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.
Having arrived in Plum city the other day, having had a night at one of the pokemon centers to just get her barings on the place, Mia had spent the morning leaving some semi cryptic messages back and forth with Nik, and some more so obvious ones with Orion on the promise he not spoil the surprise. See she'd pretty much came to the region on Nik's review to get some time out from her Gym work back home, so was probably best she at least let him know she's here. Didn't mean she couldn't give him at least a bit of a surprise in the process.
Hopping out of bed once she was sure she knew where Nik would be, she'd grab her tank top off the floor, shoving it down over herself. Maybe a little bit of deoderant after she got a whiff of herself before throwing yesterday's jacket on too. She could worry about laundry after she found a permanent place to stay. Or after she ran out of deoderant. Whichever came last. The sound of her sorting herself out of course brought the murmurred stirrings of a certain little pup who'd been sleeping at the foot of the poke-center bed, his legs still kicking a little in his half-awakened state, before catching Mia's eye and letting out a big yawn as he woke into the day, pushing up off the poke'-bed Mia had borrowed from behind reception so she didn't have to pokeball him.
"Ayyy Picard, up to seeing Nik today?"
Still sleepy the pokemon gave an eager if dazed nod, briefly headbutting the floor and shooting back up with a more alert expression from the slip, Mia giggling a little and making sure he was okay before reaching into her cargo-pants' deep pockets, showing Picard a treat that definitely had him more alert, but quickly closing her palm, making him bump his nose into her closed hand. "Okay. Eyes on the prize."
Switching hands behind her back, or pretending to as far as Picard knew, she brought them back, linked them, shook 'em up, swirled them about eachother, and presented the closed fists back to Picard. The canine pokemon took a second before... boof. Rising up on his hind legs he layed his good paw on Mia's metal hand. Mia gave him a look, subtly glancing to the other hand. Picard took a moment, looking between Mia, and the hand... then cautiously waddled over enough that he could switch what hand he was leaning on without falling down. With a warm smile she'd turn over her palm and pull it up to his maw as he snacked on the treat, scratching behind his ear with the other hand as he ate it up.
"C'mon. That should tide you over till we get into whatever dog chow Orion's been hoarding."
Pulling on her backpack, Mia'd crouch down long enough for Picard to hop up onto her back, and slide his rear end into her back, propping his paw up over her shoulder so he could still see, his tail wagging fast behind him as they got moving into the city.
Before long, Mia was double checking her phone. Right hotel, right room... she'd bring up her left hand and knock against the door, clearing her throat and putting on a voice that was clearly fake, but helped disguise who it actually was, trying for a high pitch. "Rooooom serviiiiiice.~"
Party: Picard
Last Edit: Jun 13, 2020 17:34:58 GMT by Mia Kearney
[attr=class,bulk] Nik hadn't been in Arciel too long yet themself, but they liked it well enough so far, at least for what it was. Veria had largely become home in so many years, and they still felt they were likely to return once the UB crisis had passed. But while they were here, other than the looming threat of alien attacks that may or may not come, there was already a lot to appreciate. More stable Gyms than Veria had had, a League that was a little more involved in current events on a wider scale even if Nik didn't agree with some of their stances, some interesting variations of Pokemon, oddly polite people in a lot of places, etc. They hadn't really meant to overtly praise it to Mia, but maybe they highlighted the good features a bit when talking to her.
Speaking of Mia, they'd had fun texting her back and forth this morning, even if she was being a bit weird. Maybe she'd bought them a present that was supposed to arrive soon or something? Or maybe she was just being silly, who knew.
At some point, Orion stepped out to run some errands, leaving Nik alone in the room other than their Pokemon. Lucien, their Kirlia, was kicked back in the arm chair flipping through a magazine, while Nik was propped up on the bed watching tv, Jasna snuggled up to them and soaking up some pets.
Then came a voice at the door: "Roooom serviiiice!" Huh???
Well, that was clearly a fake voice, but it was too high to be Orion even at a falsetto. M-...MAYBE Jazz? Who else did they know in Arciel? The hairs on the back of Nik's neck stood on end as more sinister possibilities came to mind, and their heart pounded in panic, but they forced themself to calm the fuck down. Breathe, Nikki. Movements still a bit stiff, they picked up Jasna and headed to the door. Damn lack of a peep hole... So they cracked it open--
Gray eyes lit brightly. "MIA!!!" Jasna was promptly dropped on her ass, flailing before she hit the floor as Nik flung themself into a hug, only to realize a second later what they'd done with an embarrassed laugh. "Shit you okay Jas??" The Mienshao picked herself up and dusted off, huffing indignantly for a second before sighing softer. She couldn't very well stay mad, heh. She climbed up her trainer and leaned over to Mia to solicit pets.
And speaking of pets, "OH hey Picard!" Nik noticed. They were always extra fond of that little guy among all Mia's Pokemon.
"Ayyyyy dumbass!~" She chimed out with absolute affection in her voice, noticing the Jasna drop though and flinching, meaning as Nik hugged her she didn't quite hug back the first time, chuckling nervously and, while Jasna couldn't stay mad at Nik, hoped she didn't stay mad at her. "Sorry hun, didn't realize he'd be holdin' ya when he opened the door." She chimed, rubbing the back of her neck a little nervously still before lifting her eyes back to Nik, giving him a one armed hug, the second one joining in a moment later when she remembered she'd worn her prosphetic today. "Sorry for the surprise, just couldn't resist."
As Jasna leant over for pats, she'd run her hand up along their snout and over their head, before leaning her shoulder over so Picard could give Jasna a snoot boop before barking out happily, shifting his good paw against Mia's shoulder as he stood up extra tall in her backpack. "I think he says hi too.~ How you two been anyway?~ Region ain't suddenly turned to shit since the last time I heard good word has it? Cause like I got a one way ticket and it'd be a REAL pain if there was suddenly some region ending cataclysm on it's way or some crap...~"
[attr=class,bulk] Jasna waved a paw dismissively as Mia apologized. It was hardly her fault Nik was a dumbass, even if they did tend to become approximately 60% dumber when she was around, haha. She happily soaked up the pets and nuzzled Picard's nose with her own when he leaned in. Meanwhile, Nik snickered softly at the nose boops before reaching over to scratch Picard behind the ears.
"We're good so far," Nik answered, gesturing for Mia to come in for a moment. "I mean there's still the whole Ultra Beast threat, given that was most of why we came out here. But so far no major sightings or attacks, and everything else is good. With any luck Luke will have time to complete his Wormhole research before we hear too much from the Beasties and we can get them sent home when they do show up with minimal damage and stuff."
While they talked, they texted Orion. -- Hey. So Mia showed up at the door? --
Not long after, they'd get a text back. -- I know. ;) Have fun babe. --
Nik blinked in disbelief for a second as it set in that they'd been conspiring, but that did make more sense as to how she'd found their exact room, huh? -- You two are terrorists. -- he joked back. -- Love you. -- They slipped their phone back in their pocket then.
"Ey Lucien, check it out," they called across the room, and the Kirlia looked up and waved to Mia with a smile. He wasn't quite as enthusiastic as his dad, Lucy, but he enjoyed seeing a friend.
"Anyway, did you wanna do something?" Nik asked Mia. Glancing around slyly, they smirked and suggested, "We do have the room to ourselves~" with an eyebrow waggle. This was followed by a small chuckle, though; after all, Mia being in the mood to do that sort of thing with them was always kind of hit or miss, so it wasn't too strong a suggestion. "Or I could show you one of the better restaurants we've found here in Plum so far?" they added. "Or... I hear Cherry Town across the island is really cute and has all kinds of nice quaint places to eat and see. 'Ri and I haven't gone yet, but we could take the scenic route and walk down there if you wanna be my personal bodyguard in..." They squinted and dramatically loudly 'whispered', "The Woods..." It was half a joke, but seriously, Nik did not have the best track record dealing with woodlands, and refused to enter them alone anymore. With Mia it shouldn't be too bad though if she was feeling more adventurous than domestic at the moment.
Mia tipped her head back with an idle, nod like gesture as her memory kicked in about the ultra beast thing. "Ah, right... it about as bad as we were getting it back in Veria?" She asked, recalling the very minor incidents they'd started having back in their home region a few years back... oof. 5 years back in fact. Time fuckin' flies dosn't it? Ah well, wasn't that big a punch to the gut, just a weird thing to realize just how long it had been. Of course they went on to say there'd been no big sitings or anything so Mia could only assume it wasn't really a huge thing yet, but time'd tell and all that.
"Eyyyy." Mia chimed back, waving her hand, Picard briefly jumping in the backpack which tugged Mia backwards a little in the process, trying very hard to wave with his one pour which meant he'd topple back cause he wasn't holding onto Mia, and then SHE'D topple back even more, it was a whole big thing there. She managed to catch herself of course, Picard's weight just enough to throw her off balance but hardly close to toppling her completely. "Oi you. If I go down you're gonna be under me." Picard briefly just went wide eyed, staring off into space as if picturing the horrific image of Mia falling on him in slow motion.
"Ruuuuuuuff."
"Yeah thats right." She lightly bumped his snoot with her knuckles before looking back to Nik, lazily smiling as he offered across his ideas... resteraunt might be nice for next time but- "As much as I 'appreciate' the offer there slick. I think I wanna get my barings on this new region sooner rather than later... if you don't mind catching up on the road I don't mind walking down to cherry town.~"
[attr=class,bulk] Nik tried to stifle a snort as Picard nearly had Mia falling over. Good job, you two. At any rate, they'd go on to list some ideas, and snickered at Mia's "appreciation". Yeah, that was about what they figured. All the same, they'd make a kissing face/noise at her and wink as a little tease back.
Nodding at her decision, though, they replied, "Sounds good. Let me just pack up a few things and slip on my shoes." Grabbing their satchel, they'd stuff in a few supplies while asking Lucien, "You wanna walk or go in your ball til we get out there?" The Kirlia debated it a moment before setting down his magazine, standing up to stretch, and returning himself to his ball. All right, cool; they'd just stuff that away into the bag too then. Had it been Nik and Orion going, they probably would've asked Lucien to teleport them to the edge of town, but they knew Mia wasn't big on teleporting without a pressing reason. So they could just walk; they were only a few blocks from the edge of town anyway. The hotels were cheaper here for the same quality than they were downtown after all. Who knew? They might even run into a wild Pokemon or two before they got fully outside city limits at this rate.
Pulling their satchel over their shoulder and getting Jasna to climb back onto their back, Nik slipped their feet into their no-lace tennis shoes and headed out the door with Mia, letting the hotel door click shut and locked behind them. "So how've YOU been?" they asked as their little entourage headed down the stairs. "You mentioned getting bearings, so you plannin' to stay long? Or just miss me so much you had to come visit?" Nik stuck out their tongue briefly. They did assume she'd be here at least a few weeks, given it probably would've taken longer for Mia to come visit just for them, heh.
“Yeah yeah take your time. Don’t worry.” Mia shifted her gaze up over her shoulder before dipping forward, offering out an arm, Picard scuffling up her back and jumping over the outstretched arm to be caught in it about his stomache, Mia idly holding the pup to her front and giving him a few scratches behind the ears with her good hand as she waited, idly thinking she should probably get some sort of revenge for him nearly laughing at her almost fall there buuuut… revenge was a dish best served cold. She’d happily wait for such vengeance to be enacted. “You just got the two of them or…?” She’d ask a little curiously. Back in Veria everyone seemed to have tonnes of Pokemon so it was a little unusual seeing Nik with just the two. She assumed he might have more in the PC buuuut ya know what they say about Assuming. Then again… when she really thought about it their gardevoir and Jasna were the only two PROMINENTLY showing in Mia’s memory… she knew he had more but those two were definitely always at the forefront.
Immediately starting with the questions to her own situation the moment the door shut behind them, Mia let out a soft chuckle and shook her head. “Oh I’ve been alright. And yeah, I guess I might be staying… dunno how long, maybe a few weeks, maybe a few months… we’ll see.” She gave off a casual shrug. She wasn’t too sure on her plans right now anyway, but she never really was the kind to plan too far ahead even back home. “Managed to wiggle at least a few years break outta the league. Ya know when you can play the ‘I lost an arm working for you card’” She lifted her right arm to emphasize the point. “You can practically get away with murder.~” She teased, before comically peeking around as they started to leave the hotel and enter the streets. “Speaking of which… know any good places to hide a body?~” She teased further, flashing a wide, cheeky ass grin.
“Nah in all seriousness though, I got someone to cover for me back in Liggs and it gives some other trainers a chance to make a name for themselves so it ain’t all bad, and I get to look around, explore a few new places. Maybe take a break from the whole ‘intense training’ thing you need to keep up being such a badass gym leader. S’part of why I just got Picard with me” She shifted a shoulder, the pooch back in her backpack and yipping at the mention of his name. “I mean I’ll bring the others down eventually just… well no offense to the little guy but he’s hardly as intense as the others. Aren’t ya Picard?~” He gave a few more excited little barks, just happy to be mentioned.
[attr=class,bulk] At Mia's question, Nik had answered, "For now yeah. Lotsa regulations on importing Pokemon apparently, especially stronger ones. Jas only got by so fast on being a service Pokemon." But hey! As long as they had her, and ideally some way to teleport, which they did, then they were good.
As they got outside and Mia started talking about her semi-plans and general situation, Nik listened and nodded along. Figured she wouldn't have anything too set in stone; that wildness and spontaneity were part of what they loved about her after all. They rolled their eyes but smirked as she brought up her arm card, and snickered when she asked about hiding a body. "Actually now that you mention it--" they teased back, but didn't plan far enough ahead to have a way to finish that sentence, so they were glad she continued.
"Sounds like a win-win," they agreed, even if it was a bit surprising to hear. She'd always loved and thrived in her position, but they supposed anyone could yearn for a change of scenery after long enough, right? "Plus, I mean, it's kind of fun, isn't it? Getting a fresh start, building a new team, and all that? Knowing all your hard work and old friends are still there waiting for you, too, of course. But playing the new trainer part is kinda like... restarting a favorite game you haven't played in years or rewatching your favorite series from when you were a kid, don'tcha think? Yeah we've done it all before, but reliving some of the experience in a new light still has a nostalgic appeal, heh." They just... hoped they'd be strong enough to help make a difference by the time the Ultra Beasts started showing their faces, but ignoring that factor, everything else was kind of nice.
"Speaking of, you got any ideas for how you DO wanna train while you're here?" they asked. "Like, yeah not as hard as when you had the Gym to keep up with, but. You still gonna specialize in Fighting-types, or spread out more for a change of pace? Gonna catch a bunch or keep it simple and focus on a few? Or are you just planning to play it all by ear and do whatever feels right as it happens?" Knowing Mia, that last one was probably at least partially accurate. But she may have some ideas for what she might want, even if they'd ultimately come second to her gut feelings most likely.
“Mmm… tell me about it. I briefly considered trying to come down here with Broham or Oscar but the moment they saw a white chesnaught I think the guy managing the import’s desk went into a fucking fit imagining the paperwork I was gonna be putting him through. Hahaha!” She teased of course, but she had seen what the hoops were to jump through there. “Guess they wanna try and like, enforce that idea of this being a ‘new region’ to all the tourists, keep that drive going to encourage new and upcoming young kids ay? Then again they’re stuck with me and I’m practically fucking ancient, so they failed on that count.~”
Mia let out a light snort as Nik played along with the joke, feeling her own snort would be enough of a punctuating full stop to help give him an ‘out’ on where he was going with that, hooking her right arm about his shoulder and ruffling his hair through the cap he was likely wearing in the left. “Ah ya fuckin’ dork.” She teased, careful not to muss him up too much before easing off a bit, though idly walking alongside him with an arm about his shoulders for at least a dozen or so steps before pulling that back.
“Yeeeeah I guess.” She chimed back to it being kinda fun, scoffing a little at his analogy being so closely tired to a video game and shaking her head. “I dunno, I struggle to start things over in games. End up missing all my high end powers and stuff like that but… I’m sure it’ll be fine. I mean, I have been tempted sometimes I guess. Wanting to replay one of those starting missions even if it won’t let me just pick it from the mission select or something so… not a perfect analogy but I’m sure it works.” She stuck her tongue out playfully, rolling back her shoulders. “At the end of the day I just ain’t too sure what I’ll be doing here. I mean sure, I see a new fighting type? I’m catching it, but… I also got all those same Pokemon at home. I ain’t gonna go out and catch a new chimchar cause I already got saitama. Nah. Only thing I can say for certain is new fighting types are on the list. Anything else… just gonna go with the wind.” She lightly nudged him with her elbow. “How ‘bout you? Sticking with Lucien and Jasna or looking to get more ‘kiddie versions’ of your other Pokemon or… what?~” She’d offer across, idly teasing about how he was still stuck at just 2 for now, even if she couldn’t speak much better with her sole one.
[attr=class,bulk] Nik nodded as Mia gave her own thoughts on their gaming analogy. "Yeah, that's fair," they agreed. "Though in some ways, like knowing what we do now and having so much experience to fall back on, I guess you could say it's kinda like a "new game plus" more than restarting completely. So some stuff oughtta be easier this time around and all that." After all, when it came to training, some of those high end powers she mentioned were moves Pokemon didn't learn until higher levels, but others were strategy and stuff that they still carried with them.
Her thoughts on training were about what Nik expected, but never hurt to make sure, eh? "Guess I'm about the same as you, heh. I wanna expand my Fairy collection, but otherwise it's whatever speaks to me, ya know? Though hey, apparently Galarian Pokemon are a lot more common here than they are in Veria. So I'm especially looking for an Alcremie and ah. I recently learned there's a Rapidash variant that's part fairy. So that'd be super neat. Though it's a shame the Ponyta is pure Psychic. In the pictures I saw it was cuter before evolving." They chuckled softly.
About this time, they were getting close to the city's edge. There were still houses and a few shops along the streets, but they were getting sparser, and a splash of green lined the horizon ahead. "Let's see, what else did I read about... mmmm.... OH. Ahahaha, apparently there's a fighting type OCTOPUS. So that should be fun to see you train." They stuck out their tongue briefly.
“Mmm. I guess that sorta works.” She offered back, kinda like plays she saw of like, really freeform games on youtube. Those people who play this little open world level over and over so many times they can fucking style on the NPCs, they don’t have NPC stats, they’re just naturally that skilled that they can pull off such tricks. “Yeah. Definitely works… ya dork.~” She teased again, sticking out the tip of her tongue as she called him that a second time over, her hands resting casually in her pockets, Picard turning about in her backpack and starting to take in the sites as they got further from the city.
“Oof. Comparing yourself to me there?” She playfully remarked about them ‘being the same’, but only offering a playful smile rather than going too deep down that rabbit hole, shaking her head with an idle chuckle. “Eeeeh. Might look into it. Who knows… for now I kinda just wanna find my feet ya know? See what I can make of the place… I’ve done that whole, high energy, hunting down the fighting types ‘shtick’. Won’t hurt to take it more casually for a few weeks don’t ya think?” She listened to the details of the ponyta too, scoffing a little. “Dude you’re not even a gym leader. Don’t think you have been for years now. You really need to fret that the cute pokemon you want ain’t a fairy type?”
Her brow lifted a bit though when he mentioned a fighting octopus Pokemon, actually thinking that was kinda cool but a little more confused as he said it should be ‘fun to see’. “What. Picturing me getting up to some tentacle shenanigans or something ya perv?~”
[attr=class,bulk] When Mia teased them about comparing themself to her, they sniffed a laugh. "Oh, never, my goddess," they teased back. "I know better than blasphemy." They stuck their tongue back out at her.
They nodded as she talked about taking it easy and not just doing the same old thing she'd already done. "Makes sense." But then she teased them about the non-fairy Ponyta, and Nik blushed faintly. "I--" She had a good point, but still. "I have a reputation to maintain," they playfully argued. It was clearly bullshit, but still.
They snortlaughed hard and devolved into a brief high giggle when she took the octopus comment the wrong way. "God no." But then a silly thought struck them. "I mean, unless you're INTO that... Like, if you ARE..." They grinned wickedly and raised both hands, wiggling their fingers 'threateningly'. "I can totally be a tentacle monster for you~!" they growled, and lunged in to try to tickle her.
They wouldn't get the chance for more than a moment, as suddenly a blue and yellow blur flew in out of nowhere, socking them right in the face and knocking them back several feet before they landed on their ass. "What the FUCK!?" Nik rubbed their face and looked around to spy a nearby Grapploct, and fought to form words for a second. "Ububughroaijeioa-- the!!" They pointed urgently at the creature. "THAT! The thing!! The thing I was just saying!!" Why didn't mentioning cute fairies and ponies summon them magically? Why only the hurty thing?
Mia rolled her eyes at the goddess comment.. not that she was gonna tell him to stop with that bullshit or anything, a warm grin accompanying the eye roll. "As you should you lowly mortal." She returned in a playful tone so as not to actually insult her buddy.
With the response to her teasing about fairy type obsession in turn she let out a chuckle and another shake of her head, nudging him with her elbow, sadly having him on the side of her metal elbow about now so it may have given it a bit more 'oomph' as she jabbed him. "Come on you know as well as I do you just want all the cutsey wutsey Pokemon to cuddle up to at night, so why fret they're just 'not the right type'... or are you secretly gathering a dragon slaying army and just don't wanna let me in on the glory?~"
The chuckles only continued as Nik got some of his own giggles out at the tentacle comments, rolling her neck back. "Oh Nik I think we both know I am very much no-H-HEY!" Mia backed off, giggling a little less of her own will as her body anticipated what was coming as Nik came in close, getting enough distance that when Nik was sent flying by the blow, Mia was on the back foot enough to not become collateral of the attack, solidifying her stance a bit in the face of the Hostile Pokemon, raising her arms against it as Picard barked harshly at them over her shoulder.
"Yeeeeeah I'm putting the pieces together pretty quickly on that one..." Shifting back a few steps from the Pokemon, she'd keep her eyes on it, offering a hand back to her ass-landing ex behind her, not wanting to get sucker punched like he did, keeping her free arm up in a guard. "You need a hand up?"
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