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 tightened the scarf around his neck as he walked through the frosty streets of Birch towards the mail depot. The temperature was below freezing and the few people who were out at this early hour were bundled up like he was. Maybe this had been a bad idea. Maybe he just just turn around and go home. Sure, he was getting paid to do this, but the thought of having to deal with a stranger for however long the job took made his stomach twist. Sighing, he kept going. He had said he would deliver the mail, and he would deliver the mail, no matter his personal feelings.
Reaching the mail depot, he was pleased to find it open, and gratefully stepped into the warm building. He stepped up to the counter and gave his name, accepting the bag of letters and packages that was handed to him a moment later. "You're working with a Shalin Nariva," the attendant told him. "Blonde, blue eyes, around your age," they added, glancing down at a file. Silas nodded his thanks and went back outside, looking around at the few people lingering around the depot.
Spotting a blonde young woman, he cautiously made his way over to her. "Good morning. Are you Shalin?" he asked, breath misting in the air as he spoke.
Winter. It was Shalin's least favorite time of the year, and a nasty storm had just passed overnight. Thankfully the city had already cleaned up the sidewalks and roads. The real problem was on the other side of every winter storm was horrible cold. She had to be bundled up, too, and there was even a big scarf around her Stantler's neck. The large Pokémon's legs clacked her hooves against the pavement, trying to stay warm. At the very least it wasn't windy - just very cold. "I know you want to get moving, Prance," Shalin quietly said, patting her Pokémon's back. "I do, too. But we need to review the route."
The blonde-haired girl turned toward the young, white-haired male with the mail mag. "I am! Shalin Nariya, wildest rider this side of Arciel!" she introduced herself with a bit more pep than any normal individual should have at such an early hour. "You must be Silas - I've been told we'll be running some errands together." She turned toward her Stantler again, the Pokémon still clacking against the pavement incessantly in an effort to stay warm. "This is Prance, my Stantler. She's a great runner!" Excited that they were about to take off, Prance started making wide circles around the two. "Relax, girl! We're taking off shortly!" She turned back toward Silas. "Hopefully we have a fairly rural route, because I get lost in big cities like this easy. Don't like 'em one bit. But whatever pays the bills..." Trailing off, she slowly walked toward her Pokémon, mounted up, and tilted her head toward her co-worker. "So, where to?"
It looks like luck is not on Shalin's side today. A cursory glance through the mailing addresses, cross-checked against the maps on the trainers' smart devices, and it looks like you'll be delivering mail through the business district in the heart of downtown. Try not to get lost!
Silas internally winced at Shalin's enthusiastic reply, finding it far too cheerful for the early hour. Well, at least he had found his partner, although the Stantler standing behind her was a surprise. He studied the Pokemon for a moment, watching it stamp its hooves on the ground, then relaxed when he realized the Stantler was merely cold, not nervous. And excited, judging by the laps it was now doing around them.
"Pleased to meet you both," he said politely. At the mention of the route, he took out his phone and pulled up a map of Birch City, typing in the address listed on a tag hanging from the bag. "Hmm, sorry. Looks like we're right downtown. But I'm pretty good at finding my way around a big city, so why don't I take care of the navigation?" Assuming Prance didn't bolt ahead of him, anyway.
Removing a Pokeball from his pocket, he released Neta and smiled softly as she shook herself and used Growth, the leaves along her back and neck growing bigger to provide more protection from the cold. Climbing onto her back, he glanced at the first address on the list and checked his map. "Persian Avenue is off of Rowlett Row, so we go straight for five blocks then take a left." Neta nodded and set off at a fast trot, hooves clicking on the pavement.
Shalin breathed a big sigh of relief when she heard Silas was as good at navigating urban labyrinths as she was natural ones. "Good, because once we're done with our route, I need to go shopping for a trip through the woods out east," she answered. "At least they left all the heavy stuff for the Mudsdale - just looks like a big stack of documents from what I could tell."
She couldn't help but smile upon seeing Silas was an experienced rider as well. Skiddo's Growth was one way to keep warm, especially if one was not used to harsh winters like those of northern Johto. Prance stared Neta down as though she wanted to race him. Shalin had other ideas, chiding her Pokémon, "Now's not the time. Once the season opens in the spring, you'll have plenty of time on the track. I promise." With that, the two were off, Prance and Shalin tailing the navigators closely.
While Silas was most likely correct, Prance is still a little excited about another ride Pokemon. She instead makes an effort to lead you all down some more open roads with the hopes she can get Neta to do maybe a short little race.
Post by Shalin Nariya on Jan 13, 2020 23:42:20 GMT
Prance seemed more interested in running alongside, and even ahead of, Neta and Silas then following them. After turning onto Rowlett Row, the Stantler bolted, shooting ahead of their navigator. "What's gotten into you, girl?!" Shalin cried, being ignored at every command. She at the very least remembered where the four would be turning, and the intersection was coming up fast. As the traffic light was turning yellow then red, the girl had no choice but to yank backward on her partner as hard as she could.
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Prance hooves scraping against the concrete as she came to a quick stop and reared, Shalin grunting loudly. The Normal-type's hooves clacked loudly when she slammed them against the pavement, immediately lifting her rear ones into a kicking motion in an effort to thrash and buck Shalin. "That won't work on me," she thought, her hands white from helping absorb the thrust of the move. The two turned around, looking for Silas and his Skiddo while they waited for the signal to change.
Please change this Job thread to a Solo thread, as one month has passed without Silas's reply.
Once Shalin and Prance had finished crossing the intersection, she turned around. Silas was nowhere to be found. Lovely. She was in the heart of one of the largest cities in Arciel, alone, with no navigator. Clearly her co-worker was not reliable. She did remember his directions, though: left at the fifth intersection. She had already crossed four, and true to his word, there was a street sign not too far forward labeled Rowlett Row. Prance a bit jittery, she and Shalin crossed in time with the signal.
Their next turn onto Persian Avenue was the second left, leading into a small commercial park. It was much less a "park" that she knew and more a maze of large, but not tall, buildings. Most of the premises were gated. The button on the right side of the gate was labeled "Juniper Consulting, LLC". Silas wasn't kidding - Juniper was an international logistics firm many municipalities employed for large sporting events and conventions they did not have the resources to plan on their own. Big business was done here. She dug through her mail bag for the parcel to be delivered to the address on Persian Avenue and pressed the button to signal her arrival, both the Stantler and trainer fidgety.
EZcitH4D
{WC: 209} {PC: 4}
Last Edit: Jan 16, 2020 13:33:15 GMT by Shalin Nariya
The loud sound of barking appears to be coming from the other side of the door and the sound of tiny feet comes closer until... a bunch of puppy pokemon burst out of the doggy door! These literal ankle biters want the mail and start tearing at the bag, even jumping up at the the letter in Shalin's hand! Apparently they don't like mail deliveries too much!
Instead of a human ready to answer the door, she was greeted by a swarm of young, canine Pokémon, one of which jumped up at her mail bag. She instinctively raised both of her hands upward, a Yamper in the crowd lunging at the letter intended to be delivered here, just out of reach. "Owww!!" she cried as a Poochyena sunk its teeth into her left ankle. She had to think of a way to scatter these disobedient dogs, and fast.
The first quick solution she could think of was using Flit. Perhaps a loud noise would scatter them. She carefully transferred the letter in her right hand back to the top of her mail bag, the bottom of it now covered in dog slobber, before releasing her Yanma to chase them away. "Flit, can you chase them away with your Sonicboom, please? I'll count down from three." She covered both her ears the best she could. "Three...two...one...now!"
Flit landed on top of the gate, churning his wings with great speed and power--power enough to loose an explosion of buzzing noise that could be heard nearly a half-mile away. The droning didn't last long--no more than a couple of seconds--but it didn't need to. It was an attack that did its damage internally. Even with her ears covered, it hurt.
Even if the noise didn't scare them away, the vibration would cause bruises and swelling underneath the skin of anyone not trained to withstand it. Having raised a Beedrill and Flygon in previous travels, she was somewhat accustomed to the effects of sonic attacks, but not enough to completely deflect something this strong. If Shalin wanted to live her dream of "riding" that very attack when Flit evolved, she had a long way to go first. It wasn't impossible, but she would need to train her body a lot to withstand that kind of speed and power. She only hoped it would scare the nagging Pokémon away and give her the chance to make her rounds. That, and administer first aid to herself after her desperate ploy to make her assailants go away.
A woman in a sharp-looking uniform emerges from the door, a glare on her face, and ushers the rowdy dog Pokemon back inside. With one hand she pulls a pen from her shirt pocket, and with the other she reaches for the packages she's apparently in charge of signing for.
"I'm so sorry for all of that!" Shalin profusely apologized to the woman, trembling, her green clothes torn in several places. There was also a particularly large bruise on her right cheek, with no obvious external wound. Flit hung his head as well. "Hopefully all of your Pokémon are okay," she changed the subject, trying to mask her own wounds. "Are they supposed to be guards? If they are, they're a bit...too aggressive."
She dug through her mail bag, probably also not in the greatest of shape after the scuffle, and looked for the requisite package. "Aha, Juniper Consulting. This should be it." After collecting the signature for delivery, Shalin turned around and let out a sharp cry, leaning against the fence. No sense in trying to hide her own condition anymore. "Is there a public restroom I can use inside the building? There's this sharp pain and I want to see if there's--ow!--anything I can do about it."
uSOZwVCX
{WC: 162} {PC: 6} {Shalin: 11/111}
Last Edit: Jan 20, 2020 3:21:59 GMT by Shalin Nariya
The woman appears visibly concerned then and ushers Shalin inside down the hall to the left where there is a bathroom. She steps in with Shalin ready to help if need be but also ready to step out again if privacy is asked for. She'd also bring some bandages and things of that nature after.
"Thank you so much." Shalin breathed a big sigh of relief. Not everyone back home was so nice. "I'll just need to step around the corner to make sure nothing looks too bad. No peeking!" With that, she entered the largest stall and briefly undressed. There were a couple of bruises that looked far worse than they actually were. Being out in the wilderness often, Shalin had learned a thing or two about taking care of herself. She dug through her first aid kit, pulling out a couple of creams. "Aha! This should do the trick," she said aloud, applying the creams as well as a few bandages around where some bite marks were around her legs. She dressed again before stepping back out.
She addressed the kind woman a second time. "Again, thank you. It looked and felt a lot worse than it actually was. Nothing a little first-aid can't fix. Now if you wouldn't mind showing me to the back door again? I do have other deliveries to make." She made small talk during the escort. "I travel the wilderness a lot, so I'm used to being roughed up. For the less fortunate, may I suggest you get those little yippers trained to not just attack people on sight?"
yTC22jbm
{WC: 211} {PC: 7} {Shalin: 67/111}
Last Edit: Jan 23, 2020 5:19:33 GMT by Shalin Nariya
The woman's expression has softened noticeably by the time she escorts Shalin back out the door. "Of course. We apologize for the trouble. I'll put in a word with my supervisor at his earliest convenience." Just to be sure, she stays by the teen girl's side until she's through the exterior gate and off the premises, no dogs to be seen.
With that, Shalin waved goodbye to the very kind receptionist at Juniper Consulting. "She was so nice," the girl mumbled, reaching for Prance's and Caprice's Poké Balls. "I know you want to keep going, Prance, but we lost a lot of time." She peered down at the Stantler's legs. There were a couple of minor wounds, but nothing serious. The Pokémon Center would be the first place she visited once she was off shift. Hopefully it wouldn't be too busy. "I'm sorry, but I'm going to need a bit more speed - we're behind schedule. Caprice, let's go!" She swapped out to her Ninetales, the latent heat easing the trainer's wounds. Shalin still felt a dull pain all over, but it certainly wasn't unbearable. Not enough to stop her from finishing her job.
She moved Prance's riding gear to the Ninetales - what a convenience it was that she could use the same set for both - before mounting up and checking what packages she had left. The only issue is she had no navigator and would have to rely on a digital map of Birch City. At least all of her destinations were downtown, so her scope of search wasn't too far. She took out a random package from her bag and checked the address label. "Didn't know Slate Draperies had a branch here," she mumbled again, eyes half-open. "500 Silver Street. Should probably look that up." She thought she had passed by a street by that name on the way...
Silver Street was quite a distance back. Perhaps this Silas wasn't as good of a navigator as he took credit for. That or the postal company who came up with the route should probably be out of a job. How inefficient! She tugged back on Caprice hard, the startled Ninetales returning the abrupt maneuver by rearing and turning around on her hind legs. Shalin buried her hands in her mount's golden fur, holding on tight for the few seconds Caprice's front legs nearly reached the height of her head. "...Sorry girl!" She sheepishly apologized. "This delivery route sucks. Whoever came up with it is an idiot!"
Fortunately for her, the street she came onto was a main downtown thoroughfare, with traffic light cycles designed to keep cars and Pokémon moving. The golden Pokémon was able to maintain a trot for most of the trip back to their next destination, all but a couple of people willing to yield to the delivery girl. She did have to stop for one other traffic light besides the Silver Street intersection. Once she made her final turn, her eyes shifted from left to right, looking for the Slate Draperies logo. She had passed by one of their stores while in Hoenn, but that was many years ago. Their logo may have changed...
JuR8qE6Q
{WC: 220} {PC: 9} {Shaln: 67/111}
Last Edit: Jan 28, 2020 4:09:06 GMT by Shalin Nariya
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