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.
Silas ran his fingers through the leaves on Skiddo's neck, making the goat toss her head. "How does Neta as a name sound?" he asked, getting a snort of approval in response. "I'm glad you like it." Patting her side, her surveyed the road leading out of Birch. It looked flat enough for him to learn to ride on without too many problems, assuming Neta didn't bolt on him. Most Skiddo would be too small for him to ride on, but Neta was big enough that he should be able to do it fairly easily.
"Alright, hold still," he said, gripping the leaves on her neck and back tightly before pushing off with one foot. He didn't put quite enough power into the push however, and so had to awkwardly scramble onto the Skiddo's back while she snorted in amusement. "Sorry about that," he mumbled, patting her neck and adjusting his position until he found a comfortable spot. "Okay, let's go. Nice and slow, no need to rush."
Neta set off at a slow walk as Silas buried his hands in her leafy mane and looked around at the fall landscape.
The grassland stretched out on either side as Silas rode along, mountains rising in the distance before him. It was quite pretty, and reminded Silas of Galar, and of the time he had spent travelling his home region. A breeze made the grass around him sway and rustle, and he closed his eyes for a moment, breathing in the scent of autumn and letting his mind drift. At least until a pinprick of fear shot through him, and he opened his eyes and twisted around. No humans were nearby, so that meant there was a Pokemon around.
"Wait," he said softly, and Neta stopped and looked around as well, ears pricking as she caught the sound of movement in the tall grass. Silas followed her gaze, casting his empathic senses in that direction to try and figure out what was hiding in the grass. -Fear-sadness-pain- was what he got in return, and he sighed softly. "We won't hurt you," he called, Neta backing up a few paces to show that she wasn't about to attack. ~He is friendly, little one. Let use help you,~ the Skiddo added, hoping to encourage the hiding Pokemon to come out.
The grass rustled again, and a blue head appeared, red eyes wide and fearful. Slowly, the Riolu emerged from the grass, and Silas drew in a breath as he saw the matted fur and various scrapes on the Pokemon's body. Neta pawed the ground in agitation, and Silas scratched the back of her head to calm her down. "Hello there. Did a wild Pokemon attack you?" he asked, trying to keep his voice level. A pause, then the Riolu shook its head slowly. The young man frowned and gritted his teeth in anger. Poachers, then, or an overambitious trainer. Riolu were rare to find in the wild, so he wasn't surprised this one had been targeted.
"I can heal you, if you want," he offered. Approaching the Riolu was a bad idea after whatever it had gone through, so a Potion was out, but he had some Oran berries with him. The Riolu ducked its head and rubbed its paws together. -Fear-hope-fear- flickered through him, and Silas inwardly winced at the Pokemon's reaction. "I can...float a berry over to you, or Neta here can bring it over while I stay here," he suggested, carefully sliding from Neta's back and sitting on the ground. A cold butt was worth it if he could help the wounded Riolu.
The baby Pokemon made a motion with its paw, and Silas nodded, catching its meaning. While his telekinesis powers were weak, they were enough for him to levitate a berry across the distance between them. While he rummaged in his pack for the Oran Berry, Neta asked, ~Are you by yourself?~ The Riolu drooped and stared at the ground before nodding. ~Oh you poor thing!~ Neta said with a soft cry of distress. Silas looked up at the wave of sadness coming from both Pokemon, concerned but relaxing slightly when Neta nuzzled his cheek.
Holding the Oran berry out, he focused and used his powers to lift it into the air and float it over to the Riolu, who quickly scooped it up and ate it. Silas watched it gobble the food up with a faint smile, pleased that it had accepted the berry. "Would you like another?" The Riolu shook its head. "Alright. Why did you approach us?" Surely it would have been safer for it to flee and recover in hiding.
The Riolu looked at Silas intently for a moment, then sniffled loudly, pointed at him, pressed a paw to its chest and motioned back and forth between them. -Sad-pain-sad- was all he caught, and he frowned in confusion. The Riolu repeated the movements, and Silas blinked. "Are you saying we're similar?" he asked slowly, trying to puzzle it out. Riolu and Lucario weren't psychic type, but they did have special powers of their own. What was it called again?
Bringing out his cell phone, he looked up Riolu's information and nodded in understanding. "Is my aura like what your feeling?" he asked. The Riolu perked up slightly and nodded. "Ah, I see. You thought I would help you because we have similar feelings." That brought up the question of what his aura looked like if a wounded Pokemon thought they were alike. He was distracted from that by Neta nosing at his pack, tugging on the flap where he kept his spare Pokeballs.
"What? You think I should catch it? Are you sure that's a good idea?" he asked, getting a hoof stamp and a glare in response. "How about we let the little one decide?" Taking out an empty ball, he rolled it along the ground towards the Riolu. "If you want to come with me, just tap the button in the middle," he directed, suddenly nervous as to the outcome of this conversation.
~Come with us!~ Neta urged. ~He will treat you well, and he will someday own a place where you can run and play in peace!~
The Wild Pokemon was caught! Your luck and determination really paid off! One ball has been removed from your inventory. One Oran Berry has been removed from your inventory.
Silas watched nervously as the Riolu approached the Pokeball and followed his directions, the device opening with a ping and sucking the wounded Pokemon inside. It snapped shut, rocked back and forth several times, then went still with another ping. Sighing in relief, the young man rose stiffly from the cold ground and retrieved his new teammate, Neta baaing in approval. "Ready to keep going?" he asked, slipping the Pokeball in his pocket and then stretching. Neta nodded, so he scrambled on her back again and they set off.
Silas shivered a few minutes later, feeling the cool brush of a Ghost Pokemon across his senses. Scanning the grass, he spotted the Drifloon floating a short distance away, watching them pass. He studied the balloon Pokemon for a moment, then gave it a slight nod in greeting. While an interesting Pokemon, he had no need for it on his team, at least not at the moment. Neta snorted softly and picked up her pace slightly, clearly unsettled by the floating Pokemon. Silas just patted her neck in reassurance and kept looking around at their surroundings as they continued on.
Silas and Neta continued on in companionable silence, Silas' gaze still sweeping their surroundings every so often. But as was typical of him, he felt the approaching Pokemon before he saw it. Curiosity flicked through his mind, then something jumped up from the grass and flew towards them. Silas watched the unknown Pokemon approach warily, pulling out his phone and opening the Pokedex app before pointing the camera towards the purple bat-thing.
The creature landed in the path as the info popped up. "Gilgar. Poison/Ground, evolves into Gliscor." he murmured for Neta's benefit. It wasn't something he wanted or needed, and he didn't think his team was suited to fighting that particular type combination. "Hello there. May we pass by? We're travelling to the next town," he said politely, Neta nodding in agreement with his words.
~Human has strange fur and eyes,~ the Gilgar said to Neta, cocking her head at Silas. ~Yes, his eyes and hair are different,~ the Skiddo agreed. ~Not see human like him before. Are all humans like that?~ the bat Pokemon asked.
Sensing the curiosity from the wild Pokemon, Silas kept silent, faintly amused that the Gilgar found him interesting. ~No, humans usually have eyes that are the same colour. Their hair can be many colours, though.~ Neta replied.
~I see. Safe travels, odd human.~ With that, the Gilar flew back into the grass. Silas chuckled softly once it had gone, finding the whole encounter amusing. Neta laughed as well, and started forward again, quickly resuming the pace she had been at before.
They were making good progress, Silas thought as Neta trotted down the path. If they kept this up, they would reach Weeping Forest before sundown. He didn't mind camping out, and he was hoping to introduce his team to Galarian curry. However, the young man was jerked from his thoughts as Neta suddenly slowed, and he saw that something small and pink was standing in the middle of the pathway. "A Slurpuff?" he mumbled, recognizing the Pokemon as they got closer.
Neta came to a halt and stamped her hoof, slightly annoyed by the delay. Silas studied the wild Slurpuff, seeing that it was trembling slightly but was giving off waves of determination. "I think it wants to battle," he said quietly, wondering which of his team to use. Riolu was in no shape to fight, so that left Flann or Neta.
Neta baaed softly and tossed her head, and Silas slid of her back and stepped aside. The Slurpuff looked unhappy, but a moment later a delicious aroma washed over Silas. Sweet Scent, he identified, his stomach growling at the idea of sweets. "Tackle," he said, and Neta lowered her head and charged at her foe. The Slurpuff was struck and went rolling, but scrambled up and responded with a Tackle of its own.
Silas was surprised it was willing to get up close and personal, since it seemed unwilling to fight for some reason, but called out, "Use Growth!" The leaves growing from the Skiddo's neck and back suddenly grew longer as Neta raised her attacking power, and she shuddered as the Slurpuff waved a paw and generated a pink wind that blew over her. Silas knew that the Slurpuff was stronger by virtue of being an evolved Pokemon, but he could tell Neta wasn't done yet. "Keep using Tackle!"
The Skiddo proceeded to charge at the Slurpuff ever chance she got, taking it's Tackles and Fairy Winds in stride, although she was starting to look a bit winded as the wild Pokemon struggled to its feet a few minutes later.
Impressed by the Slurpuff's abilities, Silas took out an empty Pokeball and threw it at the wild Fairy type, hoping to add it to his team.
The Pokeball hit the Slurpuff and sucked it inside, but it barely hit the ground before bursting open and releasing the Pokemon.The Slurpuff looked dazed for a moment, then shook its head and puffed up in a show of determination. "Not weak enough, huh?" Silas muttered, glancing at Neta. His Skiddo had caught her breath but was still looking a bit tired. With a defiant snort, she lowered her head and charged at the Slurpuff in another Tackle.
"Keep it up!" Silas encouraged, watching the two Pokemon exchange Tackles for another minute or so. Both were looking worn now, so he threw another Pokeball at the Slurpuff when he saw an opening, hoping it would stay in this time.
Like before, the Pokeball barely closed around the Slurpuff before it popped back open again. Seemingly tired of the fight, the Slurpuff gave Silas one last lingering look before waddling away into the tall grass that lined the path. Neta drooped a little as the Pokemon fled, but Silas walked over and gave her an encouraging pat on the head. "You fought well against a tough opponent," he said. "Wild Pokemon flee for all kinds of reasons, so don't feel too down about it." The Skiddo nuzzled him then, and he chuckled and went to retrieve the intact Pokeball as well as the one that had broke.
"Thanks, but I'll walk for a while," he said when he saw Neta toss her head towards her back. It would give her a chance to recover from the battle, and him an opportunity to stretch his legs.
Silas walked beside Neta for a while, keeping one eye on the path and one eye on their surroundings. Alert as he was, he spotted the large Pokemon before he sensed it. He raised an eyebrow at it, not recognizing the species, and quickly opened his Pokedex app.
Neta stopped when he did, sniffing the air curiously and casting a wary glance at the much larger Pokemon. "Bouffalant, huh? That's a new one." For how aggressive it looked, the Pokemon was radiating calm emotions as it chewed on some grass, watching them lazily. Deciding that he wanted to try and catch it, if only for help on his farm, Silas sent out Torchic. "Go, Flann!"
Flann chirped happily at Silas, who smiled back and motioned towards the Bouffalant. "I know it's a lot bigger than you, but do your best, okay? Ember!" The Torchic shot small flames at the Bouffalant, who snorted when the attack hit and followed up with Pursuit.
Neta cheered on her teammate as the battle continued, the Torchic weaving and bobbing around the larger but slower Bouffalant. Silas called out attacks every so often, but also used the opportunity to see how his starting Pokemon performed on her own.
Seeing an opening as Flann backed off, preparing to use Ember, Silas tossed a Pokeball at the Bouffalant, watching as it struck the Pokemon's flank and sucked it inside.
To his relief and delight, the Boufalant seemed willing to stay in the Pokeball, for the ball shook a few times before pinging to indicate a successful capture. Or maybe it was too lazy to fight out, Silas thought as we retrieved the ball and ruffled the feathers on Flann's head, getting a happy coo in return. "Good job, you fought well," he praised as they returned to where Neta waited. "Come on, rest up in your ball. It's cold out here." Flann fluffed up her feathers in protest, but Silas merely chuckled and recalled her.
Scrambling onto Neta's back, they set off again while Silas pulled up his map app. "Looks like we're about halfway to Weeping Forest," he said. "We're making good time, thanks to you." Neta baaed at the praise and kicked up her heels, making Silas smiled even as he gripped her neck to avoid sliding off.
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