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.
A masquerade! Oh, man, this sounded like so much fun that Greer could hardly contain themselves. They hadn't had a whole lot of time to get together a costume, but that didn't matter too much. On their hands were dark grey gloves--they hadn't bothered to add claws to the tips--and their clothing was entirely beige. On their face was a Blaziken mask, although it was the half-face type mask which only covered the nose and up. If anyone asked, they were a "Reverse Blaziken". Color-swapped since their hair was a pretty close red but that was normally on the body of the Pokemon in question.
Now that they were here at the party, with Maura by their side (who was dressed as a ghost and yes, that's just a basic, generic, white-sheet type ghost), they were excited to have some fun. The Cubone wasn't terribly fond of her costume, but she didn't hate it, either, so she dealt with it. As the two wandered around the party, keeping an eye on everything that was happening around them, Greer started to wonder if the people that put on the party (actually, second thing to wonder whether it was people at all or just the Pokemon inhabiting the place) knew who everyone was. They'd made it anonymous for the party-goers but they wondered... If someone stole during the party, who would be able to catch the person if they fled quickly enough?
Gabe was having too much fun. His Litwick-line mashup outfit had nabbed him a few different dance partners already, and while from a business standpoint he’d come out there to scope out some unsuspecting kids to pillage from, this thought was long gone by then. He was there to dance, make pleasantries with strangers, and enjoy himself. That was the new goal he was succeeding in at the moment. I really need to do this more often…. Do…. All of this— from the ball to the costuming.
Speaking of costuming— Overall, Gabe’s costume was simple but conveyed mostly what he wanted it to: a mashup of the various lamps in the Litwick line. For the top, he had a deep purple dress shirt under a long-unfolded black shall and black gloves. For the bottoms, he had some torn black jeans, stretched out and beaten up from who knew what exactly. His shoes were spray painted blue and purple and had a few extra sparkles stuck to them that glistened with adhesive. His long purple hair had been pulled back into a high ponytail and folded back on itself. Shoved into the band was a small indigo flame piece. Sparkles had been added to it that made it vaguely look fiery one could guess under certain lighting. His mask was simple in design and closer to googles than a mask. It covered the top of his face and was black except for the yellow circles around his eyes. Dangling from his ears were black hoops spiraled about more reminiscent of Lampent’s arms than Chandelure’s.
Of course, in turn Gabe was scoping out the various costumes at the ball. Some were so cute. Others could use a bit of work, perhaps. A particular outfit caught his eye, one that he couldn’t quite figure out just from looking at it where he was. Turning to the vibrant haired person walking around, Gabe also noticed the companion sheet Ghost with him. That one was easier to make up but ah… Heh. Curious. Sauntering over with a dance in his step, he closed in on the other. “Why hello there, might I have this dance?” he smiled.
Another player enters the field! Greer gazed at the young person that had approached them. After taking a moment to look over Gabe's attire, the words he'd said settled into their mind and they did a little spin to see--mostly for show--if he was speaking to someone else. Finding that it wasn't likely, Greer gave a grin back, reaching out to take Gabe's hand. "Why, of course. Nice to meet you, Purple Flame."
Meanwhile, Maura was rolling her eyes at her trainer's antics. She wandered off to avoid being stepped on while her human had their fun. Greer attempted to spin their dance partner by his hand and move them to a better spot as they danced. If they were being honest with themselves, this individual's eyes were hypnotizing. Really, such a deep golden color... Greer could probably watch those eyes for quite a while and not get bored of them. They said nothing more just yet, simply enjoying the music and moving in time with Gabe.
The sudden turn around had Gabe raising a hand to his lips and snickering softly. “I do mean you,” he murmur teased softly grinning all the while. At least he did take his other hand right after. “Nice to meet you too, Red Flame.” If they were going to use monikers like this, might as well establish them fast, heh. From the corner of his eye, he watched as that cue little ghost wandered off. Awe. Hopefully the little friend had someone else to hang with.
He’d had every intention of leading this new dance partner out onto the floor first before settling into a rhythm and beat, but suddenly being spun was— Oh…. A small half-giggle escaped from him. Did this one want to take the lead? Sure sure; he had no qualms with that. As they settled more into a fluid if not exact dance, Gabe fell into the pattern easily enough. “It may be a bit rude of me, but I couldn’t quite figure out what your costume was…. mind giving me a hint?” he asked with a soft teasing tone.
Greer couldn't help but grin at the reactions they were getting. They weren't worried about Maura. She took care of her trainer and herself far better than the trainer themselves could take care of themselves. As the request for a hint hit them, Greer tilted their head and chuckled.
"A hint? Ah, let's see..." Lifting a knee, they took a pose similar to one of the more popular Blaziken poses in the media with their arms extended behind them. After a moment, they settled back into dancing and brushed some hair back with their hand. "No sense in dying this so I had to take a little artistic license." They laughed and gave Gabe's outfit a little bit of a closer look again.
"You seem to have taken some liberties too, but I'm guessing more for the flair than convenience." They waited to see if Gabe could figure out what the costume was based on that information and to see how he'd react to their remark.
The brief gesture had Gabe’s brow raising a little. That wasn’t really a dance move but— Oh, no wait that was the hint, heh, oops. As a fan of Fire types, though, Gabe recognized that signature pose rather quickly. “Blaziken, ooohhh,” he mused a little before chuckling right after. “I take it that red is natural then?” he teased. “Quite thoughtful…”
At the mention of his own style, though, Gabe swayed a bit. “I couldn’t quite pick any member of the Litwick line… they’re all so pretty,” he answered with a bemused expression coming to his features again. “But Chandelure wins out in terms of overall design…” He wanted one of those someday. They were such creepy devious creatures with Fire in their repertoire. It was a shame he didn’t have one already! “It seems our fiery natures burn hot.” Gabe laughed again.
Greer chuckled, nodding their head. "Blaziken, just reversed colors," they agreed as they continued to dance. "Ooh, yes, this is natural. Always draws attention," they remarked with pride. A thoughtful hum left them as Gabe explained how he'd chosen his inspiration. "It does win out. You pull it off well."
A wide grin spread across their face and a full laugh burst from their mouth at the last comment by Gabe. "Oh, it seems so. Perhaps that's the real reason you were drawn to me," they teased. "Interesting how everyone's anonymous tonight thanks to those Pokemon, isn't it?" Maybe Greer was a little obsessed with this anonymity thing. Who knew?
A wide, toothy grin came to Gabe’s features for a moment at the compliment. Yes, yes he did pull it off well, didn’t he? He worked rather hard on it too. Granted, part of that was working on multiple costumes that he planned to swap into throughout the night. Still, he thought Litwick-line came together very nicely. The mention of the real reason they were drawn together earned a laugh. “Maybe so,” he mused back just as playfully.
The mention of everyone being anonymous, though, earned a small hum. “It does make for a fun evening. There’s no pressure to be remembered in the morning…” Which had him suddenly pulling the Blaziken close. “Though I’d say I’ll remember you well enough with such fluid steps as these.” He wasn’t doing any sort of extremely complicated dance step, but the fluidity of it all was nice enough. “Do you dance recreationally?” he mused lightly.
There was a nod in agreement and then a small look of surprise from Greer. They raised their eyebrows at Gabe before grinning and using the closeness to change up their rhythm to something more comfortable for the proximity. "Mm... Well, I keep myself busy, we'll say. Sometimes other activities lead just as well to fluidity and just flow right into dancing easily enough."
Would they say that was due in part to hiding and avoiding recognition on a normal basis? No, certainly not. Usually Greer had to sneak into establishments like this and just pretend like they belonged. Maybe they had practiced dancing somewhere along the way, but it wasn't like they did it every Thursday night or anything.
Some activities? The corners of Gabe’s mouth twitched up. He knew it was because he was a thief and a con artist himself, but he couldn’t help but wonder what those activities were exactly. “Is that so?” he mused back. “What do you do exactly?” Playful, keep it light and playful enough. Though they had just noted that the sense of anonymity was interesting, Gabe found himself asking more personal questions anyways. Then again, making conversation as one danced was just one of his habits anyways.
A soft laugh escaped from Gabe thereafter. “I work odd jobs mostly and train Pokemon,” he mused. “Technically registered as an explorer, but I’ve been a little busy getting things ready before I go out into the wilds.” One couldn’t really register as a criminal without question, after all.
Oh, they had expected the curious response. Greer grinned at their dance partner with mischievousness. At first, they were going to be sly and say something about 'wouldn't you like to know?' but since Gabe offered up some information on himself, the grin settled into a smile. The redhead tilted their head at him interested with interest.
"I take the odd job here and there, too. I'm..." They laughed and shook their head. "I'm registered as a nurse. I suppose I do like making sure Pokemon are happy and healthy, y'know? I wouldn't say that's something I "do" in terms of constant activity or for money, though. I have a few Pokemon but we haven't really started training yet. I'm a bit of a wanderer so I like to just go out there. Until I need money," they admitted with a shrug.
That was a very suspicious grin on his dance partner’s features, and Gabe couldn’t help but grin back. My my are you just messing with me or— Well, he was granted some information in exchange for some of his own.
Wait what now??? Gabe blinked a couple of times surprised. A registered nurse?” Well that wasn’t anything that he had suspected (granted looks could be deceiving but he hadn’t entirely forgotten that suspicious look just now either). Still, he supposed if the Blaziken more of a traveler who happened to get medical training as a means to a monetary end, that did sit well enough with what he’d seen already.
“Fascinating, I’d love to learn medicine, but I don’t really have the patience for it,” Gabe grinned hoping that auditory pun wouldn’t earn too much of a groan. Spinning them both in time with the music, Gabe grinned a little more. “Very admirable… Where did you go to school?” While he wasn’t normally one to pry so much in dancing, something was off about this particular dance partner, and Gabe found himself wanting to know just a little bit more. Heh, heheh. Heh.
"My, my. Aren't you the curious one?" Greer shifted their steps to make the dance just a touch more mobile, starting to move around Gabe as they thought of just how to answer. It wasn't a difficult question to answer, exactly, unless Greer really wanted to mess with the purple-haired one some more. Maybe... just a little.
"I went to school in Mutiga. It's a semi-popular tourist destination due to the warmth and beauty of the islands, but otherwise no one knows of it. Truthfully, I learned very little from school, though." Another grin found its way to Greer's face as they would settle back to one spot on the dance floor. Quite suddenly, they'd reach out to take Gabe's hand. First, it was lifted to Greer's lips and set his knuckles with a gentle kiss before they'd shift their grip and keep the 'Purple Flame' close again. "Why don't you pick a more interesting topic to grill me on?"
A toothy smile flashed across Gabe’s face at the small accusation. “Am I?” he asked back with a seemingly innocent expression. “What can I say? I can’t help but have interest.” If he wasn’t wearing a mask, he would have bat his eyelashes a bit. Instead, he listened carefully as the Blaziken depicted where he was from and all that. Where was Mutiga? He couldn’t remember off the top of his head but was sure a look at a map would make it obvious. A semi-popular tourist destination hmmmm… Oh an island, how pretty. “I seeee,” he hummed along.
Gabe swore he was about to say more, perhaps make a comment on what island life must be like or otherwise. However, suddenly he found his hand taken differently and— Oh my… How bold. The challenge that came thereafter had his breath catching momentarily. He leaned in in turn his gaze locked on the Blaziken’s then. “What could be more interesting than you yourself, dearest?” he challenged back swaying with the dance a little more than before. “Tell me a secret then…” he teased.
Although they really wanted to question just what made Gabe so interested, the redhead decided that it wasn't worth making a fuss over. An amused and delighted grin settled on their face at his reaction to their movements and their eyes lidded slightly at the initial return question. Ah, man, this one could really get them into trouble. They could tell already. That thought, on one hand, made Greer want to make sure to stay in contact after this masquerade and, on the other, wonder if it was better to stay far, far away. "I suppose you could be." Gabe was certainly interesting to Greer, but they were just enjoying this time. With the sensory warping going on, it was highly unlikely that they'd meet each other again outside of here. At least... knowingly.
"A secret," Greer parroted more quietly, probably just loud enough to be heard over the music. Giving it some thought, they started, "That little ghost that wandered off earlier? That's Maura, my Cubone partner." It was less a secret and more information and Greer knew that, which settled a grin on their face. "A better secret, though, is that, once, I ate one flower of this plant called cape periwinkle. Now, I'm going to explain first and foremost that this plant has some medicinal applications but it is not for consumption. I was in bed for three days and my hair thinned out. Never touched the plant again." Greer decided that they'd leave the reasoning behind eating the plant up to Gabe' imagination. No need to tell him it was a dare.
I could be indeed… Gabe smirked softly but said nothing back immediately. I could be very interesting… Of course he was straining to hear what the Blaziken was saying instead, though, searching out some intrigue there instead. He frowned briefly at the mention of the Cubone. Awe, that wasn’t too interesting now was it? Hmmmm well, the second secret was a little more interesting if not a little more foolish, heh. He wasn’t sure what a cape periwinkle was, but that was enough of an explanation as any to make clear what was wrong with it. Heh.
“Sounds like you had a wild ride,” Gabe teased softly. “Hmmmm I’ll share a secret back…” he decided right then and there. “I once swapped an entire party’s coffee with decaf…” he snickered a little. It was harmless fun but none the less fun watching a group of older people fight and bicker even more frustrated than usual with no explanation as to why.
"Indeed," Greer agreed to their experience being a wild ride. As a secret was shared in turn, though, a bemused smile settled on the redhead's face and their eyebrows rose behind the mask. Decaf. It seemed like such an innocent thing, but when people relied on coffee to get them going...? Wow.
"You enjoy your chaos, don't you?" It probably came across as purely teasing, but Greer was only partially teasing and actually found the mischief charming. They looked particularly thoughtful for a moment and then offered a different secret. One that was actually a secret because it was not a dare and was only done for some revenge. "So, as a result of the aforementioned plant, I learned a bit more about tropical plants and what kind of effects they have, right? I found one that can cause drowsiness. I ended up figuring out how to use blow darts and downed a Bewear. Why, you ask? Well, I'm getting there."
A wide grin spread across Greer's face as they gauged Gabe's reaction so far before continuing, "I dragged the beasty all the way to the local meeting building, jimmied the window open and just barely managed to squeeze this Pokemon in there. Again, 'why waste all this effort, Greer?'. I'll tell you! There was to be a meeting in about an hour--maybe two--and I knew the effects of the plant would wear off right about the time people would be arriving for that." It may or may not have been a meeting specifically about the pros and cons and downsizing the local youth center and Greer may or may not have caused this meeting to be postponed indefinitely by causing more of the same such trouble.
A giggle escaped from Gabe. “Who doesn’t like a little chaos in this otherwise mundane life?” he asked back playfully. It’s so boring otherwise…
What came after, though, had a curious look coming to Gabe’s features. Downed a Bewear with darts? Now that sounded like the beginning of some chaos. The Blaziken would see a devious look in those eyes behind the mask. Greer? A name he’d store for later. No, for now, he was…. snickering softly. “How delightful,” he answered with such earnestly one could be forgiven for assuming he was talking about a dinner party. “I’m sure the meeting participants had a fun time.”
Gabe might have been having too much fun. “I once held up a wedding by trapping the Groom’s man and a Bride’s maid in a broom closet,” he laughed. “For no reason, mind you, just because I could.” A pause. “They found them hours later and were furious that they couldn’t have had a rendezvous sometime else. No one would believe them that they were trapped.”
By this time, Maura had found her way back to a distance where she could be seen and she could keep an eye on Greer. She really wasn't sure what to make of this dance partner they'd found, if she was being honest with herself. Greer seemed to like him or at least get along fairly well, but... she could smell trouble. Maybe it was just her trainer themselves, she couldn't be sure.
Meanwhile, the redhead laughed at Gabe's shenanigans. "Just because," they said again and shook their head. "Ah, jeez. I don't think I can top that. I did once hide a banana in my cousin's pack when I knew we'd be going through an area with Aipom. They did not appreciate the attention." He snickered at that and shrugged, admitting, "That one isn't much of a secret because I couldn't help but laugh at them and they knew pretty quickly I'd done something. They didn't find the banana until after, though; the Aipom couldn't get into the pack." They didn't even think about the fact they'd dropped their name like that. They'd be especially surprised if Gabe and them met up later on.
“Yep, just because,” Gabe answered with a small grin in return. The mention of vaguely torturing a cousin with a banana and Aipom trick had him snickering softly, though. “Sounds like we could stir up some real trouble together,” he mused playfully leaning in close for a brief moment.
“You said your name was Greer was it?” A pause as he let that realization come to pass. “Even if this is a masquerade with identities obscured… I think I like you enough… call me Gabe.” Maybe it was the sense of excitement in the air or the mood about this entire conversation, Gabe didn’t know, but he was more than willing to share a few details about himself right then, heh. “Though of course Litwick or Chandelureee is fine too…” he purred a bit.
Mod Call
Whenever you need modding, simply post a link to your thread and a short description of what you need.
Looks like we're all caught up on modding right now!
06
04
00
