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.
Fuji Town was a beautiful place any time of year. It was not, unfortunately, home to as many resources as its neighboring city of Ash. Whenever Naoki needed something for their home they either had to order it online or walk down to Ash City. They didn't mind the walk too much, though, even when it was cold, simply because Naoki loved the snow and fresh air, and the walk was usually quite peaceful. Ash was also an ideal place to sell some of their crop to the market places they knew were always looking for fresh berries--and cutting out the middle man delivery-wise meant more pen for them and their farm. So, with a pack on their back, an Elgyem floating beside them, and an Appletun on their head, Naoki walked on down the quiet path down Route Eight.
Kashi was more than content to sit up-top and enjoy the walk, napping among the thick black hair on Naoki's head. Onsei was less excited that the "baby" was out with them. It had hardly been a week since Naoki had made an order for Sweet Apples--all the way from Galar no less--with the intent to plant a few come spring. But when they package had come in they found half of its contents had been eaten by an Applin that must have gotten packed by mistake! The Appletun herself had been alright, though, having had a LOT of food to eat during the trip and little holes to breathe from. Naoki had been some-what disappointed at the loss of quite a few apples, but...well, Kashi was pretty cute.
And they had a weakness for small, cute, plant-shaped things. So Kashi was on the team now, tiny and sweet and sticky as a proper apple tart. Onsei didn't trust her at all.
But Onsei didn't trust a lot of people, so Naoki was skeptic of his concerns.
The sound of approaching hoof-beats turned Onsei and Kashi's heads, but Naoki didn't hear it. They did, however, notice their little head-pastry turning to look, and did the same, just in time to see what was trotting down the road from the direction of the distant volcano. Naoki's eyes went wide. A Ponyta! It was so large and so graceful! And it was just...waltzing down the path, no signs of doubt about what it was doing, no concerns that somebody might try to catch it. It either belonged to somebody else or was quite brave. Naoki at first stepped to the side, almost to let the Pokemon pass them by without struggle, but...considered, for a moment. While Ponyta were Fire-type in their Kantoian form (and a little concerning to have around the farm), they were Psychic-type in their Galarian form! And having a Pokemon to ride would make these trips faster...
<<Onsei!>> Naoki pushed their thoughts towards the Elgyem, who nodded, aware of it. <<Use confusion on it, I'm going to try to catch it!>> Onsei nodded, extended its hand toward the passing Ponyta, and, at once a trio of bright white rings shot from his hand. They collided with the Ponyta right in the head and it let out an angry whiny, turning to rush the one who had hit it, only to stumble to the side and sway, confusion taking hold.
Naoki pulled an empty, simple Pokeball from their pack, bounced it once in their palm, and then tossed it in the direction of the beautiful horse. This would be the first Pokemon they caught on their own, rather than was given to them or found by accident!
Gabe could see the Arceus-damn Grumble Volcano. It was right there. Right, there. Practically right in his back yard except not at all because it was huge and distorting his perception of distance to hell and back. “I swear we passed that tree just a bit ago,” he commented.
Clopper the Gogoat he was currently riding stomped her hoove. She was pretty sure they hadn’t. “If we just keep heading that way, we should be able to get over there somehow…” The Gogoat rolled her eyes and just kept heading on the way she was. “Hey are you listening to me?” Yes, yes she was. And she knew you were listening in your own way too, but that wasn’t helping either of them right the—
Clopper stopped short. “What?” Gabe asked looking back to her. The Gogoat had completely frozen, but Gabe couldn’t see wh— “AHHHHHHHHH….” Why were they running? Why were they running? Why were they tripping down up and over all kinds of snowed over foliage going where knew where for what knew reason. “Clopper! The hell!!!” Gabe’s voice was but a small whine over the din of a Gogoat going crashing through the brush away from something she’d seen.
It would only be about a minute later that they came crashing to a stop right in front of a certain human and their Pokemon. Clopper dug her hooves into the ground, and Gabe went slamming forward deflating across her muzzle. “What…. The…. Hell…. Clopp…..”
Naoki beamed, moving quickly to where the pokeball had finished shaking on the ground and taking it into their hand. They immediately clicked the button to let the Ponyta out. In a flash of white light it stood there, about the same height as Naoki themselves, but this was just his pre-evolutionary form! He'd be so big when he evolved! Right now, though, they didn't want to hurt him, so...they'd put off riding for a little while longer. This was always the hard part though. They signed the letters out slowly with their hands:
<<T-E-N-M-A. Tenma will be your name. Do you like it?>>
The Ponyta, Tenma, chuffed and looked away. Naoki let out a small sigh. Okay, fair, he was newly caught, he was allowed to be angry. Naoki held up a hand to try to pet him, the other continuing to sign. <<I'm Naoki. I'll teach you sign language, okay?>>
Before their hand could touch the side of Tenma's neck, a horrible crashing sound came from the forest near the path, and Tenma jolted at the sound of it. He reared up with a loud whinny and Naoki jumped back in surprise--for they didn't know what had caused him to react so suddenly--before they suddenly felt the vibrations of heavy footsteps approaching behind them. A sharp gasp escaped their lips as they turned to find--
Whoa! A Gogoat! And a--oof!
Naoki winced as the Gogoat came to an abrupt halt, and they could see the form of somebody smacking into the back of her head, flopping over it in what looked like pain? That...could have been a smoother landing. Ah! Naoki turned to see if Tenma was okay, and he was bristled up and scraping his hoof on the ground but, other than that, seemed more angry about being startled than anything else. Okay. Good. Onsei drifted over the top of the Gogoat and her trainer with a small series of beeping sounds that may have been a laugh. And then he was thoughtful enough to project that laugh to Naoki.
H-A-H H-A-H.
Naoki frowned up at him, signing: <<Don't be rude, Onsei. She-->> She? No, let's go with "they" for now, I can't see their face. <<They might be hurt.>> They approached with a hand extended to tap on the person's shoulder. Whoever they were wouldn't be able to see Naoki's signing in their position. I hope they're alright...and their Pokemon...
Clopper panted stomping one front hoof to the beat of her breath as she tried to reclaim it. The return stomp had her head jerking to one side, but as she saw the Ponyta, she seemed to relax a little. Oh, thank goodness it wasn’t…. Uh….Uh???? She stared at this strange hovering thing in front of her now and then slowly squinted at the laughter. The Gogoat’s nostrils flared, and she made a low noise before stomping her hoof again.
Meanwhile Gabe was groaning as he tried to pull himself backwards to sit on the Gogoat again. “You better have a good reason you stupid goa— AHHH??” Gabe jolted back, sideways, and immediately over the other side of Clopper as he was tapped. Landing in the snow with a thud, he laid out there for a moment mentally cussing before slowly sitting up again (again). Clopper whipped sideways and immediately whined an apology at him. Gabe, however, was scrambling to get back to his feet, reaching to pull at her mane for balance. She grunted at that but tolerated it.
Oops. My bad. Naoki winced slightly as their touch startled the person enough to send them falling backwards off their mount, into the snow below. At least it was a softer fall than it would be without the snow...? Alas, coming across as "sneaky" was an occasional drawback of being non-verbal. With one hand they offered to help the person back to their feet, and the other tapped their chest with their fist closed, first toward the center and then again towards their shoulder. They should be able to see them now, given they were, uh, looking around, albeit frantically. <<Are you okay?>>
Onsei floated in a somersault to Naoki's side, hovering near their head. Naoki threw him a small frown, pushing their thoughts a little louder in his direction. That wasn't nice to laugh at them. What if they'd gotten hurt? Onsei shrugged. Naoki sighed. Kashi, still atop Naoki's head, yawned a squeaky little yawn. Apologize to the Gogoat, at least.
Gold eyes flicked forward and stayed there as the hand was extended to them. Are you ok? The thoughts reverberated off so clearly that Gabe could have sworn he had heard the person speak them. “Ah….” Gabe hesitated before taking it and using it and Clopper’s mane to stand fully again. Clopper grunted but stayed still enough then.
As the person directed their thoughts at the Elgyem near them, though, Gabe heard it again. No this was… this was definitely someone communicating at him. Without their voice. Gabe winced. His eyes flicked from the person to the Elgyem and then back again. Was this… was this person using a psychic Pokemon to talk or was he picking up on their thoughts or… Why.
Clopper, meanwhile, squinted at the Elgyem and stomped her foot again irritably now. Her eyes flicked back the way they came as she worriedly hoped what she had seen had not followed them. Gabe’s attention flicked to her, and then back again. “I’m fine….” he finally said aloud. “It’s fine…”
Huh, the person had responded to their signs. It was vague enough that it could have been a reflexive response. Still, Naoki felt a little hopeful. Once they were back on their feet Naoki extended their index fingers and spun them in a small circle around each other, like bike pedals, then once again moved their hand as if they were holding it out to the other person. <<Do you speak sign language?>> With their left hand they tapped both of their index and fore-fingers together, then raised two of them to their forehead, before holding it out and doing a series of signs. <<My name is Naoki.>>
N-A-O-K-I, the letters appeared as images for a brief second, projected by Onsei on habit rather than on request. He looked down at Gabe with more of a tilt to his head. He could have sworn...hmm. Before Naoki could "say" much else, though, the Ponyta behind them let out another whinny, and trotted over to get closer to all the commotion. He spotted the Gogoat, chuffed, and scratched at the dirt with his hoof like a warning. Naoki grimaced and reached for his pokeball. Nope! Nope, you are not picking a fight with somebody without my say-so! They held out the ball, clicking the button, and a beam of red light shot towards him, reabsorbing Tenma into their containment.
Naoki sighed. I just wanted a rideable Pokemon...if he's so quick to anger...oh boy...
<<Sorry,>> Naoki bowed their head slightly in apology to the Gogoat and her trainer, then pointed to the pokeball and Onsei both, then gave the air by their cheek a small pinch. <<They're both being difficult.>> They tapped their fingers together again, then extended their hand back towards Gabe. <<What is your name?>>
Gabe Alim @mods WC: 318 All my cinnamon buns must have one asshole pokemon. :D;;
Gabe did not speak sing language, but this person’s thoughts were loud and clear as day in his head right then. Gabe stared for a moment biting the inside of his mouth. Naoki. Both in sign and in spelling now, Gabe was sure that was the name. He hesitated, about ready to make a ‘kind of’ gesture with one hand in response when the Ponyta and Gogoat’s reactions caught his attention instead.
Clopper’s nostrils had flared as the Ponyta came over and started making aggressive gestures at her. She did not need some pipsqueak thinking he could throw his weight around when her nerves were already fried. A small noise escaped from her in response. Luckily for everyone, Naoki had reacted fast enough and returned the Ponyta. Clopper huffed a little in response and shook out her mane.
Gabe’s attention flicked between the Ponyta, Clopper, and Naoki, settling on the latter after the immediate situation was resolved. At the apology, he shrugged. “Pokemon don’t always make sense,” he shot a glance at Clopper again. The latter glared. She had seen it! It was scary! She promised! Gabe paused, though, right as again he realized Naoki might not have heard that, exactly.
Teeth met lower lip. Gabe wasn’t one to share his psychic abilities with anyone, but in this case, just this case, it might be useful. He might… He could… It was practice as Harriet always said. Gabe took in a breath and reached for that power more willingly than usual, and it came practically flooding into the forefront of his mind. Suddenly every thought from Naoki to their Pokemon seemed to push against his skull. Gabe ignored it as best he could for now. “Name’s Gabe,” he answered both aloud and through his mind.
Slipping the pokeball into the side-pocket of their berry-filled pack, Naoki did not, in fact, hear Gabe's follow-up to their apology. They wouldn't have even noticed that Gabe had spoken had Onsei not gave a gentle mental pushed into their own thoughts. R-U-D-E. Naoki blinked and looked up at Onsei, then back at Gabe. Rude? What was rude? Had he said something that offended Onsei and they'd missed it? Or...their Gogoat didn't look too happy with them either. Maybe he'd agreed with them. Naoki chuckled very softly. Ah...maybe he didn't realize it. Placing their hand pal-side to their lips Naoki then circled said hand back to their ear, then gave another small forward bow.
<<I'm deaf, sorry.>> They extended a finger towards Gabe. <<What did you say?>>
But rather than receiving a response in a sign, or in a text should he not know the sign...
Ah? What?
Naoki felt their heart skip in their chest, and they went very, very still. They weren't sure what it was that just happened. It sounded--it sounded--almost like when Onsei shared his thoughts with them. Onsei's telepathy, though, was different. It felt like images, like letters, or even just "feelings". This though...this, Naoki could have sworn they...heard. But not quite. Naoki couldn't remember a time when they could hear, and, as such, it wasn't in their mind what it was like to hear another person speak. Was...was this...no, no it wasn't that they were hearing, but...it was like his words were in their mind, clear and vivid like sound, but not...quite. Naoki took a step backwards, eyes still wide and in no small amount of shock. Kashi made a disgruntled sound as her ride got bumpy.
I heard you. I heard--no, no no, that isn't possible unless you're...
Onsei was suddenly between Gabe and Naoki before the latter could respond. A small gasp escaped their lips, but rather than anything hostile, Onsei just stared at Gabe with his tiny little green eyes. Stared and stared. Then, finally, he too "spoke" to them.
S-O Y-O-U A-R-E W-H-A-T I T-H-O-U-G-H-T. I-N-T-E-R-E-S-T-I-N-G.
Naoki swallowed. What he thought they were...? Wait, was this person also--
They frantically signed on instinct, rather than thinking it through. <<You can...read minds?? Like Onsei??>> Their breathing felt tight. A person could be telepathic?! How?? How was that possible?!? Was--was it only a special few people?? Could it be taught?! They had spent so long researching Pokemon claimed to have telepathic gifts like Elgyem and Beheeyem, but the thought that humans could have those powers, too...they had so many questions. They weren't sure what they were feeling right now.
Loud. It was loud. The way the voice seemed to reverberate in his head was so loud. Gabe was sure it was echoing. A hand reached sideways and gripped into Clopper again for support. This was fine. He was fine. Clopper glanced sideways at him concerned all the same. Gabe’s eyes never left Naoki, though. The rush of disbelief, confusion, and something else would have been his own if he hadn’t been so aware of what he had been feeling up to that point.
Suddenly a body was between them, and Gabe’s eyes settled on Onsei instead. Shit shit shit shit shit that was loud in an entirely different way. Gabe’s eyes tore away from the Elgyem almost immediately refocusing on Clopper instead.
You’re sweating… Clopper’s concerned mental voice reverberated in his own. Gabe took in a breath.
Naoki was moving, but Gabe didn’t need to look and guess signs. Their thoughts were loud and clear as if they were speaking them. Gabe grimaced a little and forced himself to look back at them. ‘Yes but it’s not perfect,’ he answered. Clopper stomped a little again uncomfortably.
D-O N-O-T S-T-R-A-I-N Y-O-U-R-S-E-L-F, H-U-M-A-N G-A-B-E. Onsei's "voice"--really the images of letters--kept up steadily, but even a non-verbal telepathy was likely no less loud to sensitive "ears" like Gabe's. Unfortunate. He had a lot of questions. Elgyem were mysterious Pokemon who weren't quite of this earth, but he was still fairly young for his species. He'd never known a psychic human before. Still, the evidence was right in front of him, and he was immensely curious. W-H-E-R-E D-I-D Y-O-U L-E-A-R-N--
A soft whimper, hardly a sound at all, made Onsei's images go silent, and he floated up enough to look upside-down at his trainer. Naoki's hands were frozen at their chest, not quite in a sign but seemingly trying to think of one. They were still hearing his words.
Hearing wasn't the right word for it. But...their thoughts weren't usually like this. They didn't think with a voice. They thoughts with their language. Their "words". This...was...
Oh, their eyes were blurring up. Naoki frantically brought their hands up to wipe it away.
I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I've never...it's been...I can't remember the last time I...heard a voice. It's very...it's frightening and I don't know what to feel but I'm also so...so...happy.
Kashi gave a small worried grumble and nuzzled her little maw into her trainer's hair. Onsei, too, was immediately at their side, pushing his little round hands into Naoki's cheeks. N-O S-A-D. N-O S-A-D. Naoki weakly laughed between little hiccups. This was embarrassing. They didn't want to cry in front of a stranger but they were just so overwhelmed right now. Even Onsei's "voice" was more visual than verbal. His wasn't heard so much as seen. But Gabe's was different, and it was the first voice they had truly heard in so long--longer than they could even remember, since before they lost their hearing they were only an infant--and it was just too much for them to take without...this.
I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I don't mean to...I don't want to...I just...I can't collect my thoughts...
Gabe Alim @mods WC: 367 I AM IN A GLASS CAGE OF EMOTIONS
Don’t strain yourself— Hah, easier said than done. Gabe shook his head a bit. ‘It’s all or nothing…’ was all he’d answer back with. Where did he learn? Well that was a question Gabe couldn’t answer. A few fingers reached up and pressed themselves to his temple.
Just as the Elgyem’s thoughts of sorts went silent, though, a rush of new ones came off of Naoki. Gabe’s attention shifted to them instead. The rush of apologies and explanations was a little… more familiar to ‘listen’ to. Less weird than the Elgyem’s for sure. Still, the repetitive apologies were starting to wear on him a little. He was lucky not to have the psychic based empathy to go along with it, or it would have been much much worse.
Gabe forced his grimace to take a different form, an almost sort of smile, perhaps. ‘I can’t keep it up….’ he admitted. ‘It’s too loud.’ Releasing that power was like releasing a rubber band. The rush of thoughts that were pushing against his skull were pushed back by invisible walls, and suddenly all that he heard again was the sounds of Pokemon chirping and talking again.
A breath escaped from Gabe, and he could finally let go of Clopper again.
Onsei said--well, "said"--nothing more to Gabe at the admittance that he wasn't in as much control over his powers as to not be hurt by them. Ah, that was a shame. He had his own questions to ask. He still couldn't do perfect telepathy, not at his level, but he would once he evolved. A part of him was a little jealous that the first person to reach into Naoki's mind so well wasn't himself...but fate worked in weird ways.
Almost as soon as they'd heard Gabe's thoughts, the connection was broken, and they couldn't hear his voice anymore in their mind. It stabbed at Naoki's stomach. Ah--but they wanted to hear. They had never been able to. They wanted to hear somebody's voice, even if it wasn't really "spoken". At the same time they didn't want to cause him pain, and from just looking at him Naoki could see the strain it was putting on him. So..
...okay...I'm sorry, again...
M-A-Y-B-E U-S-E P-H-O-N-E? Onsei's letters pushed through again, and Naoki, still with slightly redder eyes, nodded in response. Yeah. If he couldn't really read signs and if Onsei's telepathy was too much for him, then text might be a better alternative. Naoki reached into their pocket for their phone with one hand, the other still rubbing his cheek. [ Here, is this any better? ] They held up the screen towards Gabe, unsure little smile on their face. [ I was so surprised. I've never "heard" a voice before. I don't know what to think about it asides from "that's amazing", hahah. (´･へ・`) I'm sorry if it hurt you. ]
Gabe Alim @mods WC: 287 Mod calling! Let's see what scared Clopper! >:3
Gabe took a few deep breaths. He could feel the headache subsiding now along with the strain. Clopper nuzzled into his shoulder a little, and he reached up to pet her slowly. As the phone was held up to him, Gabe blinked a little and found himself reading a text. A small smile quirked at the corners of his mouth. Ah, he really should have thought of that first, hadn’t he? Then again his thoughts had been elsewhere. Gabe fished out his own phone and opened a notepad app before typing out his own. [ I needed the practice anyways. Still learning—]
A noise had Clopper immediately yelping and stomping. Gabe jerked up from the text just as he hit send to see what was wrong— only to be cowered behind as a massive flaming creature came up from the brush and stared down at them. What in hell…. It was so huge! It was so cool! What was this thing??? A wild, wicked smile wrecked across Gabe’s features as he reached for a particular rare ball and threw it forward before the Centiskorch could even attack. Clopper kept shrieking stomping the ground behind Gabe and lowering her head. No no no no no no no no no….
Naoki's fingers hovered over the little virtual keyboard on their screen as they read the reply. Practice, learning...they had so many questions, but how much as too much to ask? This felt like something a normal person wouldn't just share with people. But then why would he use it on a total stranger? Just because they couldn't think of another way to communicate? That felt a bit odd. At the same time, this person seemed a bit odd to start with. Naoki wasn't sure where that read came from. Maybe it was the purple hair.
They couldn't keep that train of thought up for too long, though, as before they had a shot at putting their questions into words a loud crashing sound came from the forest behind Gabe, and Naoki nearly missed it, had Gabe and Clopper not reacted so suddenly. Their head jerked up in time to see a few Pokemon come scampering out of the way of a very, very large, very frightening looking Pokemon that they had never seen before. Naoki swallowed a lump in their throat and stepped back quite a bit. They had NO interest in trying to fight that. Thankfully Gabe seemed to be already on it, pulling out a pokeball and tossing it at the enormous fire-bug. Naoki breathed a small sigh of relief as the ball twitched once, twice, thrice...and clicked. Thank Arceus, that was... ...oh...oh dear...
Naoki glanced to the side. They'd seen, among the Pokemon that had come rushing away from the charging Centiskorch, what had looked like a--yes, it was. A great, tall Kangaskhan was cradling the little one from its pouch and whining softly. The little one had a noticeable burn on its arm--large enough that it looked like it was having trouble getting back into its pouch without being hurt. The poor thing... Naoki slid the pack from their back and opened the flap, withdrawing a pair of blue-green berries, and took a few tentative steps toward the mother and baby. The Kangaskhan looked up sharply as they approached, lips drawing back in a low, threatening growl...until she took notice of what the human was holding out to her. Rawst berries.
Naoki held them out, palms up, empty of any ball or anything else that may prove they were a danger to her or the baby. Here, this should help them...if they need more help, you could come with me to the city, and we can get them healed...Onsei, tell her that?
Onsei nodded, floating behind by a foot or so, and relayed their thoughts. In turn the Kangaskhan frowned, nodded, and took the berries in her comically larger-than-Naoki's-hands paw, and held one up for the baby to eat. It nibbled away, making a face at the bitter taste--Sorry, they're an, um, acquired taste?--but quickly the burn on its pale purple fur began to fade away. Naoki smiled slightly. Good. They slowly held out a Pokeball for the mother to tap, should she so choose to. If not, well, at least they'd helped.
Gabe Alim @mods WC: 529 Attempting a Friendship Catch!
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