Week 14.

[azumods]

WEEK 14 Sunday is a rough day all around; it's for the best that you remain where you are for the day, for the sake of regrouping and recovering, and perhaps getting some sleep - assuming that any will come. However, as difficult though it may be (and as futile though it may seem) Monday is likely best seen as a day to depart - a day to start to take whatever actions can still be taken, and to assess where to go from here. A good place to start is Canalave City; it's where you were going to meet with Cynthia, and where you were planning on looking into the legends of Sinnoh. The city itself is beautiful, a massive port town split down the center by a large canal system filled with boats and clear water leading out to sea; however, the recent changes to the world have affected this place as well, perhaps making it a bit difficult to enjoy the city in its entirety. However, the library is here, as are several other points of interest; as difficult though it may be to see the world like this, the trip here will hopefully be worth your while in the end... CURRENT LOCATION: CANALAVE CITY POKEMON AVAILABLE: WITHIN CITIES SURROUNDING ROUTES: PLAINS/FOREST / NEAR WATER MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY | FRIDAY [OOC: Welcome to week fourteen 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

MONDAY

[azumods]

TUESDAY

[azumods]

WEDNESDAY

[azumods]

THURSDAY

[azumods]

FRIDAY

[azumods]

[gekkaju]

[Atsushi doesn't mean to be standoffish suddenly, not really. But as with everyone else, the destruction of the world and their near-death experience hasn't been treating him too kindly. He feels out of place with the group as they enter Canalave, and he finds himself at unease despite how pretty the city is otherwise. As soon as Atsushi learns about it, though, he'll disappear in favor of going to the library. He keeps Natto in her ball for now, Chazuke perched on his shoulder to make it so he isn't completely alone. Most of his time spent there is looking through books without actually reading them, glancing through pages and pages until he realizes he hasn't absorbed much of any of what he's read. It's a little frustrating, actually, but it's better than just sitting and moping.

He'll find the books on the myths eventually, but it's a similar sort of situation. At least until he comes across the Lake Guardians...

By evening, or what Atsushi can only assume is evening by now because it sure doesn't feel like it, he decides to head to the waterside before getting ready to go to bed at the town Center. He's not sure what he's planning to accomplish, here, but he's brought his bag with him as he sits by the canal with Chazuke in his lap. He can see Pokemon down there in the water. Wooper, Shellos, Buizel...all of them swimming aimlessly as if they're just doing it to fulfill some purpose of existing since they can't do anything else. A lot of them don't even do that much, just...there, in the water. Against his better judgement, Atsushi pulls out a couple berries and sets them beside his legs, picking up an oran berry to break up into pieces. He feeds most of it to Chazuke, but also occasionally offers bits to the Pokemon, to which they never even look his way.

Eventually the reality is too much, and Atsushi's left sitting there scrubbing at his eyes, cursing in frustration under his breath as he pulls away from the water a little to sit with his knees bent.

During a time like this, having the emotions to feel empathy aren't all what they're cracked up to be.]

gym investigation & pokemart catchall

[swiftasacoursingkawa]

[The first place Sena hits up as they arrive in the city is the Pokemart, mostly to duck into a place that feels familiar. No matter what the city or town they're in, the marts are usually the same: orderly items all stocked in rows, Pokemon items on one end and groceries tucked away in a corner.]

Nin, I should really get you something new to wear since Shell's got your old ribbon...

[Nin doesn't mind. The ribbon would have gotten in the way of her new wings anyway. She eventually decides on a pink flower barrette.]

Neh, um...Portus? You want something, too?

[The newly dubbed Portus doesn't seem to answer at first. Sena can't tell if he's asleep or just isn't familiar with the name yet. But several minutes later, after Sena has just put his stuff out at the checkout, the Abra teleports out of his arms and then reappears with a small neckerchief.]

A...ah...j...just don't teleport out of the store before I pay...

[There's no change in expression on Portus' face, but somehow it appears to be considering the option.

Later, after Sena's dropped off his new supplies at the Pokemon Center, he wanders around town until he finds the gym. The building somehow looks even more lonely than usual - is it the unnatural stillness in the air? The cold metal constructs inside? He's not sure.

But Sena steps inside with his team, wandering around the first floor.]

waterside

[swiftasacoursingkawa]

[It's late. Maybe. He can't tell.

But Sena absolutely needs to decompress after wandering around the gym, so heading out to watch the water seems like a plan.

Except the water somehow looks unnaturally still, only disturbed by various Pokemon floating in the water. He's not entirely convinced that they're alive.

Sena tosses a pebble into the water just to see if it'll ripple or bounce off like glass, and he's not entirely reassured when the rock splashes in with a sound that may or may not get Atsushi's attention. Vee, on the other hand, has no problem with pawing at the water, still not entirely familiar with her new form. Monta scoffs at her when she does so.]

You shouldn't do that, you'll shock the water. [A pause.] You dumb-dumb. [Vee chooses to stick out her tongue at her monkey companion, defiantly sticking an entire paw in the water.]

Nuh-uh. I'm not gonna- [BZZAP. She sure did just accidentally thundershock the water.

Luckily the only things nearby were some apathetic Wooper who would already have given zero shits normally. Their glassy-eyed smiling expressions just look even more eerie when they're lit up. Her ears flatten at the sight.]

Oops. [Monta rolls his eyes, a told you so clearly on his lips, but the vacantly staring water types creep him out too much to answer.

Whether Atsushi or Chazuke catch the little exchange or not, Portus decides that teleporting next to them is in order, and Sena jogs to catch up, his two bugs hovering around his head like little sentries.]

Oh, uh...sorry...I didn't, er...

[Interrupt anything? It doesn't look like it.]

[gekkaju]

[The splash of the pebble is enough to actually startle Atsushi a bit, mostly because these Pokemon hadn't been doing much of anything, so such a sound couldn't have been caused by them. It isn't long before he recognizes Sena's little menagerie of Pokemon though, relaxing with his cheek against his knees as he watches them at the water's edge. He jumps a second time when the water is shocked, and something about seeing the way the Wooper just...get shocked without much response, barely even pain, really doesn't help Atsushi feel much better at all.

Atsushi rolls his eyes over to look at Sena when he comes rushing up, but to that he just shakes his head and tosses the bit of berry into the water he'd been holding. Just in case something eventually might want it.]

No, it's okay. I wasn't really doing anything anyway.

[And neither were these guys.]

maybe innvestigation...get it

[discutio]

[Ignis had been very quiet since the whole incident with Cyrus; reticent and cold much as he had been in the earliest stages of their journey. He barely even commented on how much he still hated flying, though he might have looked a little pale for a while after they landed. Back in his uniform with his hair still unstyled and in his face, he spent a fair amount of time hovering not too far from Noctis. Only when eventually he was satisfied enough that the world wasn't going to end a second time without warning did he actually venture elsewhere.]

[Perhaps it was a little unexpected for him to be in the library for obvious reasons, but as far as he was concerned it would have been a poor decision not to. Besides, if nothing else he expected some of the others might want a sounding board for whatever they might discover. Hemera was back at his side, sticking perhaps much closer than she had in recent weeks.]

[Closer to what he thought must have passed for evening, Ignis decided to investigate the Harbor Inn--abandoned as he could tell it was, some exploration likely wouldn't hurt.]

[swiftasacoursingkawa]

Mmm.

[What do you say to that? He's not sure, but Sena decides to sit down next to Atsushi anyway. Vee decides to be an attention hog and rest her forelegs on his lap, and Monta squats down next to where Portus has teleported himself.

There's a long silence before Sena decides to speak up.]

I didn't think I'd have to see everything like this again...

investigation?

[eudaimonikos]

[This time around, Michael seems utterly relaxed during the Drifblim ride. Mary Poppins has linked two of her banner-arm-things together, and he's sitting in the middle like it's a big swing, but sideways. From time to time, he even lets one leg dangle over the edge. Quaver is sitting on his chest, as the only one of his Pokemon who wouldn't die if he fell. They're looking out over the landscape together; Quaver seems more sensitive to how strange everything's gotten than his trainer, all puffed up and huddled beneath one of Michael's hands.]

Long ride, huh? [Michael calls to the nearest person.] Let's have some tunes.

[He pets Quaver a few times and then holds him up a little. The Chatot chirps, shakes out his feathers, and then starts singing a song that Michael taught him a while back. For no specific reason. Just because.

The only songs he knows are Earth ones, but he does take requests.

Upon landing in Canalave, there's only one obvious thing to do. Everything in our journey has been building up to this moment.

Michael. Is going. To the library.

He'll be tucked away in there for most of the day, and he is going to read literally all of these books. Or, well, look at them. Reading all the books is completely within the realm of possibility for a demon, but Michael does have priorities, and he's not eager to waste his time. So of course, he'll start with the mythology stuff, and then maybe hit some relevant-seeming nonfiction.

When he's satisfied with today's reading, he gravitates to the Harbor Inn, mostly because it seems obviously haunted. If no one stops him, he's going to lay out his camping stuff and spend the night there. Cat Janet and Jane Doe are out as well - in another day or so he might have his regular ghost meeting again, but right now it still seems sort of sad.]

[gekkaju]

Neither did I.

[It wasn't this bad when Atsushi got here. By the time he Floaroma, things were...bad, but the group had already made some steps to fix things. Seeing it all reversed and back to where they started is tough to swallow.]

I feel like...I shouldn't be complaining. Since we're lucky to be alive.

But this isn't fair.

[swiftasacoursingkawa]

I'm not sure how much of this is "lucky..."

[Being the only ones aware yet again...it's lonely.]

...They were just starting to be able to live again....It really isn't fair to them.

[He stretches his legs, earning him a complaint from Vee.]

I guess that means we have to do whatever it takes to make it up to them, right?

[gekkaju]

[Perhaps lucky wasn't the best word choice. Fortunate, perhaps.

Atsushi shifts a little, turning his head so he can see the water again. Now that the Wooper that were shocked have disappeared beneath the surface, it's gone all eerily calm again.]

That's the only thing we can do, Sena-kun. I just don't know how. We already helped the Guardians, and they were the ones that started giving everyone their spirits back. They saved us, but...it doesn't look like they could do anything to stop Cyrus.

[swiftasacoursingkawa]

[Sena tilts his head. He wants to see a silver lining to this somehow, but it's hard.]

Cynthia...must have told us to come here for some reason, right? Maybe...maybe we can find an answer here.

[Maybe.

Whether they have to find it with or without Cynthia is...another thing entirely.]

library, heard u needed a seeing-eye noct

[nightcure]

[ He's here, to give Ignis a hand... and admittedly, because he's curious, too. Lepidia is nearby, as well as his little Houndour. ]

Hopefully we'll find some answers.

ayyyyy

[discutio]

I'd not hold out hope for anything definitive; it's never quite that easy.

[Lowered expectations were the name of the game lately.]

drifblim ride

[discutio]

[At least one of said nearest people is Ignis, who seemed reasonably comfortable on Highwind's back apart from the fact that he was maybe clinging a bit too much to the Altaria. Hard not to, when he's the only physical frame of reference available.]

...Actually, I appreciate that. [He still doesn't know you're making fun of his uniform, Michael.]

[gekkaju]

[Atsushi wants to say that Cynthia couldn't have known that Cyrus would show up and nuke the planet, nor could she have predicted that coming here would fix such an event. But...he doesn't say that, not wanting to be more of a downer than he already is.]

No, you're right, I...I'm sure there has to be something here. Something...we haven't found yet.

[His brows furrow and he looks back over to Sena past his arm.]

I'm sorry, I'm not usually...like this. It's just a lot.

[And they say HE'S usually the optimistic one...]

[swiftasacoursingkawa]

[Sena knows what he's proposing is a vague hope at best. After all, if Cynthia already knew it was here, why didn't she come here before? Why didn't Cyrus wipe this place off the map?]

No, it's... [It's understandable, is what he wants to say, but that just sounds like empty platitudes.]

It's...taking all I have to...not... [To not...be like that. To not wallow in despair.]

...

[His brow furrows.]

It's...that moment when you realize that everything you did almost doesn't matter...It's hard.

[gekkaju]

[There are a lot of unanswered questions, plenty they'll probably never get answers for. Cyrus had come to them touting that they weren't a threat to him or a problem, yet turned around and intended to destroy them anyway. Yeah, alright.

But Atsushi has more in his heart to feel pity for the people and Pokemon affected than he does anger for Cyrus. Cyrus can go rot for all he cares.]

Yeah.

[That's honestly what brought Atsushi to this point. Because being of use to others, helping people where he can...it's all he has. It's the only thing keeping his self worth intact.

Without it, he's nothing.]

I know just giving up isn't going to be the answer. That's what Cyrus wants us to do, barring just not existing to meddle in the first place. But he has the powers of a god while we have a tiny group and the help of the Guardians, but not much else.

I want to trust that this world isn't going to be consumed by emptiness so easily. When they were given their spirit back, the people and Pokemon here...they're so full of life. And they're strong. It can't be easy to take that away.

[eudaimonikos]

[Yep, and you're never gonna find out!]

No problem! He knows some other stuff too - nothing you'd know, though, I guess.

[discutio]

Probably not, all things considered. It's a bit much to assume varying worlds have the same tastes in music, that would be a particularly odd detail to share.

[eudaimonikos]

Well, the Jabberwocky thing is weird.

[but yeah, you're probably right]

You ever wanna teach him some songs you know, you're free to borrow him. He's got a good memory.