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.
Tau had heard that there were some interesting caves south of Birch, and rushed over to Route 6 in order to get there. It's only natural for an explorer to go exploring caves! His excitement was unusual for him.
... And it quickly returned back to normal. As soon as the city left his sight, he felt bored of walking alone. Without a second thought, he brought Lizard, his six foot tall (183 cm) Helkiolisk out of her pokeball. "Hey. Wanna lead me south?" He asked, quietly thankful that the two of them were the same height.
The unusually tall pokemon lit up at his offer, patted his head gently, and began walking south further down the route. Tau began to mindlessly talk about various cars he's repaired, and Lizard nodded emptily every so often to feign listening.
Lost in the boring drone of Tau's extended monologue, Lizard had led the two off path accidentally. It took a bit for Tau to catch on, but once he did they both stopped and looked around. With a confused tone, he asked "Lizard, did you get us lost? Where'd the path go?"
She nodded back simply, grunted a serious sounding "-lisk," and seemed to get lost in the indecision of which direction to try next.
[attr="class","heart2text"] Keone... was lonely. He still wasn't used to traveling alone, or alone other than his Pokemon, and while he loved them all, having a conversation partner was Different. He missed Prem desperately, and had spent much of today as he had many recent days, ruminating and regretting pushing him away, yet hoping he was okay. To help take his mind off things, he had decided to have a picnic with his Pokemon. They didn't have much in the way of food packed, but just the act of sitting down and snacking with them and talking at them was kind of nice.
It was a breezy cool day, maybe just a little chilly, but not too bad for November. ...Damn, it had really been over a month since he'd seen Prem. How depressing. No, don't think about that. Picnic time, dangit!
Keone was just finishing up when he heard a voice approaching from around a rocky outcropping. Lizard, did you get us lost? it asked. Where'd the path go? Oh dear, that couldn't be good! Keone withdrew all his Pokemon save for Kalea and Kapua, and signaled them to follow him as he went around the way to find the source of the voice.
Spotting a tall young man, the boy called out, "Excuse me! Sorry to pry, but did I hear you say you were lost? If so maybe we can help?"
Lizard was little help now as she decided that being lost wasn't as big of a deal as Tau did. In her mind, he was safe currently, so there was no harm. And in that big ole bag of his, they have food and water. So what's the rush? It was a pretty nice day out.
But Tau, on the other hand, didn't quite agree. They were lost. It was cold. And Lizard was acting like they just stumbled into the wrong store. "Don't just pretend tha-" Tau began to argue with Lizard, but he was cut off from continuing any further from a stranger's voice.
"Excuse me! Sorry to pry, but did I hear you say you were lost? If so maybe we can help?"
They both turned to look at the source of the voice. Tau only saw teal hair and an eyepatch before responding, "Oh hey, a pirate." After a pause, he casually continued. "Yeah, Lizard here got us lost."
Lizard huffed angrily and put her hands on her scaley hips, "Helio lio!" She argued like a tired mother with a grumble. "He-li-o. Lio isk lio!" She continued, ending her argument with a hiss-like growl. It wasn't her fault they got lost. It was his fault for droning on and on about boring topics enough for her to get too bored to pay attention!
[attr="class","heart2text"] Oh hey, a pirate. Keone's expression immediately went flat as a mix of self-consciousness and irritation bubbled up within him. He had enough self-restraint and resistance to cursing aloud that he didn't reply, oh hey, an asshole, but he certainly thought it at least. He breathed out slowly through his nose. Even if he'd touched a nerve, the guy needed help, and Keone couldn't just turn a blind eye. Besides, maybe he'd be nicer moving forward.
A slight smile came back to his face at Lizard's verbal complaining. Heh, cute Pokemon. "Don't sweat it. Were you headed to Birch or Pine?" He glanced up at the sun. Based on the time of day... "This way is north to Birch," he said, pointing. "And that way's south to Pine." He pointed the other way. "I was just kind of wandering around myself, though, so... Maybe I could walk with you until we get closer to where you're going?" You know, so the guy didn't lose track of direction again, and totally not just because Keone was really desperate for some companionship. "My name's Keone, by the way. And these are Kalea and Kapua." He gestured to his Kangaskhan and her baby in that order.
Tau was so thankful to come across someone else out here that he didn't realize Keone's distaste in being called a pirate, and didn't even give it a second thought.
"We're aimin' for Pine. I'm from Birch," he answered simply, then took a mental note of the directions the pirate pointed to. "How'd you do that with no compass? Sh-t, if you can tell direction so easily it'd be dumb to refuse." It was a no brainer. While Tau was technically an explorer, he was still a city slicker and had no experience outside of his home town.
His face lit up when Kalea and Kapua were introduced. He knew these pokemon! And, honestly, really wanted a pair for himself. Just imagine riding on the shoulders of a gentle, motherly kangaskahn. That'd be one hell of a way to explore the region. "Oh d-mn, they're awesome!" He found himself saying, "I've been trying to get a kangaskahn on my team for a while."
After his moment of awe was over, he remembered to introduce his heliolisk, "Oh, this is Lizard. She's a bit bossy." He said simply, gesturing over to her. She crossed her arms and muttered a snappy reply towards Tau, before looking over at Kalea and Kapua. She smiled as best as a heliolisk could, and waved at the small baby eagerly. And then, remembering to respect parents, waved at the mother as well.
[attr="class","heart2text"] Keone laughed lightly at Tau's surprise. "I mean it's afternoon," he explained. "The sun's still pretty high so it's a little hard to tell, but it's past high noon, so it's starting to set, right? Which means since the sun is slightly in this direction," he pointed, "this is west!" He beamed, proud of his menial knowledge. "Of course, that doesn't work when you're in a thick forest or a cave or something, and you've gotta learn stars to tell direction at night. But in an open field like this it's not bad~"
He found himself all the prouder as his Pokemon were fawned over. "Thanks! They were actually my very first Pokemon~" he explained. "Kalea saw me helping a wild injured Psyduck and decided to ask for help with a little cold Kapua had caught. I helped make sure she got nursed back to heath, and they've been with me ever since~" See? Keone knew the pirate comment wasn't the only indicator of how nice this guy was! This wouldn't be so bad at all!
"Nice to meet you, Lizard." Keone waved at her, as did the Kangaskhan pair each in turn. Keone looked back to the trainer though. "Oh, but I don't think I caught your name?" He gave a slightly cheesy grin. "Unless you want me to call you Mr. Lizard's Trainer." He snickered softly.
It's settled, this pirate is a wizard. And every new explorer needs a wizard. That's how fantasy books go, right? Someone's gotta know magic and it sure as hell ain't Tau. "I'm going to have to learn that skill off ya, if you don't mind." Tau said, glancing at the sky like it whispered secrets to everyone but Tau himself.
Dang. Not only could he tell direction without aid, but he happens across a Kangaskahn who's willing to team up with him? He's got to be a wizard, or a pokemon in disguise. There's no other way around this now.
"Oh, my bad. I got thrown off. My name's Tau, but Mr. Lizard's Trainer works too." He responded, having completely forgotten to introduce himself thanks to the Wizard's skills. "Do you want more time to get ready, or are you ready to head off?" Tau was looking forward to spending time with Keone's companions and seeing what more this wizard had to offer.
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