Week 3.

[azumods]

WEEK 3 The past weekend has given people a lot to take in, and a lot to think about. You're permitted to stay at the resort all day on Sunday, should you so choose; relax and replenish yourselves with regards to sleep at least, seeing as it's much more comfortable than the routes or sleeping on the floor of the Pokémon Center. Commander Saturn is gone as of last night, and no one seems to be coming after you - though there is likely something you'll be aware of by the end of the day... Whatever happens, it's evident that you'll have to leave this place eventually, and Monday should find everyone back on Route 213. It's been repeatedly recommended to move toward Pastoria City; whether you believe the source of said urging to be trustworthy or not, it's still a good idea to move in that direction - a city means supplies, after all, a place to restock and spend a few days. Everyone should be able to find Pastoria City by Tuesday afternoon; it's another unfamiliar place, with various things to see and look at over the course of the next few days. It's far smaller than Veilstone, but it borders up to the ocean by way of a small jetty on the southeastern side of town with a few boats moored to it. Otherwise, it's surrounded by forest, and the main path winds its way lazily through town, weaving between personal residences and a few places of business. Of course, it's still not nearly as lively as it should be; the inhabitants here all seem as devoid of spirit as everywhere else; fortunately, a select few of your companions do seem to be perking up a bit - perhaps that's a good sign, in the end. CURRENT LOCATION: PASTORIA CITY POKEMON AVAILABLE: IN CITIES / NEAR WATER SUNDAY | MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY | FRIDAY [OOC: Welcome to week three 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]

MONDAY

[azumods]

TUESDAY

[azumods]

WEDNESDAY

[azumods]

THURSDAY

[azumods]

FRIDAY

[azumods]

...

[azumods]

[Sunday comes with what starts as minor complications - two members of your group, Alice and Eru Chitanda, both seem more listless than usual. Not in the same sort of way that the rest of the world is listless; just in a way that indicates they aren't feeling 100%. At some point during the day they'll return to their rooms to sleep it off; maybe it's just a temporary setback, nothing to be concerned about.

However.

Anyone attempting to check on them toward the end of the day will quickly become aware that both of them are gone without a trace - any supplies or clothes they brought with them are gone, and the rooms they were in are completely clean and done-up. Any attempts to ask the staff where they've gone will turn up nothing - they haven't seen anyone leave, much less a pair of people fitting Alice or Chitanda's descriptions.

It's as though they'd never been there. But you definitely know and remember that they were.

"Unsettling" is probably the polite way to put it.]

[discutio]

[Sunday morning finds a stunningly sweet smell coming from the kitchen; and on the table where they'd spoken with Saturn is a neatly arranged pile of beautiful pastries. Who knows, maybe you're even part of the kitchen team that helped make a few of them. The crust is delicately flaky, and they're filled with a combination of the native berries for a taste that's sweet without being overpowering.]

[...All in all, it tastes strangely comforting. They're even still warm, but if you're a late riser they're just as good when they cool off. And there's more than enough for all twenty-four of you, as well as plenty of fresh coffee.]

[The culprit was probably obvious by now, Ignis sitting off to the side with a cup of black coffee; one of the pastries split neatly in half between his two Pokemon.]

[heritrix]

[Rin promised Ignis she would make lunch for everyone today, so that has her up as early as the kitchen will open. With 20+ people to cook for and a variety of new flavors and ingredients to learn, she knows this is going to take... a while.

So for several hours, Rin can be found cooking in the kitchen! While the cooks don't seem to care she's moved herself into her space, she thinks they'd be irritated if they were their normal selves, so she does her best to include them. "What ingredients would you suggest compliments this flavor?" she asks. Other times she can be overheard saying, "Can you teach me how to make that? I'll teach you a dish I know in exchange." If anyone else comes in and offers to help, Rin probably won't turn them down. This is a lot of work.

When all is said and done though, anyone who comes to get lunch at the restaurant will find tea and dim sum has been prepared for them. Basically a lot of Chinese-style dishes, with a twist to work out the strange flavors of the Sinnoh region. She's worked hard to get it as right as she can, though. There's all kinds of dumplings, steamed buns, congee, cold and hot spring rolls, you name it. All come with both a meat and vegetarian option (she's noticed a lot of people here seem to be leaning more towards veggies these days).]

Ignis and the others made breakfast, so I pulled my weight and made lunch. There's treats in the back if you want something for dessert, too. Egg tarts and youtiao for us, and then I got the staff to make some special food for the pokemon.

[Rin hangs out at the restaurant there for a while, taking a break to eat and get off her feet, maybe talk to anyone who comes in if they feel up to it. She'll seek out and deliver lunches personally to anyone she doesn't see come in, just to make sure they eat.

And it's sort of in the process of that that she realizes she hasn't seen Alice or Chitanda all day? She's not really talked to either of them much—Chitanda not at all—but she's used to seeing them around. When she tries to deliver lunch to them though, they're nowhere to be found.

So. That's a thing.

...Rin didn't really know them at all, but their disappearance is still frustrating. Yesterday was frustrating; even if she think the meeting with Saturn ultimately went well, it still makes her angry. Too many reminders of certain people in her life, both good and bad.

When it starts to get late, then, Rin leaves the resort by herself to go down to the beach. Bajiquan isn't a martial art that has katas, really. It's more about technique, and strength conditioning, which makes the beach a unique training opportunity. Your hands and feet sink in wet sand, so push-ups and handstands or any activity on it is really unforgiving. Rin practices all of those, but not alone—she has her Mienfoo with her, and instructs him to do the same exercises.

They train not just on the sand, but in the ocean itself. In short shorts and a tank top, Rin wides out until her shins are submerged in the water. Monkey does the same, though being much shorter than she is, he can't go as far out. Rin turns her body sideways so she can watch over him and the incoming waves at the same time.]

Do as I do.

[Telling him this, she lifts her leg high in the air, her foot above her shoulder.]

The point of this exercise is to see how long you can hold this side kick without losing your balance. When you fall, try again.

[If the previous exercises were unforgiving, these ones are tougher. Rin herself can only go for ten seconds at a time in the water, and Monkey much less. But dutifully he does as he's told, and seems to get better each time.

After more training like this, when it's dark out, and Rin's hips and thighs and wrists are burning from the strain, she finally decides to call it a day and will sneak back to her bungalow, careful to be quiet in case anyone's asleep. From the late afternoon on then, Rin can be caught either leaving the resort, training at the beach, or returning late in the evening, probably super soaked and tired, but ultimately looking less frustrated.]

lunch

[niceoppai]

Whoa! You made all this stuff?

[Chelsea carefully loads her plate up, making sure to leave plenty for everyone else.]

That must've taken ages!

[niceoppai]

Mornin'. [Chelsea yawns and staggers in with her Pokémon. Lemonade hangs back a little, while Sunflower reaches up until Chelsea relents and gives him his own plate.] You made all this stuff?

[discutio]

Good morning, Chelsea. I did have help from some of the others, but the recipe is a modified one of my own.

Beach

[takestheblame]

[That looks like a demanding exercise. For a Pokemon like Daigo that should be good. Maybe it'd be good for Heracross too, even though Kiryu doesn't know yet that bug's a fighting type]

Mind if we join you?

[takestheblame]

[Kiryu helped Ignis cook curry last night. As long as the food tastes and smells good, the look isn't so important. But Kiryu decided he couldn't accept mediocre skills, not when he had someone to cook for back at home. He had to practice. Curry would be a good start. He decided he wouldn't stop until he had perfected it.

While he's cooking, you may come in. There are a few pots already with curry sauces of varying quality. If you peek inside, you'll find some look good, others...not so good. Everything is edible, but if Kiryu's still cooking than that means it's not that good yet, right?

And then he's done. Kiryu takes the pot to a table, and tells Daigo and the still unnamed Heracross to sit to the table. Measuredly, Kiryu serves rice, and pours curry all over it. It's...it's looking fantastic! He did it, he made pretty damn good curry after a few hours. Kiryu serves the food to Daigo, who eats it with a lot of haste. Takes only a few seconds to devour the curry rice]

Nobody was going to take your food away, you know.

[It's the first time he's seen Daigo react like that. Even with better food, he had always eaten without enthusiasm. A good sign regarding Daigo's personality shining through? Maybe. Heracross receives his portion too, eating without much energy. If you approach, Kiryu puts a hand on the rim of the warm pot]

Do you want some curry rice? It's pretty good, I promise.

[niceoppai]

[Chelsea is late to wake up, and after breakfast, she starts to wander the hotel area. She'll check out the pool, but she doesn't go in, though her Maractus sits by the edge and cautiously pokes the water.

Later, she's in her room with the door wide open, packing up her things in her backpack again. She'll wave if you pass.]

Hey, how much food d'you think we need for this? Probably not a lot, the city's pretty close, right?

[niceoppai]

Looks pretty good. You really like cooking all the time, huh?

[fatalstrikes]

[Yuri's been keeping to himself since the meeting with Saturn. He didn't have anything to say during the meeting itself - mostly because diplomacy is not his thing and he certainly didn't want to make the situation any worse; he knows when to step back and let others take the lead - and afterwards he took one of the rooms and shut himself in. He did manage some sleep, but it wasn't super successful.

At sunrise you can find him by the pool. He's got his shoes off and his pants rolled up so he can dangle his feet in the water, but he doesn't seem to be all that interested in the pool itself. He's staring up at the sky, just watching the sun rise with a contemplative expression. There's a lot to work through and honestly? The whole thing's sort of messing with his head.

That's exactly why he's not going to spend the whole day dwelling on it. Hanging out at the hotel is nice and all, but Yuri will head down to the beach for most of the day. You can find him training his Pokémon sometimes (Roc seems to be getting into it, though the Scyther doesn't care much at all and just does what he's told) and other times you can find Yuri practicing his own moves. He's picked up a stick from somewhere and he's using it in place of a sword, but some of his moves involve punches and kicks and they're surprisingly showy for a swordsman. Roc and the unnamed Scyther sit nearby, watching their trainer. If Yuri spots you while he's training he'll wave you over.]

Hey, you want to spar?

[Later on in the evening you can find Yuri flopped on the ground outside one of the villas, using the light to read through one of the guides he picked up. He doesn't look all that interested in it, but it's better than letting his mind wander over everything that Saturn had to say. He's not really the sort to sit around and think, he'd much rather be doing something. So. Reading it is.]

"Scyther, the Mantis Pokémon. The sharp scythes on its forearms become increasingly sharp by cutting through hard objects." Let's see... You're a Bug- and a Flying-type, so that'd make you weak against...

[He puts the book down so he can't cheat and frowns at the Scyther.]

Fire, definitely. Electric... Flying, too... Hmm. Rock?

[He glances back at the book and sighs.]

Definitely Rock. And Ice too... Man, that's a lot of weaknesses to keep in mind.

[Want to help him study? Or maybe you want to distract him? He'd definitely like a distraction, let's be honest here.]

[fatalstrikes]

[Yuri's up bright and early and he's actually heading to the kitchen to do some cooking of his own when he sees all the pastries laid out.]

Huh. Did you make these?

[Hi, Ignis. How are you doing?]

evening

[niceoppai]

Yeah, there's a lot to read, huh? But it's easy enough when you get the hang of it. Like, you can't use Ground against Flying 'cause they just fly over it, right?

[discutio]

I did—good morning, Yuri.

[fatalstrikes]

Yeah, that's right. Some of these are easier to remember than others, though. It doesn't help that there are so many different types to remember in the first place... I keep forgetting that Ice exists.

[niceoppai]

It's pretty easy for me to remember, just getting through all the reading's a problem. Must've been nicer when people would just do this everywhere for fun all the time, then we could get used to it and stuff.

[fatalstrikes]

'Morning. And thanks, it's appreciated.

[Give him a second to snag a pastry for himself; he'll split it with Roc, but then there's the Scyther... um. Hmm. He'll just push the chairs aside and place the pastry on a plate near the edge of the table so the Scyther can figure it out on his own. Yeah, that works.]

Must've taken you awhile to fix so many. Are you pretty fond of cooking?

beach

[fatalstrikes]

[Yuri's also at the beach, but he's been doing his own training exercises. He'll approach Rin once he's done though, tipping his head a bit as he watches her.]

You and your pal are both pretty flexible. Do you usually train like this?

[fatalstrikes]

Heh, I've got the opposite problem. Reading it is easy enough, but it's like I totally forget the second the book's not in front of me anymore.

[He's already used up his memory on monsters and their weaknesses from his world...]

But yeah, it'd be pretty easy to memorize all this stuff if you've been exposed to it from an early age.