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.
Three optional icebreaker questions are offered: 1. If you could be granted three wishes, what would they be? 2. What is the cheesiest pickup line you have heard? 3. If your friends compared you to a Pokemon, which Pokemon would it be?
Feel free to discuss any of these or use your own icebreaker!
[attr="class","rae"] Rae surveyed the patrons at the event as she entered the room. Only a few were really her type, and she was going to be rather annoyed if she didn't get paired with at least one of them. Even if this event had been free, it wasn't worth her time to get dressed up and show if she only got paired with losers.
She wore a long dress with a strapless black top half and a flowing ombre bottom, gradienting to shades of red and gold and purple. [Reference] Her hair was loose on bottom with the upper front pulled into a ponytail cascading over it, with the ponytail held by some fancy colorful flowers. As always, she wore a fair amount of makeup as well.
Taking a seat, she looked at the card on the table. Adian, huh? 26? At least she didn't get paired with some kid.
As a redhead approached, she began sizing him up. Not the hottest guy here by any means, but maybe kind of cute. It depended what came out of his mouth.
Adian had done his best to dress up for this event, a feat that hadn't been so easy considering his lack of funds up to this point. He had dipped into his savings to get a nice grey button down and a pair of black slacks. The man had even gone so far as to as watching PokeTube videos on how to style his hair in such a way that made it appear he didn't spend his entire time in Arciel out in the wild with a camera around his neck.
Upon arriving to the restaurant a mixture of nerves and excitement hit him. So many people were here, being shuffled to their seats. Many were quite attractive and as he was pointed towards table number seven the man couldn't help but inwardly grin at his date.
The perso before him was stunning, her dress long and flowing and quite complimentary of her long hair. It took him a moment to realize he was blatantly swearing. Awkwardly he cleared his throat and sat down, hoping she hadn't noticed. Glancing down at the name card in front of him that introduced his companion as Rae and her age.
"Pleasure to meet you, Rae. A lovely name for such a lovely lady." Adian said, hoping he seemed as confident and charming even when his insides did a little flip of nervousness. "I'm Adian, heh, you know that of course." He said, glancing down at her own place card. "Professional Pokemon Photographer.. Perhaps you've seen some of my work?" He began, unsure of where to begin but diving into his real passion feet first - photography.
"I've been published in National PokeGraphic a few times." Adian continued, unaware that he had definitely crossed the long between sharing and bragging. Before he broke into a tirade about his work he stopped, "And uh, what do you do Rae?" OOC: Yay~ This is super exciting :) Rae Kempler
[attr="class","rae"] Oh? His first words earned her approval and a faint smile. Not bad at all. "The pleasure's all mine," she said politely, though she was pretty sure it was more his in truth.
Hm. A photographer, huh? She supposed that had some potential. "I don't really read Pokegraphic," she admitted with a shrug. "But good for you I suppose." It did say he was good at what he did, and he hadn't spent too long rambling about that fact. She appreciated him being to the point.
"I just graduated high school last year," she explained, "So I've been taking some time off, and doing a little Pokemon training in my spare time I suppose." She smiled. "I'm particularly fond of moth and butterfly Pokemon." She shifted in her seat, getting a little more comfortable. "At any rate, I'll probably start looking for a job in the next few months."
Hmm... She propped her chin on her fist as she looked across the table at him. "What would you imagine a girl like me doing, I wonder?"
When it appeared his line of work was well received he couldn't quite help but sit up straight with his shoulders squared and a a wry grin on his face. It was a shame she hadn't read the magazine, Adian thought to himself, briefly debating on whether he should whip out his phone and show her the pictures as Rae continued to talk about herself.
When she mentioned just leaving high school Adian nodded along. "Some time between school and the working world is always wonderful. It's a great time to explore who you are as a person." He said thoughtfully. When she mentioned her favorite type of pokemon he couldn't help but beam.
"What a fantastic choice in pokemon! Anything with wings is where it's at," He enthused, "I'd give anything to be able to soar over the regions. I envy flying and bug types, for sure."
And with her next question he paused, leaning back in his seat to really take her all in. He tried to think of something sauve, would saying she looked like she would become a brilliant professor be logical or even cute? Maybe just saying she fit the bill as an every day pokemon trainer? No, girls didn't like to be called average. So Adian went with his first real and honest thought, "I think you'd fair very well as a model." He said with a determined nod.
"I've worked with quite a few when I've been lucky enough to partner with some of the designer companies who launch pokemon friendly clothing brands and you really have the look and confidence of all of those girls." Adian explained, "A certain air about you," As he talked he would hold up his hands pretending to take a picture before chuckling at himself.
"Is that something you could ever envision yourself doing?" OOC:Rae Kempler
[attr="class","rae"] "Mmmm." She nodded when he said he envied Bug and Flying types. She identified more with the transformation and beauty aspects, but being able to fly would also be quite lovely. Anything that offered a sense of freedom would be great.
She smirked a bit as he gave his answer. It was a good one. "Awfully shallow, judging me just by looks, don't you think?" she teased, letting that hang in the air for just a moment or two before laughing. "No, I'm kidding. I think modeling would be quite fun." She hummed as she thought about it. "We need more trans models out there representing, too." While the words were offered casually, she did closely watch his reaction just in case.
"Are you saying you'd like me to model for you some time, Mr. Photographer?" she teased shortly after.
"Oh, no I didn't mean it like that!" Adian replied quickly, for a moment his heart sinking at what he assumed would be his first blunder of the evening. Of course she quickly replied with a laughter and an affirmation she was teasing and he allowed himself to relax his shoulders and put a smile back on his face. He had never truly been the best with people he found attractive or even in date settings and the few people who had formed a relationship with him despite that were short lived. He had come into this event a confident man but couldn't help feel out of his element.
With he next comment he paused and cocked his head ever so, giving her a once-over without realizing it. She was trans? He hadn't even noticed. Nor did he care, to be perfectly honest. Parts over hearts had been his motto from the day he hit puberty and began to notice the world as something more than just the farm he had grown up on.
Suddenly he was beaming. "You're damn right we do!" Adian replied enthusiastically, "Breaking the norm is my mission. Hell, my most famous photo wasn't exactly the cutest baby types frolicking in a field. The whole reason I traveled to Arciel was to catch a glimpse of some of the strange colored pokemon that I've heard rumors of... Not shinies, but the other ones..."
He caught himself rambling and stopped in time to hear her next question. "Hmm, maybe I am," He practically purred, eyes wandering her face intently. "You've got such stunning eyes and in the right dramatic lighting you'd be a star, if you'd humor me that is." He chuckled, switching from a rather serious tone to a more light hearted one. OOC:Rae Kempler
[attr="class","rae"] She'd snickered lightly when he took her teasing seriously. It was always fun to make nice boys squirm like that.
His reaction was maybe a little over the top, but overall positive, still, and she appreciated it. She was less about 'breaking the norm' in general than she was just wanting to see more role models for herself, but that wasn't to say she was against bucking convention either. "Oh? Yeah, I've seen a few of those strangely colored Pokemon around. I don't own any myself, but they're certainly interesting." Worth coming to a new region for? Well, if that was his priority.
Still, she grinned as he went on. "You think?" She chuckled. "In that case, I'd love to pose for you." Pulling out her phone, she asked, "Why don't you give me your number so we can get in touch some time?"
Once she had that, she backtracked a bit. "You said your most well-known photo wasn't baby Pokemon, but what was it, by the way?"
At her comment about seeing the strangely colored pokemon he had to bite his tongue from immediately jumping on her and demanding to know where. It took all his willpower to remain natural as she transitioned into getting her phone out. If she was so willing to give him her number now perhaps she'd be interested in chatting about those pokemon later. Patience, Adian reminded himself. He hadn't come here for the pokemon.
As he was about to give her his number she asked the million dollar question and the man found himself beaming. With his phone in hand he looked down, "It'd be easier to show you actually," He murmured, quickly swiping through his gallery to find the photo. Making it full screen he placed it down before her.
In the middle of the photo was an Absol standing amid what seemed very recently burned down section of forest. From the viewer's point of view it was clear this photo had been taken from someone creeping on the ground nearby. While the pokemon face partially away you could see tears running down its' cheeks. With the intense lighting the shimmer of water was highlighted by the sun. The picture blatantly screamed one thing - devastation.
"Absol are considered a bad omen, where they go disaster follows. I happened to be out shooting and followed the smoke to find this guy right here. I can't pretend to know the story behind this but it was tragic." Adian explained, his tone that of sadness. "I actually sat on this picture for a long time, not sure if I wanted it published but I saw reports about some wild fires in the area and felt this picture was a good look into the misery the fires caused."
Looking away from his phone and back up at Rae he smiled. "I donated a lot of the purchase money from that to help replant trees in that section of Sinnoh. It only felt right." OOC:Rae Kempler
[attr="class","rae"] Wha... Adian why wouldn't you go ahead and just rattle off your number before getting distracted like that? How annoying, she thought. Oh well.
She looked at the picture, and frowned. Poor thing. Though the more he explained, the more it kind of felt like he'd exploited a tragedy. Oh... Oh he replanted trees? That... should have helped make it better, and she understood that. But something in her also said 'goody goody', and felt a little offput. Damn, Rae. Couldn't let people win for losing, huh?
"I see... It's a lovely photo," she said politely. "But about that phone number?"
Not quite the reaction the man had hoped for but he didn't let it phase him. That photo tended to get mixed reactions and Adian had been hoping she'd ask more about it like many had. "Oh!" He replied suddenly as if remembering the actual reason he had brought a phone out to begin with.
With an embarrassed chuckle he would take her phone in hand and enter his contact info, "Adian - Photographer" into her phone. "There we go." He said, passing it back with a grin. "I can't wait to hear from you! This has been a real pleasure getting to meet you Rae. Hopefully we'll get a chance to meet up again soon." OOC:Rae Kempler I think now is a good stopping point since it's about to be the 8th? If you'd like to do a wrap up post you're welcome to though :3 Thanks for letting me get a chance to write Adian out in a social setting, this has been a lot of fun for me!
[attr="class","rae"] Rae took his phone when he took hers, putting in her contact info as simply "Rae Kempler". When she saw his, she regretted not putting "Model" after it, but oh well, heh. "It's been lovely to meet you as well," she said.
"Is it getting to be about that time already?" She looked at the clock. They still had about a minute-- not long, but significant enough in the context of speed dating-- but she didn't mind calling it here, honestly. She'd probably be getting back in touch to see how some modeling played out, but he wasn't the most engaging person to just talk to, and the conversation felt like it had wound to its natural conclusion. She could take the moment to run to the bathroom and make sure her hair still looked nice for her next date or something. "I'll see you around~" she said, then she got up and headed off.