Week 8.

[azumods]

WEEK 8 Snowpoint City remains as cold and unforgiving as ever, through no fault of its residents. The city itself doesn't seem to see much change in the passing days; there's something you'll all become rather aware of on Sunday as the day goes on, and after so long with no incidents along those lines it's likely an unpleasant thing to deal with. There's also the fact that the changes to the world seem to be slowing; though the one alteration that's immediately obvious is a major one, it seems that things may be beginning to stagnate again. Will there be a slip back into apathy again, if this continues? Or will the changes you've affected already continue to hold? Only time will tell, really. That doesn't mean that nothing has changed, however - thankfully enough, the slugs seem to be settling. Or...well, more accurately, once in a while they stop huffing at each other long enough to drive up piles of snow with their heads and stare at them like they're trying to work out what they're attempting to create, but at least it's a collaborative effort. Are they attempting diplomacy? It's difficult to tell; after all, they are just slugs. But at least there seems to be a little less open hostility. Improvement...? Perhaps. The local ghost Pokémon also seem to have taken an interest in you lately, though precisely...how is a little mixed. They don't seem overly mischievous or malicious - they seem about as odd as the rest of the wild Pokémon in the region - but they do seem more inherently trusting of you and your traveling group. They've taken to following you from time to time, and taking a general vague interest in what you're doing. So that's...new. CURRENT LOCATION: SNOWPOINT CITY POKEMON AVAILABLE: WITHIN CITIES SUNDAY | MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY [OOC: Welcome to week eight 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

[eudaimonikos]

[So, as it turns out, being the Ghost Guy is...hard. It's hard, and it's expensive, and Michael's sort of getting tired of it.

Luckily, before he can run completely out of patience, he remembers: he's surrounded by humans. Humans can just ask each other for help with these things; they actually do it all the time. There's a word for that and everything...charity? Yeah, sounds right.

So today, there's a little table and cashbox set up outside the PokeMart, with a sign that reads THE JANE DOE FOUNDATION FOR WANDERING SOULS. The sign also has a very nice cartoon Gastly. In the morning, Michael will be there pitching his new and totally legitimate charity to passing townspeople.]

Hi, there! Do you have change to spare for the poor, lost spirits of the dead, still trapped on this mortal plane? It's a great cause! Just a few bucks could help a ghost who's been attacked by a terrible wild Sneasel. It could be your own deceased grandmother, you don't know! Just look at this face.

[He grabs the real Jane Doe, insomuch as he can, and holds her up. While she was previously instructed to look "pathetic", this has mostly translated into "more intensely blank than usual". It's...well, it's a look.

Obviously, Michael isn't going to stand here and do this forever. There's meetings to attend! He has to go talk about how he was obviously in the right down there, and people should just let him do his thing! When he leaves, Quaver is placed in charge of the cashbox. If anybody messes with it, he will begin to scream like a Spiritomb.

That evening, Michael's in the Pokemon Center, sitting up against the wall and counting his earnings. He's been spending a lot of time outside lately, plus going through that freezing temple...that's probably why he seems a little sniffly, right? He's sure it's nothing. Just have some hot kompot and get some sleep tonight, and he'll be good as new tomorrow!]

Hey, since this is a non-profit, and I'm its employee, I get to pay myself some of this, right?

pokémon centre

[niceoppai]

I think that's a little too much of an excuse. [She snickers to herself.] You catching a cold?

[eudaimonikos]

It's how non-profit organizations work, Chelsea. People have to make a living. Friend of mine actually worked for an environmental group for a while, and I know she got paid, because I was watching her the entire time.

[He stops, though, to consider her question for a second.]

Oh no, am I?

[niceoppai]

Could be. Cold weather's supposed to do that to you.

[eudaimonikos]

How do you make it stop?

[niceoppai]

Vitamin C? I dunno, I lived someplace warm.

[eudaimonikos]

Yeah. So did I.

[He leans forward, folding his legs beneath himself.]

I can't get sick, Chelsea, I don't know how to be sick. What if I'm stuck just lying around for two weeks like Jake?

morning

[enjoymyatelier]

...

It's not my grandmother, I'm quite sure.

[are you.... what are you doing...]

[eudaimonikos]

Not you specifically, Kayneth, it's a rhetorical device.

[Don't question him, he's barely even trying to get money from any other non-natives.

though like

if you wanna give him some.........]

[enjoymyatelier]

Well, the other thing is that healthcare is free here, unlike some countries back on earth. I think people could just invite Ghost Pokemon in for treatment at the local Pokemon Center.

[eudaimonikos]

I tried that, but you need to put them in Pokeballs before you can put them in the healing machine. It's only free for the human-owned Pokemon - the bourgeoisie, if you will, of the Poke-world.

[yes he seems aware of how ridiculous that statement was, he's smiling]

[enjoymyatelier]

Please don't start a communist revolution with the Pokemon, Michael.

[eudaimonikos]

[Michael grins.]

We're basically trying to spearhead a revolution anyway, you know. Could throw just a little dash of communism in there.

pokemon center

[swiftasacoursingkawa]

[Oh no. This is sounding a little too much like one of Hiruma's extortion plots team fundraising endeavors. Sena looks up warily from where he seems to be (badly) doodling on some poster paper, apparently trying to make some sort of sign of his own.]

Um...I think my friend would have called it, uh..."appropriating funds for the organization's administrative use, Ya-Ha!"?

[Yes. The "Ya-Ha!" is included.

Please don't ask.]

[eudaimonikos]

Yeah, exactly! You gotta pay people, they're not all volunteers. I used my own supplies to make that sign, you know.

[.....]

Ya-ha. [He says in a calm, slightly confused sort of voice, like he thinks this might be some human thing that he's just not getting.]

[swiftasacoursingkawa]

[Oh. He didn't actually think you'd say that. It's so bizarre, hearing that kind of cheer said so calmly.]

Er...right.

[Sena taps his lips with the marker cap, wondering.]

Are, uh...you the reason why the ghosts are following all of us now?

[eudaimonikos]

[He pauses in collecting his change into little piles of denomination, glancing up.]

Are the ghosts following all of you now?

[swiftasacoursingkawa]

Uh, yeah.

[He sweats nervously as he brings up a memory.] A bunch of them were watching us train earlier - some of them even battled against Nin and Vee when Monta was a little too strong for them...

[That guy...he's growing leaps and bounds compared to his other Pokemon. Sena just can't figure out why.]

I-I mean, I gave them berries and stuff since they helped! But it's kinda weird that they're starting to get so interested now, when the other Pokemon like Shellos don't care, right?

[eudaimonikos]

Uh - yeah.

[He frowns, forgetting about the money for the moment.]

I specifically told them to come to me if they needed anything. They can all follow orders, so it made sense to me that they did it. Not sure what they're interested in you for. Though if you don't like it, the berries were probably a mistake.

Morning

[takestheblame]

...I'm not sure if this is deceitful or clever.

[Maybe both. You really manage to surprise Kiryu with your antics every time, Michael]

[eudaimonikos]

Deceitful?

[Michael presses a hand over his heart.]

Kiryu, I am legitimately trying to help the local ghost population. It just turned out to be...kinda expensive...

[takestheblame]

I'm fairly certain the ghosts have no use for money.

[eudaimonikos]

No, but they keep coming to me for Potions, and those? They cost money.

[takestheblame]

It would be cheaper to use berries. There are plenty of those.

[Why so many ghosts want potions, who's hurting the ghosts]

[eudaimonikos]

I’m not made of berries. I’d have to be searching for more trees like, all the time.