonsense. Emmeryn's eyes light up and her smile goes so, so soft.

Come the evening, she settles in the Pokémon Center, where Duma desperately tries to fit himself under the table Emmeryn sits at, face-first, and Heim, thrilled about his newfound flight, zips back and forth across the lobby. Emmeryn cannot bear to stop him, but as soon as he comes too close to someone else, she calls for him—] Heim, love, this way. My apologies; he is having far too much fun with himself.

[Alternatively if you walk in too quickly from outside or another part of the Center there's a nonzero chance of just getting smacked right in the face with a weird egg bird.]

evening

[enjoymyatelier]

[...look, he's trying very hard to make sure the universe hasn't winked out of existence behind him so he isn't really paying attention as he walks in and KATHUNK.]

-Jesus Christ!

[divinedescendant]

[she tries to keep Duma from accidentally overturning the table for like a minUTE]

Oh—! Oh, goodness—Heim!

[A master at the art of the scolding mom voice, Emmeryn marches over and scoops Heim out of the air he's left hovering in after ricocheting back off of Kayneth's face with only a mild trill of complaint. Heim squirms a little with reluctance as Emmeryn keeps up her hurried stride all the way over to Kayneth, though.]

Oh, heavens, Kayneth, I am so sorry, are you all right?

[enjoymyatelier]

[...he kind of rubs his forehead after that, now that he's righted himself...]

No... no, I'm fine. I've had worse, and I'm honestly surprised this doesn't happen more often...

[divinedescendant]

Are you...?

[why would this happen more often. kayneth are you okay.]

Ah, no, no, this was my fault for not keeping a better eye on him. I will not let it happen again—You are sure you're all right?

[enjoymyatelier]

...

It... could be worse? It's really not an issue. Just... I don't know, is there a way to keep him occupied?

[divinedescendant]

I think I may just have to let him loose outside for a little while until he tires himself out... He is so terribly excited to have evolved, and it is such a delight to see him excited at all.

[enjoymyatelier]

That does seem to be how it tends to go here, doesn't it? Well, I've always treated my own Pokemon's evolutions as a bit of a birthday of sorts, so... I suppose I should let something like this slide. Just once, though.

[divinedescendant]

Oh, how sweet! These victories might seem small, but they mean so much. What a darling idea, to celebrate them so... If he has another evolution ahead of him then I promise to keep the festivities tame. Thank you so much for being so understanding, Kayneth.

[enjoymyatelier]

Ah, it's no problem, really. But yes, why not celebrate it like that? It's a bit like growing up anyway, so you may as well.

morning

[radiantflame]

[Emmeryn is not the only one searching for Ventus. Morag attempted to have her team split up and search, but all the spatial chaos drove them back to her with their tails between their legs before long. She lays a hand reassuringly on Sorcha's head as she crosses their path.]

Greetings. I would say 'good morning', but nothing about this place seems good.

[divinedescendant]

[To her credit, Emmeryn smiles back at Morag as warmly as ever.]

Troubling as the circumstances are, we will make what we can of them together, as we always do. Good morning, Morag.

[death did and could not cure her optimism]

[radiantflame]

I have some troubling news. I fear we have lost yet another among us.

[divinedescendant]

You mean Ventus, yes?

[man she better because if Emmeryn hears "no there's another" she's—going to remain as composed as ever probably but she sure won't like it

Friendly as ever, but certainly there's a quiet to her calm, something approaching solemnity.]

He has been missing since quite early this morning. [She minds what everyone's up to day to day, but Ventus in particular she likes to keep in sight; of course she would notice his absence.] I thought to see if he had wandered off, but...I do believe he is lost to us, for now.

[radiantflame]

So you've noticed as well.

[Fortunately for Emm, that's all the bad news Morag has.]

I've often wondered what happens to cause something like that.

[divinedescendant]

I recall Cyrus telling us they were with Galactic again... One can only imagine how such a thing came to pass while all the rest of us still stand outside their influence.

[mmm but that's unpleasant]

It means, though, that we are certain to reunite with our missing companions, even if it takes some time.

[radiantflame]

That's an optimistic way to look at it, I suppose.

[Maybe she's not feeling all that hopeful with everything that's happened recently.]

I only wish there was a way to prevent it happening at all...

Morning

[eudaimonikos]

[Michael's just sort of standing and staring irritably at a spot on a building that's now partially made of pavement from the road.]

Isn't it enough that this is happening? [so yeah, he's probably noticed Ventus being gone]

[divinedescendant]

It is always something new with us. [She tries to sound good-natured about it, at least.] But our track record for solving the problems facing us has always been quite good.

[eudaimonikos]

It's a little incredible, isn't it?

[.....]

So, Mars or Jupiter this time. Probably Mars? I think Jupiter's based up north.