Set in the original region of Arciel, Legends Rising is a route-inspired, but not strictly route-based, Pokemon roleplay. Pick a faction, pick a class, and strike out into the wild to take on the League, master Contest coordination, research the mysteries of Pokemon and Arciel, and much, much more. Will you be a classic trainer? A criminal? A farmer? Choose your destiny on Legends Rising.
It had been at least a week since Jace had been in Plum. His desperate attempt at escape had lead him pretty much into a dead end. Cherry was a nice little farming town but that's all that was at the other end of the island. He'd had no way of traversing the icy bay from that point and came to the realization that he'd inevitably have to go back to Plum.
The bike trip back into the bustling capitol had been rather uneventful and Jace found himself sticking to the outskirts of town and back alleys. His plan was simple enough, make it all the way around the city to the docks and catch a ferry to the mainland. Of course with city police likely on the lookout for him, along with various missing posters of him put up in the city's Pokemon Centers and other frequented locations, making it through without getting spotted would be difficult.
Fortunately Jace had a few tricks up his sleeves. He was rather familiar with most the less than savory parts of town due to his time hanging with his old gang, plus with his aura sight he at least had a little forewarning when people were around. But of course the city was almost always bursting with life from wild pokemon to people often times separating one aura from the other was difficult.
Jace was accompanied by Zag as usual though he knew this was likely a poor choice as Zag was very recognizable due to the zigzagoon's unusual coloring. Still Jace enjoyed the simple raccoon's presence. The rest, especially the troublesome Nik, were secured in their pokeballs. Jace was still on unease terms with the absol and purrloin he'd discovered in the pokeballs he'd found on the stolen bike. He still wasn't exactly sure what to do with them.
He'd considered trying to figure out who the bike had belonged to and perhaps returning them but that of course would likely only land him in more trouble. Plus, as much as he'd rather not admit it, he did in fact want to keep them. Stealing Zag was out of teenage idiocy and desperation and Zag was supposed to be the only pokemon Jace would ever steal. But, well, here he was with two more stolen pokemon. It had all been surprisingly easy, the bike heist, everything.
Jace sighed as he crept along one of the many back alleys with Zag draped across his shoulders, hiding inside his hoodie. The boy looked rather pitiful with his hood up, head lowered and hands shoved in his pockets as he trudged through the storm trying to keep as close to the buildings as possible and sneaking between covers. Hopefully the storm at least would keep most people inside and make it easier on him to get by unnoticed.
@anyone interested
Last Edit: Dec 27, 2019 3:24:45 GMT by Jason Smith
Gabe chewed the inside of his mouth to keep his teeth from chattering. The ocean waters should have tempered the cold and the rain, but within Plum City, he didn’t believe it did. Things weren’t… great right then, but Gabe forced his thoughts off the specifics just in case someone happened to be readily susceptible to his psychic link and influence. When alone like he was now, though, this was especially difficult. Why did it have to rain while he was out shopping?
Arceus damn… Gabe trudged along, eyes squinting through the rain. He had luckily had an umbrella on hand, but it was only big enough for himself, not any other Pokemon. So he’d shouldered two saddle bags worth of food and trudged it himself. Stupid stupid stupid weatherman didn’t even say it was going to rain. He said cloudy for the rest of the day with snow showers possibly later, but no, of course he had to be wrong and I have to deal with this… Gabe was partially aware of the other person walking down the same alleyway, but he was too miserable to give a complete look. Whoever the hell was out in this rain deserved to be passed without a second glance.
Now … there was plenty that could have tipped Jase off— most notably that several phrases of psychic thoughts had just reverberated in the space near him, but still perhaps something else would have caught his eye (or maybe Zag’s even). On Gabe’s hand rested what appeared to be a solid gold ring, entirely too pristine for the torn up jeans and old jacket he wore. It shined even there in the rain, somehow.
The rain on top of the cold was maddening as Jace hadn't thought to grab anything more than his favorite hoodie when running out on his family. The boy hadn't exactly planned this whole 'run away and become a trainer' thing out very well. All he'd really been concerned with was getting out of the house and away from his overbearing father.
He shivered and felt Zag snuggle even closer to his neck. It was a good thing the blue-green hoodie was a little oversized for the teen's lanky frame though Zag still created an unsightly bulge off the boy's back. The rain didn't seem to bother the golden raccoon however and he was quite content acting as a scarf for Jace.
The teen's focus was soon alerted to the presence of another heading in his direction. The bright pastel aura that approached almost looked like dancing fire. It was quite beautiful in a way though seemed darker than expected, perhaps due to the weather.
Jace pressed closer to the wall and tried to make himself appear even smaller in the hopes that whomever this was would simply ignore him. It was likely the stranger with the umbrella didn't even care that there happened to be some idiot teen wandering around in the storm but better they didn't get a good look at Jace anyway.
Though in the sudden flash of lightning a bright gleam caught Jace's eye. The boy inwardly cringed as he felt a sudden urge grip him. It had been a while since he'd seen anything quite so desirable. It was gold, it was shiny and it looked expensive. However there was no logical reason for him to even want such a thing, save perhaps for selling. The extra Pen wouldn't hurt after all but it was always tricky trying to take things off people. Jace was a fair pickpocket but people were always leaving valuables just lying around that it was just easier to avoid pickpocketing it if one could.
Jace pursed his lips and ducked his head low. He feigned a stumble and gently bumped into the stranger. "Sorry." He mumbled while in the same motion he reached for the gleaming ring. At that moment however Zag suddenly popped his head out of Jace's hood and yipped a happy greeting to the purple haired figure.
Bump. The feeling was familiar to Gabe in ways that it probably shouldn’t have been. Only four years ago, he’d been sixteen and crashing into people and being crashed into back, and even now that was just part of life. He’d fidgeted, ready to defend whatever it was that was being reached for, but the thought was his wallet, not his ring—
And then a cute Zigzagoon popped out, and suddenly Gabe was gasping softly. “Look at you!” Gabe’s hand moved in a blurr passed Jace’s and up to the Zigzagoon on his shoulders. “Hello sweetie, awe how cute….” Gabe’s gaze only then slowly lowered to the kid whose Pokemon this clearly was (or who it was clearly close to). “My you have a handsome Pokemon…” he smiled a little. The umbrella clasped tight in one hand was shaking a little now from force. The grocery shoulder bags shifted awkwardly there, clearly not meant for his shoulders.
The boy gawked and wasn't quite sure what to do having been caught, yet Zag was instantly in love with the attention. The zigzagoon wriggled out from under Jace's hoodie and perched precariously on the teen's shoulder his whole orange body wriggling in joy. Jace's cheeks reddened slightly embarrassed by the raccoon's eagerness and a little worried the stranger would question his prior actions. His fingers twitched however as the urge to grasp the ring was still quite strong. It wouldn't do however to attempt prying it off this dude's finger.
"Oh, erm, thanks?" Jace coughed and took a small step back trying to save face a little at his botched swiping and hoping the other hadn't fully realized his actions. Zag whined not liking being moved further away from his new best friend, the naive critter definitely enjoyed the petting. The boy blinked and focused his vision forcing the aura light to dim so he could better see the physical features of the stranger. He glanced a little wistfully at the umbrella wishing he'd remembered to bring one then glanced to the over the oversized bags containing what appeared to be quite a large amount of groceries. If Jace had to guess the stranger was on his way home.
"Er, again... sorry. We'll just go now." Jace mumbled as he turned away from Gabe hoping to manage to walk away without being stopped and questioned. Zag huffed annoyed that Jace wasn't staying to play and gave the stranger another lopsided grin.
As the kid took a step back, Gabe only smiled a little. “Ah sorry, I know it’s not nice to just pet someone else’s Pokemon,” he went on like there was no problem, nothing to see here, or otherwise. As blue-green eyes met his own yellow ones, Gabe held the stare. A better off thief than I was… From the looks of that clearly shiny Zigzgoon. But still….
These thoughts cut off at the apology and as the trainer turned to leave. In a split second, Gabe let the groceries he’d been carrying drop off his shoulders and hit the ground. “Ah damn it,” he swore bending down to start picking things up, the umbrella shifting out of his grip and to his shoulder now. “Hey would you mind helping me with these?” he called.
Jace wasn't too worried about the stranger getting friendly with Zag. The zigzagoon's sweet and outgoing demeanor often worked well as a diversion and it wasn't surprising most people found him adorable. Plus his unique coloring was definitely eye catching. Jace was mostly just worried about getting caught or ratted out. He hadn't gotten more than two steps when an audible thud sounded over the roar of the waning storm.
Jace paused and glanced back over his shoulder. The purple haired dude had dropped his groceries all over the sopping wet ground. The stranger requested the teen's aid but Jace hesitated. Now as a kid, despite his twitchy fingers, Jace had been the kind hearted sort. The first to help a friend out or an old lady across a street or even covering for his sister when she was in trouble. Young Jace wouldn't have hesitated to aid the umbrella wielder with his groceries, and would've offered already if circumstances were different. However they weren't and Jace wasn't sure what to do with his conflicting feelings.
And at that particular moment the lights of a patrol car reflected off the damp walls. The boy's eyes went wide and he ducked down to grab the first thing he could find, kind of using Gave and their umbrella as a means to hide from the passing patrol car. Soon the lights faded and Jace let out a small though audible sigh. Zag was excited now as he hopped down onto the wet road and too began pushing various items over toward the two humans.
Gabe waited, his glance sideways, his hand reached out for the bag of bred that was getting soppier by the moment on the street. He could see that momentary hesitation and had to wonder if the kid would just up and bolt or not. He was banking on the latter, but he did have a plan for the prior.
And then the reflection of a patrol car going by reflected in Gabe’s gold eyes. He had done nothing wrong (yet). He had plenty of reasons to be in Plum (that he could make up). But even still his chest tightened for a second— And suddenly he was finding himself being used as a human shield by the kid who had ducked down behind him.
Yellow eyes flicked sideways reflecting those of the kid right after. “…..You know reacting like that is going to give you away,” he snorted pushing the umbrella then into the kid’s hand. “Lucky for you, I’m not interested in dealing with local law enforcement, so long as you help me.” He was curious now…. “Name’s Gabe, what’s yours?”
The boy pulled back and grabbed a random can of some sort then offered it to the stranger. "What? Them? No... um I just saw this rolling away..." He stammered looking every inch the nervous runaway that he was. Talking really wasn't his strong suit, he really needed to work on that. Zag sat with his tongue lolling standing proudly over some vegetable he'd retrieved and was awaiting one of the humans to take from him. The little raccoon was completely oblivious to any of the tension coming off Jace.
The boy of course could see that he wasn't fooling this Gabe person but he still was reluctant to admit to anything. This was all still pretty new to him, which was likely obviously. Jace was a bit relieved however when the stranger too didn't seem interested in drawing any police attention. He momentarily wondered why that could be but he was suddenly distracted by the umbrella being shoved into his hands.
"What? Oh um... okay." Jace stated as he raised the umbrella over the remainder of the fallen groceries. He hesitated, Gabe was it? "Er Jaso- Jace. I'm Jace." He paused remembering it better to not use his full name. Jace was a common nickname for his full name but it wasn't one his parents had ever used. 'Jace' was a joke from between himself and his friends. J for Jason and Ace for an Ace Trainer, thus J-Ace, or just Jace. Only his sister had ever used the name and not since he was a young kid, when she still idolized him.
Still it wasn't the cleverest of pseudonyms, pretty much anyone could extrapolate Jason from Jace. But it was at least easy for the teen to remember. He noticed Zag pawing at his leg and blinked. "Oh right and this is Zag." He added as an afterthought. The boy scanned the ground for any stray groceries that had scattered beyond the others. "So um, guess you were headed home?" Jace inquired feeling like he should say something but having no idea what that should be.
Oh really? Gabe took the can, that of instant-raviolis that just so happened to be a special Lizard’s favorite ‘hman food’, and put it back in the bag he’d been shouldering. Looking forward, he’d smile a little at the Zigzagoon and all that it had reclaimed. “Thank you, sweetie.” Gosh that Zigzagoon was so cute.
With the umbrella successfully transferred, Gabe could much easier take what the Zigzagoon had reclaimed and start putting it away again. Ah they’re going to be soggy… Well at least with most of it, it didn’t matter too much.
Gabe’s eye flicked sideways briefly as Jace named himself. Short, simple, to the point. Fair enough considering his own name. Zag the Zigzagoon is also a little on the nose. But he also had a Charmeleon whose name was actually Lizard Breath so there were no judgments from Gabe. “Nice to meet you,” he answered briefly shifting to grab more of what had dropped. Hm, actually that seemed to be it for the most part? Had he forgotten something or?
“M?” Oh, he supposed that was a fair assessment. “Sort of, I have a hotel room booked for a while while I’m here.” He answered back grabbing a stray food item that caught his eye. “But it’s not really feasible to eat out every day despite what the restaurants tell you.” He laughed then at his own vague joke. “You sort of give off that traveling trainer vibe. Is that what you are?” he asked rather than repeating the question back at him.
Zag was obviously quite proud of himself. He was also entirely enthralled by the kindly stranger and more than happy to be of assistance. Of course the naive little zigzagoon wasn't exactly the best judge of character, he pretty much liked everybody, well unless they threatened Jace then his attitude could change real quick. The only person though the zigzagoon didn't like so far was the teen's father.
Now of course Jace's father wasn't a bad guy, he'd never been abusive, took good care of his family and was a hard worker. But he was very lawful, in the sense that there was no justification in his mind for breaking the law, which wasn't surprisingly for a cop. Largely Jace's father just didn't, and honestly couldn't, understand what Jace was going through and that was always hard on a father and son relationship. Essentially his father and by extension his mother and presumably his sister lived in a world of black and white, where Jace was trapped in the gray.
"Ah hotel, not many nice ones around here though." The teen mused knowing this area pretty well. Of course it really wasn't his business if this Gabe person was staying in a nice place or not. He blinked at the question poised to him then nodded. "Yea, um that's right. Just you know, trying to get to the docks and leave Plum behind." He tried to state in nonchalant manner but it was pretty obvious he was rather anxious about the whole thing.
He did his best to hold the small umbrella over both of them but it wasn't exactly designed for that. Zag of course didn't mind the storm a bit. Really the zigzagoon was the picture of naive innocence. He was already chasing his own tail and completely soaking wet at this point. Jace couldn't help a small smile as he gazed over at the orange raccoon and chuckled a little.
"Oh um, was that everything?" The boy inquired looking around the alley for any other stray groceries. It kind of sucked that they'd all gotten wet from the storm, but the distraction had actually helped the kid's twitchy fingers.
Jase was right. There were only a few nice hotels around here, but there were plenty within Gabe’s price range. “True.” Gabe didn’t need to explain further.
At the mention of getting out of Plum, though, Gabe felt his lips twitch. Was that so? “Huh, are you planning to take the ferry then?” Something in him already guessed not. “I have a couple or surfable and flying Pokemon that make the trip much easier, actually.” Was that a little suspicious to say given the entire situation? Perhaps. “Though they’d be kind of limited in this storm…” He couldn’t fly with Rep, so it would have to be Wishes and Toothless, and one of those was nicer than the other.
The question, though, pulled Gabe from his thoughts. “Ah, I think so…” Gabe answered looking around for anything else he had dropped in that moment. “Thanks for the help.” He felt drenched despite having an umbrella, but Gabe had felt worse before.
Jace glanced at the umbrella which at this point seemed to be rather useless. The teen wasn't entirely sure what to do now. It was pretty apparent though that this fella was trying to carry more than they could.
"Um, yea, well try anyway. A ferry's really my only option." He shrugged, it wasn't like he'd really had any kind of plan. He raised a brow at the mention of riding pokemon eyes lighting up a bit. Now that was an idea... but true this weather was absolutely terrible for traveling of any kind, especially open travel. Plus really accepting a ride of sorts from a stranger was probably a bad idea, assuming that's what the guy was implying with bringing up ride pokemon in the first place.
"That's cool. None of my own are really up to that task." Jace added as he noticed the rain fall beginning to turn to snow. He shivered a little and cleared his throat. "But um, anyway, if you want I guess I could help you carry this stuff back to your hotel?" The teen offered figuring that he might as well follow through with this helping thing now that he'd started.
Zag shivered too and snuggled in between the blonde male's feet. He sat there staring up at the two humans looking rather pitiful all soaking wet. Jace shook his head and chuckled. "I should probably put you back in your ball huh boy. It'll keep you warmer than out here." The teen suggested but Zag whined then sneezed. It was apparent the zigzagoon didn't like the idea of leaving Jace all alone but it probably wouldn't do for them to just hang around in the cold.
No ride Pokemon in his party…. A shame, really, but not unsurprising. Gabe commit the thought to memory for now and refocused on the suggestion. “Ah, actually yes…I’d appreciate that,” he smiled. He was more interested than he’d admit to considering the sequence of events that had just transpired, but being warm and comfortable right now was just as appealing.
Yellow eyes flickered up as the first flecks of snow started to fall. That was only going to get worse now wasn’t it? Heh. He paused as a thought came to him and then went in tandem. Nah, the hotel was probably close enough they could make it just walking fast. No need to show his cards right now. “Here…if you wouldn’t mind,” he handed one bag to Jace and shifted the way he was holding another one. “It’s just up the street….”
Gabe moved a bit quicker now, perhaps to get out of the cold as much as to curate his interest. The hotel in question had seen better days and was falling apart at the seams. It still seemed to be a reputable place what with an innkeeper asking if they needed anything the minute they got in. Still, she moved a little slowly when Gabe mentioned he could use a towel or two. “If you want to come up, I can make some coffee…” Gabe would comment back to Jase thereafter.
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