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.
The two of them were off, quickly leaving hilly terrain behind for the coastal plains of West Arciel. There was a big hill in the distance where Cedar Town was built atop, but it would be no problem for two Pokémon that loved to run. Even the normally stoic Twilight got carried away, startling Josh with a sharp turn around a thicket to the east of the main road. He made sure to keep the road clear for travelers that needed it. While the Absol was at her fastest in badlands and other waste-like terrains, she was more than capable of going offroad into nearly any type of environment.
Josh took a quick look back to make sure Elliot was okay. He was, but his Ralts appeared to be far less than okay, wrapped around the base of his neck like a winter scarf. "Hold, Twilight," Josh said to his dark-type partner, who was quick to ease up on her speed and walk until Nitro and Elliot had caught up.
By the time the two were alongside each other, the road had curved toward Arciel's beaches. It was a good thing Josh didn't have his mount blast forward - loose terrain, such as the sand before them, was not an Absol's strong point. They relied on being able to claw deep into hard ground to be able to turn quickly. With loose, sandy terrain, there would be a lot less friction. "What do you think? Nothing to it, huh? If you think you can handle it, try having him go faster - he's a great runner over flat ground like this!"
To his east, there was a Lum tree growing on the edge of the grassy field. Lum trees were highly valued in Johto, their fruit used to make natural medicine that could cure many diseases and illnesses in both humans and Pokémon. Most of the low-hanging fruit was still budding - not a surprise, given how early in the year it was. He was, however able to locate a single fruit that was ripened and ready for the taking. "Hey Twilight, see if you can knock that branch loose!" Josh asked of his Pokémon, pointing at a berry just out of his reach.
The Absol closed her eyes, an eldritch glow slowly shifting to a deep purple surrounding the branch that the Berry hung from. With a loud cry that startled the rider, Twilight snapped the branch with a psychic assault she had foreseen not long ago. The rider leaned over to scoop up his prize.
By the time he finished, he thought he heard some strange noises from by the beach. Twilight trotted down the hill, the two of them witnessing Echo playing with a wild Shellder by patting each other with their hands in the Ralts' case, its tongue in the Shellder's case. Twilight started skidding through the sand in her attempt to stop, passing by Nitro and Elliot by a foot or so. Josh couldn't help but laugh. "Wait, what are they doing again?"
Post by Elliot Sunderland on Mar 22, 2020 21:48:18 GMT
Elliot laughed warmly, Josh's own laughter seeming to remind him how ridiculous of a circumstance this w as. "I think they're talking to each other. Or something like that," Elliot said. It wasn't quite communication. Really, it was almost like the two were just acknowledging each others' presences. Yet for two shy Pokemon, that seemed to be a level of baseline communication that they were comfortable with. How would either of the two react to anything further?
The clamshell quickly answered this question by popping open, revealing two wide eyes poking out of a shadowy void. Its tongue lolled in the sand as it looked over to its newly-met friend. Elliot quickly looked through his Pokedex to confirm what it was; Shellder, one of the few marine Pokemon that hadn't crossed over to Hoenn's shores. It's camouflage seemed to be doing a really good job. Elliot hadn't even thought it was a Pokemon at first. He looked down at the goofy Pokemon, a soft smile on his face.
However, the suddenness of its emergence seemed to startle Echo. She flinched away, covering her face with her tiny hands. With how much of her face was already covered by bangs, it wasn't really hard to do that. She waited for a few seconds, then peeked through her hands to see if the Shellder was still watching her. It was, but upon noticing that Echo was looking at it again it slammed its shell shut. Echo stood for a second, thinking, and then hid her face again. Now the Shellder hesitantly pried itself open again, though not was widely as before. The Ralts peeked again, and the Shellder closed again. Now their back and forth was a different sort, the child of peek-a-boo and red light green light, with Shellder trying really hard not to make its watching of Echo too obvious.
This silence persisted until Echo looked down at the ball by her feet, picked it up, and rolled it over to the Shellder. It peered its shell up, looked around for the source, and finally noticed the ball. It began rolling it around with its tongue, closing its eyes in contentment and making a soft humming noise. Echo was quick to join in, swaying side by side in an attempt at moving to the beat, and even Elliot found himself tapping his foot and humming along.
After playing for a bit, the Shellder rolled the ball back over to Echo. Soon the two were rolling it back and forth, laughing and humming at each other. Then the Shellder stuck its tongue under the ball, flicking it into the air. Echo dove for it, but the uncoordinated Ralts tripped over herself and basically ended up tumbling after the ball. Thank goodness they were currently by the coastline. Soft sand made it more amusing than anything. She scampered over to the ball, picking it up and tossing it right at the Shellder in return. The Shellder was more on the ball, catching it in its tongue and returning the toss with surprising proficiency. The game was on! Each toss was a little bit higher and further than the last, and the two Pokemon were laughing warmly all the while. On Echo's latest toss she ran as far back as she could, holding the ball over her head in two, tiny yet mighty hands.
As she did so, she didn't even realize that her hand pressed down on the Dusk Ball's release button.
She swung in a big, dramatic circle, held the ball far behind her head, and then hammer tossed it right at Shellder. It sailed through the air, the clamshell actually hopping back and forth as it prepared to return fire. It leaped up, smacked the ball with its tongue, and then disappeared into red light as it was pulled back into the Dusk Ball. Echo's hands rose to her face in horror as she ran over to the ball, but Elliot? Frankly, it was taking all of Elliot's restraint not to laugh his butt off. The two of them watched as the Dusk Ball started to rock back and forth . . .
Josh couldn't help but laugh with Elliot as he observed Echo and the Shellder playing beach volleyball with a Dusk Ball - admittedly, a much harder task than actual beach volleyball. "Point for Shellder," he joked as the Ralts tumbled into the sand going after a shot well out of her reach. Twilight walked next to Nitro, the two just a few feet apart. She smiled when Josh rubbed his hand across her forehead blade. It was almost like a massage for both his hand and his Pokémon - the blade was soft like packing foam, yet was not malleable. Despite rubbing his hand over the blade's edge several times, it didn't cut him.
After a few minutes, the water-type had opened up a sizable lead, its highly maneuverable tongue proving to be a big advantage. Josh saw Echo winding up for a big throw-in from the sidelines, the Dusk Ball sailing to the Shellder's side with great speed. "She has some arm! This should be a really good rally," the trainer remarked as the sun came out from behind the clouds.
...Except there was no more to that rally. The moment Shellder flicked the Dusk Ball back, it was drawn in, putting up almost no capture resistance. Twilight winced as Josh started laughing a bit too loud and far too high-pitched for a young man. "You could learn some tips from your Ratls on how to catch Pokémon, Elliot!" he practically shouted between breaths, in no control over his volume whatsoever. Twilight shook his body in an effort to get his trainer to quiet down, but to no avail - he could not stop laughing.
Suddenly, the white dark-type reared with great power, sending Josh tumbling off his mount and into the sand behind him. His left hand started throbbing afterward - while he was falling, his Absol had accidentally landed a shallow surface cut across his trainer's left palm! This time, Josh was the one wincing in pain; the cut wasn't very deep, but was it ever painful! Twilight turned around with an apologetic look on her face.
Post by Elliot Sunderland on Mar 23, 2020 3:38:43 GMT
Shake.
Shake.
Shake.
Click.
Elliot looked at the grimy, barely functional looking Pokeball, stunned as it caught the Shellder without any resistance. There was no battle. No status effects. Not even much convincing, outside a little bit of playing around together. As far as Pokemon capture went this was a complete anomaly. And yet here it was, unfolding out before his eyes. Immediately, Elliot started to laugh, half from amusement and half from pure disbelief. "Echo. Echo, holy cow. Did you seriously just- oh, Arceus!" Once Josh started laughing, Elliot's own laughter intensified to match. Caught up in at least two people's overwhelming laughter, Echo found herself joining in, falling on the ground and kicking her legs from the sheer humor of the situation.
Slowly, Elliot started to compose himself, taking a few quick breaths to force himself to stop laughing. "Hoo boy. Bet that camper from earlier'd be eating his words if he saw this," he hummed. "Congrats, Echo! I guess you just caught your first Pokemon!"
It was all entertaining enough. A shame that wouldn't quite last. Joshua had apparently frustrated, startled, or otherwise aggrieved his Absol, because she rather suddenly bucked back and sent him tumbling off of her. Elliot turned and headed over to the duo, Echo picking up "her" Dusk Ball and running after him. "Hey, are you okay?" he asked, concern starting to seep into his voice.
Elliot turned to try and get a good peer at the cut. It was almost like a paper cut: shallow and thin, but boy was it painful looking. He and Echo winced in unison as they both processed the same pained reaction, and Elliot quickly reached into his bag to try and find something to help with. Snacks. His Nintendo Switch. More snacks. A bag of sparkling powder. Some spare clothes, a cosplay included. Still more snacks. All of these he tossed out of his bag and onto the beach, Echo immediately pouncing on the shiniest of the objects and playing with it. Girl had an eye for treasure! But what she didn't have an eye on were first aid kits, and neither did Elliot. Why was this so difficult?
Finally, at the bottom of the bag he found it; a box of bandages, the Pixie Nightmare Girls' Eliza proudly emblazoned on the front of the box. Oh no. Of course Elliot was the kind of guy to have bandages with goofy pictures on them! But at least these didn't have popular cartoon icon Corsola Cool-Hat on them. "Okay. Good. Still have some of these left," he said, shaking the box around to make sure he wasn't just handing out an empty one. "Here. You can have as many as you need. Do you need a hand putting them on? Or are you okay doing it yourself?" At the very least, the bandages could be seen through the translucent paper covering. That meant Joshua could pick his favorite idols out of the box!
There was no chance of this injury looking cool for him, was there?
It seemed Elliot had little luck finding the thing he wanted in his bag, too. This kind of situation, though not urgent, is the primary reason why many travel packs had a dedicated pocket for a first aid kit. Josh saw his new friend digging out bandages after emptying what seemed like the entire bag he carried. He, too, had a portable gaming system with him, but it was the previous generation's system. "I left mine back in Johto," Josh remarked, pointing to the state-of-the-art entertainment device. Its battery life was longer, and it was much easier to do...naughty...things with it, like running unofficial software.
When Elliot offered to help Josh dress his wound, he answered with a modest "I can handle it", grabbing appropriately-sized bandages out of the kit at random. Because the cut was so long, Josh had to overlap several to cover it completely. The two had gotten to it quick enough that the risk of infection would be low, but it would still need to be monitored. If it was anything like a paper cut, it would sting like crazy for a little while before becoming more dull, and eventually no pain.
The two trainers continued across the field at a more mellow speed, Josh minding his injured hand. Another couple of miles down the road, a young girl approached him. "Wow, your Absol is really cool!" She stepped back, letting out a shriek when Twilight stared at her menacingly.
"...That's not how you greet people!" Twilight's expression remained stoic and emotionless. "Don't mind Twilight - she usually keeps to herself. And who are you?"
"Linn. I'm on Spring break this week - I'll be in high school next year!" The Pikachu on her shoulder sounded an excited cry, her yellow tail pointing straight up. "Got time for a quick battle?"
Josh glanced down at his hand a moment, still able to feel a thump from time to time. "I do. Name's Josh - I'm a Pokémon racer, so I'm not sure how good my Pokémon are in battle. I didn't raise them for that." Sandbagger, Josh was. Conveniently left out details that he was taking on the Gym challenge. "Let's make it quick, though - two apiece?" As if on cue, the Pikachu on Linn's shoulder prepared to leap to the ground as the two separated, giving their Pokémon space to battle. Josh reached for his number two Poké Ball, Aslan the excited Litleo ready for his first friendly Trainer battle. Not every Trainer in Arciel was a bloodthirsty criminal after all!
Pikachu wasted no time leaping down from Linn's shoulder, running toward the center of the grassy plain serving as the battleground. Aslan pranced around his half of the field, getting himself worked up and pumped up. He sounded a cute triumphant roar that was interrupted by his foe grabbing his leg. Aslan was able to shake the inches-tall Pikachu off, but not before she loosed a point-blank Thundershock from her red cheeks near his rear left leg joint. Aslan was quick to retort by turning around and burying his ignited fur in the Pokémon's face before the foe retreated.
There was a small rock on the northwest corner of the trainers' battleground. Linn's Pokémon was able to nimbly climb atop it. Aslan tried to chase the tiny electric-type down, but every time he reached a gallop, he tripped and fell. "Remember your battles, Aslan!" Josh shouted to his partner. "What do you do when you can't reach something that's above you?"
Linn smiled - her Pikachu, out of reach of the fire-type's powerful melee attacks, pelted the Litleo with Electro Ball projectiles that seemed to home in on his already wounded rear left leg. Rendered almost completely immobile now, Aslan lowered and shook his head. He didn't like attacking from range, only doing it at Josh's request. A flurry of embers flew from his blazing mane toward the Pikachu, knocking her off the rock. Linn recalled her electric-type, this victory a major confidence booster for Aslan.
That confidence didn't last too long as Linn revealed her second Pokémon - a Mightyena that towered over the brave cub and made even Josh start to sweat. That sweaty nervousness changed to panic when he saw the black quadruped chase down his Litleo, a distressed and distorted roar following. He knew that kind of cry when he heard it - his Pokémon was being electrocuted!
Duaaa duaaa duaaa duaaa duaaa duaaa.
Aslan was fighting purely on instinct, the heat of his red mane his only means to convince the Mightyena to stop chewing on him like a toy. Having seen enough, Josh recalled his injured fire Pokémon, replacing it with a Luxio that made Mightyena the small one. "Blitz, let him come to you!" The Luxio nodded, goading the Mightyena into a charge by surrounding itself with a sphere of electricity that grew in size by the moment.
"Don't let him fool you, Mightyena!" Linn shouted back. "I think that Luxio is angry and needs to cool off!" A chilling mist started to drip from the dark-type's lower jaw just as Blitz finished his preparations for a devastating electric tackle. The two met in the center, both trainers squinting to see which Pokémon came out on top. Josh gasped when he saw Blitz's jaw frozen in place!
The battle over, Twilight dashed toward the badly-injured Luxio, Josh dismounting and desperately sorting through his medical pack. Potion, Antidote, Awakening...not one Ice Heal! In a panic, Josh turned toward Elliot and shouted, "Do you have any Ice Heal? I'm out - I'll reimburse you when we get to Cedar!" By the time he turned around, the girl and her powerful Mightyena were long gone.
Mod note: A Revive and a Potion were used three posts ago but not removed from Josh's inventory. Please remove them. Aslan's level is now 15! {WC: 960} {PC: 7}
Post by Elliot Sunderland on Mar 24, 2020 0:52:42 GMT
Whereas Josh had slowed down to account for his injured hand, Elliot tried picking up the pace some. Nitro seemed all too happy to oblige by. Frankly, his hilariously slow speed had probably left the Skiddo a little bit amped up: when Elliot hopped back on, he was all too happy to take his chance to keep pace with Twilight. To avoid going too fast, this time Echo had settled into Elliot's lap to avoid falling. In her own lap she held the Shellder's Dusk Ball, both her and Elliot looking at it as if the poor Shellder would pop out any moment now.
Surprisingly enough, it stayed put for the entire ride. This was really a clean catch, wasn't it? Echo held the ball up as they road, as if letting it take a peak at the coastline. Elliot was perplexed at first, but quickly broke out into an ear to ear smile. She was mimicking the way that he had shown her around while she was in her egg, wasn't she? He had to force himself not to start fawning over the two of them. The designated driver couldn't be distracted by adorableness!
Besides, there were much more important things to be distracted by. Like battle. Josh had been approached for a battle by a little girl, and on the surface it looked a bit like a mismatch. However, Pokemon were the great equalizer. It didn't matter how old you were, how strong you were, or at times even how clever you were. There was another living, breathing thing in charge of your success, and it didn't care how old you were. Heck, in some ways, the young might've been even better at bonding with them than older trainers! And she had the courage to approach a man riding an Absol, so Elliot knew whatever she had on her team could step up to the plate. He eased Nitro to a stop, petting the Skiddo before hopping off of his back.
He didn't even notice the shadow passing overhead.
As Elliot and Echo were enthralled by Aslan's battle, a Pidove toughed down right behind Echo. It cleared its throat, swelling up its large chest in the process, and tried to get her attention with a boisterous coo. Immediately she recoiled, letting out a shrill cry and hiding behind Elliot's leg. She trembled slightly, occasionally sneaking peeks to see if the new, unnervingly loud Pokemon had left. Upon seeing that he wasn't there anymore, she sighed in relief.
Then she heard a few flaps, followed by another thud. As she turned around, she was practically face to face with that same Pidove. It let out another coo, and this time Echo was left stumbling back in shock. She picked up her ball and flung it right at its face, sending the Pidove sprawling away.
At this point, the Shellder had popped back out of the ball. She looked around, surprised, before realizing that she was somewhere completely different from her usual home! She started to breathe rapidly, tongue flickering as she did so, before nervously slamming her shell shut. She started to shudder, but at least Echo was quick to comfort her. She gave the clam a gentle pat on the top of the shell, babbling sweetly at her until the shuddering came to a halt.
She then hopped onto the poor thing's shell, sitting down and folding her hands in her lap daintily. She was just in time to see Aslan fire a shower of embers from his mouth, knocking out the Pikachu that had been causing him so much trouble. Both she and Elliot cheered, before watching with intrigue as Josh's opponent readied another Pokeball.
Just as Echo was getting into it, she heard another thud. As she turned around, she saw that the Pidove had joined her right on top of the Shellder. It reached under its wing, then fished out a half-eaten box of popcorn to offer to her. She looked at it, shuddering a little, before hesitantly reaching into the box. She picked up a stale puff, turned it over in her hands, and then tossed it away. Immediately the Pidove had ran off, pecking at the ground to nab the offending kernel. A few more tosses, and soon Echo had formed a nice little path away from here. Now she didn't need to be bothered! She ran back to Elliot's side, dragging Shellder along with her by one of her purple prongs.
By the time she returned, Mightyena and Blitz dashed to each other in a final clash of fur and fang. Yet unfortunately, it wasn't the Mightyena who had fallen. Blitz sat frozen solid, a frigid bite from the Luxio's rival leaving it unable to continue the battle. In a panic Elliot started searching through his bag, Echo practically diving into the bag to help him look, but none of them could find a single Ice Heal. "N-no, I don't have any!" he said, voice trembling with worry. "Goodness, I didn't even think there'd be Pokemon who could freeze over here . . . crud, crud, crud!"
Echo snapped into action, unzipping the hoodie that she had been nestled into for most of the day. She took it off, dragging it behind her, and then charged right for Blitz! She flung it onto the Luxio, then sighed in relief. Clearly, this problem was solved.
Or, you know. Not.
Elliot wasn't quitr ready to leave it at that. As he racked his brain for anything to work with, inspiration hit him square in the gut. "Right!" he said, as if snapping out of a daze. "Your Electrike. Could standing near him while he Sparks warm Blitz up? Like an electric blanket? If that doesn't work, maybe we can use the electricity to fry some dry sticks. Make some kind of little fire. Or maybe . . . " Oh no! There he goes rambling again!
After a hard-fought battle by both sides, Josh found himself with a frozen Luxio and not one Ice Heal. Elliot's panicked rambling didn't help him at all - if anything, it put him and the rest of his Pokémon even more on edge. Apparently, Echo was on edge, too, slapping a hoodie over the Luxio's frozen head.
Josh scowled at first upon hearing Elliot's suggestion to fry open the ice. "You want to cause an electrical fire?!" he shouted back, perhaps a bit too loudly and harshly. He impulsively released Aslan, who was still hyperventilating from the nasty battle. "Aslan, I need you to thaw out Blitz!" The Litleo slowly walked next to his frozen feline friend, his fur glowing a dim red. An ember or two popped out of his mane before he collapsed from exhaustion - enough to create a Berry-sized hole in the ice. He recalled the passed-out fire-type.
That's it! That Lum tree really did save his Pokémon's skin! Why didn't he think of that sooner! Frantically taking his bag off and flipping it to the other side, he took out one of the Lum he found earlier and force-fed the electric-type the fruit. It was slow, but Josh heard cracks start to form in the ice. "Is it...working?"
Post by Elliot Sunderland on Mar 25, 2020 3:38:31 GMT
Elliot flinched away at Josh's sudden shout. So, too, did Echo, who quickly scampered to hide behind her trainer's leg. "N-no, I didn't mean it like that!" he stammered. "Like, especially not directly on the ice, since that could hurt all and that. But, I mean, just like setting up a campfire or something. Thaw it out slowly, then have Shellder put it out or something." As he tried to articulate his idea further, he ended up just averting his eyes. "Y-you're right. It probably wasn't a good idea in the first place." After this he fell quiet, biting his tongue on any further additions to the situation.
That said, biting his tongue got a lot harder when he saw Josh's own solution to this conundrum. He went right to the injured fire type. While Elliot had remembered the Litleo was in Josh's party, he also knew that it was very worn out from the fight mere minutes ago. He opened his mouth to speak, but remembering how his last idea was received shied away from actually doing so. Instead, he watched nervously as the lion shuddered forward, letting out barely any embers before going down. Elliot cringed sympathetically, taking a hesitant step closer. "Is . . . is he going to be okay?" he finally asked. More questions burned at the back of his throat, but he forced them down. Josh's Pokemon had just gotten hurt, right? He didn't need to say anything else to make this worse, surely.
Yet his questions didn't go entirely hidden. Feeling his thoughts, Echo gave his leg a gentle squeeze. Was she trying to further shy away from the negativity? Or was she trying to comfort her troubled trainer?
After a second's comfort, Echo turned away and promptly bumped into an unseen figure. She stumbled back, looking up just in time to see that very same Pidove from earlier. It tilted its head, then started hopping around in circles to try and investigate Echo further. Needless to say, the timid Ralts wasn't very happy with this invasion of her common space. She let out a frustrated huff, folding her arms and sitting down in place. Maybe if she just ignored this problem, it'd go away.
The problem didn't go away. Instead, it hopped behind her, leaned down, and plucked the pouch of glimmering powder right from her hand! That wasn't fair! She'd borrowed that from her trainer fair and square! She jumped up to grab onto the Pidove as it tried to take off, the pigeon Pokemon struggling as it bumbled through the air. They couldn't really get far off of the ground, but Echo let out an alarmed cry nonetheless.
Elliot, who had been carefully watching as Blitz started to thaw, quickly turned to focus on his Pokemon. "Hey! Put her down!" Elliot said, turning to try and chase after the Pidove. As he did, he made sure to look and call over his shoulder. Elliot may've been concerned with his traveling partner's methods, but he didn't want the older trainer to think that he was abandoning him! "I'll be right back!" It hustled away as fast as it could, looking over its shoulder to blow a raspberry at Elliot. A shame it forgot to watch the airspace in front of it! It hit into a tree with a solid CLONK!, then spiraled down to the ground.
The collision site was a mess. Echo and the Pidove were sprawled in a dazed pile, surrounded by leaves that they had knocked off of the tree and coated from head to toe in the glimmering powder. The bag had been completely ripped in half, likely from the two struggling with each other to claim ownership over it. As the Pidove tried to take to the air again, a hard, yellow fruit landed right on its head. Then, as it laid there in the pile of powder, a second one followed after the first. It's eyes spiraled; was it finally down for the count?
Elliot didn't pay the fruit much mind, however. Right now, he was just trying to keep up with the two of them! He dug through the mess to try and find his partner, wondering how so much powder could have possibly fit in such a tiny bag!
Party Changes Echo - Lv 3 Ralts - 4/5 Energy Echo has been shinified! Please remove one Shiny Powder.
Blitz's jaw was still motionless, as it should be - Aslan had only melted enough of the block of ice freezing the Luxio's mouth shut to be able to administer a Lum. He at first ignored Elliot while force-feeding the Electric-type the remedial Berry, recalling them both when it finally went down. "All I was trying to do was thaw Blitz out enough to get a Lum berry to do the rest of the work. You think I'm a nurse or something?" Josh snapped back.
Elliot was right, though. If Aslan wasn't in serious condition before, he was now. Bringing them out of their Poké Balls now would almost certainly put them at great risk until the two reached Cedar's Pokémon Center. He argued with Elliot for a couple more minutes before the young man's last point hit him. "...You're right." That was two mistakes he had made just now, one that put himself in peril. That wasn't nearly as big of a deal as putting both Blitz and Aslan in unnecessary jeopardy.
Josh climbed back onto his Absol, but couldn't bring himself to his normal. He held his head low, Twilight rolling her eyes as his head bounced her soft forehead blade out of the way. She shook her head, walking north again. Nitro followed at a leisurely shortly afterward, not wanting to get lost. The rider simply stared into Blitz's Poké Ball, watching for signs of the jaw area thawing, completely unaware of a wild Qwilfish paddling up the river.
When Nitro saw Josh was in such a solitary mood, he turned around toward and let out a cry to get Elliot's attention. He shifted his head northward, pointing his left horn in Josh's direction to hint that his journeying partner might be leaving without them.
Post by Elliot Sunderland on Mar 26, 2020 3:33:20 GMT
Elliot tried not to let Josh snapping back towards him get at him. Especially not when he had a Pokemon to find. Fortunately, it wasn't very long before a nubby horn popped from the pile. Elliot let out a sigh of relief as he saw the familiar orange appendage-
Wait, orange? He was pretty sure Ralts horns were red.
The pile shook a little bit more, Echo emerging in full. She looked around, shaking her recently-blued hair and wondering why Elliot was looking at her with wonder in her eyes. She tilted her head in confusion, dull powder rolling from her head all the while. Frankly, Elliot didn't even know the powder did that! His mother had given it to him as a good luck charm for when he was to start his journey. Arceus, that had been ages ago, hadn't it? It had been there so long he'd almost forgotten it! Yet now that good luck charm, the last remnant of support he had from family, lay in a scattered, useless pile on the floor. Maybe that'd be something to be sad about. But why would Elliot waste the energy mourning a pouch of powder? Now his starter had become even more distinctive, and she looked ridiculously adorable in the process!
Who needed some handful of shiny dust when she could be his good luck charm now?
Elliot picked her up, hugging her in his excitement. However, as he prepared to start gushing over her new look, he instead decided to bite his tongue. That got an audible sigh from the Ralts; while she may've been rapidly warming up to her big-hearted trainer, she still wasn't ready for the level of excitement he could reach! "You look adorable, Echo," he concluded. "C'mon, let's get your hoodie back now that Blitz is thawing. Complete the look for you, eh?"
It was a little bit of sunshine that made up for the dour tone the rest of the journey threatened to take. As Elliot returned from his check-in and reclaimed his hoodie, a quiet "You're right" from Josh greeted him. A bit of worry flashed over Elliot's face as he heard his traveling companion's reserved tone. "Hey, I didn't mean . . ." he started, but the words vanished in a puff of awkwardness as he glumly slid onto his Absol's back. And so he was off, slowly walking into the distance.
As Nitro bleated for Elliot's attention, he realized that the Pokemon rider wasn't going to be stopping and waiting for him. Considering that Josh was on a rather fast Pokemon and Elliot was left with a permanent limp, this wasn't exactly a great position to be in. Nevertheless, Twilight's current pace was little more than a slow walk. Maybe if Elliot started now, he'd be able to try and right this situation. "W-wait!" he stammered, quickly scrambling forward. Maybe not a good idea. The kid damn near tripped over his feet in the process. Nevertheless, he was soon a steady bit behind Josh.
"A . . . are you okay?" he asked, clutching his walking stick a little more tightly from worry. "I'm sorry if something I said hurt you. I didn't mean it, you know? I just worry sometimes."
A flash of light caused Josh to lift his head. Was that the sun? He peered upward, and it was! The sun was finally starting to cut through the thick cloud cover, and its warmth seemed to soothe Josh's emotions as well as his body. Twilight smiled for the first time all day - probably the only time she would, too.
Once Elliot had caught back up, Josh heard him start to say something, but he trailed off. Nitro had caught up, too. He was unsure why his friend wasn't just staying atop the Skiddo instead of walking, especially when it seemed he was having difficulty doing so. Josh assumed he was using the Pokémon for support from time to time.
Once the two were alongside each other, Josh heard Elliot loud and clear, seemingly worried about him. "It wasn't you," he answered. "I get irritated when I see people put other people and Pokémon at risk needlessly. I care. I really do. I also don't like seeing people act without thinking. Yet...what I did was both at the same time."
Josh's eyes shifted to Blitz's Poké Ball from time to time, still in his off hand. "But thank you. It means a lot. And would you look at that - we're almost there," he pointed toward a wall and gate in the distance. "Not more than a few miles now."
Josh turned his head toward Elliot as Twilight waded through a shallow stream. "...Is that make-up on your Ralts?" he asked, noticing the lighter-colored horns as well. "Would that make you a Contest trainer? Those are really cool to watch, depending on the theme, but I don't think I could do it very well. They never really took off in Johto."
Josh felt Twilight come to a sudden stop, Nitro sounding an affectionate cry several times. The Absol moved back and forth, blocking Nitro from passing west along the stream. Close to where the flowing water ran off into the sea was a sparkling Finneon making graceful jumps out of the water. Nitro had hearts in his eyes. "...What's gotten into you?" he looked down at the grass Pokémon.
Post by Elliot Sunderland on Mar 26, 2020 22:07:16 GMT
Elliot sighed sadly. "You didn'-" he started, although he knew before he even finished talking that it wasn't really the truth. "I mean. It isn't like you were trying to, you know? You just got scared because one of your Pokemon was hurt, and wanted to fix it no matter what. I know Aslan knows that. Heck, he could've said no, but he stepped right up anyway, you know? He probably had the same thought you did.
Maybe talk to him when he's feeling better. Even if he understands, I bet he'd appreciate the check-in." Now where was all this hiding in that timid kid earlier? It seemed the right topic could really get Elliot stepping up to the plate.
He was a lot less knowledgeable about the mechanics of the powder that Echo had gotten herself covered in. "I don't . . . think it is. I mean, Ralts sometimes come in that color, although really rarely," he pondered. "Maybe it's kind of like how a Fire Stone turns an Eevee into a Flareon? Except just kinda turning a Ralts into a different Ralts. It was a good luck charm from home, a long time ago. But I think this is really the best use I could've had for it."
Did that make him a contest trainer? A coordinator? Frankly, he wasn't even sure. "I still need to think about what I even want to do on this journey," he admitted, blushing a little from the embarrassment of it. "I mean, maybe? They're pretty popular around home, so it's not like I've never considered it. But I don't think I could really say for sure yet."
Maybe he'd consider that next step of his journey soon. But first, there was a block in the road. Literally, in fact, thanks to Twilight blocking Nitro's path. The Skiddo started bleating and staring amorously at the nearby river: what was even going on here? Elliot stepped around to try and take a look at the river, at which point he noticed a butterfly-like fish making several graceful leaps. As Elliot looked to Nitro, he noticed the Skiddo's dazed eyes pretty much swirling to try and follow its movements. "I, uh . . . I think it might be because of this fish?" he asked, confusion audible in his voice.
Of course, Nitro wasn't the only one who's eye had been caught. A small, grey cat peeked out from the bushes, watching with territorial intent as Elliot went back to the rest of the group. When he was a safe distance away the cat sighed, resting its head in its paws as it went back to watching its fishy muse.
"A little late to check on him now," Josh answered, lifting Aslan's Poké Ball from his belt and peering inside. "He'll be fine as long as he sleeps in his Ball, but he really needs medical attention before we can do anything together." Blitz's mouth area was slowly thawing, the Lum doing its work. It was no miracle cure, though--unlike Ice Heal, which acted in minutes, Lum took hours. Even so, Blitz had other wounds. He still had Illumina, his Chinchou, at his side...and Twilight herself, if his need got that dire. "I'm sure they'll understand more when they grow up and evolve."
Elliot's explanation of how a powder could turn a Ralts into a different Ralts puzzled Josh. "The closest anecdote I have is back home, in a lake called the Lake of Rage in the foothills of sacred Mount Blackthorn, there was once a red-scaled Gyarados whose very presence was forcing the Magikarp in the lake to evolve. Obviously hundreds of Gyarados can't exist in one place without wrecking the ecosystem. Once the Rangers captured it, the Magikarp stopped evolving. From what we understand, the strange coloration is an exceedingly rare genetic mutation. But for a mere powder to force such a mutation...?" He trailed off. Technology this revolutionary couldn't be kept a secret...could it?
The hearts in Skiddo's eyes were mirrored alongside the Finneon at the end of the stream, Nitro now raising his hooves and scratching at Twilight. The Absol's stoic face changed to a death glare directed at the grass-type. "Attract. Sorry buddy, sorry Elliot, but--ow!" he cried, rubbing against the bandages the wrong way as he reached for the Skiddo's Poké Ball to return him. He shook his hand wildly for a few seconds. "Ow...!" After a few deep breaths, he relaxed. "I'll be alright. If you want to ride the rest of the way to town, you'll have to jump on Twilight's back, behind me." He moved the white quadruped's gear forward as much as possible without making her uncomfortable.
Post by Elliot Sunderland on Mar 27, 2020 3:09:58 GMT
Elliot nodded, a soft smile on his face. "We all will. That's the point of this journey, right?" he half-said, half-asked. He was still figuring out what exactly it meant to be a Pokemon Trainer, but he was already getting a solid taste of what it meant to be independent. Life would go on around him, and he'd never be able to get a handle on all of it, but he'd always be able to do what he felt was personally right in the process. And if he ever failed, through his fault or his own? Well, that was another chance to learn.
Maybe his brother had the wrong idea about what all of this meant, after all.
He shook the thought as it crept into his head. Besides, there was more fun stuff to speculate about! "Is it any stranger than a stone making a Pokemon evolve?" Elliot asked. "I mean, for all I know this is some kind of sand made out of a stone like that. But I'm not really sure. Maybe if I can find where more, I could get someone who knows about this stuff to tell me about it." He shrugged. "Thank goodness the Gyarados was calmed, though. I hope the poor things were okay . . ."
Elliot nodded. As good of a Pokemon as Nitro was, he seemed a little too distracted to give a proper rider right now. He nodded, heading up to the Absol and offering a gentle stroke to her flank. He didn't want to startle the poor thing by suddenly climbing on without giving her a chance to get used to him! At least the Absol seemed large enough to fit the two of them, and fortunately Elliot was quite lightweight.
The grey cat's fur flared as it saw the Skiddo across the river start acting up, but it looked quite relieved when Josh returned it to its Pokeball. And when the whole group of them got ready to leave? Oh, that was just perfect! It watched from the bush, eyes wide and head nestled in its hand. Now it could appreciate the Finneon it admired from afar, in perfect peace and quiet.
Unfortunately, it wasn't to be. Her larger and more obvious audience gone, the Finneon ducked beneath the waves and swam up river. The Espurr watched, heartbroken, but didn't dare follow.
Josh's hand was okay after a minute or so - perhaps he just rubbed against something the wrong way and struck a sensitive nerve. "It took a lot of Rangers to deal with it, but they eventually got the population back under control. Wouldn't expect many to have heard of it outside Johto, though - it didn't make anything but regional headlines."
By the time the Finneon commotion was over with, the sun was about ready to set. Even with an Absol, adept at traveling by night, it would be needlessly dangerous. That, and cold. She didn't react too much to being pet at her flank, though it was impossible to tell her true emotions. If she was a card player, no one would be able to get a read on her expressionless face.
The two of them mounted up, Josh took a deep breath. "Now, Twilight is faster than Nitro...and by a lot. I'll try to ease you into it as much as possible, but she's a great runner. Almost catlike." The road before them had a few gentle curves, but it was mostly straight with a little bit of an uphill at the end. The white-furred Pokémon entered a brisk trot down the road, already getting close to how fast Elliot had been pushing the Skiddo.
Josh slowly raised the tension on her gear, gradually drawing into her a jog where the two could feel her powerful strides. He drew the Pokémon a little off the road, Twilight tearing up short grasses around her as she cut into them with her sharp claws mid-run. "Alright, Elliot, hold on tight!" Josh warned the younger traveler as he guided his Absol back onto the road. "Yah!" the racer cried, squeezing his legs into Twilight's sides for a brief moment.
With cries from both Pokémon and rider, the Absol bolted forward into a swift run, the wind around them seemingly howling as the beaches and grasses flew past. In her full run, the riders were a bit lower to the ground, the dark-type bouncing the two up and down rapidly with her long, quick strides. "Wahoo!" Josh couldn't help but shout.
Post by Elliot Sunderland on Mar 28, 2020 1:43:49 GMT
Elliot didn't expect this to be too bad. Sure, some Pokemon could run really fast. But Josh seemed to have a good control of his Pokemon, and so far Twilight wasn't going too much faster than Nitro. Surely this was just a little demonstration of the kind of potential that Pokemon had. Go a bit fast, and make it to town by the end of sundown. Easy!
It was only when Twilight kicked it into second gear that Elliot realized how serious Josh was.
Just in case, he returned Echo and his newfound Shellder to their Pokeballs. They weren't quite ready for speed of this magnitude yet, even if Echo seemed to be warming up to the idea quite a bit. She let out a slight huff of disappointment, but Elliot made sure to give the Pokeball a soft hug before tucking it into his pocket. "Next time, I promise," he assured the Ralts.
He was just in time, too. Once his team was safely tucked away, Josh warned Elliot to hold on tight. This time, he did so without question. He didn't want to squeeze the poor Pokemon rider too hard, but at the same time he didn't want to end up falling off! He started off holding on loosely, just to avoid being too obtrusive, but upon Twilight picking up enough speed decided to just cling to Josh for dear life. He turned his head and squeezed his eyes shut to avoid getting his ass kicked by the wind, took a deep breath, and prepared for the ride.
The wind rushing through his hair was cool and refreshing in a way that he had never experienced before. The sounds of the world all rushed and melted into a howl that practically surrounded him. His heart pounded with each footstep that the Absol took. The scent of diced grass and sea breeze was always a step behind him, as if smell itself couldn't keep up with Twilight's pace. On the rare moments that Elliot sneaked an eye open, he could see that the world was little more than a blur. It was equal parts disorienting and exhilarating. While Elliot was fairly certain he couldn't be heard at this pace, he still had to try and make himself known.
"This is amazing!"
Party Changes Echo - Lv 3 Ralts - 4/5 Energy Joule - Lv 6 Dedenne - 4/5 Energy Murex - Lv 3 Shellder - 5/5 Energy
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