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.
Faolan stepped out of the pokemon center and stretched her arms high over her head. The walk had been nothing too exhausting, but the battles along the way had been something of a nuisance. She hadn't realized how many water pokemon there would be along the way, but considering Route 1's path took her along a beach she supposed that was to be expected. It was a little nippy outside but she'd dressed warmly, and after deciding she would let her pokemon rest a little longer in their balls she set off down the road to explore Cedar Town a bit.
Because it was still fairly close to Birch City and by extension, the pokemon lab where new trainers got their first pokemon, the streets were crowded with tourists and vendors hawking their wares to the lively crowds. A little ways away she could see rows upon rows of houses, tucked away from the looming resorts and hotels towering over the town. She did a bit of light shopping that was mostly restocking the limited number of pokeballs she had and debating on a potion or two, then made her way down to the beach so she could walk along the sand and collect her thoughts.
Despite the coldness of the air, the sand still felt nice on her bare feet and she walked along in blessed silence, her shoes dangling from her fingers as made her way along the coast. She passed a straggling jogger or two, but aside from that it was relatively empty.
Last Edit: Jan 16, 2020 7:19:00 GMT by Faolan Byrne
Up ahead on the beach, one might see what appeared to be a large clump of rocks, though what they were doing in the middle of a beach was a curious question. Upon getting closer, one would realize that it wasn't rock at all, but steel. More specifically, a huge Steelix curled up around something, dozing. What was such a massive pokemon doing here?
A small rope of steam rose up from within. Sitting in the middle of the curled up pokemon, Marley was sitting in front of a camping stove, stirring a pot of what appeared to be curry. Sure, Marley could easily have gotten food from a restaurant, but the lanky Galarian wanted to work on his cooking skill. Surrounding him, watching him, was the Zorua Alley, the Jangmo-o Komoda, the Mr. Mime known as Mino, the newly hatched Galarian Yamask Rosseta, and finally, dancing atop of the sleeping Steelix, the Spinda dubbed Teeter.
They were all watching as Marley focused on the curry. He wanted this to be good. So far it was smelling pretty decent. A bit of spice, but not overpowering.
Not far up the beach in the direction Faolan was walking there was an oddly shaped clump of rocks that seemed to be... moving? Which was strange in of itself, if one disregarded the fact that they were an off-white, steely color. Even from where she was standing there was a steam of smoke rising slowly from the center of it and a scent she hadn't smelled in ages. Curry? On the beach?
Her interest piqued, she moved a little closer to where the smoke was rising and saw a rather lanky individual stirring a pot over flames. It was most definitely curry. She was so confused by this that she didn't notice that the rocks was actually a pokemon, a Steelix at that, until she was close enough to the stranger that she could call out to him. There were a group of pokemon scattered about the odd man and his cooking, and she felt her eyes continuously drawn to the great steel beast before she glanced to the impromptu beach chef.
Marley blinked, looking up at the voice calling to him. The pokemon all looked over, curious as well. A rather attractive woman, not far from them. Well, it was only a matter of time. After all, Ironton wasn't exactly hard to notice. "Yeah, I'm fine," Marley called out, his Galarian accent more than noticable, "Thanks!"
Suddenly, there was a burst of smoke coming up from the pot. Dammit, it was burning! Marley coughed and spluttered, waving the smoke away before quickly pulling the pot off of the fire. He had thought he was doing well this time. Well, hopefully the curry could still be saved. Setting the pot down on the sand, he shook his heads to word off the heat.
Great, an attractive woman turns up and he makes an embarassment of himself. A couple of the pokemon looked worried about the food, while Teeter and Mino gave a small chuckle at the display.
The accent explained it all, really. While hers was still faint, having grown up in a more "affluent" sort of town, and more proper, his was... definitely different. Sort of a more aggressive Galarian one, but she didn't comment on it since it looked like he was having trouble cooking. The pokemon surrounding him seemed a little concerned and for good reason, since it looked like that was basically their lunch for the day, but rather than go off and leave the man to his own devices she instead edged a little closer to peer at the curry in the pot. She wasn't any kind of expert, having never gone camping with pokemon, but it looked decent enough.
"... Is that enough for all of them?" Her gaze slid back up to the Steelix towering over them. There was open admiration on her face for the giant steel-type, and when she spoke her gaze lingered on it tellingly. "This one looks like he could eat the entire pot and ask for seconds."
Well, at least his little display hadn't driven the woman off. In fact, she seemed to get closer, questioning whether the curry was enough. He noticed the look she sent Ironton. So, she was a girl who liked big pokemon eh? Or was it just Ironton. Seriously, the big guy tended to get a lot of admirers. "Eh, he already ate. The bug guy eats a lot. Almost worried he might swallow one of the others by accident." Ironton let out a low rumble of half hearted offense. Marley chuckled, patting the Steelix on the side. "Aw, ya know I'm jokin' mate. Love ya big guy."
Marley looked down at his little experiment. Well, he could at least try it. "Now then, let's see if this worked." It smelled alright. The pokemon watched as he scooped up a spoonful. He popped it into his mouth, tasting it.
It was dry.
Really dry.
Marley set the spoon down, and proceeded to walk past everyone towards the water's edge. The galarian then fell to his knees, and promptly dunked his head into the waves. How could CURRY of all things be this dry!?
At his comment she looked back to the man in mild concern, but when he admitted to the joke she felt her expression relax slowly. The curry smelled good despite the plume of smoke that had risen up from it not moments earlier, and although she had eaten before coming to the beach she felt her appetite stir.
"What's his n---" She began just as the brunet spooned a steaming portion of curry into his mouth. The expression on his face didn't seem to change much, and he seemed relatively calm so maybe the smoke hadn't---
Oh. Wait, where was he going? Hello???
Her head followed the path the other made as he walked over to the water's edge, leaving both his pokemon and the pot unattended, and promptly dunked his head underwater. Unsure of what to do with herself now that she was basically alone with his crew, she turned her attention towards the pot, plucked up the spoon he had discarded and took a small mouthful of the stew.
... Yeah, that wasn't very good at all. Instantly regretting her choice, she delicately set the spoon back down and dug a hole in the sand so she could get rid of what was in her mouth. She sincerely hoped he didn't feed this to his team, since she was pretty certain that could be considered an act of pokemon cruelty. Faolan turned her attention back to the man with his head underwater and called out, "You need some help over there?"
Marley's pokemon seemed to have the general idea that Marley's latest cooking experiment was a dismal failure. Ally and Komoda dug a hole in the sand, while Mino dumped the pot in. The Steelix gave a small, low chuckle. Well, guess they were eating out again tonight.
Marley pulled his head out of the water, gasping heavily. "How. Is that. Possible!?" he spluttered, before climbing to his feet, wavering lightly as he tried to turn around. The lanky man gave a small sigh. "Ok, so...that was a flop." he muttered, before turning her attention to the woman, who was still hanging around, despite the display. "I think I'm fine, thanks." he said, before giving her a smile, despite being dripping wet, "The name's Marley. How can I help ya?"
"Faolan. I was just passing through," She offered by way of explaination. "I've just gotten here and figured I'd explore a bit before I head on to the next city." The wind had picked up a bit and was tossing sand around with the occasional passing gust, and she tucked a bit of hair behind her ear to avoid it from blowing into her face. "It's not very often you meet someone from Galar, let alone someone cooking on the beach so openly." Bonfires and hot dogs were usually the norm for that sort of thing, weren't they?
Faolan gave a cursory glance at the surrounding pokemon and stooped a little to offer her hand to the one closest to her to sniff, which happened to be the Zorua. "What brings you here to Arciel?"
At the mention of Galar, Marley smiled. "Ah, been to Galar have ya? Hope you liked the homeland. I hope to go back someday, once I'm done down here." It made logical sense that there were Galarians in Arciel, but so far, Marley seemed like the only one. He hadn't encountered any others so far. At her comment about his cooking, he shrugged. "Eh, I figured I'd get some practise, for when I'm out in the wild. But, eh, it ain't goin' so well."
Then came the question as to why he was in Arciel. "Well, me and me Mum moved here a couple of years back. Better for her health. But me, personally, I'm out doin' the gym challenge. Or, what Arciel calls the Gym Challenge anyway."
Well, it seemed like her suspicions were on-point about him being from the Galar region. Although fairly certain she didn't know him, and vice-versa, she nevertheless took the conversation change to his cooking readily and turned her attention to where she'd seen his pokemon bury the pot. "Oh, I don't know; at least it didn't catch on fire, so small mercies, right?"
The comment about his mother garnered some sympathy, but when he went further to discuss the Gym Challenge she felt her expression shift into something carefully neutral. There were no secrets made about the grand prize for those that completed the League Tournament, after all. If he were after the same thing as she was, that meant he was competition. "Do you intend to go all the way?"
Marley gave a small chuckle at her question. "Ya bet I am! I may have missed me chance to take part in the Galarian Gym Challenge, but I intend to take this one all the way." He gave a small shrug, "Granted, it's provin' tougher than I thought. The Bass City Gym leader wiped the floor with me when we first fought, but I'm makin' sure to come back stronger and swingin' next time."
He took a quick breath to clam himself before he worked himself up too much. After all, he might end up running off to Bass to fight Hiro all over again, and he needed to take a breather and work things out first. "So, what about you? Whatcha got planned for yerself?"
He did seem a little old to take the challenge now, but she hadn't been so sure there were any age restrictions before now. Maybe there was another reason, but for now she didn't question it.
The Bass City Gym Leader... now her interest was piqued. From what she'd read and the little research she'd done she knew he was a water type. Did he not have any reliable pokemon that had type advantage over that? Taking a quick sweep of the team he had out currently, they weren't bad but they weren't the best, either. "Well, even if you don't come out victorious the third time's the charm, right?"
It was when the conversation turned to her that she paused, trying to think of what to say. "I've only arrived in the region not too long ago. I thought it would be nice to see the sights, explore a bit, you know." The blonde waved a hand dismissively. "The touristy things. Currently I'm making my way between the cities."
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