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.
Yes, that wasn't probably the best way of doing things, given the oncoming cold and the fact that her eyes--well, eye--left her without as great a sense of sight as everyone else in the world, but she was used to the dark from mining. It also made sense to her that she keep moving at night so that the cold didn't bother her as much. It wasn't like she was alone; she had Baby Girl curled into the front of her coat like so much softness, even with the jewels in her back poking into her just a bit. She could take it. Up and up she went through the hills with the flashlight from her explorer's kit in hand, helping to shed light on the path in front of her. She could hear everything so clearly in the dark. Rivers rushing by, grass and brush and leafs swaying against the wind, the wind itself howling through the surrounding mountains and rushing past her ears, chilling her all the way to her bones. It was wonderful and freeing and she wouldn't trade it for anything.
Well, except for a summer night's travel, that would be ideal, but this was fine.
@whoever Wants to Join! (Or a Mod) WC: 208 Movin' Movin' Movin' on Out~
Suddenly, the ground beneath her feet began to tremble. Not the tell tale shaking of an Earthquake, but the shaking of something big was fast approaching. Then, all of a sudden, it seemed to burst in from out of nowhere, dust flying as a massive form seemed to rise up before her. It was huge! The light from, her flashlight would reflex off of it, revealing that it was covered in steel. Long and snake like, it reared up before her.
And someone was riding on its back.
As the massive pokemon, which would be revealed to be a really big Steelix, looked down at her, a tall, lanky figure peered out from on the pokemon's back, waving to her. Evenin' to ya!" he called out, his voice thick with a rough accent. "Sorry about that lass! Didn't mean to spook ya!" He pat the Steelix. "Ironton. Lower yerself down will ya?" The Steelix let out a low sound, lowering his head, at least to make himself less intimidating.
Senara had just enough reflex to leap backwards when the shaking began, moving from the path to the grass along side it with a small yelp of surprise. What. What?! A huge Pokemon must have been moving through the ground beneath them for it to be felt from up here! Senara held tight as Baby Girl squirmed around in her coat until the Sableye's tiny purple head and wide, diamond eyes stared out from the zipper, tiny but terribly sharp teeth exposed. Should she try her luck at catching it? She had no way of getting into the earth from up here...maybe there was a tunnel or cave nearby...
Or it could burst through the ground only a few feet in front of her. That also worked.
"Que se passe-t-il??" The word escaped her before she registered what had happened. In this level of lighting she could make out the scale of the Pokemon before her by its silhouette, but to actually see it she needed to point her flashlight at it. And what she did see when she did that made her eye widen. A serpent made of solid, shining steel stood before her--it was enormous! And atop its back was a person calling down to her with an accent nearly as thick as her own, but not Kalosian at all. She still recognized it.
Galarians? Here? Oh, spare me...
Senara smiled up at the stranger and his most magnificent steed. "It's fine, it's fine! I--arrête ça, bébé." she glanced down at the face still peering out of the front of her pink coat, which was now hissing at the Steelix. She was usually much calmer than this, but the poor thing had been jostled about from her sleep. She sighed and put a hand atop Baby Girl's head. "Sorry, she got spooked. I wasn't expecting to run into anybody else on the routes tonight. That is a glorious Steelix you have! Did you call him Ironton?"
Well it wasn't the most original name, but she gave it a pass. What a beautiful specimen they were. Quite a bit larger than was standard, without a doubt. She felt her smile turn more and more genuine just looking at it. Steel types were so beautiful, so strong. So good at grinding Fairies into the dirt.
"Are you travelling to or from Pine Town? Your friend would fit right in at the mines."
Marley Hyde (Or a Mod) WC: 407 Hello giant steel snake want to be friends?
Marley rose an eyebrow as he heard the woman speak. Like her, he also picked up the accent in her voice. A Kalos girl eh? Interesting, he didn't expect to meet one of them here. Taking notice of the flashlight in her hand, he made it a point to switch his eyepatch over to his other eye. No sense in getting an eyeful of light. That stuff was painful. He lept down from the Steelix, strolling over to the woman, noticing the Sableye poking her head out from her clothes. A part of him couldn't help but think of how lucky the pokemon was. And...did she have an eyepatch as well? Well, what are the odds?
"Fair enough, I can understand that. Plus my big mate here can be a bit frightening at a first glance. But don't worry. He's a good bloke." At her compliments, the Steelix almost swelled with pride, letting out a low sound of approval. Marley chuckled."Yeah, named him that meself. I live down at Birch, though I've been to Pine a couple of times, did some working at the mines. You can imagine how popular the big guy is down there."He looked over the pink haired girl. "You from Pine yourself? I don't think I've seen you around. The name's Marley."
Last Edit: Nov 7, 2019 19:02:57 GMT by Marley Hyde
Baby Girl made a few grumbling sounds, tilting her head up so her teeth could gnaw at Senara's fingers, which she didn't seem to mind despite their sharpness. She didn't have any precious stones on her fingers at the moment, just gloves. She'd substituted those out for the delicate earrings and necklace tucked into her sweater. The man came down and she moved the flashlight over to him, though direct more at his feet than right in his eyes. For a moment she was stunned silent. He had an eye-patch. Was it only cosmetic? Was it covering an injury? Had he been born without it like she'd been...?
Hah, there's no easy way to ask any of those, is there?
At least it's just the two of us. Well, four. It's easier to talk without a crowd.
"I'm sure he is. At his size the tunnels he could dig would be quite a good size. I hope you got some polish out of it for your work, monsieur acier." Removing her hand from the maw of her beast, Senara raised it instead to chuckle behind. He was very animated for a creature with the appearance of, well, stone. But that was the charm of Pokemon, wasn't it? "I am. I came here for work in the mines--I'm a mineralogist. I have some business to attend to in Ivy Town, though, so I'm making my way up north again."
She changed which of her hands was holding the flashlight so the one she extended to shake wasn't the same one Baby Girl had been chewing on. "Senara Spargo. It's a pleasure to meet you--both of you. This is Baby Girl," the little face in her coat clicked its teeth in what might be interpreted as a "polite" greeting, "My travelling companion."
Marley Hyde (Or a Mod) WC: 303 That business may or may not be robbing folks...
Marley couldn't help but give a short laugh at the polish comment. "That'll take a lot of polish to shine up someone this big. But yeah, I make sure to reward the big guy good and proper," Marley patted his Steelix's side, as the massive pokemon let out another low sound of approval.
So, this lovely woman was Senara Spargio, a mineralogist from Pine. Hmm, that made sense. She certainly didn't look like a miner herself, but someone with a good head on her shoulders. He looked down at the Sableeye she was holding, Baby Girl she called her. Oddly enough, it was kind of fitting. Despite Sableeye being a ghost and a dark type, those glistening eyes of hers certainly fit with someone who studied minerals. "A pleasure to meet you," Marley replied, giving her a friendly smile.
Though there was one question on Marley's mind. "I can understand you needing to get to Ivy for business, but mind if I ask why you're travelling around at night? Hardly seems the time for a lady such as yourself to be out wandering about."
"You aren't wrong, but it is a mining town. If anywhere will have enough it's there." Senara giggled again at the continuous happy sounds from the Steelix. It was so large and its voice so low that it sounded almost like a purr put through a speaker, and it made the air around them rumble a little. If she could find a specimen like this someday, or an Onix she could evolve, she would be so happy. A type she adored, something she could ride through the routes, a tag-along for the mines that wouldn't try to eat her findings...it would be wonderful. Baby Girl, like she could read her master's mind, nipped a little too hard on Senara's finger and snapped her out of her moment of daydreaming. "Ach, yes, you are beautiful as well, and your gems are very shiny. Don't get so jealous so easily."
His question about why she was travelling at night felt a little loaded, and the following comment about why she shouldn't be out at night made her purse her lips together. Ah, men. "I'm used to working in the dark as part of my profession, since I'm usually under-ground, and my hours have always been on the nocturnal side since university. It's also far less crowded at night than it is in the day, and I would prefer to not run into other trainers looking for a battle while I'm in a hurry. I don't see why my being a woman of any sort would have to do with what time I'm most comfortable travelling, Monsieur."
Please let that just be a harmless phrase and not some bullshit attempt at chivalry.
If he is willing to let me ride alongside him my time out here will be so much quicker, but...if I have to put up with that, I'd rather walk the rest of the night by myself.
Marley Hyde (Or a Mod) WC: 320 While we're having such a pleasant chat time for a roll!
Marley gave a small nod to the woman's explanation. Guess it made sense. When you were used to working in the dark, travelling through night seemed, well, kind of natural. "Fair enough," he said, giving a small shrug, and letting it be the end of it. He asked a question, she answered. No sense in pushing the matter.
And then, before the conversation could continue any further, there was a rustling from nearby. Marley blinked, looking over at the tall grass, before something lept out , landing not far away from him. A Kangaskhan of all things. He noticed the little joey sitting sleepily in his mother's pouch. Seems their little discussion had woken them up, and the mother wasn't too happy, if the look on her face was any indication. A smirk spread across his face. "Oh? A fight you want eh? Well then, happy to oblige you." He pulled a pokeball out of his coat and flicked it into the air. "Brawly!"
With a flash of light, a Mankey appeared before him. The fighting pokemon was bristling with energy, before turning his attention towards the Kangaskhan. "Now then, start off with a Focus Energy, will ya?" Marley ordered. Brawly's fur was bristling as it concentrated. One could almost swear the monkey's muscles were bulging lightly. Meanwhile, the Kangaskhan launched herself at the Mankey, swinging her first to deliver a comet punch to the pokemon.
The attack connected, pushing Brawly back a little bit, but not doing much otherwise, apart from making Brawly angrier. Marley smirked. "Brawly, give her a Karate Chop, would you?" Brawly let out a war cry as he dove, swinging a fist and catching the Kangaskhan right in the face. Combined with the power boost from Focus Energy, the attack was enough to knock the pokemon off balance, knocking her down to the ground. Marley swore she brought her arms up to shield her little one from the fall.
Ok, best to wrap this up before he caused any real harm. He pulled out an empty pokeball, taking aim before launching it at the Kangaskhan.
Well, he'd dropped it. At least he wasn't the sort to go on a tangent about women being delicate things that needed protection and blah-de-blah; travelling with a Pokemon was more than enough protection from actual threats in this day and age. So while she didn't forget what he'd said, she'd forgive it. "...well. Good. Though now I'm wondering why a person would want to be traveling at night outside the reasons I stated, like yourself?"
Senara's question would go without an answer, and the brush near them shook and her eye went to it in a second, Baby Girl growling defensively in her coat. From the brush came a pair of Pokemon; a Kangaskhan, and a Munchlax...wait, no, that wasn't a--
She blinked.
Why is it so...small? Aren't they supposed to be, like, almost seven feet tall? He's tinier than I am! The hand she'd had reaching for her purse dropped a little. Was it a runt?
...was...was it not eating enough? Didn't Snorlax need to eat, like, their weight in food a day? That had to be, what, four hundred something kilos? This area was more rocky than it was full of fresh fruits or vegetation for that amount of food to be available every day, not to mention what wasn't already being eaten by other Pokemon around here.
She felt a stab in her chest. And it wasn't Baby Girl poking her with her little feet as she stood their spacing out. Once again her hand went into her bag, but instead of pulling a Pokeball immediately out of her purse, she pulled out the plum, green wepear berry that she'd been saving and held out her hand to the little Snorlax.
"...avez-vous faim, petit?"
The Snorlax tilted its head, a claw up near its mouth, and then it slowly stepped closer and closer to the offered fruit. She made sure to keep her hand flat as its little claws picked the berry from it, sniffed it, and then popped the whole thing into its mouth. It made a soft, contented rumble as it chewed. Baby Girl tilted her head, growling ceased.
"You must be so hungry, huh...poor thing..." Senara bent down--imagine, bending down to look at a Snorlax instead of craning ones neck upwards--to better meet its closed eyes. "Hey...I don't know if this interests you, but I can definitely buy more of those fruit for you, if you decide to come with me. And anything else you'd like to eat, too."
She pulled out the pokeball while the Snorlax looked her over again, tiny ears twitching like it was considering her words. She held out the ball for it to tap should it desire.
"Je ne te laisserai pas mourir de faim, d'accord, chérie?"
Marley Hyde (Or a Mod) WC: 469 Using my wepear berry for an attempted be- friending!! ;A;
Marley watched as the pokeball shook once. Twice. And then burst open. The Kangaskhan, figuring that fighting over this was a bad idea, decided to bolt for it, taking off into the underbrush with her little one. Marley snapped his fingers. Damn. He would have liked to have a Kangaskhan in the group. Brawly didn't seem too happy about it either, hopping up and down and grunting in rage. Marley reached over and patted the Mankey on the head. "Eh, don't worry about it mate. We'll get it next time." The Mankey began to calm down, as Marley walked over and picked up the pokeball. Well, at least the ball was intact.
With the current fight over, Marley looked over, taking note that another pokemon had appeared. Possibly the smallest Snorlax he had ever seen. How did he miss that one? Well, Senara seemed to have the situation under control, trying to befriend the little guy with berry bribery. Didn't seem to be going too well, but at least he wasn't trying to run away. Walking over to lean back against Ironton, Marley watched how this would play out.
Senara didn't see any movement from the Snorlax, so at the very least it seemed to be interested in the idea. But it wasn't touching the button itself. Did it want her to do it? Was it not aware of how a pokeball worked? Well, that would make sense, since it was a wild Pokemon. Durh. That was dumb on her part. "Oh, um, you just need to tap this to you, and...you know what, I'll do it. Hold still." She raised the ball and tapped it to the Snorlax's head. The red light encompassed it, and in her palm it wiggled to and fro.
Once...twi--
Whoop, nope, out it came again in another flash of red light, and the ball snapped in two pieces in her hand. Senara stared at the broken pokeball, then back at the Snorlax who still wasn't running away. Why hadn't it gone in the ball? It had eaten her food, it was still hanging around. Had the ball been defective? It was still here, looking at...
It was just staring at her with a slightly smug smile.
...oh.
Had it known all along? Known it was small, known it was cute, and that a trainer would take pity on it and offer it a berry? Maybe even more, if the first one didn't work.
Her soft smile twitched into a smirk. Why this little...
"Okay then. You wanna play? Here, play with us. Baby Girl?"
Senara lowered the zipper of her coat just enough, and out popped the Sableye in all her foot-tall--which would have been a bigger difference against a normal Snorlax, but wasn't too bad at the moment--glory, claws twitching as it look up at the Snorlax. Baby Girl grinned a wide, pointy smile. The Snorlax took a waddle backward, mouth open in shock like it hadn't expected this. Maybe it hadn't. Maybe it had thought itself too small and too cute for a trainer to attack it rather than shower it with berries to try to catch it.
Well. Senara was an expert at looking cute to get what she wanted from strangers. She wasn't going to be fooled so easily! Not by her own goddamn tricks of the trade!!
"Petite fille, grattez-le!" She called, and Baby Girl leaped up to latch onto the Snorlax's face, claws scratching into its chubby cheeks over and over until she returned to the ground. The Snorlax looked irritated, but hardly touched. It lowered its stance slightly, then charged a tackle attack right at the Sableye, landing the blow easily--
--but nothing happened. Baby Girl stepped back and brushed herself off, untouched.
The Snorlax's face fell. Senara's own smug grin beamed down at it. "Aww, what's the matter, sweetie? Your little normal attacks not working on a ghost? Oopsie! Baby Girl?"
Baby Girl didn't need to be told twice, nor a third time. Despite the Snorlax defending itself, there was only so much it could do in a battle against a Pokemon that took no damage from its attacks, even if Baby Girl's own damages was abysmal compared to its health. Slowly it was weakened down to almost nothing, and Senara pulled out another Pokeball, just as bejeweled as the first. She snickered. "Let's try this again, shall we?"
And she threw the ball at the much weaker, much grumpier, Snorlax.
Well, so much for being nice to the little thing. The instant her bribery attempt didn't work, she resorted to having her Sableye take on the fat little thing. He couldn't help but feel a little bad for the Snorlax. Sableye's ghost typing made it completely ineffective against her. Still, it seemed to work for her, as with another attempt, she managed to capture the Snorlax.
Marley gave her a slow, lazy clap. "Congrats," he said, chuckling as he pushed himself off of the Steelix, strolling over to her. He could still see the smugness on her face. "And I thought I was bein' an ass for hitting that Kangaskhan. Here's hoping yer new little one doesn't hold any grudges." Last thing anyone needed was a Snorlax deciding to sit on you. Even something that small would be pretty heavy.
Senara laughed, delight filling her lithe body, and she walked up to the closed Pokeball and held it in front of her. "I'll name you Polochon. We're going to get along very well!" Really, what were the odds of a Snorlax being so small and so deviant? It was like he was made for her in all ways, and she loved it. Baby Girl pawed back up and climbed her way up Senara's leg and through the bottom of her jacket, resuming her role as a chest-warmer. Senara gave her a scratch on the ear. "Good job, Baby Girl! Très bien!"
The fellow was still here, clapping at her successful capture, and trying to poke holes in her good mood already. Ugh. She pursed her lips and held the ball close to her cheek. "Oh, he'll be fine! I'll heal him up as soon as I get to Birch and make sure he gets his fill of food. I'm sure he must have been starving out here. I've never seen a Snorlax so..." she gestured her hand in a small circular gesture, "Infime! Tiny! Heck, I thought it was a Munchlax at a first glance. Oh well. He suits me perfectly, smaller size and all!"
And devious, greedy nature. Don't forget that.
Marley Hyde (Or a Mod) WC: 216 This is a family of gluttons and thieves. How sweet...?
Marley couldn't help but chuckle lightly. "Well, whatever makes ya happy. I get the feeling the little guy will get more than its fill from ya." He paused for a moment, thinking. A snorlax, eh? Curious how one would just turn up on a night like this. After all, you'd think they would all be sleeping. They slept all the time.
But also, because Marley himself had a little something. "Hmm, now that I think about it, I think I've got a little somethin' that'll help the little guy." He started to rummage through his bag. "I found this while minin'. I don't have any use for it, but I reckon you would." He pulled out something small, a crystal of some kind. As he held it out, the light would make it shine a sort of a dull, bluish grey colour. Something a mineraloligist herself might recognize.
Post by Senara Spargo on Nov 10, 2019 14:52:18 GMT
He was a weird one, wasn't he. Why make comments like that if you were going to drop it a second later? That sort of attitude annoyed her for some reason. Maybe because it meant she couldn't keep an argument going even if she started bristling up for one? She didn't like confrontation on a good day, but maybe that was it. Whatever. Senara slid the ball with Polochon inside into her purse and zipped it shut. She'd need to replace a few of those rhinestones with colors more befitting a Snorlax now...hm, teal or peacock?
"Hm?" Senara turned back from where she'd been looking to Marley when he started to go through his bag for something. He had something for Polochon? Huh, maybe some more berries or something, that wouldn't be too bad. She held out her hand to take the items he was giving her, only to gasp and retract her hand to cover her mouth. That--
That is--
"Snorlium Z?? Where did you--when--how..." She couldn't figure out what she wanted to ask first. Her eye was wide with shock, and she wanted in that moment to snatch the beautiful crystal out of his hands and examine it closer, but her chest tightened and she didn't move in to do that. Why would he give her something so valuable? Just because she had a Snorlax now didn't mean he wouldn't find and catch one in the future. Hell, if she had dug up such a beauty in the mines she would have gone out looking for a Snorlax just for the sake of using it! But he'd either missed the Snorlax when it'd come out of the woods, or hadn't been worried about her catching it instead. Why hadn't he?
God she wanted it. But she couldn't help but feel like this was a trick.
Paranoia was only fun if it was justified. There was no justification here--so far, Marley was a perfectly normal, friendly guy with no ulterior motivations. But she didn't know him yet. It could be like on Halloween, and he could be just as sneaky as that damned...
Baby Girl, only seeing a shiny rock, reached a claw out for the stone but was thankfully too stubby to grab it. Senara lowered her hand from her mouth to push her Sableye's paw back. "That's...very, very generous of you. But I can't just take it. I would be happy to pay you for what it's worth, though, if you're really okay with parting with it!" She put on her best polite smile. She really didn't want to buy the damn thing, she'd rather just take it, but her sense of pride wouldn't let her owe this guy a debt for his generosity; even if he didn't see it that way, she couldn't shake it. Why couldn't he have just said he had the damn thing and given her the chance to steal it like any normal mark??
Well, he had expected her to like the stone, but for her to react this way, well, guess Marley shouldn't be surprised. It was a rare stone after all, and she was a mineralogist. When she asked why he was simply giving her the stone, Marley shrugged. "I dug it up during one of my mining treks. I ain't got a Snorlax, nor do I have a Z-ring. So, right now, it's just a stone to me. But, you've at least got a second part of the equation with ya. Besides, I figured it would be nice to give the little guy a bit of a power boost." I mean, the Snorlax was uncharacteristically small for its kind. Perhaps a Z-Move can help offset its small size.
Though she didn't seem quite eager to take it. At least, not without paying for it. So, she was one of those kinds of people that couldn't accept gifts. Well, he wasn't going to force it on her. Marley brought his free hand to his chin, thinking as he casually tossed the stone up and down in his palm. "Well then, how about a trade then? Got anything you might want to trade for it? Or even some money? Consider it a business transaction, if it'll make you feel better." He didn't know what she had on her, Marley was honestly just being nice. Still, getting someone out of this wouldn't be bad.
Post by Senara Spargo on Nov 11, 2019 17:57:50 GMT
Just a stone? Pffah, and she had both eyes! What kind of nonsense was that. It was a little sad that Marley just couldn't appreciate the rarity or beauty of his offered gem, but if it meant he would give it to her for nothing--or at much less than it was worth--who was she to judge him? Somebody who'd spent way too much time studying rocks, that's who. "Let me check my purse, I must have something that'll be a suitable trade!" With a small huff of motion she turned the purse strap so her bag was in front of her rather than at her side. Baby Girl didn't appreciate being smooshed for a moment but she'd deal.
Not an evolutionary stone, no way. Those are too gorgeous to part with. I have money, but I also have some shards...if he's also a miner, maybe I can interest him in those?
"Do any of these look good to you?" Senara pulled out several shards she'd dug up in the mines, each of them quite a lovely color despite their small size. They weren't very useful in pieces but together they were worth quite a bit. Maybe he had some to match.
"Do any of these stand out to you? I'd be willing to part with two, but if you insist on just one," she grumbled the last part. Once again, her stupid morals didn't want him to have anything on her; no debt, nothing that could be used down the line. Two was enough in her eyes to completely pay back for it but if he wasn't going to accept that much, at the very least she'll have given him something. Stupid equivalent exchange.
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