Week 9.

[azumods]

WEEK 9 The one thing Team Galactic seems to have done right in this world is perfecting teleportation technology. The device Maylene gave Rey will get all of you back to Eterna City easily; from there, it's a matter of very briefly stocking up on supplies on Sunday before you move westward, away from the massive, imposing form of Mount Coronet and into the deep shadows of Eterna Forest. During your brief stay in Eterna City, it's likely that you'll notice a few things have changed, as far as both the people and the Pokémon go; this holds true as you make your preparations and disappear into the forest on Monday. It's heartening, maybe, to know that once again your actions seem to have made a difference; meanwhile, the trip to Lake Verity looks to be a long one, but it isn't entirely insurmountable. The forest itself is large and dark, covered high overhead with a thick canopy of trees; the Pokémon here are plentiful, which likely cuts down on any inherent creepiness to the place - whether that's a good or a bad thing depends entirely on your point of view. Either way, it's going to be quite the adventure trying to make your way through; here's hoping that your luck continues to hold over the coming week... CURRENT LOCATION: ETERNA FOREST POKEMON AVAILABLE: PLAINS/FOREST SUNDAY | MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY | FRIDAY [OOC: Welcome to week nine 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!]

Comments

[thunderwolf]

[Eustace will take forest travel over frozen hellscape travel any day of the week. Despite the occasional eeriness, making the trek through Eterna Forest has been a breath of fresh air, especially after the heaviness that befell the group in Snowpoint City.

Early in the morning after his usual cup of coffee, Eustace travels a little ways from the campsite to do some exercising in preparation for the day. He does some stretches and whatnot, which eventually leads to pull-ups on a sturdy, low-hanging tree branch. A rather new face joins him on the branch, horns sparking with electricity as it keeps pace with Eustace. Looks like Eustace has a new friend! Some might have caught a glimpse or two of the Elekid back during the stay in Snowpoint, but it's very much out and about today. When they're finished, Eustace pulls a battery out of his pack and hands it over to the Elekid to...eat from? Like...a treat?

And speaking of trees... Eustace comes across a rather interesting one beyond the path's treeline while the group is on the road. What catches Eustace's eye is that it appears to be a cherry tree? He hasn't really seen anything like this yet. He peers at it for a moment...before a flicker of realization crosses his expression.

Before he can say anything to Rose on his shoulder though, she's already reaching up there with a tendril to pluck a cherry down. Either she caught wind of her trainer's observations or she just really wanted to check it out too.

Turns out the cherries are alive. The little Cherubi wiggles under Rose's clutches, crying as a defense mechanism to be let go. Eustace is...bemused by all of this, if anything.]

Terrible camouflage choice.

[Eustace it's not like the Cherubi can help what it looks like?! Either way, Rose ends up putting it back so it can rejoin its friends...and stop annoying the hell out of Eustace with its crying.

Later in the day, Eustace decides to play fetch with Pup. He hangs a decent distance back from the group and throws a ball ahead for Pup to retrieve. They've been doing this daily, but for the first time Pup's actually showing a bit of interest in the game rather than mechanically bringing it back simply because his trainer ordered him to. He goes after that ball with a bit of determination!

Eustace can't help but crack a smile at Pup's progress, affectionately ruffling the Poochyena's fur when he brings the ball back.]

...Good boy.

[When the going gets especially rough, at least dogs make things better.]

trees

[fatalstrikes]

[The crying is what catches Yuri's attention, and he heads on over to check it out. Eustace's words and the other "cherries" in the tree spell out the situation pretty clearly and Yuri laughs.]

They're kinda cute though, aren't they?

[thunderwolf]

[If Eustace could look any more comically dead-eyed right now...]

What about this is cute?

fetch;

[ventulus]

[ Ventus doesn't have any of his playing fetch, but he does pretty much makes sure to walk around a lot, so he catches sight of the other man playing around with his Pokemon. He has just Klefki out because she is a handful as usual... ]

Is it just me or are you two looking like you're having a lot of fun?

[thunderwolf]

It's just you.

[Eustace, please.

But no-]

Yeah, we are. He's pretty into it today.

["He" being Pup, of course. Eustace stands up and tosses the ball again for Pup to go after.]

Glad to see finally some progress with him.

[ventulus]

Is it reaaally?

[ Ventus moves on anyway and places his hands behind his head as he watches. ]

It's always nice to see when that happens, though. [ When they get better/progress... ] I know it's been awhile for the ones who came out of the eggs we got.

[thunderwolf]

Yeah. [That's in regard to the hatched Pokemon.] They've been spiritless for a while. It's taken Pup longer to show signs of caring than it did with Rose.

[Soon enough, Pup's trotting back with the ball. He provides a little tug of war match when Eustace tries to get the ball back- something Eustace seems to approve of.]

Wildcard

[takestheblame]

[Kiryu had adapted quite fast to guarding everyone. Back at home he had done plethora of activities at nighttime, he soon saw this one as a duty more. What he wasn't entirely used to was doing it with someone else.

The first few times Kiryu was rather standoffish, as if he intended to focus very hard on the guard duty. Eustace seemed like an introverted guy, and although Kiryu wasn't introverted he was quite adaptable, so they got along during their turn. After a few nights, he started making friendlier overture towards Eustace. Some of them may have been successful, others maybe not. Still, no matter what Kiryu did, he always took seriously the guard duty.

At least until tonight. Shortly after it starts, it seems Kiryu has something in mind. Looks like tonight it won't be a normal guarding turn. He has his Nidorino with him, the rodent walking behind him while he approaches Eustace]

How much do you know about animals?

[thunderwolf]

[Eustace wasn't exactly unused to doing watches and stakeouts with others, but he was never a great conversation partner. And it was similar with Kiryu for some time, which worked out well for the two of them. They both got to do their job in peaceful silence.

But since then, he's opened up a bit to Kiryu. Getting into a routine like this seems to have relaxed him on the "peace and quiet only!!" stance. Though he's still not exactly great at conversation, he'll humor Kiryu's attempts at chatting and offer some input of his own.

Tonight, Eustace has settled into his chosen stakeout spot for the time being. He peers at Kiryu, curious to see where this topic might go.]

I know a lot about dogs, and good amount about monsters.

[Though his tone implies he's not sure what level of knowledge on general animals Kiryu is looking for here.]

[takestheblame]

I'm thinking about bugs. Scorpions. But anything about bugs would be good enough.

[Very specific choice indeed]

[thunderwolf]

Ah, alright.

[He mulls it over for a second...]

I've dealt with scorpion monsters before. That good enough?

trees

[niceoppai]

What the heck? Glad you found those were here. We're gonna be picking them out of all our foraging, aren't we?

[thunderwolf]

If they mix in with real cherries, probably.

[Rose turns the crying sentient cherries over in her tendril-claw as Eustace studies them. He looks about 99% done with them already.]

...unless they're edible too.

[He's not serious about that part.

Right?]

[niceoppai]

Maybe, but that's kinda weird and I don't really wanna think about it.

[thunderwolf]

Not much different from eating animals.

[But...that's kind of a can of worms topic so maybe he should digress.]

They're easy to tell apart from real cherries, at least. They're annoying, for one.

[What with the crying.]

trees

[enjoymyatelier]

...

I wonder if they're supposed to be conjoined like that.

[thunderwolf]

[Huh. Eustace hadn't considered that.

He glances at the Cherubi, then back up at the tree. He has Rose grab a second one just to see.]

Looks like it.

[But the downside to this is now they have two crying Cherubis.]

[enjoymyatelier]

What a horrifying existence. They don't even seem to be resisting, either...

[...he kind of crosses his arms.]

I have to wonder how some of these things survive.

[thunderwolf]

[Okay, he's having Rose put them both back because he hates this noise.]

A lot of them probably don't. Easy pickings for anything that can get at them.

Exercising

[heritrix]

[Rin was kind of doing her own thing throughout their entire stay in Snowpoint, so the Elekid is a new face for her. What a funny looking one, too... It feels off-putting and cute all at once.]

I see you've picked up a friend with a weird diet, too.

[Alongside her, Monkey the Mienfoo is training in martial arts (and looking at her as if wondering what the hold-up is, seems they were practicing together), while Rubin the Sableye sits on a picnic cloth. He's eating... rocks. A smorgasbord of rocks.]

[thunderwolf]

[Honestly, that's a really good way to describe Elekid.

Eustace looks over at Rin and her Pokemon ensemble. He didn't realize others had come to this part of the woods too.]

Ah, yeah. He absorbs the charge in the battery to get his energy back. [...] You too, then?

[His gaze lands on Rubin as he follows up that they apparently share this situation.

...

His expression falls a little flat.]

That looks less expensive, at least.

[Like, seriously. At least rocks are a free resource.]

[heritrix]

This is a substitute.

[Rin's face falls, staring at the little gremlin. She adores him, but good god she's happy they met in this world and not her own house back in Fuyuki.]

I didn't know he ate minerals until Cynthia left us with some of our things a few weeks ago. I had an emerald for all of two hours, and the next time I saw it, it was because Rubin was picking jewel shards out of his teeth.

Cherries

[hyruglyphics]

Isn't it? I've come across that species as well, foraging.

[ . . . That said maybe you should set them down if they're crying? That seems mean? Zelda is out here with her Alolan Geodude and Metang (Miphanus) floating behind her. Miphanus a bit more awkwardly, given the dense-ish tree cover and its bulk. ]

[thunderwolf]

[Oh hey Zelda. Eustace was actually in the process of having Rose return the Cherubi to the tree. He definitely wasn't interested in letting it continue crying...but not because he was concerned about being mean. It was just irritating.]

Mm. They're making themselves an easy target, even for anyone or anything hungry enough not to care.

[He motions at Zelda's Geodude.]

Those are pretty good at it. Haven't seen yours around, though.

[He means Alolan Geodudes in general. Zelda's is pretty unique.]

[hyruglyphics]

Yes, I'm curious about that... the journal that Kazuma got some Gardenia said that the species actually stores the energy necessary for it's evolution in the smaller head, and absorbs it into itself as the time nears... but then, that the smaller head is a commonly eaten thing by local birds? So I'm curious what defensive mechanisms the species has... Err, other than the ones most Pokemon do, I mean.

[ Sheepishly, she looks at her Geodude and, ] This one is unique from the others in many ways, actually.