azume | Week 1.

WEEK 1.

As Cynthia had promised, the sun does indeed rise the next morning.

Whether you slept or not (and sleeping inside the Pokémon Center you were in before seems totally fine by the attendant), it seems Cynthia kept her word; she left sometime shortly before sunrise, and you haven't been bothered by Team Galactic and those that work for it in the interim.

It isn't advisable to return to the headquarters building, however. At least not for the time being.

However, a new day does dawn, and with it comes the knowledge that you're in an unfamiliar city, completely on your own. There are several things to be done before you can leave: gathering supplies and provisions, finding maps, obtaining new clothes...

Of course, your new "companions" are still with you, and they don't seem willing to leave your side; they'll follow you dutifully, but they still seem...wrong, horribly so, and it doesn't seem to be wearing off. Maybe if you work with them a little...? Try to talk to them, train them, teach them to do things... Who knows? It might do them some good.

CURRENT LOCATION: VEILSTONE CITY
POKEMON AVAILABLE: WITHIN CITIES

MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY | FRIDAY
[OOC: Welcome to week 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. Don't forget that a write-up is due this weekend!

Feel free to investigate the city as you see fit this week; we ask only that you try to stagger investigations and be mindful of what's already been checked. If you wish to investigate, notify the mods in your comment subject for your top-level and we'll get on it as soon as possible!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[well, this sure is some casual b&e

Are you just kind of letting yourself in and checking the place out, then?]

[uh, absolutely? just knock and immediately let yourself in, as long as nobody's gonna say anything about it

Are people going to say something about it?]

[Nope.

You're going to be entering into somebody's living room immediately in front of you, no proper foyer or anything; there are bookshelves against the walls, and there's a television that seems to have been left on playing softly on the far side of the room with a couch situated in front of it. No one's watching, though.

To the left is a combined kitchen/dining room area, where there is someone sitting at the table - it looks like a man, probably in his late forties. He has papers laid out on the table in front of him, and he appears to be writing something. Occasionally he'll look up to see who's here, but he's just as blank-eyed as the rest and doesn't seem to be paying much mind, instead going back to whatever it is he's writing.]

Good afternoon. Please, don't mind me.

[He actually came in here with some specific goals in mind, but first - what on earth kind of TV show is getting broadcast in this post-apocalyptic hellscape?]

[It doesn't seem to be broadcasting anything. It's a lot of static and white noise, at least at the moment.]

[That actually makes total sense. Sure, shopkeepers and the like are still showing up for work, but that's not really as involved as putting together a broadcast.

Same thing if he flips through a couple more channels?]

[Surprisingly, no.

One of the channels seems to be talking about the benefits of clean energy, with a mention of something called the Valley Windworks; one seems to be broadcasting things to do with keeping in good health - advice on eating well and exercising and keeping safe in adverse conditions on the routes. Another is talking about peaceful conflict resolution. It's all like that, very...health and wellness and taking care of yourselves and each other and the region, mostly narrated by unseen people voiced over still images.

I'm not saying the vibe here is culty, but I'm not saying it's not culty, either.]

[...well, he's gonna note the channel numbers and some of the rhetoric and then turn that right the fuck off. Things are cult-y enough around here as it is.

What he really wants to look at here is the bookshelves. He's got some basic info from the books available in the department store, but is there anything that might be of use here?]

[What are we deeming "useful," Michael?]

[Non-fiction! Being so in the dark about this world is kinda freaking him out, so his interests are broad. Specifically, though, he'll prioritize things that seem to involve religion and/or the Lake deities, this world's weird technology, or just this specific part of the region they're gonna have to travel through.]

[All right, let's see - while there aren't a lot of things here that get too in-depth about the stuff Michael's looking for, there are some talking about training skills and techniques. Specifically, how best to work alongside your Pokémon as a unit, as well as a lot of other books talking about martial arts, of all things, and how to integrate them into your training regimen.]

[Wow! That doesn't interest him at all!

Buuuuuut some of the others did seem like they might be the punching type. He'll take the one about working alongside your Pokemon to flip through right now, and also grab a martial arts book to wave in the general direction of the homeowner.]

Hey, buddy, mind if I borrow this? [If he gets permission, then he's in the clear, right?]

[He'll look up, at least, offering a mumbled "go ahead" before returning to whatever it is he's doing over there.]

Thanks so much.

[Flipping through the book still, he wanders over to peer at the guy's papers.]

Whatcha workin' on?

[The answer that gets is another look, and a dull, odd response of "Practicing handwriting."

It seems he's been writing the same three phrases over and over again.

"A good deed for every day."
"One day at a time"
"Treasure every encounter, for it is unique."]

[....hmmm. Michael shuts his book and sets it down, leaning on the back of one of the kitchen chairs.]

Did somebody tell you to do this?

[How many pages of these phrases are there?]

[...Let's say he's been practicing for a while.

That said, he'll shake his head. No, no one told him to. But after a moment slightly more of a response will happen.

"My daughter thought it was important."]

[This is...pathetic. A really good person would probably feel terrible about this. Michael feels...well, he doesn't feel good, so that's something.]

Does she live here?

["No. Not anymore."]

Where does she live?

["Can't see her anymore."]

And why is that?

[He's just gonna get a drink of water. While he's at it, does this fridge seem stocked?]

[It is, though this guy seems to be taking the healthy living thing to heart.

That said, though, he just kind of shakes his head.
"It's better that way."]

Yeah, I can see that.

[At least he's getting out?]

Why practice the writing, then?

["...I don't know." There's a pause, though. "It's important."]

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