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.
Post by Elliot Sunderland on Mar 29, 2020 20:47:38 GMT
How long had he been running for? Frankly, Elliot couldn't remember. He couldn't even remember why he was running in the first place. He had told his family that he'd just be out with friends, maybe for a week or two. His mother was too busy to question it. Isaac was just happy to hear that Elliot had been making some. With how withdrawn Elliot had been over the last year, it was a relief. With such a perfect excuse, what would Elliot have to fear? And yet, as soon as he was at the Ash City limits, he started running.
Maybe he was just ashamed of what he'd said.
Elliot had fled through the Weeping Forest, through the surrounding routes, all without ever looking back. His nights tended to be sleepless camp-outs. His days were spent slowly creeping along, keeping the shadier parts of the route to avoid being ambushed by wild Pokemon. He had a few close calls, a few scares. Heck, he spent his first night on the road clutching his phone to his chest, wondering if he should just text an apology to his brother and come running back home. Yet, if they knew what had happened, how could he ever forgive himself? He had set himself on this path, and he needed to commit to it.
When Elliot finally arrived in Birch City, it was with a shaky heart and a firm resolve in his eyes. He practically flopped against the opening gate, releasing a breath he that had held for nearly three days now. He closed his eyes, muttering a few reassurances to himself. This was going to be okay. He'd finally have his chance to prove himself. He could do this. He knew it! He breathed in deeply, breathed out softly, and let his eyes slowly lift open. If he was going to face these first steps, he wanted to do so with a clear conscience.
Of course, Elliot wasn't the only one taking his first steps here in the Arciel Region. In fact, another fated arrival was scheduled for any second now . . .
Post by Fayne Abernathy on Mar 29, 2020 21:20:05 GMT
"You okay, kid?" was the first thing to escape from Fayne's lips as she approached the boy. He didn't appear to be much younger than herself, maybe a two or three year difference. Even still, she hadn't meant for her words to sound so demeaning. They just happened to come out that way. It looked like this stranger had been running for his life, but a glance over his shoulder revealed that there was nothing more than an path, devoid of any human, animal, or Pokemon. Fayne really didn't have time to stop and concern herself with others' problems; what she did need to do was find some place to stay until she found an apartment or townhouse. The suitcase, backpack, and small stack of boxes labeled "kitchen," "bedroom," and "junk" proved as much. And yet, something deep down inside her forced her to reach out to the winded boy. Call it a deep-rooted sense of justice or plain procrastination, but the fact remained that she had stopped and she wasn't going anywhere until she was positive this guy was alright. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were being chased by a load of Absol."
TAG ▸Elliot Sunderland NOTES ▸ It only took me dragging you to this site for us to finally roleplay together -- and no, our Discord RP doesn't count :)
MADE BY VEL OF GS, WW + ADOX 2.0
"Hey mom, I wrote you some soft songs. And tell dad I'm just fine. We had to choose, we made our moves, and now we gotta go." - ♪
Post by Elliot Sunderland on Mar 29, 2020 21:40:55 GMT
Elliot had prepared for many circumstances upon arriving into town. But being ambushed by someone almost the second he had gotten to the gate? Okay, he did not see that coming. He startled a little as he heard a concerned voice from behind him, only to turn around and see a girl carrying a multitude of boxes. She had a stern, serious look to her face, but her tone was helpful. Elliot sighed a little in relief upon seeing that she wasn't who he had expected to see behind him. "Huh?" he asked, legitimately a little confused by her out of nowhere concern. "Oh! No, no, I'm fine. I was just in a little bit of a hurry to get here, so I needed to run on over." It was equal parts true and false. What kind of correct was better than technically correct?
Nevertheless, his eye wandered over to everything she had carried with her. "That's a lot of stuff you've got there. Everything good with you?" he asked. Was it a misdirection? No, no, not just that. His voice, too, had a genuine helpfulness behind it. Although with one hand taken up by a walking stick and the corresponding leg being held at a fairly noticeable limp, it was clear he couldn't contribute the most to a situation like this. Yet he, too, didn't seem like he was going anywhere until his own question was answered.
Post by Fayne Abernathy on Mar 30, 2020 17:26:15 GMT
"I was just in a little bit of a hurry to get here.""A hurry?" Fayne inquired, though she said nothing more on the matter. She wasn't going to pry, especially if this guy wasn't in any immediate danger. It didn't seem like he was in the mood to talk about himself anyway, instead opting to address the stack of moving boxes she was carefully balancing.in her arms. With a sigh, Fayne shifted her weight from one foot to the other and slid her hand along the base of the bottom-most box to get a better handle on it. "Yeah, I'm fine. I guess we're both new to the area, huh?" she asked, though her question sounded more rhetorical than anything else. She wasn't expecting a reply, but she fell silent long enough for him to respond if he wanted to.
Her gaze shifted for a split second to the cane that the boy was using to help him stand, and he had undoubtedly used to help him keep balance while... running? The young researcher cocked an eyebrow at the idea. How would that work, exactly? Daring not stare too long, she met the stranger's eyes again. "I should've called a taxi," she grumbled, tearing her eyes from the boy once again to glance behind her, at the road where vehicles zoomed by at a steady pace. Without another word, she placed the boxes beside the suitcase on the ground and pulled a cellphone out of her pocket. As if she'd completely forgotten about the boy standing only a few feet away, Fayne fiddled with her phone in complete silence for a solid minute or two before putting the device away again. "My ride should be here in five to ten minutes," she said while turning back to the boy. "Where are you off to?"
Post by Elliot Sunderland on Mar 30, 2020 21:27:51 GMT
It seemed like the girl was content with her current carrying capacity. Or, at the very least, she was similarly insistent on not seeing help about it. He flashed an understanding smile in response. At least now he wouldn't need to solve the awkward question of where he'd tuck his walking stick while helping out. "You've got that right. Though I'm guessing you're sticking around longer than me," he said. After all, only one of them was carrying a ton of boxes. Elliot, in contrast, had packed light. Other than the single backpack he had slung over his shoulders, he wasn't carrying anything but his walking stick. And even that backpack was maybe half the size of your average hiker's. Was he even prepared for whatever he was doing?
If he wasn't, then Fayne was overprepared. She had gotten here so early that her ride was still minutes away. Where was she even carrying these boxes from? How far had she walked just to get to where she was now? And yet she seemed slightly discontent at most, texting away with her ride in a state of perfect neutrality. Meanwhile, Elliot felt like he was barely keeping his stress at bay, especially with how easily the girl had seen through his nerves. Either it was impressive control on her part, or he looked a bit worse for the wear than he had intended.
"I'm about to pick up my first Pokemon at the lab," Elliot explained. "Or, well. A Pokemon egg, really, but soon it'll be my first Pokemon! I've still got an hour before it's ready, but I really wanted to make sure that I was here in time to pick it up, you know?" He eyed her boxes again, a solution a lot more long-term than his own. "How about you? I'm guessing you're finishing up a move?"
Post by Fayne Abernathy on Mar 31, 2020 18:30:13 GMT
The boy explained that he was on his way to Professor Holly's lab to pick up his starter. Well, that explained why he was in a hurry. But where was he coming from? He wasn't carrying much, only a half-filled backpack that looked sorry in comparison to Fayne's own baggage, so it stood to reason that he didn't live too far away... but he looked exhausted, and not just from his recent sprint. The young researcher glanced back at the distant woods beyond the gate and silently questioned whether he lived in some remote cabin in the wilderness, far away from the reaches of civilization. It sounded nice, living amongst trees and nature instead of the electrical pylons and steel factories that she was familiar with. She couldn't help feeling a bit envious of the stranger, even if she had no proof that's where he was actually from.
"Yeah, I gotcha," Fayne replied as she shifted her attention back to the kid in front of her, "Shouldn't keep the professor waiting." She didn't bother mentioning that if she was in his position, she probably would've left early too. She had an admiration for Professor Holly. It was hard not to look up to an experienced, well-connected researcher who could help give direction to Fayne's own endeavors. But that wasn't all. The professor deserved respect and first impressions were everything, especially in the world of professionalism. Showing up early was better than showing up late. Before Fayne could say anything else on the matter, the boy turned the line of questioning around on her by asking if she was finishing her move. She gave a dry laugh at that. "Not finishing. Starting," she corrected. "Just arrived a little while ago."
Her eyes darted to one side in a display of shame and humiliation. "I didn't totally think it through." Her gaze returned to the boy, and her eyebrows were knitted together in a subconscious, albeit subtle, display of pain or sorrow. "I've been lugging this stuff around while looking for a place to stay the night. You'd think there'd be a ton of hotels and stuff around the port, but nope." She sighed and her shoulders relaxed. Her expression returned to the neutral, somewhat annoyed display before she started speaking again, "Well, that's when I found you. You sure you're alright? You look..." Her voice wandered as she tried to come up a sufficient word to describe his current state. She couldn't think of one that didn't have some sort of offensive connotation, so she instead closed her mouth and let her question hang in the air.
Post by Elliot Sunderland on Apr 1, 2020 3:38:14 GMT
The conversation took a brief pause as the girl gave him a brief look, then turned to gaze meaningfully in the woods to the side. Was she putting two and two together as to where he had come from? He sighed, a slight blush on his face as he realized he had been caught. "Okay, so it was a long trip to get here," he admitted. "But I made it safe, sound, and completely on time. I think that's what matters in the end, you know? It being easy's something we gotta hope for, not count on." The statement sounded a little unnatural coming out of Elliot's mouth. Almost as if it was more a piece of advice he was rehearsing than something he truly believed.
Nevertheless, it sounded like both the girl and Elliot were in the same boat here. Both hung at the start of their journeys, even with one more inconvenient road block hanging in the way. He had run away from his home, and she was finally moving into hers. Except the timing of hers seemed a little bit off, considering that she was way too early for it. From the sound of things, she had been lugging those boxes around for a decent while now. Elliot shot her a concerned look, giving her a quick once over to see if she was okay. Thankfully, she seemed fine. Her expression was more annoyed than anything else, she didn't express any signs of fatigue, and her arms didn't seem sore or anything. In fact, they actually seemed really toned-
Elliot promptly averted his glance, glad he was already blushing a little.
Nevertheless, he hadn't been the only one giving their conversational partner a once-over. The girl just kept scanning him, and she didn't seem nearly as convinced in his preparedness as he was in hers. She abided by the golden rule of "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say it at all", but the intent was still quite clear. He cringed a little at her words, looking down at himself and smoothing his clothes out. "It's been a few days on the road, so not like I had a lot of chance to get everything settled. I was going to stop at the Pokemon Center and freshen up some, anyway," he explained. "Once I get my first night of sleep in a building again, I promise, I'll be all good. Just a bit tired, you know?" He could only hope that these two explanations would suffice.
Post by Fayne Abernathy on Apr 1, 2020 20:27:04 GMT
The shift in the boy's demeanor was enough of an indicator for Fayne to recognize that she had messed up and offended him. "No, I get it," she said, speaking over him and intentionally trying to interrupt in order to give him an out. He already explained it was a long trip, and if he didn't want to talk about it any more then that was fine by her. She hadn't pried for exactly this reason. However, her disruption didn't appear to have any effect on the stranger, for he continued to explain that, because he had been on the road for so long, he didn't have "a lot of chances to get everything settled." Fayne's entire expression fell. She wasn't normally so sensitive to what others said, but something about that phrase felt passive aggressive... and all because of what she had implied by asking her question.
Fayne swallowed hard and tried not to let her bruised ego show on her face. Instead, she forced a mild-mannered smile. "Yeah, tired," she repeated with a nod. "There are Pokemon Centers all over the place. I passed, like, three on my way here from the marina. Just pick a direction and you'll come across one, no doubt." She hoped that if she acted like everything was alright between them then it actually would be. Besides, he probably hadn't meant his words to be perceived the way she had taken them. She was tired too. And stressed. And overwhelmed. Three ingredients that, when put together, was a recipe for a foul mood. Fortunately for Fayne, her foul mood only manifested itself into somewhat blunt statements and self doubt.
The tension between the two newcomers, whether real or imagined, melted away when the stranger asked where Fayne had moved from. "Alfrim," she replied, her faux smile finally fading in favor of her natural resting face (would you look at that alliteration). "You probably haven't heard of it. It's a little archipelago in the middle of no where. It's not really a tourist destination... Not unless you're into power lines and deforestation." There was acidity in her tone, and not just in the words she chose to speak aloud. There was clearly some resentment she felt toward her birth region. "But that's why I came here. Arciel has trees." She laughed at this, not a forced chuckle but instead a genuine laugh that seemed to illuminate her entire being. "I'm joking," she snickered, "Alfrim has trees, but forests weren't really a thing."
Post by Elliot Sunderland on Apr 1, 2020 21:10:41 GMT
As Fayne's expression fell, Elliot promptly made a point of biting down on his tongue. Mostly figuratively, at least. Was something he said wrong? He was just trying to explain where he had come from, and in the process he probably stepped all over the girl's concerns. Why'd he have to go and do that? He averted his eyes again, not wanting her to see that this left him somewhat downcast. She didn't need to be stuck worrying about that part, too. Rather than further explain himself, he figured he could just try and keep quiet for a change.
He nodded at her mention of the Pokemon Centers. "I'll be sure to keep an eye out," he said, a sad yet grateful smile popping up on his face. "Looking for them should be a good chance to get a sense of what the town is like, too. I don't know how long I'll actually be staying, but no sense running out right away when I've just arrived, you know?" Was that more overexplaining? Or was that just enough? In either case, Elliot made sure to cut himself off right after that first 'you know.' No sense in rambling on again, even if swallowing his words down was always a hard feat.
That said, at least she seemed more annoyed by her old home region than she was by him. That was . . . something resembling progress, right? It sounded like she was from somewhere really far and also kind of dreary. Not even any trees? Really? Or maybe she was exaggerating, because she laughed and her entire face seemed to light up and-
Elliot promptly forced his wandering mind back on track before he started blushing again. It sounded like, from what he could piece together, her old home was really big on industry and not so big on the spaces in between. That sounded like a shame, in Elliot's book, but at least Arciel would be the kind of pace the girl needed. "I'm from Hoenn myself. It's a bit chillier here than what I'm used to, but they're pretty neck in neck in size. Less water, though," Elliot said. "There's . . . still a lot I miss about it. But, that's what starting a journey like this is for, right? To really get a chance to see what your new home's like?
Then again, I think for you that journey's called your taxi." Now that wasn't a half bad pun!
Post by Fayne Abernathy on Apr 1, 2020 21:46:54 GMT
So this boy was from Hoenn, was he? As he spoke about the different weather, Fayne tried to recall what she'd learned about the Hoenn region while still in school. It had an Elite 4 and a Champion, something Alfrim was lacking in. While it did have some gyms and contest halls, they were treated more like sports or pageants than preliminaries. Hoenn was also the home of the weather trio, eon duo, and of course, the titans. The researchers back in Alfrim had a fascination with Registeel, and she had to admit that even she was curious about what made the titans tick. What gave inanimate lifeforms sentience? Now that was a loaded question, but it was still one Fayne was curious to research if she was ever given the opportunity to.
She didn't vocalize any of her thoughts, however. She remained quiet while listening to what the boy had to say about where he was from and how it compared to where he lived now. Apparently Hoenn was about the size of Arciel, a fact that came as something of a surprise to Fayne. "I thought Hoenn was bigger," she muttered, a brief flash of "huh, I didn't know that. I just learned something new today" crossing over her face. She fell quiet again when her companion mentioned that he missed a lot about the Hoenn region but was excited to start a brand new journey here. He called Arciel his "new home" and the silliest of thoughts entered Fayne's mind. Before she could even stop herself, she spoke it aloud: "So you're saying you ran all the way from Hoenn to Arciel. No wonder you're so tired."
She bit back a smile and snorted air through her nostrils. Her cheeks dusted with a soft shade of pink at how embarrassed she was at her own stupid comment, and her eyes instantly shifted to the stack of boxes beside her. "Arceus, that was bad..." She shook her head and, as she did, she began to compose herself. "Let's just forget I said that," Fayne giggled while turning her attention back to the boy. Though her cheeks no longer sported a blush, she was still biting her bottom lip in an attempt to hold back a bashful smile (more alliteration!). "I, uh..." she shook her head again, "I'm Fayne, by the way." With that, she held out her right hand to be shaken. "And I hope my journey is a bit more exciting than sitting in the back of an overpriced cab," she added, finally addressing the pun the boy had made earlier.
Post by Elliot Sunderland on Apr 1, 2020 22:03:45 GMT
Elliot blinked, as if uncomprehending. For a moment he just stood there, so quiet that one would think wind was blowing in one ear and out the other. And then recognition shone in his eyes, seconds before he started to laugh uproariously. The poor kid actually started to pale, then go red in the face from the absurdity of that mental image. The laughs had gasps mixed in with them at some point; could the poor kid even breathe? It was a wonder he was still standing, with how he threatened to double over at any second.
Finally, he started to right himself, letting out a sigh and a few more half-laughs. "No, no, no," he said. "It was Ash City, not Hoenn-"
Shit.
Elliot fell silent, joining Fayne in the embarrassed-blush-and-avert-your-eyes corner. Was it impressive how fast such uproarious laughter had stopped? Or was it just kind of worrying? "Y-yeah," he stammered, looking at his feet as if they were the most interesting things in the world. "Let's . . . let's just forget about that." What was once an excited, clear voice was now reduced to a shy mumble.
That said, Fayne seemed more willing to move past this than Elliot was, so he might as well join her in that endeavor. Still too shy to meet her eye, instead he looked from his shoes to her hand. He then took it, giving it as firm of a shake as he could find the strength to muster. "I'm Elliot. It's nice to meet you," he said, his smile genuine even if it was fragile. "And hey, don't worry. I know it's gonna be way better than that, you know?"
Post by Fayne Abernathy on Apr 6, 2020 18:40:21 GMT
The boy's silence made Fayne feel even more ashamed of the bad joke she'd made, but the moment he erupted into a geyser of hysterics, she was overcome with mixed emotions: amused, for one, at the fact that her joke hadn't been as cringe-worthy as she originally thought, but worried at the fact that her comment hadn't actually been that hilarious and yet he was behaving as though it was the funniest thing he'd ever heard before. Fayne's smile wavered and she eyed the boy nervously. When he gasped for breath, she reached out a single hand in a comforting manner while asking, "You okay, bud?" As if in response to her question, he shook his head, repeated "no," and let slip that he'd come all the way from Ash City, not Hoenn.
He cut himself off and fell silent, instantly regretting what he'd just let slip. Fayne raised an eyebrow in confusion and curiosity. Okay, so he was from a place called Ash City and now he was acting suspicious. Being new to the region, Fayne was largely unfamiliar with the territory and the layout of its landmarks, she had no idea where Ash City was in comparison to where they were located now. She only knew that Birch City was near water because she had arrived by ferry, and that the professor's lab was somewhere nearby. The only reason she even knew that Ash City was part of Arciel was because it would have been ridiculous to think he'd come from anywhere else. But why was he acting so weird? His silence, his blush, his averted gaze...
Fayne wanted to say something, to ask questions, but the boy was quick to shift gears, claiming that they'd better just forget about it. The novice researcher retracted her outstretched hand and carefully studied the stranger's features, looking for anything that would tell her more about why he was behaving this way. Why had he run away from home? Was he a wanted criminal or something? He was too tiny to be a criminal, she told herself. But that leg... Her eyes shifted back the cane. What if he'd somehow gotten injured by getting mixed up with the wrong side of the law? Her eyebrows furrowed together subconsciously.
No, she needed to stop reading this much into things. She may have had a mind that was constantly trying to solve the world like a jigsaw puzzle, but she wasn't a cop and she wasn't a detective, so it was better if she just let sleeping dogs lie. This boy hadn't done anything to her, and so long as she didn't let her guard down around him, she'd be fine. It was then that she outstretched her hand again -- for a handshake this time -- and introduced herself. The stranger called himself Elliot and reassured her that her Pokemon journey would be way better than sitting in the back of a taxi cab. Fayne exhaled a sharp breath through her nostrils in a "that's pretty funny but not funny enough for a full blown laugh" sort of way.
"I hope you're right. That wouldn't be much to write home about," she quipped, "'Dear mom and dad, I finally got to Birch City and it's been a blast. Walked around for fifteen minutes looking for a hotel with no luck, but it was good exercise. Lugging my boxes around was a ton of fun, you should try it some day! But that's not even the best part. The best part was the taxi cab ride! Whoo-wee, I can't wait to do it again!'" She rolled her eyes, the corner of her lip turned upward in dull amusement. "I know it's just a matter of time. I gotta be patient," she muttered, though it sounded like she was talking more to herself than to Elliot.
Post by Elliot Sunderland on Apr 6, 2020 21:28:11 GMT
Frankly, the way the girl kept eyeing Elliot was starting to go from odd to uncomfortable. Especially with how her gaze kept flicking down towards his bad leg. He may not have been as broken up about it as he used to be, but so many people had looked at his leg by now that he knew all too well what it was like when someone did. After the handshake his entire body seemed to be compressed a little from the awkwardness, and he took the slightest half-step away from Fayne.
That said, her sense of humor had a way of easing some of that discomfort that he had been feeling. He snickered a little at her "recounting" of her "journey", tension visible loosening from his body. Yet with how the girl muttered to herself, it seemed her joking had a kernel of truth tucked beneath it. "Hey, you don't even have your Pokemon yet. I think," he said. "I'm sure just a few days and you're gonna forget all about that taxi ride." Even if she got a Magikarp or a Weedle, surely the excitement of the journey would blow some dumb car out of the water!
That said, wondering about Fayne's wondering got Elliot's own brain doing some wondering of its own. "I didn't really go for a Pokemon myself," Elliot admitted. "I couldn't really pick what I wanted. So I figured I'd try and start with an egg. See what fate had in store for me, you know?
Post by Fayne Abernathy on Apr 7, 2020 19:46:29 GMT
Fayne didn't realize how much she was staring. Perhaps it was some sort of cultural difference...? No, it was because she was still trying to figure Elliot out, and the only way to do that was to watch and observe. She'd since met his eyes again, making a point to mind her manners and no longer stare at his gimp leg. His assumption that she didn't own a Pokemon was accurate, and it was an easy enough fact to suss out: she had no Pokeballs on her person, she had no Pokemon out of their balls to help her carry the boxes, she had only just arrived in Arciel and the city where the Pokemon lab was located, and she probably stank of inexperience.
It wasn't that she had no knowledge of how to train and raise Pokemon, she'd attended classes for the last ten or so years that covered just such material, but this was the first time she'd actually own one for herself. It was an exciting opportunity! So when she met Elliot, someone awkward and anxious after leaving home to start his own adventure -- something that Fayne had also done and had caused her to feel such a deep sense of pride and joy -- it was off-putting, to say the least. Shouldn't he be happy too? Everyone reacted to situations differently, so she knew she had no right to judge, but there was something up with this kid that made her reluctant to stick around longer than she needed to.
Elliot did well easing her nerves by explaining what he'd chosen as his starter. An egg. What more, a mystery egg. He had no idea what would be inside it. That sounded really risky to Fayne. She wanted to ask if he even knew how to handle eggs and newborn Pokemon, but she kept her mouth shut. Surely he did. Why else would have he chosen that as he started... And if he said that he was clueless on that sort of thing, there was no telling how Fayne would have react. She concluded she was better off not knowing and just trusting that Elliot and the professor had everything under control. "Fate, huh? You believe in that kind of stuff?" she asked, her tone mild-mannered and unassuming. She didn't give any sign as to what she herself believed.
"As for me, I haven't decided yet... I've always loved fire Pokemon, I don't know what it is about them. I'm into dragons too, and Charizard's sort of the best compromise, isn't it? So I guess that's what I'm thinking," Fayne said, glancing upwards in consideration as she ran through all her options. Even though she had yet to schedule an appointment with Professor Holly and, as such, had yet to settle on a starter, Charmander definitely seemed to be what she was learning on. "I would've gone with Eevee," she added while returning her gaze to the boy in front of her, "But I'd need to call ahead to check and see if they had any available. I just don't know how long I'd want to wait while they are plenty of viable starters looking for a trainer, you know what I mean?"
TAG ▸Elliot Sunderland NOTES ▸ I feel like my words don't flow nicely in this reply, so my apologies for that.
Post by Elliot Sunderland on Apr 7, 2020 22:29:07 GMT
Elliot paused a little at the girl's statement. Did he even believe in fate? "I mean, you gotta call it something, right? Destiny? Luck? Chance? Happenstance?" he said. "It's not that I believe or don't believe in it. But at the same time, there's all these other choices being made at the same time we're making ours, right? And those choices could have no impact us at all, or they could change everything. And you don't even know if it will or not until its already passed. Isn't that crazy?" It was hard for Elliot not to light up a little as he rambled excitedly, turning over the possibilities in his head. No, he certainly didn't believe in fate the way some did. But it was still hard not to be fascinated by all of the possibilities that being part of a living, breathing world offered.
"My brother's the one who taught me that. Though I think he and I've always taken it in different ways. And neither of us, like, think it's anything really important," Elliot mused. And how could that not be the case? Isaac always seemed willing to drift along, going with the flow and rolling with whatever punches came his way. In a lot of ways, Elliot was similar. Yet now he was here, running away from home and taking his destiny into his own hands. "I dunno. What do you think?"
Clearly, she thought her decisions through a lot more than Elliot did, fate or no fate. While she also wasn't quite sure what she wanted, she put enough thought into the process to have two potentials. They were both pretty cool ones, too. The mention of dragons got a small smile on Elliot's face as he remembered the twists and turns that his father's acrobatic Flygon put on display. "It's a shame dragons as a whole are so rare around here," Elliot pointed out. "I know a Flygon's somewhere on my wish list for the journey, at least. Not that I've put a lot of thought into it.
I get what you mean, though. And I'm sure you'll find an Eevee sooner or later. Why Eevee in particular?"
Post by Fayne Abernathy on Apr 8, 2020 18:58:30 GMT
Fayne listened to Elliot's reasoning with a look of puzzlement and skepticism on her face. He wasn't really talking about fate. Not exactly. He wasn't saying that everyone's paths were predetermined; in fact, he was saying quite the opposite, that everything was out of people's control, and random situations were bound to happen whether or not someone was prepared for it. "Like the Butterfree Effect," Fayne mused with a slight nod. The theory claimed that the flap of a Butterfree's wings could create a tornado that could ultimately destroy an entire region thousands of miles off. Likewise, the decision for Fayne to leave Alfrim today of all days led to her meeting Elliot. One small action or decision had the power to change things on a massive scale.
"Your brother sounds like an interesting guy," Fayne said. "But I think it's a load of crap. Things happen, that's life. Our choices are our choices, and anything that happens as a result of it isn't some transcendental thing. It's basic cause-and-effect. Everything is within our control." She made a face and shrugged. "Some things may be harder to control, yeah. But nothing's impossible." She wasn't disagreeing with the Butterfree Effect or how interwoven one person's decisions were with everything else around them, she was merely emphasizing the point that the thing Elliot called "fate" or "happenstance" wasn't as grand or mysterious as he was making it out to be. She believed that if someone was curious enough and had enough data at their disposal, they could predict exactly what would happen at any given time.
Even as Fayne spoke her mind with such confidence, she didn't carry with her an air of contempt or judgement. Granted, she believed strongly in what she had said and she wouldn't have been easily persuaded to believe anything else, but her relaxed posture and calm expression showed no signs of contempt or judgement. Then again, a more sensitive individual may have taken her words to heart and may have been offended by the resolve in her tone. And without a smile or laugh to lighten the mood, it was quite possible that Elliot would've thought that her words were meant as a personal attack on him. No one could fault him if he did.
On the topic of starter Pokemon, Elliot expressed grievance over the fact that Arciel was lacking in dragon types. Although Fayne still had a lot to learn about the region, she did know that most dragon Pokemon in the region lived in the aptly named Dragon Den to the south-east. Everything she could find about it cautioned explorers and trainers to stay away unless they had a full team at level 30 or higher. It made sense why. The dragons Fayne had seen on TV looked brutal and fierce. Even still, the idea of meeting one in person was too exciting an idea to pass up. Once she felt strong enough to visit the Dragon Den, she would make it her mission to go and catch as many dragons as she could.
"Flygons are really cool," Fayne agreed, her pink eyes glistening with excitement, "A levitating ground type would be really interesting to use in a battle, I bet.A girl can dream." She paused a moment before addressing Elliot's question about her wanting an Eevee. "I plan on studying evolution stones while I'm in Arciel, so it only makes sense for me to have one. It's literally called 'the evolution Pokemon,' so..." Her voice wandered as she ran out of things to say. What she'd already told Elliot was pretty straight-forward, so there was little need to elaborate further. And yet, it felt odd leaving her side of the conversation off on an unfinished sentence. "Plus, they're cute," she added with a small chuckle.
Post by Elliot Sunderland on Apr 8, 2020 23:55:44 GMT
"Kinda, yeah," Elliot said, shrugging a bit. He listened curiously to Fayne's own description of happenstance, even if her rather harsh wording left him cringing a bit. Did she think they were talking about new-age stuff? Elliot was pretty sure Isaac just loved sleeping and hated unnecessary effort. "I mean, I don't think it's anything that dramatic. Like, a single person's actions aren't going to do anything crazy like that. But you make a hundred of those little actions every day, and so are the hundred people you meet on your day, and then all of the hundred people they meet on their day. And then they all add up into something completely new, yours but not entirely yours, you know? It's not that you're not in control of your actions. Or that you can just avoid taking responsibility for them. But it does mean we don't always know what the result'll be. And sometimes, despite your best efforts, it isn't always what you'd hope for."
Like this entire conversation!
Okay, that was mean.
With that little bit of mental catharsis out of the way, Elliot relaxed back to a soft smile. "I've got no idea what's going to be in that egg. But whatever it is, I'm going to give it all of the time, love, and care I can give it," he said. Determination glimmered in his eyes, and for a second he'd be near unrecognizable as the nervous wreck that first showed up here. "Seems like you're going to be doing the same, even if you're making your choice with a bit more information than I am. Best of luck, whoever you end up finding."
That said, the girl's reasoning for picking Eevee? That was actually really fascinating! Elliot perked up a little at the reason, any disinterest or offense he had in the conversation taking a backseat. "Really? That's so cool!" he said. "Although . . . what kind of stuff is there to study there? I don't think I've ever considered that before, so I'm really curious!"
Post by Fayne Abernathy on Apr 10, 2020 19:56:57 GMT
Fayne cocked an eyebrow in response to Elliot's words. It felt like he was trying to backtrack, as if he realized the logic in her reasoning but didn't want to admit that he and his brother had been wrong. It was probably due to her somewhat inflated ego that she thought this, or perhaps it was because he was rambling and Fayne had a difficult time understanding what exactly he was trying to say. In the end, however, her expression settled on one of disinterest... with perhaps a hit of irritation mixed in. And yet, she said nothing else on the matter. Talk of fate bordered too close to religion and philosophy, which were two incredibly controversial topics that the young researcher was in no mood to discuss with a near stranger.
Fortunately for her, Elliot seemed just as eager to change topics and to instead talk about starter Pokemon. When he mentioned that, even though he had no idea what would be in his egg, he would give it all the time, love, and care that he could, a faint smile dusted Fayne's lips. "That's all we can do as trainers," she replied, approving of Elliot's sentiment. Even if he had no idea how to take care of an egg or newborn, so long as he would do everything in his power to give it a loving home, that was all that really matter, wasn't it? A caring trainer would learn from their mistakes and would be open to suggestions. That was something Fayne knew she needed to work on too. Her scientific journey wouldn't be easy, but as long as she did her best and reached out for help when she needed it, everything would be okay.
Then Elliot said something that came as a surprise and, in turn, lowered Fayne's defenses. He wished her luck. Strange. She had painted him as this dastardly criminal who had no idea how to handle Pokemon and would subsequently get them horribly injured. Or worse. But those three words -- "best of luck" -- grounded Fayne and reminded her that Elliot was just a kid starting off on his journey, clearly more outwardly shaken about the notion than she was, but just as excited. She blinked slow at this realization and her faint smile grew into something more genuine. "Thank you," she said, "And same to you. Newborn Pokemon can be a challenge, but you'll figure it out."
Elliot's excitement regarding Fayne's discipline also helped wash anyway any animosity that he'd managed to accrue over their short conversation. No one had been so eager to hear about it. He was the first. Some asked about it in an attempt at small talk or to be polite, but most folks either had nothing to say or were vocal about their disapproval. Her parents had been proud of her for pursuing something that made her happy, but it was something they clearly had no interest in themselves. By in large, however, most people she spoke to about it questioned her. And so too did Elliot, to some extent, by asking what there even was to study regarding evolution stones. Unlike everyone else, though, Elliot's inquiry stemmed from a place of curiosity, not judgement -- or so it seemed.
"There's so much!" she exclaimed, her eyes wide with excitement. Her body came alive and she began to move her hands through the air while in an attempt to animate what she was saying. "Did you know there are no marketplace standards for the retail sale and purchasing of evolution stones? Stones that -- I'll remind you -- are infused with radiation. It's not like microwave or nuclear radiation, it's all natural evolution... We think! What if the stones really are nuclear? Cutting and polishing them so willy-nilly could lead to side effects we don't even know about because no one's bothered to research them. Like, what would happen if you cut an evolution stone in half? Would there be some crazy explosion? A radiation leak and then they'd lose their power. Or would you suddenly have two evolution stones?"
She barely even stopped to take a breath. "The Law of Conservation of Energy literally states that energy can neither be created nor destroyed. When a stone is used on a Pokemon, that energy is transferred to the Pokemon to help them change forms. But if a stone breaks in half, where does that energy go? Into another stone? Into a human? The atmosphere? Or does it stay in the stone? At what point does the stone become so small that it no longer has enough energy to make a Pokemon evolve? Does a Pokemon's size, or the size of the stone, matter in evolution? Where does the radiation even come from? Like, how does it occur naturally? And is that something that can be replicated in a lab? Could we create man-made evolution stones?" She stopped a moment to make sure Elliot was still listening.
"And what's the deal with Oval Stones? Professor Hopkins's discovered that Oval Stones have no radioactive properties at all; that's why they don;t shatter and disappear after being used like Fire Stones or Dusk Stones do. So what is it about Oval Stones that allows Happiny to evolve? Have you heard of the placebo effect? I'm sure that's what's happening. Happiny is a maternal creature by nature, so what would happen if you made it think it was carrying around an egg? It would have to evolve in order to adequately take care of it. I've got a working theory that Baby Kanghaskan would react the exact same way. But guess what! Yep, no one's done any research about it. So why not me?" She fell silent then, as if suddenly realizing how much she'd dumped on this poor guy... and that wasn't even the half of it! Regardless, she didn't look ashamed. She didn't blush, smile nervously, or even look away. In fact, she was glowing and her excitement had reached unprecedented levels.
Post by Elliot Sunderland on Apr 10, 2020 22:01:56 GMT
Elliot's little ramble got quieter as Fayne's disdainful glare settled on him, until by the end he pretty much trailed away on his last point. Personally, he thought thinking about to courses people took in their lives was fascinating, but the girl didn't seem too inclined to agree. Then again, with the way she'd been staring him down and the comments she'd been making, Elliot was fairly certain any words out of his mouth would have gotten shot down. He glanced down the street, as if looking to see whether the taxi would be coming soon.
Yet, something Elliot said must have changed, because the girl's harshness started to soften the longer she lingered. Frankly, if Fayne had always been talking like that, Elliot might not have felt so out of place in this conversation! Yet even with the boy's attempt at keeping his guard up, it was hard not to be won over a little by the passion in the girls' words. The field of evolutionary stones sure had a lot more to it than Elliot had considered before, and it was certainly more complicated than "press rock on Pokemon, see new Pokemon." He listened, quietly and thoughtfully, waiting until the girl had finished entirely before opening his mouth again.
One thing that the girl mentioned was a lack of stone market standards. Was that really the case? That items so integral for evolution worked differently in certain parts of the world? And yet, as he thought about it more, it made sense. "I know there was a big rock in the Petalburg Woods that made nearby Eevees turn into Leafeon. And for some reason, Leaf Stones never did the trick, even though other stones got Eevee evolving just fine. Then some store selling Galarian imports popped up, and one of its big selling points was that their Leaf Stones could evolve an Eevee without having to worry about that. Do you think stones over there are, like, stronger or something? Or that the rock was just a really big leaf stone? If you took a piece off of it, how big of one would it need to be to be as strong as a Galarian one?
And the Oval Stone idea makes sense. I mean, that's just behavior, right? Isn't there one Pokemon who evolves when it learns how to train itself while upside down? Maybe Happiny's like that. Except instead of training to be upside down, it's training to be a mom. Or-"
As he realized he was talking a bit too much, Elliot flinched and looked away.
Post by Fayne Abernathy on Apr 13, 2020 17:53:38 GMT
Fayne was interested in the topic of conversation, so she had a lot to say about it. It seemed Elliot had a few things to say on the matter too, which was exciting for the young researcher. The idea of someone actually engaging with her about something that really interested her brought of spark of joy to her eyes. "Yeah, the Moss Rock," she said when the boy started talking about Petalburg Woods and how Leafeon had different evolution requirements in Hoenn because locally-made Leaf Stones didn't do the job. He mentioned how Galarian-imported Leaf Stones evolved Eevees without a problem, though. Fayne nodded, but remained silent as she listened to him speculate about why that might be the case: maybe Galarian had stronger (ie, more radiated) stones, or maybe the Moss Rock was just a giant Leaf Stone and so it had more radiation stored within.
"That's a good point," Fayne replied while stroking her chin in consideration. "Leaf Stones are radiated fossilized plants, so they're pretty difficult to come across naturally. I read somewhere that most Leaf Stones are actually Moss Rocks that have been cut and painted to look like classic Leaf Stones, but I don't know how true that is. But maybe that's the case here. Maybe Galarian Leaf Stones are actually pieces of a Moss Stone, which Eevees react to... and Hoenn Leaf Stones really are fossilized plants, which Eevees don't react to. Or maybe Hoenn's Leaf Stones are fakes! No, wait... other Pokemon in the region can evolve like normal with Leaf Stones, right? So probably not..." Her voice trailed off as she continued to puzzle through it.
She refocused on the conversation when Ellio gave his take on Oval Stones. He said that Fayne's theory made sense, sighting Inkays as another example of how a behavioral change led to evolution, and admitted that it wasn't too farfetched to think Happiny had the same sort of criteria. "Exactly!" the young geologist chimed. "Meowstics and Toxels' personality determines which form they take after evolution, so it would make sense if there's something more going on with Happiny's evolution too." Fayne fell silent then, staying quiet a long moment as she waited for Elliot to finish his thought. When he didn't, she decided to urge him on. "Or...?" With the tiniest tilt of her head, she silently beckoned the boy to continue.