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.
After arriving in Cedar Town and making a lengthy phone call to his family, assuring them he'd reached his destination safely, Touma set out for the nearest Pokemon Center in search of work. At the very least, he'd be interested in volunteering just to get his foot in the door, but fortunately enough they were in need of a few helping hands. It seemed that the influx of newcomers to the region left the staff with plenty of things to do, with many of them working 50+ hour work weeks. The frazzled nurse at the counter looked ready to hug him or cry on him, he wasn't entirely sure which, and he was very quickly shooed off into the changing rooms to dress himself in one of the spare medical uniforms they kept in storage.
He'd brought a few of his Pokemon with him, and while they didn't have similar nursing uniforms they took to their duties with aplomb. Hawlucha and Amaura were good at delivering and fetching supplies when told, excepting his new Espurr who just... stood there. He'd made sure to question the nurse about it, and after being reassured that there was nothing wrong with it and this was likely normal since Espurr had a lot on its mind, he let it be for now. It didn't seem particularly bothered by its new environment, so he placed the newly-gotten egg he'd received from the gacha into its arms and let it simply stand there and hold it.
A few of the tasks he'd been given were simple enough - change bandages, make sure the pokemon were getting a fitful rest, make sure they were fed, etc. Easy things he'd expect to do now by himself, since he had Pokemon of his own. Some of them were a bit more physically intensive, but not by much; move boxes, wheel out gurneys, etc. He did all of these without complaint and with a relatively genial attitude, mostly because it reminded him of home and looking after his siblings. And when he was done, he always made sure to report promptly to the residing nurse, ready and willing to help.
You were assisting one of the nurses. She was explaining something about what she needed to get done next when suddenly she just seems to up and passed out right on the spot. Catch her quick! It seems those 50+ hour a week work schedules weren't doing anyone any good. Oh dear.
Touma liked to think he was doing a good job because none of the nurses had yelled at him yet so that clearlly meant he was doing all right so far, didn't it? He did make sure that the pokemon he'd brought with him were keeping to their tasks as intended - mostly since he felt that La Mariposa might do something with the decorative flowers she eyeballed everytime she passed by - and even checking on Espurr with the egg. So far, so good.
It was when he was assisting one of the nurses that it happened. One minute the nurse was telling him about his next set of tasks, the next she was suddenly falling straight over mid-sentence and without warning. It was fortunate that he was close enough to her that he could catch her, and he moved quickly to intercept the nurse so that she hopefully wouldn't knock herself out on the tiles underfoot.
You manage to catch the nurse just in time. She's semi-conscious but seems to mumble incoherently about patients. A Blissey rather quickly has you take her to one of the medical beds. It seems she's alright... just exhausted.
"Hey -- are you okay?!" The mild panic he'd felt was slowly being replaced by relief when he caught her, and though he couldn't quite understand what the Blissey was saying the fact that it wasn't freaking out was plenty reassurance. The nurse was mumbling something, and when he leaned in to hear better and heard the gist of what she was saying he blinked. Even like this, she was still concerned about the pokemon. Touma couldn't help but feel a swell of appreciation for the woman and her work, and, after scooping her legs up, he did his best to carry the half-awake nurse to the nearest bed to take a well-deserved rest at the Blissey's behest. La Mariposa and Amaura were hot on his heels, concerned both for the nurse and for their trainer, and as he rounded the corner into the area where the medical beds were he craned his neck back one last time to make sure Espurr was still doing its thing in the corner. Surprise surprise, it was still there.
He sincerely hoped it wasn't somehow cooking the egg. It wasn't a fire type, was it???
When he laid the nurse down he did it carefully so as not to jostle her too much. If it was rest she needed, he'd make sure she'd get as much as she could. What tasks she needed taken care of shouldn't be too hard, right?
One of the other nurses comes in and on hearing what had happened decides to check the fallen nurse to make sure she was ok before asking you to please help a little more in order to keep the Pokemon center going.
"Of course," He responded with a nod of his head and, after casting one last look at the sleeping nurse, went back to where he'd been when she'd passed out. A few of the other nurses had been there, and perhaps one of them would be able to point him in the direction of patients that needed tending to.
As he emerged he nearly jumped out of his skin. Espurr had somehow made it there even though he swore he hadn't seen it moving or watching their departure. It was still clutching the egg, thank goodness, but it was just. There. It reminded him of a game he used to play, where one played a security guard surviving the night against rabid animatronics.
Maybe he'd have to talk to his mother about screening the games she bought in the future.
After giving it a gentle pat on the head, he jogged lightly back to a gaggle of orderlies who directed him to another room of beds with a handful of medicines in a cart. He recognized a few of them from color alone, and spent a bit of time organizing them properly before turning to the rows of afflicted pokemon before him. They all appeared to be suffering from some status or another, and he took one of the bottles out - a burn heal - and moved over to apply the ointment to a pokemon that was holding its arm.
The Pokemon with the burn, a Jolteon, remained rather still while being treated. His trainer, a young girl, was standing close by. She seemed very grateful when the Jolteon perked up after and went bounding over to her. Awe.
"Aw." If he'd ever had any doubts about being here, seeing the reunion of girl and Jolteon cleared that right up. The smile that tugged on his lips was warm and faltered only slightly when he turned and saw, again, that Espurr was there hovering at his elbow with the egg. Well, not really hovering but the effect was uncanny enough. If there was ever a time when he wished he could be a mind-reader, now was the time, but since he wasn't he simply gave Espurr another pet on the head and moved on to the next pokemon.
He wondered for a moment where La Mariposa and Amaura had gotten to, but as he moved to the next patient he saw her running past the doorway holding a crown of flowers triumphantly over her head, Amaura hot on her heels with a tray of medical equipment balanced on his back. Touma paused, listening for any crashing or screaming, and when there was none he figured they were well enough on their own he didn't need to intervene. As long as they were helping, that was what was important.
The next injured pokemon looked a bit more worse for wear; various cuts and wounds littered its body, small slices in the skin that exposed the flesh underneath. He paused once he got there and gave the creature what he hoped was a friendly smile, before taking out a potion and delicately starting to spray the affected areas.
The next Pokemon was a Tyrogue whom, for all he was and all he wasn't, managed to stay relatively still when being tended to. His trainer, a muscly looking man, kept encouraging the Pokemon, assuring him he'd be fine. Sure enough, nothing substantial happened, and you fixed him up well.
"There you go. All better?" Thank goodness for potions. When he was all done he set the now empty bottle on the cart with everything else, giving the Tyrogue a quick once-over to make sure nothing else was amiss or needed tending to. For being a fighting-type it was in relatively good shape, but judging from the look of his trainer he was confident that the pokemon was well taken care of, at least when it came to the common aches and pains of muscles. Touma gave the trainer a reassuring pat on the shoulder once he was certain everything was in order and cleared the way for man and Tyrogue to be on their way.
As they left, they first stared at and then sidestepped Espurr standing in the middle of the path, who continued to stare ahead without blinking with the egg clutched in its paws. The trainer looked like he would say something, but thought better of it and if his pace happened to be quicker than normal nobody commented on it.
The next creature was cold to the touch, frigid and unblinking. It was fairly large, and he made sure he had a few ice heals in hand before setting to work gently thawing the frozen pokemon.
The next Pokemon was a Meowth of all things, and on unfreezing, she immediately started yowl-screaming like cats do and starts clawing at Touma. Not even her trainer can seem to calm her down. Perhaps that last battle really scared her.
Although he was no stranger to being attacked by pokemon - it's not like there were lines denoting a pokemon's territory from everything else - this was a bit of an unexpected surprise, so much so that the Meowth was able to get him good across his arm. The Meowth's claws split his skin in deep gashes and he actually dropped the ice heal to instinctively clamp his hand down on it to protect it from further abuse.
The trainer gave a series of profuse apologies while trying to wrangle their pokemon to some degree of calmness, and although he felt a bit of blood beading up under his fingers he still had a job to do, and he gave the pokemon a once-over before going back to work mending it hesitantly. He wasn't sure if he got everywhere that needed to be thawed, so he applied another spray of Ice Heal before moving on to one of the Potions he had sorted on the cart - which Espurr was now standing beside, having entered the room sometime during that ordeal, and was now standing staring through the Meowth.
The Meowth continues to cry and shake even as she's held by her trainer. She seems very very afraid of everything and keeps shooting Touma fearful glances. When he comes forward with a potion, she's already ready to claw again.
"Easy there," Touma spoke in as gentle a voice as he could muster. He wondered what the battle leading up to this situation was like, and felt a little grateful that he was able to befriend the pokemon that he had without doing them any harm. Especially Espurr hovering at his elbow, since he figured that it would be the first pokemon trainers would resort to battling. It was another form of communication, wasn't it? "I won't hurt you. Let's get you better, all right?"
To show that he really posed no danger, he set the object down and held both hands out in what he hoped was a placating gesture. He did not approach or retreat, instead keeping a consistent, nonthreatening presence for the Meowth to at least get used to enough that he could tend to it. He gave it a reassuring look and nodded at the trainer, then reached out juuuuust enough that he could try and give it a light pat on the head.
CHOMP. Meowth's teeth sunk hard and fast into Touma's hand, and the trainer literally burst into tears and apologies. She didn't know why Meowth was doing this! It was normally such a sweet Pokemon! She felt so bad!!!
He had maybe a split second to adjust his hand so the Meowth avoided actually biting off his fingers, but he didn't have to worry much once it actually happened and he had teeth sinking into his flesh right over one of the scars from an earlier adventure. He tried his best not to show any outward signs of pain to avoid having the trainer feel any guiltier, but it was incredibly hard and he probably failed miserably in that regard.
"It's fine," He reassured, voice edged with pain. "I'm sure she's just - not having the best day." This was definitely not what he'd expected when he volunteered for this, but considering how the day had gone thus far he shouldn't have been surprised. At least with how close the Meowth was he could reach it more easily, and so he took this opportunity to reach over for one of the potions so he could continue his treatment.
Thankfully you're able to finish the work alright thereafter, and the girl finally returns the Meowth to its Pokeball and thanks you. One of the nurses in the hallway seems startled to see your hand and wants to fix it up for you very quickly.
It seemed that having the Meowth gnaw on his hand for the duration of the treatment was all the diversion he needed in order to get it fully healed up, and once he was done the trainer was able to return the creature to its pokeball with profuse apologies and grateful words of thanks. Once he reassured her that he was, in fact, going to be all right, and that it was nothing he hadn't dealt with before, she hurried off on her way and left him his own devices.
Touma looked first from his hand to the Espurr that was still hovering nearby, and for the first time the creature was actually staring at him and not through him, and they shared a long, meaningful look. He still couldn't quite tell what the creature was thinking, but given the way its brows furrowed it was thinking something, which he was able to discern when its gaze dropped to the mess that Meowth had made of his hand.
"I'm fine," He stated reassuringly, and gave the Espurr a gentle rub over its head with his good hand. The pokemon's brows gently unfurrowed and, with a noise that sounded suspiciously like a purr, it let its gaze revert back to that blank stare from before, the egg clutched securely in its paws.
Thinking maybe it was a good time to check on his other pokemon, he walked past the Espurr with his injured hand curled into his front in time for the nurse in the hallway to rush over, bandages at the ready. It seemed that this sort of thing was pretty much par for the course in pokemon centers, and he allowed her to look at and then clean the teeth marks dotting blood in his flesh. Hopefully she'd do a better job than he would.
You're patched up alright but then sent out to look at another patient. This one was...a Gyarados who seemed to have many injuries and was paralyzed. That didn't stop it from thrashing about, though, and sure enough, several cabinets worth of supplies were knocked open and their contents spilled- this was even before you get in the room, yikes.
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