Eal Tides
Bug feeder
- Pronouns
- they/them
- Partners
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[[OOC: Can we respond to individual observations like these, or should we wait for the person who did the observing to mention it first?]]
Fading Aria [KtK RP Thread: Mission 2]
- Thread starter Negrek
- Start date
ShiniGojira
Multiversal Extraordinaire
"Pot... deer? That's... certainly a name," Rachel murmured, looking back at the Ting-Lu. Personally, she thought it looked more like a bull than a deer.
She raised a brow when he mentioned its origin. "Hold up, a portal? This thing came from a portal?" The girl paused and refrained herself from interrogating them further – y'know, on the off chance that this thing was another Legend in disguise – instead eying it with suspicion, no more nor less than what she usually gave to a stranger.
Offending one Legend was already more than her heart could take. She didn't want to know what it would look like if she upset a less benevolent one.
Swallowing her hesitation, she introduced herself. "Rachel Leda. Jubilife City."
Her finger started idling tapping her arm. "So you're from Johto. The town with the bug gym, right?" she asked. "What's it like? Never really been to any other regions before so I'm curious."
"Well, you don't seem too bad yourself, kid," she said with uncertainty in her eyes. Ugh, losing her empath powers made understanding people so much harder. How did other people deal with only having body language to go off?
It was so limited.
When Potdeer spoke its Potdeer things, Rachel couldn't help but give it and the kid a side-eye, filing down the odd choice of words in her head.
Powerful wasn't the word she'd used to describe a bug catcher especially someone this young. Was he even an official trainer yet or was his world's laws a bit more lenient in the age thing?
Well, she had nothing to lose if she asked. That and Luni was taking an especially long time talking to that Kricketot so she had time to kill.
"So, how many badges do you have, kid? It must be a lot if Potdeer's praising you so much."
"Yeah, that's right!" Luni nodded to Joey's words with a smile. "You've already worked up more courage than the others since you confronted us. As the bravest person I'd known once said, facing things without fear doesn't mean you're courageous. True bravery only arises once you confront your fears even if you're still afraid. If you join us, you can help us save your friend, Kricketot! I'm sure Meloetta would be grateful knowing one of her friends came to rescue her!"
MegaAbsolOfDespair
Certified Edgelord
- Pronouns
- She/Her
- Partners
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Volo looked for a moment at JoJo, as the Floatzel seemed to be one of the few pokemon he could actually recognize. He had seen some Buizel and Floatzel back in Hisui during his duties with the Ginkgo Guild, after all. "Nice to meet you, JoJo. My name's Volo, as you might already know."
"Nice to meet you too, Mel." He stated, before looking at the roads again. Since JoJo had suggested the north path, he decided to point in that direction. "We are Mel, Ichiro, JoJo, and Volo! Let's go north and see what awaits there!"
[[ Usually when characters make discoveries like these, I prefer to give them the opportunity to raise them with the group however their character would like. However, if it's important information, I'll make sure to make it available IC for everyone if the discoverer isn't able to bring it up themselves (except in edge cases e.g. the discoverer wants to keep it a secret from the group--not applicable here).
So, for now I would hold off on having your character react to the crystals; I will incorporate the information if Sind isn't able to post before people move on to a new area. ]]
Kricketot squeezed his eyes shut and shook his body again, as though trying to dispel a bad memory. Nobody knows. But we must have made them mad, right? What else could it be?
There really aren't any more details to tell. No one's seen them since that big fight. And we can't even fight anymore, so that must have been why Meloetta was angry.
Kricketot looked somewhat taken aback by all the encouragement. He batted bashfully at one of his antennae, which made a faint tinkling sound. I... I do want to help, he admitted. But I've never left the garden before, and I'm really not very strong.
He looked back and forth between Jo-Jo and Luni, obviously conflicted. The two of them were committed to going different directions; even if he decided to leave with one of them, which way should he choose?
After a few seconds of dithering, the kricketot crept a bit closer to Luni. I can try, he said in his small voice. And I've heard the pokémon that live out this way aren't too scary.
--
Groups were beginning to form among people interested in leaving the gardens, with most planning to head north. From within the garden it was difficult to get a sense of what lay down each, as they disappeared into dense forest. Searching around the garden's three exits would reveal subtle differences between them, however:
- The bushes at the mouth of the north path have been bent and torn apart, as though some violent force passed this way
- The shards of an ancient stone tablet lie scattered on the ground at the mouth of the east path. It was once carved with runes of some sort, though they are now largely unreadable
- Near the mouth of the west path are a large number of circular footprints of various diameters and depths. A large number of pokémon seem to have passed this way
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The disheveled bushes bothered Ichiro on a purely aesthetic level before he realized their state might be relevant. "Hey, do you guys notice how these bushes are kind of bent out of whack?" he asked his group. "I think I'm gonna try and..."
He stepped up to the bushes and sniffed the damaged parts. He didn't know if he'd be able to recognize any of the smells, but it was worth a shot.
Close up, Ichiro could see that the bushes showed signs of new growth--whatever had damaged them must have happened a while ago, as the plants were in the process of healing. The scents he could pick up were likewise old and a bit difficult to identify as a result. However, there were traces of a sort of sugary, glittering smell, associated with Fairy energy, as well as something more complex and poisonous. Ichiro would recognize it as similar to the smell of the crystal that had surrounded the gate to Meloetta's realm. Perhaps this was the smell of the corruption that had seeped into this domain.
- Partners
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"Hold up, what do you mean you can't fight anymore?" Nori inquires, leaning forward and putting a single hand on his hip. That was really important information they didn't mention! "Like, do you mean literally? You try and you can't?"
---
The Demon twitches and growls. If she came all this way and couldn't fight, she was going to be pissed.
Hanafuda
Novice Ornithologist
- Pronouns
- He/Him
- Partners
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Joey gave a thumbs-up and a smile. "Stay safe, buddy." With that, he went ahead with Ichiro's group.
He looked at the bent bushes after Ichiro made note of them. "Huh. Yeah. Someone had to have made a mess here." He squinted his eyes when the Houndoom sniffed the bushes, but before he made a snide remark, he realized what that was supposed to mean. "You lookin' to track the freak who did this?"
"I don't know if I'm skilled enough with this body to track anyone, but I can try," Ichiro said. "Anyway... what I smelled was faint, but it made me think of fairies. And it also smelled like those poison crystals that we saw outside the gate to this realm." He frowned. "Is Meloetta a fairy type? Sorry if this is something I should know, but Unovan myths are not my forte."
While he waited for people to answer, he moved his snout to the ground, trying to sniff at any possible scent trails.
Nekodatta
Pokémon Trainer
- Pronouns
- She/Her
- Partners
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He was slightly surprised by the Roserade offering him an handshake; very carefully, he obliged by taking the tip of one of its roses in his hand and shaking it up and down.
« My pleasure.»
Things were getting interesting. He had assumed that the Pokémon had escaped because of Meloetta, but it seemed to be the opposite: they were keeping silent because they were afraid of Meloetta not returning.
« So she wants people to stay silent...?» he commented almost to himself.
Most people seemed to be busy splitting up in three different directions. The path to the north seemed already full of volunteers, which surprised him a bit, since it seemed also the most dangerous. He didn't really know what to make of the path to the east with its ancient stone tablet- maybe that was a place more suitable for someone that was much more knowledgeable than him.
So that left the path to the west, which no one seemed to have chosen for now .
He turned towards Corbeau and Bellamy and pointed in that direction with a nod of his head.
« We could have a look in that direction, if you two don't mind...»
He said "we", but he actually had no idea if Inari would even follow him or go off on his own. Thankfully, when he turned to look, the Vulpix was sitting nearby, watching him with a disgruntled expression, eyes narrowed, looking as if it was waiting for him to do something.
Raiki simply sighed and shook his head, moving to examine the footprints left on the ground. The circular shape of the marks stood out to him. What Pokémon could have left so many?
And more importantly... where did they all go?
« Seems like a lot of folks were in a hurry to go away from here... Did everyone really escape because of Meloetta?» he wondered out loud as he started to follow the footprints.
Inari moved after him, pausing a moment to examine the tracks and sniff at them, looking for any info that could help them understand what had happened.
« "Lafrenière-Anshin"...» he repeated soon after they had started walking, throwing a glance at the other man, which again meant that he had to turn most of his head to do so.
The wonders of a more than halved field of vision.
« It sounds... well, definitely not Johtonese. Unless things are completely different in our respective worlds. Kalos...? » he added, before raising one eyebrow.
« ... this shit's so weird. I'm talking about different worlds like the most normal thing in the world. »
@Sinderella
« My pleasure.»
Things were getting interesting. He had assumed that the Pokémon had escaped because of Meloetta, but it seemed to be the opposite: they were keeping silent because they were afraid of Meloetta not returning.
« So she wants people to stay silent...?» he commented almost to himself.
Most people seemed to be busy splitting up in three different directions. The path to the north seemed already full of volunteers, which surprised him a bit, since it seemed also the most dangerous. He didn't really know what to make of the path to the east with its ancient stone tablet- maybe that was a place more suitable for someone that was much more knowledgeable than him.
So that left the path to the west, which no one seemed to have chosen for now .
He turned towards Corbeau and Bellamy and pointed in that direction with a nod of his head.
« We could have a look in that direction, if you two don't mind...»
He said "we", but he actually had no idea if Inari would even follow him or go off on his own. Thankfully, when he turned to look, the Vulpix was sitting nearby, watching him with a disgruntled expression, eyes narrowed, looking as if it was waiting for him to do something.
Raiki simply sighed and shook his head, moving to examine the footprints left on the ground. The circular shape of the marks stood out to him. What Pokémon could have left so many?
And more importantly... where did they all go?
« Seems like a lot of folks were in a hurry to go away from here... Did everyone really escape because of Meloetta?» he wondered out loud as he started to follow the footprints.
Inari moved after him, pausing a moment to examine the tracks and sniff at them, looking for any info that could help them understand what had happened.
« "Lafrenière-Anshin"...» he repeated soon after they had started walking, throwing a glance at the other man, which again meant that he had to turn most of his head to do so.
The wonders of a more than halved field of vision.
« It sounds... well, definitely not Johtonese. Unless things are completely different in our respective worlds. Kalos...? » he added, before raising one eyebrow.
« ... this shit's so weird. I'm talking about different worlds like the most normal thing in the world. »
@Sinderella
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Shiny Phantump
Through Dream, I Travel
"Nah, Mel's psychic but not fairy." (She did a quick double-take, as if having forgotten her own name for a moment.) "Meloetta, that is. Although I guess it's not false for me either. Guess that's good news for you, except that they're also fighting some of the time."
Melody had used canine bodies before, of course, but hadn't usually found much use in having their body do tracking when they had better ways to search for things, including just using their psychic presence if the target was still close enough. She did have experience pretending to track, at least.
"If you wanna try to track it, by all means give it a shot. You've got the smell identified already, that's a good first step. Does it fade in every direction, or's there somewhere it stays noticeable?"
Hanafuda
Novice Ornithologist
- Pronouns
- He/Him
- Partners
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"Oh, right, forgot you were a human," Joey said. He shrugged as he replied to Ichiro's question. "Your guess is as good as mine on the type. Anyway, we're right behind ya. Lead on, sniffy bud."
He looked puzzled at Mel. That was certainly one way of putting words in a sentence. "Say what now? You friends with 'em? I mean, thanks for the tip, but that adds another question. How's that work? Psychic, but also Fighting some of the time? What?" He wiggled his hands close to his face, growing confusion evident in his face. "Like, type-changing? Help me here, human. Word right."
Pokémon that could change type... He knew it happened whenever some of them evolved, but was it true that there were those who could change type on the fly?
Shiny Phantump
Through Dream, I Travel
Melody laughed. She was used to the idea that species with multiple forms were common knowledge, but she was also old enough to watch them all develop in real time, so she didn't have a good handle on what an average kid would know. "There are many species with multiple forms. Oricorio, Shaymin, Morpeko, Castform, Rotom, Darmanitan, and so forth."
"Meloetta is said to be one of them. They're a well-known muse for both music and dance, with a form for each. Psychic-Normal in their Aria form, and Psychic-Fighting in their Pirouette form. As Ichiro said, stories of them originate from Unova, but—" Melody tapped the headphones hanging around her neck. "—I know of them anyway. Area of interest."
- Partners
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Afterward, Nori went west. It was a matter of process of elimination, and also not wanting to stay put. He places a hand on his pocket.
---
The Demon snorts and examines the footprints. All six of her senses were honed, and half of them could be of use here: sight, smell, and urWmt. If there was anything unusual or supernatural about the trail, it'd speak to her instincts.
"Hm." The boy puts a finger to his nose and closes his eyes. "Going over the facts. There was a big fight whose cause is unclear. From the pristine state of the garden, it might've been closer to an argument. The cause was likely unnatural. Meloetta left when they couldn't stop it. It didn't sound like they joined in." He hums before snapping his finger. "I wonder if these footprints are from a group that went looking for them?"
---
The Demon snorts and examines the footprints. All six of her senses were honed, and half of them could be of use here: sight, smell, and urWmt. If there was anything unusual or supernatural about the trail, it'd speak to her instincts.
Well, try, the kricketot said. Try to attack me. He drew himself up, very brave in the face of any attempt--but it seemed Nori wanted to go off and inspect the west path instead.
The kricketot slumped a bit, dejected. That's okay, he murmured to himself, and hurried to catch up with Rachel's group.
The scent wasn't difficult to follow. It continued on down the path towards the forest; either the pokémon had come from there, or had gone there after leaving the garden.
The tracks seemed utterly mundane. They fell into roughly three different sizes: small, medium, or large, and were all more or less circular. They most likely belonged to different species of pokémon, but species that were related.
Given the symmetrical nature of the tracks, it was unclear whether the group had been leaving the garden or entering it.
Hanafuda
Novice Ornithologist
- Pronouns
- He/Him
- Partners
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"Jeez, I need to go out more," Joey said while he rubbed the back of his head. "Only heard about Castform, but not too much. Thought they were a rumor 'round the streets."
"Transformation, huh? Yeah, we're gonna have to think real good on that." He held his float vest with both hands as he thought out loud. "Make a strat for both... Maybe a good punch for that normal form can work. Might be a lot harder with that fighting form, though. 'Course, depends on what we can do. Countin' on ya, Mel, since you're the expert, apparently."
- Partners
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(OoC: I was meaning to have him get the answer before leaving but this works scarily perfectly for where he is so)
Nori freezes up, but not because of any effect of the world. "No! No, nonono, I can't, I mean, I don't want to! I don't want to risk it. I k--h...ould--" He nearly chokes at what nearly slipped out. "I mean, okay! You can't can't! I'm going to save Meloetta now!" And practically runs off. He's a fast runner, too.
---
It does not take her long to reach a conclusion based on this information. She addresses the others.
"A group of round-foots. These prints are unnatural," the Demon notes, pointing a claw at them. "None look angled. You can tell when a round-foot's come or gone by the angle."
Even when one walks, they don't usually bring their foot straight down. For example, a normal foot might go heel-toe. A round-foot similarly might leave more of an indent on one side as they lean forward, go in unevenly (such as a diagonal in the mud), or so on. Why were they being so careful? Was it exactly to confuse others as to whether they were coming or going? There was one other possibility.
"Could be ones I don't know who do walk this way. But a big group of these is still suspect." In that case, the question was what were they doing here? She examines them further, trying to see if they were made by a unipeds, bipeds, quadrupeds, or even a greater amount.
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Several small groups had formed as people decided to venture out and see what lay down the garden's exit paths. Before they left, Bellamy mentioned the crystals she'd found to the group. It was a worrying discovery, but ultimately, there seemed to be little more they could accomplish in the garden.
One at a time, the groups set off, traveling...
As the group continued along the northward path, they rapidly left behind the manicured nature that had surrounded them in the garden and found themselves in the true wild. The forest grew ever more dense around them, although soon the group would begin to see something that truly didn't belong here: more purple crystals like the one that had encased the keyhole for Meloetta's realm. At first they were tiny, forming clusters only a couple inches high, but as the group continued down the path, they became larger and larger, until they nearly reached Ichiro's shoulders.
The crystals glowed faintly in the dimness of the forest, with a radiance that shifted and faded as though there was something liquid at their cores. As the crystals grew larger, so too did a wind pick up, blowing into the group's faces from somewhere up ahead. It carried the tang and faint sparkle of Fairy energy, plucking at first teasingly, then insistently and finally violently at the fur, hair, and clothes of the people venturing down the path.
The branches overhead tossed, and the wind howled. The forest had grown unnaturally dark, lit by the purple crystals. It was clear there was a powerful pokémon not far up ahead, the source of the wind. But there was something else, too. Barely audible beneath the gusts of wind are the wailing sounds of a reedy instrument playing on despite the grim atmosphere.
@canisaries @MegaAbsolOfDespair @Hanafuda @Shiny Phantump
The eastward path led through a pleasant stretch of airy forest. As the group went on, they would soon begin to hear the sound of distant waves. Then the path took them over a rise, and the group would find an ocean stretching out before them, the path dissolving into a broad, sandy beach.
It was a pleasantly sunny day, and plenty of wild pokémon were in evidence: wingull soaring lazily overhead, krabby shuffling sideways along the beach, and tentacool floating gently on the ocean swells.
There was also faintly-audible music floating across the sand: the mournful twang of a harmonica, although one that sounded slightly garbled. It seemed to be coming from the ocean itself somehow.
The kricketot from the garden had followed the group along the path and now stood with them, appearing quite overwhelmed as he looked out across the beach.
@ShiniGojira @Eal Tides
The west path continued through the forest for a while, but the trees rapidly began to thin as the soil became increasingly rocky and inhospitable. Soon the group would find themselves traveling through a sparse, rocky landscape, approaching a low range of foothills. Among the boulders, clumps of poisonous purple crystals nestle, becoming larger and more frequent the farther the group travels down the path. Here and there the crystals are smashed or broken in half, as though something had attacked them, but whatever it was clearly wasn't putting much of a dent in the infestation.
As the groups drew closer to the foothills, they could soon recognize, high up on the rocky walls stretching overhead, paths, ladders, terraces and even windows of dwellings built into the hillsides. Here and there pokémon could be seen moving about on their own personal errands, oblivious to the approaching outsiders--though they probably wouldn't remain that way for long. The crystals grew dense around the village, sprouting from the sides of buildings and even jutting up out of thoroughfares, so that passing pokémon were forced to go out of their way to avoid them.
@Nekodatta @Sinderella
[[ If your character hasn't committed to a path yet, feel free to take either the east or west route! We could use more than two people on each of those. ]]
One at a time, the groups set off, traveling...
To the North
As the group continued along the northward path, they rapidly left behind the manicured nature that had surrounded them in the garden and found themselves in the true wild. The forest grew ever more dense around them, although soon the group would begin to see something that truly didn't belong here: more purple crystals like the one that had encased the keyhole for Meloetta's realm. At first they were tiny, forming clusters only a couple inches high, but as the group continued down the path, they became larger and larger, until they nearly reached Ichiro's shoulders.
The crystals glowed faintly in the dimness of the forest, with a radiance that shifted and faded as though there was something liquid at their cores. As the crystals grew larger, so too did a wind pick up, blowing into the group's faces from somewhere up ahead. It carried the tang and faint sparkle of Fairy energy, plucking at first teasingly, then insistently and finally violently at the fur, hair, and clothes of the people venturing down the path.
The branches overhead tossed, and the wind howled. The forest had grown unnaturally dark, lit by the purple crystals. It was clear there was a powerful pokémon not far up ahead, the source of the wind. But there was something else, too. Barely audible beneath the gusts of wind are the wailing sounds of a reedy instrument playing on despite the grim atmosphere.
@canisaries @MegaAbsolOfDespair @Hanafuda @Shiny Phantump
To the East
The eastward path led through a pleasant stretch of airy forest. As the group went on, they would soon begin to hear the sound of distant waves. Then the path took them over a rise, and the group would find an ocean stretching out before them, the path dissolving into a broad, sandy beach.
It was a pleasantly sunny day, and plenty of wild pokémon were in evidence: wingull soaring lazily overhead, krabby shuffling sideways along the beach, and tentacool floating gently on the ocean swells.
There was also faintly-audible music floating across the sand: the mournful twang of a harmonica, although one that sounded slightly garbled. It seemed to be coming from the ocean itself somehow.
The kricketot from the garden had followed the group along the path and now stood with them, appearing quite overwhelmed as he looked out across the beach.
@ShiniGojira @Eal Tides
To the West
The west path continued through the forest for a while, but the trees rapidly began to thin as the soil became increasingly rocky and inhospitable. Soon the group would find themselves traveling through a sparse, rocky landscape, approaching a low range of foothills. Among the boulders, clumps of poisonous purple crystals nestle, becoming larger and more frequent the farther the group travels down the path. Here and there the crystals are smashed or broken in half, as though something had attacked them, but whatever it was clearly wasn't putting much of a dent in the infestation.
As the groups drew closer to the foothills, they could soon recognize, high up on the rocky walls stretching overhead, paths, ladders, terraces and even windows of dwellings built into the hillsides. Here and there pokémon could be seen moving about on their own personal errands, oblivious to the approaching outsiders--though they probably wouldn't remain that way for long. The crystals grew dense around the village, sprouting from the sides of buildings and even jutting up out of thoroughfares, so that passing pokémon were forced to go out of their way to avoid them.
@Nekodatta @Sinderella
[[ If your character hasn't committed to a path yet, feel free to take either the east or west route! We could use more than two people on each of those. ]]
Based on the number and spacing of the tracks, they were made by bipeds.
ShiniGojira
Multiversal Extraordinaire
Luni beamed. "That's the spirit! My trainer and I would be glad to have you!"
Frowning a bit at the negativity, Luni sent some telepathic words and emotional reassurances to the boy, knowing her spoken voice wouldn't reach him from this far. "Don't take it too harshly. I'm sure Kricketot isn't holding it against you."
Then, deciding to nip the other source of negativity in the bud, she asked Kricketot, "Is that true?" She took him up on his offer, sending a weakened Confusion at him and waited to see what he meant.
Regardless of the reaction though, Luni added. "Well, it's alright if you can't fight. You can still help us by telling us all you know about Meloetta and about where we're going! The kind of Pokémon we'll be encountering, what sorts of surprises will be in wait. Information is key after all."
Rachel crouched down, picking up the tablet to inspect it. It was unreadable but was there anything else she could pick up from the ancient relic? Any marks that indicated whether it was damaged by age, moves, or physical attacks?
She got up, turning and noticing Luni and a new follower. She couldn't help the eye twitch. "Another one?"
The Ralts had the gall to look smug, knowing Rachel didn't have the heart to abandon a stray.
Rachel sighed, picking up the remains of the tablet. Whatever, maybe the Kricketot could make something out of it.