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.
[attr="class","vivalyric"]REBEL REBEL, YOUR FACE IS A MESS
[attr="class","vivaright"]WORDS
330
[attr="class","vivaright"]TAGGED
solo
[attr="class","vivaright"]NOTES
notes go here
Riley was... a little uncertain about this whole endeavor, as he looked down again at the new Z-Charm on his wrist. He knew from watching other showcases that Z-Moves were a powerful way to make an impact, but... the process for acquiring this ability left him scratching his head a bit. He'd done some research, and found only that they were a sacred tradition in Alola and a bunch about the history and significance of them, but far less about the 'how to'. Fortunately, his search had also landed him on a forum that talked about an old woman who traveled Arciel teaching those she found "worthy", and it sounded like she was supposed to be in the area now.
So here Riley was, out looking for her, hoping she would find him "worthy". At his heels was Hunter as always, but she wasn't the one who would be training today. That honor would be going to Arial, while Hunter was merely here for company as Riley sought this Iolana.
He was just starting to get frustrated as the sky started growing dark when he noticed a glow and a small amount of smoke over a nearby hill. A campfire? Worth checking out! He hurried that way, and sure enough he found an elderly woman sitting near it. Ah!
"Excuse me, ah.. ma'am?" That was polite right? "Are you Iolana by any chance?"
"Depends who's asking," she answered, not looking up from the tea she sipped.
"Ah. My name's Riley. I was hoping you could teach me and my Primarina to use Z-Power?"
She did look up now, spying the Charm on his wrist, then looking down to Hunter. "That's an awfully small Primarina. Fluffy, too."
Riley blinked a moment, then snorted softly. "Ah, this is Hunter," he introduced the Eevee. "This," he started, pulling out a PokeBall and tossing it out, "is Arial." The Primarina took form, and spotting the old woman gently smiled and waved with one flipper.
Iolana looks you and your Pokemon up and down, then seems to have an "a-ha" moment. You watch as she disappears into her tent then returns with a pair of yoga mats and a medicine ball, unrolling them and motioning you to get on one. She proceeds to demonstrate a series of yoga poses - stretches, handstands, balancing the ball in precarious positions - she's surprisingly spry for a woman of her age! After she's done, she hands you the ball. It's your turn.
[attr="class","vivalyric"]REBEL REBEL, YOUR FACE IS A MESS
[attr="class","vivaright"]WORDS
311
[attr="class","vivaright"]TAGGED
solo
[attr="class","vivaright"]NOTES
notes here
Riley, Hunter, and Arial all watched curiously as the woman retreated into her tent. She was... coming back, right? Fortunately they didn't have to wonder long, as she soon re-emerged... with some supplies? What followed was ah... quite the sight. Riley was getting an odd sense of secondhand embarrassment watching? Or was it secondhand? Riley had done some yoga before now and then, to help stay flexible, but this seemed... advanced? Could he do it?
When she offered the ball, he almost wanted to say, 'you're joking, right?' But he bit his tongue. Now was not the best time for sarcasm or catty remarks. Not if he wanted to learn the sacred art this woman was willing to pass on.
So he took the ball. "Right. So the first one was uh..." He tried getting into the proper pose while holding the ball, but found its weight shifted his center of balance enough to make it feel awkward and difficult. Hm. He'd have to account for that, so... maybe leaning a bit more this way? He tried it like that and managed to strike the proper pose, even if holding it for a few seconds felt straining.
As he took a moment to breathe, he realized, "Uh, what was number two again?"
"Pri!" called Arial, motioning for the ball. He remembered! Riley gave it to him, and the Primarina easily got into his equivalent of the pose with the ball balanced on a flipper. The Pokemon was stronger than he looked; it was easy to forget that sometimes.
"Show-off," teased Riley, but he was grateful. Getting the ball back, he tried the second pose, finding it a little more taxing than the first. One by one, he managed to get through the poses as best as he could remember them, then looked to Iolana for approval. Had he done it right?
[attr="class","vivalyric"]REBEL REBEL, YOUR FACE IS A MESS
[attr="class","vivaright"]WORDS
311
[attr="class","vivaright"]TAGGED
solo
[attr="class","vivaright"]NOTES
notes here
Iolana squinted as she assessed the young man and his Pokemon. "Sorry," she said. "The first few were acceptable, but you got sloppy and complacent after that." Riley bit his lip. He didn't think he'd been complacent, but he wasn't going to argue, at least not out loud. "Try it again from the top. And this time, try to remember them yourself. Your Primarina has already proven he can do it."
Oh, great, so Arial passed and it was just Riley who was a failure. Well then... He sniffed out a light huff, but nodded. "Yeah, all right. Sorry, I'll do better this time." She said he'd done well on the first few, so he wouldn't put particularly more effort into them, but he was careful not to put less either, lest they cost him this time. How embarrassing would it be to get all the harder ones right and be told he still wasn't good enough because he was lazy with pose number one?
So all right... Leg up and out, lean back, arm out with the ball, hold... And careful not to hold too long so he didn't unnecessarily wear himself out. The poses were easier to remember now that he'd done them himself and seen them both, but he did have to pause a few times to try to recall exactly how she'd done them. After all, he'd done them but not fully correctly, so it was a bit of a challenge to try to figure out what to change from the first attempt.
He leaned back in an arch, balancing both hands on the ball that wanted to roll under his weight. This pose was one of the easier ones otherwise, not lifting the weight of the ball, but even it wasn't easy.
Finally, he managed to get into the last pose, and held it for about four seconds before slightly slipping. Ugh, he hoped that didn't cost him...
Iolana acknowledges your effort and tells you that you've passed the first trial. She then tells you to do whatever you need to, to get "in sync" with your Pokemon. Once you're ready, she'll show you the first pose to practice, mimicking the movements of flowing water.
[attr="class","vivalyric"]REBEL REBEL, YOUR FACE IS A MESS
[attr="class","vivaright"]WORDS
785
[attr="class","vivaright"]TAGGED
solo
[attr="class","vivaright"]NOTES
notes here
Riley sighed in relief when Iolana confirmed he had passed the trial this time. Thank goodness. But what would the next task be, then?
Get in sync with his Pokemon, huh? Riley blinked a few times. Hm. That would be easy if it were Hunter. The two of them were pretty in sync to start. But for Arial? Riley looked to the Primarina, then to his Eevee partner. "Ah... Hunt, why don't you go watch from over there?" he asked, nodding toward some nearby rocks. Hunter tilted her head with a little 'vee?', but then nodded and gave them some space.
Riley took a deep breath. All right... He let it out slowly. Arial wasn't like most of his Pokemon. He still didn't entirely feel like his Pokemon at all. But they were together for a reason, after all. "Arial..." he started. "We can do this. You wanna perform, and so do I. With this technique, we can be stars, and bring smiles to so many faces." The Primarina listened intently, and nodded at the words. He did want to perform. He did want to bring joy. He wanted to make Keone proud, too, and assure him this hadn't been a mistake to send him with Riley. "Let's just breathe a minute, okay?" Arial nodded again.
This wasn't Riley's usual thing. He was high energy, and didn't like to sit still or take things too seriously. But in this moment, it was time for a more tranquil approach, time for reverence. So he and Arial breathed in and out slowly, syncing up, before Riley finally said, "Okay."
Iolana began to demonstrate the first dance, based on Riley's Primarium-Z. Riley and Arial followed along. First their arms went side to side, flowing like water, or, Riley thought, not unlike a hula dance. Then their arms and flippers went out and up. Finally, Iolana pointed to index fingers skyward, then pointed to the duo, and Riley did the same back, the signal that would trigger Arial to burst his balloon when they did it for real. "Good," Iolana said. "What type shall we do next?"
"Ah... I also have a Fairium-Z, so let's do that?" Riley requested. Iolana nodded, and they began to practice the next dance. These movements were a bit sharper than Riley would have imagined, but ultimately led to him forming a heart with his hands out in front of him, and then striking a cute pose. That seemed more Fairy-like!
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"Not bad at all," said Iolana. "Next?"
"Ah... Water? Just regular water maybe." He may not need it with Primarium-Z, but expanding Arial's options seemed good since they'd be working together a lot, and Giselle would benefit from this one, too. This dance was similar to Oceanic Operetta's, but began with a rounder arm movement before moving into the flowing motion and ending on a bit stronger 'wave'. Riley tried it, but found he kept doing his arms too close to the Primarium-Z's movements and not quite getting the subtle differences for Waterium-Z's. Eventually, Iolana shook her head.
p_
"D..sorry..." Riley managed to bite his tongue before quite cursing in front of the elderly woman. "Fire and Grass maybe?" She nodded, and they began going for Firium-Z's dance. This began with the same round arc of the hands as Waterium-Z's, but then moved up, and up, and up like a rising fire, before placing a flat palm out toward the Pokemon. Arial found this dance awkward, but Riley did well enough.
p_
"Good. Grass then." Again the round start, but then their hands came together, and moved up, up, up, like a growing flower, before spreading out like a bloom. Riley found it one of the simpler dances, and quickly nailed it.
p_
Hm.. What next? He considered Normalium and Eevium, but Hunter may not be an Eevee forever... Maybe Poison and Electric for Emily? The Poison dance started out simple enough, but then involved a sharp lean over with arms outspread, and Riley managed to fall on his face instead of stopping in time. "Oof." His face grew a bit red. "Uh... Let's call that one a work in progress," he joked before moving on.
p_
Finally, once he was back on his feet, they tried Electrium-Z's dance. Another rounded start led into a few sharp movements, and then a complicated-looking arm pose that resembled a lightning bolt. Riley was a little worried after seeing Iolana demonstrate, but then managed to do it more easily than he thought, with only one awkward mess-up before getting it.
p_
"Nice!" Riley exclaimed. "So I got enough of them, yeah? Er, I mean... Do you uh... find us satisfactory?"
Iolana tells you that you've mastered enough poses to pass to the final stage of the trials. She disappears into her tent before returning with a Pokemon, a Waterium-Z crystal, and a smile. Since you were unable to master the pose, now you are expected to have a taste of the power of Hydro Vortex. She sends out a Wishiwashi, which immediately transforms into its School Form, and tells you and Arial to let her know when you're prepared...
[attr="class","vivalyric"]REBEL REBEL, YOUR FACE IS A MESS
[attr="class","vivaright"]WORDS
358
[attr="class","vivaright"]TAGGED
solo
[attr="class","vivaright"]NOTES
notes here
Oh, good! "We did it!" Riley exclaimed to Arial. From the sidelines, Hunter cheered as well. But Iolana quickly announced there was one more trial to pass. "Ah. Yeah sure!"
Riley waited to see what she would return with, curious when she re-emerged with a Z-Ring and a PokeBall. Oh geez... Withstand a Hydro Vortex? He didn't like the idea of Arial taking damage for 'no reason', but he supposed seeing the kind of power he'd be wielding firsthand was kind of a reason... And it wouldn't be very effective against the Water-type, so... "Yeah, we can do that," he agreed.
When she unleashed the Pokemon and it took on its enormous School Form, however, some doubt started to creep into Riley's mind. "Ho, shit..." he whispered. A faint glistening layer of water pulsed around the hundreds of fish, making the mass look all the more terrifying. Riley breathed in and out deeply. Okay... Okay it was big and powerful but that didn't mean it was any worse than he'd already reasoned, right? Arial still had type resistance. The Primarina looked nervous as well, but Riley went and placed and hand gently on his head. "Hey... We got this," he assured the Pokemon.
Arial faintly blushed, but then nodded, and Riley took a few paces back to where he would stand if this were a battle. "All right. We're ready." Iolana began chanting something about the power of the sea as she did the dance, but Riley didn't catch it all for his racing thoughts. Energy visibly filled the mass of Wishiwashi, and a few moments later a devastatingly powerful water attack crashed into Primarina. Riley couldn't help but wince for all his preparation, but stayed steady otherwise.
When it was over, Arial looked a bit unsteady himself, wobbling slightly from the sheer force of the attack he'd just received, even with his resistance. But a moment later, he held his head high and proud, and Riley grinned brightly. "Yeah! I told you you could do it! Great job!"
Looking to Iolana, Riley asked, "Does this mean... Do you think we'll be able to use Z Moves now?"
Iolana nods sagely. It seems you've won her approval!
Your thread has been locked. For completing the Generation Z quest, Arial the Primarina receives 3 levels, and you are able to use Z-Moves with Primarium-Z, Fairium-Z, Firium-Z, Grassium-Z, and Electrium-Z.
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