2023-12-30: A Spirited Walk
- Log: A Spirited Walk
- Cast: Anne Aomori, Seraph Lanval, Damian Tamaoka
- Where: Viridian Forest
- Date: December 30, 2023
- Summary: Anne and Damian go for a walk in the forest so she can get to know him better, when they encounter Seraph Lanval, a strange creature the like of which neither of them have seen before. Or at least... one of them hasn't. Some anxieties cut the meeting short.
=============================<* Viridian Forest *>============================== Viridian Park is an expansive, publicly owned and well-maintained nature reserve that doubles as the main commuter path between Viridian and Pewter City. The Park itself is most famous for Viridian Forest, a League-curated training ground for novice Pokemon trainers to cut their teeth on -- even those that don't have a spirit for competition find the Forest of great curiosity due to the large number of flora and fauna to be found and studied within. BGM: Pokemon: Let's Go, Eevee & Pikachu! - Viridian Forest - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44TQR6n16Jg
GS: Quick added to Chase! GS: Chase has activated Force Action: Boost! Anne Aomori says, "Work, Chase?"
<Pose Tracker> Anne Aomori has posed.
Anne Aomori decided that today was a good day for a walk. She had a new 'assistant' and wanted to see how said assistant handled himself on the road. She also had a couple of Filgaians to be curious about, but they have their own matters to attend at this point, and so does she.
So it is that it's a lovely day in Viridian Forest, and a woman walks with a few pokeballs at her belt along the forest path near the tall grass. She is not alone, of course.
"...So, how long have you been traveling?" she finally strikes up some more conversation, having previously been instructing on the habits of a few Caterpie that they saw on their way over.
She's got her eyes open, though. If there are more 'visitors' around...
Well. That might be enough to improve her secret mood over Jessie and James wrecking her equipment again.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
There's something a little different about Viridian Forest today. The last forty-eight hours or so have been more than 'a little different,' but now it's in the air. It's not really quantifiable from a hard, scientific point of view. The temperature ranges are completely within expected parameters for this part of Energy Nede at this time of year, as they always are.
The air quality is as pristine as ever, the humidity... and there's nothing strange about the distribution of Pokemon currently roaming here, or the children and adults running around and playing with the local Pokemon and each other. Nothing should be different.
But there is...
It's a little more mirthful.
Like any small, tiny thing one enjoys or finds relaxing is just a bit moreso. A deep breath feels more relaxing. A fresh breeze leaves a stronger impression. A great beverage, crisper and tastier. Some small quality that makes an already good day that much greater.
It may or may not have to do with a heavy-set, bare-foot long-bearded man in fancy aquamarine robes lying down on the ground in a small puddle while a few local Pokemon come by to drink from it. (The water itself is pure, clean, and refreshing - equal or better to what Energy Nede itself impeccably supplies in perpetuity.) Two Caterpies, a Rattata, and a Pidgey all seem to be sharing in this little bounty heedless of who's lying down there.
<Pose Tracker> Damian Tamaoka has posed.
Damian had come to talk to Anne about an egg that had shown up mysteriously in his backpack to get some advice on its care... and then ultimately made the choice to take care of it.
It's in his backpack now, in fact, and Damian's taken some extra care to rearrange things in his backpack to make it extra comfortable for the egg. He himself is dressed in sneakers, shorts, and a dark hoodie, though he has his own pokeballs on a belt.
A purple feline--it's not exactly a cat as an offworlder might be familiar with, but it definitely evokes that image--rides along on Damian's shoulder, carefully balanced and leaning in to provide some reassuring physical contact to her trainer.
Damian startles a bit at the question, having been lost in his thoughts, but looks up to Anne. "O-oh, about... a month or so." He's been listening to her instructions, just not prepared for a question.
He's comfortable enough in Anne's presence, at least... or as comfortable as he ever seems to get, anyway. There's always a little bit of an awkward air around him.
Any further comments are cut off as Damian pauses midstep. Something feels... off. Is it more mirthful? Damian's not quite sure on that front, but there's something that doesn't feel right. "D-doctor Aomori, I've got a bad... feeling..."
And then he tenses when he sees Lanval. He jerks back a few steps, and Purrloin leaps from his shoulder down to the ground in front of him, instantly hissing at the spiritual creature.
<Pose Tracker> Anne Aomori has posed.
"I see," Anne answers Damian. Maybe she would've asked some follow up questions and gotten him talking, if not for the sudden appearance of... something.
There is something that has felt different in the forest, that she's been able to intuit but not identify. Is it to do with the 'visitors'? Regardless, she does feel more relaxed. That pleasant breeze wafting through the trees is nicer. It is, despite her irritation at certain Rockets, a Good Day.
And Damian has a bad feeling.
"That's... odd," she says, and then lifts a hand to forestall Damian and Purrloin.
"...Sir," Anne says, raising her voice to Lanval. "Are you all right?"
She turns her head back to Damian without taking her eyes off of Lanval. "Look," she says. "The Pokemon are calm around him. They don't find him dangerous."
Is he an ordinary old man...?
No, there's something about him.
Anne begins to approach, and extends a hand, to help him up if he'll take it. It does put her between the kid and the someone he's afraid of, incidentally. But she doesn't have nearly as bad a feeling.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
There is a hissing feline creature, all of a sudden, and the Pokemon there do flinch before them. The Purrloin is a much stronger, better-trained one than anything around here, and they start to scatter.
"...What'sh thish theeeen," the strange man(?) slurs, blinking a few times with half-lidded eyes as he holds his drinking gourd close. He starts to sit up. His hair color is unusual, a silvery hue that ends in aquamarine hues at the tips. His beard is a lot like a waterfall to look at it. In addition...
His ears are short and rounded.
"What'd I do~" He murmurs to the cat that's hissing at him, and then looking up some to see Damian flinching. One eye opens half-way. "Mmm. Sho ya can--"
'...Sir. Are you all right?'
"Mmmm. All three of ya can-- err." He nods, noce. "Yep! 'm... ash all right ash 'm gonna be." There's a hand extended from the elf(?) in front of him, which he graciously takes. He doesn't detect a lick of Malevolence from any of them, and so there's no hesitation in accepting the gesture behind the mutual novelty.
He's noticeably unsteady, and there's something odd about the way his weight carries. Lighter, than he appears he should be.
"Mmm. Thanksh fer the kindnessh. 'm all right..." Is he? He certainly seems like he's had a lot of grape juice, like that man towards the north part of Pallet Town. That man. Everyone knows that man.
"...jusht been takin' it ash eashy here ash I can. Thish place... it'sh a really happy one, 've found. Hopin' I didn't shcare ya! Ha ha ha!"
<Pose Tracker> Damian Tamaoka has posed.
Damian might have been receptive to the Domain of small joys... if his spiritual sensitivity didn't immediately trigger other anxieties.
Purrloin does seem to pause from taking further action, though she looks back to Damian for confirmation.
And then Anne addresses Lanval. Damian stares. "W-wait, you can see him? I-I thought..." Whoop. Someone just gave away more than he meant.
But a hand is extended, and Damian pales. "D-Doctor! That's-- that's a ghost, of some kind! Maybe you shouldn't--" He stops himself short because as far as ghosts go, it's a mighty odd one. It might be the ghost of a person but... the ears are wrong. And why would a person's ghost be drunk?
Damian backs up a step, but Purrloin is still hissing, hackles raised and tail bushing out a bit.
<Pose Tracker> Anne Aomori has posed.
"I can see him," Dr. Aomori answers. And she can figure out pretty easily that Damian didn't expect her to be able to. She doesn't answer that at first, instead regarding the strange old man with the unusual hair, the archaic clothes, and the short, rounded ears. Everything indicates he might be another 'visitor', except...
"Can't be afraid to get your hands dirty," Anne says to Damian as he warns her, with a small smile. It's an intent one somehow--she's still focusing on Lanval.
It is odd, his weight. "You're welcome," she says. "I try to be good to guests." 'Grape juice'... for grownups, maybe.
"I'm afraid that you do seem to have scared my young friends," Anne says, "But not me. This place is generally a pleasant one; a lot of children come through on their adventures."
A pause. She tilts her head, studying. "...You don't happen to know a little guy by the name of 'Bienfu', do you?"
Is that where she recognizes this aura from?
"If anything happens," she says to Damian, "I'll just have to count on you and Purrloin. But I think I'll be all right."
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
"Gosht? Pssshaaaaawwww, nah, nah." But there's no denying there's not a there there, in terms of a corporeal body. Even Pokemon completely at peace with people probably wouldn't let a Nedian that close to themselves undisturbed while drinking water. Especially so many wild ones, together, when Pidgeys are frequent predators of Caterpies (and occasionally Weedles - occasionally, because a Pidgey who survives digesting one knows better going forward).
"...Mmm." Lanval's mood levels a bit with Purrloin still hissing at him, but also to politely consider the older woman's words and clarifications.
"Shorry 'bout that~" He turns to Damian, and promptly bows in apology - as an important question is asked!
"...Bienfu? Bienfu!" His face lights up. "Yep! He'sh a good friend of mine! Though 'm guesshin' ya met 'em, ya alsho met..." Magilou. There's a little laugh there. Magilou is Magilou, and he can only guess how that encounter went.
The only real surprise is that Bienfu's name came up first.
"We're both shomethin' called a 'Seraph,'" Lanval explains, "though... not everyone can tell we're there! Mmm." He strokes a finger against his chin, parting those beard hairs like a falling waterfall might. "We call mortals - that'sh our name fer you - that can interact with ush 'Resonant.' It'sh a rare gift... but... I could undershtand how that might be a li'l shcary, thinkin' 'bout it."
<Pose Tracker> Damian Tamaoka has posed.
Damian blinks, and looks a bit surprised as Anne admits that she can, in fact, see this stranger. "R-really?" That's a bit much to process the implications of right now.
Scared them? "She's not scared," Damian quietly admits. "... she's protecting me."
Damian, on the other hand, is plenty alarmed.
He looks uncertain as Anne 'gets her hands dirty', but... he's holding off on ordering Purrloin to attack, and she seems well-trained enough in this instance to be waiting for such a command. That might change if Lanval does anything aggressive.
Lanval tries to deny that he's a ghost. "O-of course you are! Y-you have to be! I can tell when there's a ghost a round, and you're not... a non-ghost!" Whoops, and that's more of the game given away.
Why is he still arguing? Probably because Anne is trying to help him and he's not about to order Purrloin to attack with her in the way. But she also seems far less alarmed by his presence...
Damian blinks as Lanval bows to him. "You're... sorry?" This is not usually how his interactions with ghosts go. He's slowly slipping from scared to just plain confused.
"Bienfu...?" Damian looks to Purrloin quietly. "... do they mean Mienfoo? Is that a new evolution...?" Purrloin doesn't have an answer for him.
But Lanval does. "A... a seraph? I've never heard..." He pulls out a small black rectangle that promptly lights up at his tough, and starts tapping at it. "... there's nothing in the database with that name..." He looks up again. "... 'Resonant'? I've never heard that word before..." He looks anxiously over to Anne, uncertain again.
Quietly, very quietly, he asks, "... can you sense ghosts, too...?"
<Pose Tracker> Anne Aomori has posed.
"Hmm," Anne says to Damian, regarding Purrloin. "You're right."
But she doesn't take her focus off of Lanval. She's sure he's not a Pokemon, in any case. But his apology confirms much that nothing else would.
"Bienfu," Anne explains, "Is someone I met the other day." A wry look. "And I did meet the one with him, yes. Is she that memorable with everyone?"
"I thought that was it," she says. "A 'Seraph', then." She looks to Damian and says, "That's because he's telling the truth. He is not a Pokemon at all, nor is he an ordinary person." She pauses. "Yes and no," Anne says. "I can see things that most people can't. But not always ghosts in particular. It's... a family trait. ...But you can see such things, yourself. Without training, it would seem."
Yes, that will do.
"Mortals is a fair enough term, considering. I take that to mean that you aren't?" Mortal, that is. "How fascinating. Then, you're also from this 'Lunar'?"
She steps back, no longer blocking Lanval and Damian's sightlines. "You're safe," she says. "Though I'll leave it to Purrloin to judge." A pause, as she looks back to Lanval. "Well, you've told me what you are, but not who you are. I'd best start."
"My name is Anne Aomori. I'm a Pokemon researcher here on Energy Nede. This is Damian, and his Purrloin. You're in Viridian Forest right now."
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
"...Yep, she shuuuuure ish." He doesn't say this from a place of sarcasm or disdain. She's never said outright, but he's intuited some of what's driven her over the many years of her life, and he's holding out to be there for when she's ready to let her heart feel happy again. "She'sh a good friend too! ...'n a better witch."
He turns to Damian. "'m shtill verrrrry much alive! I jusht don't have a body. No Seraph does, desphite what ya might be lookin' at... mm. What yer lookin' at ish more... uh, metaphor, 'd shay." Metaphorically, he's a jolly middle-aged man. Which checks? Kind of?
Back to Anne. "That'sh right. Mmm... well, we can live a real, real long time, anyway, couldn't tell ya fer shure the absholute oldesht Seraph ever... but we can hit a thoushand yearsh or more. 'm in my 570s, myshelf~"
Just his five-hundred-and-seventies?
'Then, you're also from this 'Lunar'?'
Lanval's eyes both open half-lidded. "Oh, ya musht've gotten the run-down already... yep! I am!"
The time comes for actual greetings, at which point he straightens out... somewhat.
"Shure, shure, yer right. 'm Seraph Lanval! A Water Seraph," which'd explain the puddle around him, and maybe this aura of water in all of its forms great and... less so. But it wasn't quite that strong an aura with Bienfu. Is Bienfu weaker, or is it something else?
"Nice ta meet ya, Anne! 'n Damian. 'n... Purrloin."
Damian does have a quiet question to ask. Can he sense ghosts, too?
"Mmm... ya could shay that," Lanval nods. "I can shee a bunch of shtuff mosht mortals can't. 'n... it'sh true, not all of it'sh great. I can't shpeak fer every Seraph, but..."
He looks to Damian, and his fiercely protective Purrloin.
"I feel life ish a li'l better when everyone 'round me ish havin' a good time," he says with a kindly smile on adopey-looking face. "Sho, I won't hurt or shcare ya any, all right?"
<Pose Tracker> Damian Tamaoka has posed.
Part of the reason Damian got Purrloin, in fact, was for protection from Ghosts. Or... things that appear ghost-like that apparently aren't?
Anne apparently met a 'Bienfu' and some other mystery person, and that part makes sense. Anne's a researcher, she probably meets with lots of people. But people that are related to a... ghost? Spirit? That strikes him as odd.
"O-okay, he's not a pokemon, but... he's... he has to be a ghost, right? Or a spirit or something, right?" But he tenses up as Anne identifies what he is, in fact, capable of. He glances off to the side, awkwardly holding his arm with his other hand in a sort of defensive half-hug. "... y-yeah, I can..." A brief look to Anne. "Please don't let it get around, I don't... I don't like..."
Damian trails off, helplessly. There's too much to explain.
"Wh-what's a Lunar...?"
Anne steps back, and Purrloin renews his threatening hiss, though Damian looks conflicted. Anne seems okay with this, and he assumes she's got way more-and just more--pokemon than he does. He kneels down and holds his arms open. "Purrloin," he says quietly.
The feline pokemon takes a cautious step back, and then looks over her shoulder. When she sees the arms held open she turns and then bounds over to her trainer. A quick leap up tino his arms and Damian catches her in a hug, standing up again.
"A... a metaphor...?" Damian looks terribly confused at that, frowning as he tries to process this. "But you're not..." He looks down. "I guess you aren't like any other spirit I've seen before but that just... "
He hugs Purrloin a little tighter and takes another step back. 'Distressed' is an easy descriptor.
He nods, quietly, as Anne introduces both him and Purrloin. And another polite nod as Lanval does in turn. He doesn't quite get to a 'Nice to meet you', but he does repeat "Lanval" quietly to cement it in his memory.
And then an answer for a question that he wasn't expecting. "O-oh, I was asking Doctor Aomori..." But he listens, all the same. When everyone is having a good time...
Damian shakes his head. "S-sorry, but... I c-can't have a good time if you're a ghost or a spirit or... even if you're a 'Seraph' or whatever..."
<Pose Tracker> Anne Aomori has posed.
"I'm glad she is," Anne says. "I gave her a Pokemon. I'm hopeful that she'll raise him well."
But not a ghost... very much alive... And, "A spirit," she agrees. "And... don't worry. I won't tell anyone. And neither will Mister Lanval, will he?" she looks back to Lanval.
"Lunar is another world," she explains. "We have a few visitors on Nede right now, from other worlds. It's nothing that needs to worry you; it just means we might have a little more interesting times, for a while."
She nods to Lanval, then. "I see... Well. That's significantly older than I am. Maybe 'sir' was appropriate!" She smiles.
Bienfu was different...
She considers Damian's difficulties, and nods. "That's fine, Damian. We'll leave him momentarily, and get you somewhere you can have a better time."
Anne reaches into a pocket, and pulls a business card. "Come see me at my lab another time," she suggests to Lanval. "I can help you settle in this world... and you can tell me more about yourself and where you come from."
"We can talk later. It seems that the forest isn't a threat to you... so I wish you well, Mister Seraph Lanval."
She turns to Damian. "Shall we?"
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
Lanval watches the young man show fear for his presence, and it's a wholly unfamiliar, even worrisome thing. He remembers, so long ago, how delighted he was when a mortal could see him. How she helped enshrine him into being a Lord of the Land. For over five hundred years, he was an object of worship, albeit as an increasingly distant and eventually mislabeled concept that nonetheless still received thus.
To see a mortal be so completely scared of him, just like that...
"...Mmmm." He scratches at his chin. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone elshe." That's about the most reassurance he can give the young man. Granted, if he can see him, there's other things he can see that... well. It's clear he has a good bit of emotional support in the older woman over there.
"'Sir...' nah! Lanval ish fiiiiine~" He throws down a hand. A business card is offered. "Mmm... shure, shure. 'll admit, 'm hopin ta get back ash shoon ash I can, but... it ain't bad here."
He doesn't want to say 'wrong,' or even 'incorrect.' Most of the people he's seen here are truly happy and filled with love of life, and he can't fault that. Even if a lot of it feels weirdly... mortal-made, mortal-shaped, he doesn't consider that 'fake.' Small joys are small joys.
"'ll shee ya 'round~," he waves, as he turns the other way, and...
...what even is that walk? People don't walk like that. This is someone who has decided locomotion is a polite suggestion.
...But he's doing it in the other direction, so it's probably fine.
<Pose Tracker> Damian Tamaoka has posed.
Damian looks... immensely relieved as both Anne and... 'Lanval', apparently, promise not to tell anyone about his ability. He nods quietly to signal his acceptance of their assurances.
"Another world...? I saw some posts online, but I thought they were just... some new ARG or something." He glances sidelong to Lanval and then looks down to Purrloin, who leans up to nuzzle her cheek with his. "... hopefully not too interesting..."
It might be some part fear, but... honestly it's largely a lot of anxiety that's never been properly managed.
He gives Lanval a wide berth as he moves to rejoin Anne's side--he's keeping an eye on the spirit, and edging sideways so as to keep him in his sights. He nods to Anne as she suggests they go, glances to Lanval one last time as he starts to walk off.
Quietly, he says, "S-sorry..." to the departing Seraph.
And then he hugs Purrloin tighter as he looks up to Anne. "O-okay, let's go."