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.
(Content warning: The third post contains brief descriptions that may upset those suffering from pyrophobia.)
"This seems like a suitable place," Rui said, taking in her surroundings. The grasslands would be comfortable enough for Clarence, she thought; he'd naturally prefer somewhere with more tree coverage, but given that she was going to be working with fire, it was probably best that any potential kindling was kept to a minimum. Besides, she also wanted room for Kama to stretch her wings.
Clarence warbled curiously at Rui's side, where, as usual, he held her hand. Rui smiled down at him and explained, "I thought it would be a good idea for us to do some team-building. If we're going to be traveling together, it would be best for us to all get to know each other, wouldn't it?"
Clarence tilted his head. His expression didn't change much, but Rui could still see the scrutiny in those red eyes. She glanced nervously to the side. "And... There's one in particular I want to introduce you to. A Litwick."
Again, though his expression barely changed—a slight widening of the eyes at most—she felt Clarence tense up in her grasp. Rui had expected as much. Clarence wasn't afraid of many things (or if he was, he didn't show it), but the one thing that never failed to frighten him was fire. Rui suspected that it had to do with his life before being reborn as a Phantump, but as much as she wanted to ask him, she didn't dare. After all, such a subject would be uncomfortable at best; at worst, it would cause old trauma to resurface, and she cared about Clarence far too much to let him suffer that just because of her curiosity. Though in truth, she hoped introducing him to Onibi would help alleviate that fear and allow him to open up about it.
(Of course, verifying her theory would require more communication than she could manage with a Pokémon right now. She had heard of a temple in the Weeping Forest where one could supposedly unlock the secrets of telepathy, though...)
Rui knelt down and stroked the top of Clarence's head, smiling. "I promise, I won't let anything bad happen to you," she said. "Onibi is quite timid, so I doubt he would attack you, even if you weren't teammates. And if anything goes wrong, I'll have your Poké Balls ready. And," she added as the idea flashed into her mind, "I can even have Anahita out, if that would help you feel better. Just in case something happens."
Clarence looked slightly down and to the side, frowning a bit. Flashes of a half-forgotten life flickered through his mind, but he forced his expression to remain as neutral as possible. (Not that it really mattered. He knew that Rui could tell he was afraid. She'd always been good at reading him.) He hadn't done well with fire for as long as he could remember, yet here his trainer was, trying to introduce him to a Fire-type. Part of him wanted to be angry at this. And yet... he couldn't be. He trusted Rui more than anyone (save for perhaps Rui's grandmother), and she was promising him that he'd be safe, even in the face of his greatest fear. And thus, despite the trembling of his ghostly body, he looked back up at Rui with a nod.
Rui's smile, which had faltered with her nervousness, widened. "Thank you, Clarence," she said. "I promise I'll keep you safe." She stood and took the Luxury Ball from her belt. "Anahita, would you care to help us out?" She tossed the Ball underhand, and Anahita popped out in a flash of light, twirling on one foot.
"I'm going to introduce Clarence here to Onibi, my Litwick," Rui explained when Anahita's little performance was over. "We'd appreciate it if you could stand by just in case."
Anahita tilted her head, but before Rui could explain further, the Blissey nodded eagerly and all but skipped over to stand on Clarence's other side. Rui caught a little smile flit across the Phantump's face.
"Okay," Rui said, taking out Onibi's Poké Ball next. "Are you ready, Clarence?"
Clarence looked up at Rui and the Poké Ball she held. After a few moments, he reached up to take Rui's free hand, then nodded slowly. Rui smiled and nodded back.
"Come on out, Onibi."
With that, she tossed the Ball.
Party Status: Clarence - Lv 13 Phantump - 5/5 Energy Raijin - Lv 13 Pichu - 5/5 Energy Kama - Lv 12 Scyther - 5/5 Energy Onibi - Lv 13 Litwick - 5/5 Energy Anahita - Lv 12 Blissey - 5/5 Energy
Post Word Count: 727 Total Word Count: 727
Last Edit: May 12, 2020 20:38:18 GMT by Rui Sasaki
Onibi blinked his little yellow eyes and looked around after emerging from his Ball. When he noticed Rui, he smiled, and Rui soon felt that familiar pull within her as the Litwick began to absorb her life force. The flame on his head flickered to life; Rui felt Clarence move slightly behind her.
"Ah, Onibi, do you think you can wait to do that?" Rui asked. She gestured behind her in response to Onibi's confused look. "I want to introduce you to your teammates, but Clarence here doesn't do well with fire." Onibi squeaked softly and held one stubby hand over his mouth, looking nervously between Rui and Clarence. "You can feed later, I promise," Rui said with a smile. "Please?"
Still, Onibi hesitated. He hadn't been with Rui long, and though he was grateful he allowed him to feed off her (most living creatures avoided having their life energy sapped at all costs), he worried that she would suddenly not allow him to do so anymore. He looked to the Blissey on the Phantump's other side; she smiled and waved with a trill of greeting. Then, his eyes fell on the Phantump, who stared at him, his lower body partially hidden by Rui's leg. Onibi stared back.
Clarence tightened his grip on Rui's hand before he warbled to Onibi: "You can trust her. Rui always keeps her promises."
Rui looked down at Clarence, eyes slightly widened. She hadn't expected him to speak up (though, of course, she couldn't understand what he'd said). Clarence looked up to flash a smile at her before he turned back to Onibi, expression neutral again.
Onibi slowly lowered his arm and allowed his flame to die down until it was extinguished. Rui smiled, feeling her shoulders relax (she hadn't even realized they'd been tense). "Thank you, Onibi." Onibi offered a small, shy smile in return.
Anahita let out a cheer and did a bouncy walk over to Onibi, who shrunk back at the Blissey's approach. She stopped a couple of feet away and waved with a trill of greeting. Onibi stared at her for a few seconds before letting out a small, warbling squeak in return. Anahita turned and beckoned Rui and Clarence over.
Rui gave Clarence's hand a little squeeze. "Ready?" she asked. Clarence flicked his gaze back and forth between Rui and Onibi, barely discernible unease in his expression, before nodding slightly. Rui smiled gently, hoping to reassure him. "Remember, we're right here." Clarence nodded again, seeming to relax in Rui's grasp, and let his trainer lead him to Anahita and Onibi. Still, despite his trust in Rui, he let himself fall slightly behind her and Anahita, who stood on his other side.
"Onibi," Rui began, "I'd like you to meet some of your teammates. This is Anahita. I caught her not long after you." Anahita waved again, beaming with her eyes closed. "And this," Rui continued, "is Clarence. He was my very first Pokémon; we've been together for years." Clarence nodded. "I thought it'd be a good idea for you all to get to know each other."
"I think that's a great idea!" Anahita piped up. "Where should we start?"
Onibi and Clarence looked at each other, the uncertainty clearer on Onibi's face than it was on Clarence's. Where should they start...?
Party Status: Clarence - Lv 13 Phantump - 5/5 Energy Raijin - Lv 13 Pichu - 5/5 Energy Kama - Lv 12 Scyther - 5/5 Energy Onibi - Lv 13 Litwick - 5/5 Energy Anahita - Lv 12 Blissey - 5/5 Energy
(Content warning: This post contains brief descriptions that may upset those suffering from pyrophobia.)
To everyone's surprise, it was the shy, timid Onibi who spoke up first: "You... don't like fire, Clarence?" he asked in a low voice, just barely loud enough for the other Pokémon to hear.
"No," was Clarence's simple answer.
Silence pressed in for a few uncomfortable seconds. "Is it because you're a Grass-type?" Onibi finally asked.
Clarence shifted his gaze to the side. Before the silence could creep back in, though, Anahita chimed in: "It's okay! Onibi won't attack you because you're teammates, right?"
"R-Right," Onibi stammered. But did absorbing life energy count as attacking, he wondered? It involved the flame on his head, but—
"That's not it," Clarence said; his voice was even, but the way it dropped in volume meant that even Rui could hear his hesitation. He paused when the others looked at him. "It's true that I'm weak to Fire attacks, but..."
And there they were again, those faint, panicked memories of being lost in the dark, then being surrounded by what seemed to be walls of flame that threw everything into a too-sharp light as they grew closer and closer before everything fell into darkness again; these scenes flickered through Clarence's mind like a torn film reel, causing him to tense up again. The feeling of Rui's worried grip tightening on his hand made him snap back to reality, and he looked up at her to see her worried expression.
"It's more than that," he whispered to the others. He didn't elaborate, despite the fact that the others were staring at him.
"Well, that doesn't change the fact that Onibi's not going to attack you," Anahita said after a few moments. "Aaaaaaand! We'll be here to protect you, too! If anyone tries to hit you with a fire attack, then bam!" She jumped between Clarence and Onibi, causing the Litwick to flinch back and cover his face, and then she spun around to face Clarence. "I'll be right here so it doesn't hit you!"
Onibi slowly uncovered his eyes, realizing that Anahita wasn't going to attack or anything. He thought of saying something about his ability to absorb Fire-type attacks to make his more powerful, but... would he be brave enough to just jump in like Anahita? He wasn't sure, so he opted to keep quiet and let the Blissey be Clarence's main source of encouragement.
Clarence, meanwhile, looked up at Anahita, his normally calm expression cracked by surprise that made his eyes just a bit bigger. He looked to Rui.
"I wish I could understand what you guys were saying," his trainer said. "But it seems to me like Anahita's doing her best to make you feel better."
Anahita trilled to get Rui's attention, then turned to the side and raised her wiggling arms in the air, blowing out air in an attempt to imitate the sound of a fire. She pointed both arms at Clarence, but before his surprise could become even more visible than it already was, Anahita jumped between him and where the imaginary fire was coming from, holding her arms out protectively. She turned and nodded at Rui, her expression more serious now.
"Oh!" Rui said. "You're saying you'll protect Clarence from any fire, right?" Anahita nodded, beaming again. Rui nodded in return and looked back down at Clarence. "See, Clarence? We're all here to protect you if anything happens."
Clarence looked between her and Anahita, both of whom smiled at him. He moved so he could see around Anahita and look at Onibi, who watched this scene while rubbing his stubby hands together. His eyes widened in surprise when he noticed Clarence watching him, and he looked away nervously. Clarence couldn't help but feel comforted by this gesture, like this display of timidity make him feel sure that the Litwick really wouldn't attack him. And with Anahita there to protect him and Rui there to comfort him and put him back in his Poké Ball if things got too dangerous for him... He smiled.
"Thank you," he warbled. He wrapped his arms around Rui's and hugged it tight. Rui's breath hitched at the surprising display of affection, but she smiled warmly and bent down to hug him in return.
Party Status: Clarence - Lv 13 Phantump - 5/5 Energy Raijin - Lv 13 Pichu - 5/5 Energy Kama - Lv 12 Scyther - 5/5 Energy Onibi - Lv 13 Litwick - 5/5 Energy Anahita - Lv 12 Blissey - 5/5 Energy
"How do you feel, Clarence?" Rui asked in a low voice. "Do you think you're ready to train with Onibi and the others?" She and Clarence looked to Onibi, who was smiling at the hug the two had shared but quickly looked down and to the side, blushing. Clarence nodded at Rui with a smile of his own, and she patted him on the head before standing and grabbing her remaining two filled Poké Balls.
"Onibi, Anahita," Rui said loudly enough to get the two Pokémon's attention. "I want you to formally meet your other teammates." She tossed both Poké Balls underhand, releasing her Pichu and her Scyther. "Everyone, this is Raijin and Kama. Raijin, Kama, meet Anahita and Onibi." She gestured to each Pokémon as she introduced them. "And, of course, you all know Clarence by now."
Clarence nodded as he was introduced. Kama held her scythes together and bowed. Anahita waved with a welcoming trill, and Onibi squeaked uncertainly. Raijin, on the other hand, looked around at his new teammates before dropping down on all fours and squeaking in challenge, sparks already flying from his cheeks. Onibi moved behind Anahita, who spread her stumpy arms protectively and narrowed her eyes. Kama let out a hissing sigh and placed the back of a scythe on Raijin's head. Though she flinched a bit at the static that hit her, she stared down at the Pichu disapprovingly.
"These are your teammates, Raijin," Kama said.
"So?" Raijin squeaked. "We can still spar!"
"I don't think Onibi wants to," Anahita said, glancing back at the cowering Litwick.
"Why noooot?"
"Easy, Raijin," Rui said. Despite not knowing what her Pokémon were saying, it was easy enough to read their body language in this case. "We're all going to train together."
Raijin let out a victorious squeak. A squeeze of her hand prompted Rui to turn and whisper to Clarence, "Don't worry, I won't have Onibi throw fire at you or anything." The Phantump smiled. "In fact," Rui continued, raising her voice, "I wanted to start with you, Raijin."
"All right!" Raijin squeaked. He narrowed his eyes and smirked as he looked around at the rest of the party. "Who's first?"
But instead of saying a battle command, Rui asked, "Do you remember your battle with Kama before I caught her?"
Raijin's bravado visibly deflated as he recalled that battle. He stood back up, crossed his arms, and pouted, ears slightly drooping. Rui took that as a yes and continued:
"She was able to overpower you despite her type disadvantage because she was patient and strategic. Her Leer lowered your Defense, and her Focus Energy allowed her to target your weak spot. You would have won if you had used Charm to lower her Attack."
"I should have won, anyway," Raijin muttered.
"Rui's right," Kama said. "Doing nothing but attacking isn't always the right answer. Strengthening yourself, weakening your opponent, even doing both are the keys to victory."
"If I'm not mistaken, you should know Nasty Plot, Sweet Kiss, and Nuzzle now, Raijin," Rui continued. "Learning to utilize moves like those will strengthen your attacks and make it more difficult for your opponent to attack you. That way, even if you're facing a more powerful opponent, you stand a better chance of winning."
Raijin continued to soundlessly pout, even if having a better chance of winning seemed really nice...
"Why don't we demonstrate?" Rui asked. "Anahita, would you care to help us?"
Anahita trilled her affirmation and stepped forward. Raijin perked his ears up, intrigued by the prospect of some actual action.
"You can use Refresh, right?" Rui asked. Anahita nodded. "Good. I want to demonstrate the effectiveness of status effects in turning the tide of battle." Anahita made a little "o" with her mouth, then smiled and nodded again. Rui nodded in return and turned to Raijin. "Raijin, your Static gives you a chance to paralyze your opponent if they make contact, but not every Pokémon will use contact moves, or maybe you just want to get them paralyzed as soon as possible. In that case, you can use Nuzzle, which will instantly paralyze your opponent—" A little smirk played on Rui's features. "—and even do some damage at the same time."
Now that caught Raijin's interest. His grin bordered on devious as he turned to Anahita, cheeks sparking again.
"Hold on, Raijin," Rui said. "Everyone, give them some space first." Clarence and Kama, closest to Rui, only had to step back a bit, but Onibi had to scuttle over to them, scared of getting caught in the crossfire. Clarence made sure to keep Kama between him and the Litwick. "Ready, Anahita?" Rui asked. The Blissey chirped affirmatively. With everything in place, Rui nodded.
"Raijin, use Nuzzle."
Party Status: Clarence - Lv 13 Phantump - 5/5 Energy Raijin - Lv 13 Pichu - 5/5 Energy Kama - Lv 12 Scyther - 5/5 Energy Onibi - Lv 13 Litwick - 5/5 Energy Anahita - Lv 12 Blissey - 5/5 Energy
The order had barely passed Rui's lips before Raijin zipped forward and ran past Anahita, brushing his cheek against her side. The shock that went through her made her shudder with a quiet trill, and she felt her muscles becoming numb. Raijin skidded to a stop and spun around to face her, grinning.
"Good!" Rui called. "Now that she's paralyzed, it will be harder for her to attack."
Anahita decided to demonstrate by running at Raijin with surprising speed, causing the Pichu to squeak in surprise, only to freeze in place, static jumping across her fur, when she raised her arm to deliver a Double-Slap. Raijin immediately crouched down on all fours into a ready stance, preparing to attack, but Rui stopped him:
"Not yet, Raijin! There's still more you can do to disrupt her. If you confuse her with Sweet Kiss, she'll be less likely to be able to attack, and she might hurt herself."
Raijin raised a brow at his trainer. Holding his attacks back to paralyze his opponent was one thing, but she expected him to kiss another Pokémon in battle? That just sounded dumb.
"Just try it, please?" Rui asked. Anahita trilled and struggled to hold her hands together imploringly.
Raijin huffed in defeat. He took a moment to judge Anahita's height, then rushed forward, leapt into the air, landed on the Blissey's head, and then leaned down and gave her a kiss on the forehead. The effect was comically instantaneous: As Raijin jumped back down to the ground, hearts appeared in Anahita's eyes, and she squealed.
"So... cuuuuuuuuuute!"
She began spinning around on one foot, occasionally having to stop as her muscles stiffened up from paralysis. Raijin just watched for a few seconds, dumbfounded, before turning to Rui, who smiled rather awkwardly and shrugged.
"It seems to have worked," she said. Kama nodded.
Raijin turned back to Anahita, who had stopped spinning but was still grinning with her eyes closed, swaying back and forth. Well, it was weird, but it was also effective... He shook his head back into focus and began to gather electricity in his cheeks.
"Not yet, Raijin!" Rui called, and Raijin fell back with a frustrated cry as he was interrupted again, the static he'd collected discharging in a small area around him. "There's still one more move you can use, and this one will make your attacks more powerful."
... Okay, more powerful attacks were maybe worth it. Raijin pulled himself to his feet and listened, still keeping an eye on Anahita.
"I can't believe I'm telling you to do this, but... by stimulating your mind with a Nasty Plot, you can make your special attacks more powerful. So, Raijin, use Nasty Plot!"
Stimulate his mind, huh? Raijin let himself think of how simple it would be to find and strike at Anahita's weak points while she was like this, still swaying where she stood, interrupted by jolts of paralysis. His face darkened into a devious grin. Rui was right: He did feel more powerful after that!
Anahita finally snapped out of her daze and looked at Raijin with alarm. But before she could prepare an attack, Rui shouted, "Now, Raijin! Use Thunder Shock!"
Raijin let out a battle cry as he was finally, finally allowed to charge up his electricity to its fullest extent and unleash it at Anahita. Anahita cried out as she was hit by the biggest jolt of electricity that Raijin had ever managed. She stood still for several moments before falling onto her back, defeated.
Party Status: Clarence - Lv 13 Phantump - 5/5 Energy Raijin - Lv 13 Pichu - 4/5 Energy Kama - Lv 12 Scyther - 5/5 Energy Onibi - Lv 13 Litwick - 5/5 Energy Anahita - Lv 12 Blissey - 4/5 Energy
Anahita hadn't really fainted, of course. Even with Raijin powered up, it would take more than a Thunder Shock to take her down. Still, the point of this training exercise had been to show Raijin how effective it was to use more than just attacking moves, so she figured it would be okay if she was a little dramatic.
Besides, hearing Raijin cheer like that was absolutely worth it.
"Good job, Raijin," Rui said. Anahita heard her trainer come closer and cracked an eye open and smiled to show she was okay. Rui's shoulders dropped in relief. "You, too, Anahita," she said, kneeling down. "Can you use Refresh?"
Anahita closed her eyes to focus, and a blue light began to shimmer around her... only to scatter as Anahita's muscles stiffened up again, causing her to squeak. Rui held out a hand, but Anahita smiled reassuringly, shook her head, and tried again; this time, the light coalesced onto her, allowing her to relax as her paralysis faded with it. She sat up and chirped.
Raijin, meanwhile, had run over to Kama and Onibi to squeak excitedly about what he'd accomplished. Kama nodded her approval while Onibi peeked out from behind her leg, smiling slightly but not wanting to face that kind of power himself.
"You see what happens when you're patient?" Kama asked.
"Yeah!" Raijin squeaked. "I get it now!"
Rui walked over to the group, Clarence and Anahita in tow. "Not every battle will go exactly like that," Rui said to Raijin, "but I think now, you have a better understanding of why I don't want you to just attack indiscriminately." Anahita trilled her agreement.
Raijin grinned and nodded. He felt stronger, stronger than he ever had before. Like power was welling up inside of him, waiting to be unleashed. He flexed his little arms... and then began to glow white. Anahita gasped, then squealed excitedly.
"Ah!" Rui exclaimed. "Raijin, you're evolving!"
So that's what this was... Raijin let the energy course through him, causing him to grow, his tail to lengthen, his ears to thin out and point back... and then the white light faded, revealing his new form. The triumphant squeak he let out was deeper than it had been when he was a Pichu, and he dropped down onto all fours, letting sparks burst from his cheeks to display his newfound power.
Anahita hopped between both feet, cheering; Kama's grin widened as she nodded again; even Clarence warbled his congratulations. Onibi, meanwhile, kept Kama between him and the electricity-discharging Pikachu.
Rui clapped her hands together and beamed. "That's wonderful, Raijin!"
Raijin squeaked in agreement. Evolving was wonderful! In fact... if he evolved again, that'd make him even stronger, right? He reined in his electrical discharge, a process he immediately found way easier than it had been when he was a Pichu, and ran over to Rui. He pawed at her bag, squeaking excitedly, then gestured to himself and spread his arms up and out with a long squeak. It took Rui a few moments to realize what he was trying to say, but when she'd figured it out, she knelt down to pet him, knowing there was less of a risk of her getting accidentally shocked now.
"Let's get you used to this new form before you evolve again, okay?" she said. "It's never good to rush evolution."
Raijin pouted and lowered his ears, but not even that display seemed to be enough to get Rui to budge on this. He squeaked out his reluctant assent, but only because Rui seemed like she knew what she was talking about. She'd taught him to battle better, after all.
Rui smiled and stood up. "I think we're done for today," she said. "You all did wonderfully, and I hope this helped you all get more comfortable with each other, too."
Clarence and Onibi looked at each other from either side of Kama. Clarence was the first to offer a small smile, which Onibi returned despite looking sidelong at the Phantump. Kama nodded approvingly, and Anahita let out a happy trill. Raijin, meanwhile, swelled up with pride at his new form, which prompted Kama to pat him on the head with the back of a scythe. The Pikachu lowered his ears and let out an indignant squeak, causing Anahita to laugh; even Clarence and Onibi shared an amused smile at this exchange, something Rui couldn't help but mirror.
"How about we go eat?" Rui asked. This earned her cheers from Raijin, Kama, and Anahita, while Clarence and Onibi's assent was quieter.
Party Status: Clarence - Lv 13 Phantump - 5/5 Energy Raijin - Lv 13 PichuPikachu - 4/5 Energy Kama - Lv 12 Scyther - 5/5 Energy Onibi - Lv 13 Litwick - 5/5 Energy Anahita - Lv 12 Blissey - 4/5 Energy
Raijin evolved into Pikachu! Raijin forgot Thunder Shock and learned Electro Ball!
Post Word Count: 761 Total Word Count: 4,123
TRAINING COMPLETE! (I have no idea how level distribution works for this, eek.)
Last Edit: May 20, 2020 15:44:41 GMT by Rui Sasaki
Because it was 4,123 words, you receive 16 levels, 160 pen, 8 random common items, 4 random pokeballs, 7 rare candy, and 2 move slots for one Pokemon.
8 random common items: Persim Berry, Nest Ball, Black Apricorn, Oran Berry, Origin Powder, Green Apricorn, Sand, Pink Apricorn 4 random Pokeballs: Net Ball, Quick Ball, Dive Ball, Ultra Ball
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