2023-12-30: Adaptability

• Log: Adaptability
• Cast: Azoth, Xiumei Klein, Kaguya, Venetia Vuong, Hannah Curie, Elaine, Ethius Hesiod, Seraph Ragnell, Avril Vent Fleur, Arisugawa Joy, Xantia, Ida Everstead-Rey, Gwen Whitlock
• Where: Professor Oak's Laboratory
• Date: December 30, 2023
• Summary: After coming to Energy Nede, Azoth is mistaken for a Pokemon. So he does what he always does: he pretends to be what he's not. But this happiness is as much a fabrication as he is.

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========================<* Professor Oak's Laboratory *>========================

Despite its remote location, Professor Oak's Laboratory stands as one of the pioneers of Pokemon research in Energy Nede. Its location is chosen in part due to the desires of its researchers to have a pasture for the Pokemon they're studying, away from the smaller confines of the big cities. Professor Oak himself is a renowned Pokemon scientist, continually on the cutting edge of research and sharing knowledge with the rest of Energy Nede. Many young trainers obtain their first Pokemon here, and many of them call them life-long partners.

BGM: Pokemon: Let's Go, Eevee & Pikachu! - Professor Oak's Laboratory - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rb4bkTtefkQ

<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.

Shortly after arriving on Energy Nede, Azoth went missing. Scouting around Viridian Forest provided no sign of him, if anyone thought to look. But he is a capable machine and powerful enough to look after himself. If so many of his fellow outsiders have managed to make it to Pallet Town, perhaps Azoth would get word of it and make his own way eventually?

Well...

Out in the pastures of the lab, several Pokemon roam. Some eat, some sleep, some play. And some play via battle with one another. Two blitz across the field in a particular heated spar, their trails of light burning with an eerily familiar bright blue and fuchsia. One of them breaks in its sprint to pivot and spin on the offensive.

This monster is a suit of dark armor, with a plume of flame kindled at its hard, and ghostly blades for arms. Wait. No. That's not familiar at all! Unless you're from Nede, possibly. That's a Ceruledge. Its blade cleaves at the second blur, striking into a pair of gleaming claws and revealing its opponent...

A much more familiar -- to outsiders this time, not to Nedians -- darker chassis. It's Azoth, in that form he fights for Solaris in, metallic and robotic with a beastly silhouette, not human at all, and having a match with the Ceruledge in a flurry of exchanged blows before both dart off, chasing each other again.

Any attempt to get closer or call out is interrupted by a woman with fluffy green hair curling around her Nedian ears. She wears the white coat of a researcher, and shoves her too-big classes back on her face as she makes a mad dash to get between the others and the nearest fence through.

"Excuse me, please don't interfere with the Pokemon...!"

She glances over his shoulder, her attention settling on Azoth. The battle has come to an end, with Ceruledge and Azoth having a... conversation? They're too far away to hear, and it seems unlikely that there's a 1:1 to common language in play, but Azoth has learned to communicate with the unlike before, hasn't he? Ceruledge gesticulates with its blades close to its chest, and Azoth's antenna swivel and shift freely like animal ears, while his tail twitches, arcs, and droops with newfound fluidity. Whatever Azoth expresses with a lazy claw swipes at the air makes the Ceruledge vibrate body language like laughter.

Clearly, Azoth is not making the effort to correct anyone's mistake here. Or is it less of a lie not to assert any humanity? He certainly looks more like that Pokemon in front of him right now than any person.

Either way, a new performance has begun, and Azoth all too easily slips into the role he's been prompted to play.

"Um, this is an especially delicate specimen," the researcher continues to explain. "It's proven quite skittish around people, so we really don't want anyone to reinforce its fear while it's acclimating..."

<Pose Tracker> Xiumei Klein has posed.

Xiumei has tried to keep an eye out for Azoth ever since she arrived. They fought together in Marduk. Then, they were separated, and that has been a cause for concern. But she hasn't had any luck.

She heard about yesterday's attack on the Professor's lab -- and it is, truly, worrying! Perhaps Nede is not as safe as she thought it was.

She slows to a stop, though, to see a familiar robotic-yet-bestial form. Her eyes widen for a moment. "Azoth..."

She looks sideways, then, at the Pokemon researcher. She hesitates for a second. Azoth seems to have slid right into the role. "Ah... I know him, I'm afraid."

She shifts her bag. She feels something shift inside; Varius and Avile, who decided to stay hidden. But they're observing this (for a fabric traveling bag is no great obstacle for their sensors), and they're concerned too.

<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.

Kaguya has been on the lookout for Azoth, but she's mostly had her own matters to contend with. A few trips through Viridian Forest, finding Magilou and Velvet, dodging the cops...

And of course, her new friends, Weedle and Hoothoot.

But Pallet isn't Viridian, and she's going to try to be a little more low-key here. She'd heard there was an attack...

But.

"...Azoth?" Kaguya wonders, seeing a familiar shape. She's worried for a moment--

"Hey--"

But that woman steps into her path, and Kaguya opens her mouth and then closes it. "Uh?" she says, and then sees them... Talking. Laughing?

".."

"...Yeah," she says. "That's fair. We wouldn't want to interfere. It seems pretty happy where it is..."

"Mind if I take some readings from here, though?" she asks, pulling a tablet (pretty low tech for Nede, actually) with a camera attached. "It looks really interesting."

Either way, she'll watch what happens.

<Pose Tracker> Venetia Vuong has posed.

Venetia has been trooping around. The Energy Nede irritates her, but so do a lot of things, and she has had the opportunity to rinse Pokemon Filth out of her hair at some point, which had its benefits. She has striven to remain more or less with people she knows from Filgaia, anticipating, perhaps, PokeTreachery.

She is walking with Xiumei. Flanking her is a curiously well-defined Caterpie whose eye spots seem strangely... intense. (Don't overestimate it: it's a Caterpie, ultimately.)

Her arms fold at the sight of Azoth. She opens her mouth, all prepared to bust into a well, actually: -- but she stops. Her eyes turn momentarily towards Kaguya, and then towards Xiumei.

<Pose Tracker> Hannah Curie has posed.

Hannah is doing her own version of acclimating, though not to quite the same degree as Azoth appears to have. She's gotten herself some Nede-style clothes to wear, though: a long green striped tee with a flowy pink vest on top, along with a skirt... and still the same old reliable hiking boots and her same old reliable satchel. She's taking care of something else when Zephyr alerts her (not that anybody else can hear it) to the presence of something quite unusual.

She comes rushing over, and comes skidding to a stop once the researcher gets in everyone's way to ask them not to approach.

Azoth is... acclimating.

Hannah blinks. "Wait you think--" she starts to say, but then cuts herself off as she looks over to Azoth.

Zephyr comes swooping down to land on her shoulder, then, and the two share a glance that is a mix of skeptical and perplexed. (Zephyr is not something that will be found in any Pokedex or PokeSnap database, though he might ring a false positive for a Firetalon.)

She glances to Xiumei and Kaguya, and Venetia. "... what should we do?"

<Pose Tracker> Elaine has posed.

Seated beside the green haired research is one brown haired Nedian teenager, an Eevee resting on top of her head using the brim of her cap to help balance itself. In her hands is a blue leather case holding a bright red device that looks like it folds up neatly. The top piece has a large screen, the bottom a number of controls and small pad for typing. And in front of her is another device with a cord running aaallll the way from the nearby lab building.

"Uggghh, Professor Oak said the Pokedex would catalog any pokemon and help identify but did he just mean new species from the originals?" Elaine grumbles comparing information between the Pokedex in her hand and the monitor before her before looking up at the Ceruledge and Azoth. "Through... Shouldn't the Pokedex at least give us some information?" as she holds it up to the Eevee on her head, the device letting out a chime as it says "Eevee, the Evolution Pokemon. Eevee is rarely seen and can adapt to severe habitats by evolving, changing its capabilities and form. Assess Strength... This Eevee is an outstanding specimen of it's species. Catalouging size and weight information. Database updated." causing the Eevee to yip at the Pokedex.

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

Ethius, though injured after attempting (needlessly) to tank a Bomb explosion, remains vigilant in regards to potential cross-world problems. By the law of the Federation land, with the available tech on display, Nede is guaranteed free of UP3 concerns...
 
  But the man's just like that, and - humorously - is stopped by someone he could bowl over in other circumstances.
 
  "That's not--" Ethius' attempt to interrupt joins the chorus of other offworld travelers who are familiar with what they're seeing. Forced to back off, he uses his quarterstaff for balance as he just delivers his patented Ethius Stare(tm) across the fields to where Azoth and Ceruledge have their duel.
 
  "..." His free hand goes up to his forehead. "He does... seem like he's enjoying himself."

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.

A lot of people went 'missing,' so Ragnell hasn't been especially concerned. Azoth is tough; she trusts that he can take care of himself. However, as she's explored more of Energy Nede and gotten more of a feel of the lay of the land, she's noted that she's seen neither chassis nor wire of her friend. Not that she's worried or anything.
    
When Ragnell eventually makes it to Pallet Town, and in particular notes a familiar presence at a certain point within it, she'll reach the pastures of Professor Oak's lab. She does indeed recognize one of the 'Pokemon' at fight-play within, and starts to approach--but as she does, a green-haired lady pops up to interfere with some of the *other* Drifters likewise heading that way.
    
Ragnell side-eyes that conversation, the brim of her hat shadowing her face. It's unknown at this point if the Nedian researcher can see her or not, but Azoth... *does* look awfully content right where he is. She leans to one side and sets a hand on her hip as she looks back over at him and the Ceruledge.
    
"A delicate specimen, huh," she comments. "Exactly what kinda Pokemon is that supposed t' be?"
    
If the researcher responds to her, well, Ragnell will know how to act accordingly. For now, she's content(-ish?) to gauge not just her reaction, but the reactions of the Drifters already assembling--some of them wondering what they should do, some of them silent, some of them confronting the researcher (however gently), some of them confused, all of them for now letting the researcher be an obstacle.

<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.

There had been attack, and Avril had been there for it! Unwilling to depart just yet (in the event something else happens), and not sure how to get word to her friends, Avril had opted to stay put.

Until, that is, Kaguya had showed up. Perhaps there's another way around the dilemma she's found herself in...

But, it would seem, other things are afoot.

"Azoth?" Avril regards the figure in the fields quizzically, as if she had been told to put two and two together and make five. "But, is he not...?"

She's only ever seen him in his mostly-human guise, as it were.

"..."

She glances over at Kaguya, then at the researcher, then back at Azoth in the field.

"Happy..." Avril echoes, crinkling her foreheard as if in deep thought.

<Pose Tracker> Arisugawa Joy has posed.

Joy is seated at the far end of the pastures, quietly looking towards the curious battle between Ceruledge -- a Pokemon she certainly knows the origins of -- and something that's quite... unknown to her. It wasn't her intention to stay at the labs, but she was a bit worried, and a lot of these outworlders are still around...

That light-haired woman, Avril. Several others... there are many. Then, Oak's new assistant, too, with the Eevee. She reminds her of Peace...

"... mm," she quietly makes a noise, holding her own Pokedex up to Azoth quietly to check what it'll report. If the Drifters are to be believed, it's not... a Pokemon?

<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.

Xantia certainly did notice a conspicuous absence among those gathered at Pallet Town. No one else may have realized since she didn't exactly specify, but the reason she suddenly decided to turn back to 'take another look around the forest' was specifically to see if she could find Azoth. She's had an odd knack for this in this past, after all. Knowing Azoth, she figures it's less likely he's in any trouble he can't handle and probably just got distracted by some pretty rocks unlike any he's gotten to document before, but still, it's a bad idea to be split up in an unfamiliar land. You never know what might happen.

Case in point, Xantia's little side trip caused her to miss a fight back at the lab! Finally something where she would've been in her element, and she wasn't around for it. Dang it Azoth, you owe her a fight now. Once she finally finds him.

It appears that others have beaten her to that as well. She actually recognizes him by sound, first. She knows well what the impact of his weapons sounds like, it's distinctive enough to make her come running in the direction of the pastures, not bothering with a normal entrance but hopping a fence to get there.

She looks annoyed at being stopped by the researcher, keeping her from approaching her friend for a reason like that. "What are you talking about? Azoth's right there fighting the Pokemon, you don't call that interfering?" She needs a few seconds to put two and two together. "...Wait, you don't actually think he's a Pokemon, do you? How could you possibly--"

She pauses as she looks over at the pasture, examining the Ceruledge. "...Yeah okay, I can see it. Kinda. You're wrong, though."

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

Ida's temporary accommodations are in Viridian City, but Nede's public transit system makes travel between there and Pallet Town a breeze. She's returned to Oak's lab to check in on the professor, but instead she finds... something else.

The heiress approaches the group of researchers, Pokemon, and gathering Drifters slowly and cautiously. She's wearing her grey Thames jumpsuit with its yellow safety stripes, and her long, dark hair is in a loose ponytail, with just enough give to hide the tops of her ears. Her eyes widen in shock and recognition as she watches Pokemon sparring with 'Pokemon', before darkening with emotional tension.

"I've never seen a Pokemon like that before," she says to the researcher, choking down her pride as she says the white lie. "When did it come into your care?"

The Pokeball at her hip shakes, and then cracks open, blue light pooling at her feet. A chubby green Caterpie solidifies in front of her. Ida glances down at it, keeping it in her peripheral vision as it...

Trundles right up to Elaine and Veevee. "Pii~", it says. Friend? Playmate?

<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.

It had to have happened sooner or later. Ever since Gwen had been alerted that Seraphs might possibly get contained by Pokeballs, she's been on the lookout, even if she isn't entirely sure Nedians would be able to see Seraphs just yet, and in what percentage if the trait was more natural for them than it was for her.

So, arriving not long after the others, Gwen's eyes spot Azoth right away, realizing this is the reason for the gathering of familiar faces.

But ah, it won't be that simple, as Elaine and the green-haired scientist attest.

"Heeeeey there. I'm somethin' of a specialist with Lightnin' n'... Cyb... er, Metal Pokemon," Gwen quickly lies through her teeth, while at the same time turning on her charm to maximum. "Just ask Voltie, here!" She extends a gloved hand, half expecting Voltie to come out.

Voltie.... does not. "Aw, Voltie's a little shy boy today. Welp-welp, can't be helped, striding right in--"

Xiumei takes a more direct approach, rather than putting on a show. Kaguya wants to observe, and Venetia Hannah wisely pause. "This might go bad," she asides to her friends, as subtly as she can without drawing the attention of the Nedians. "We got those black-uniformed types goin' around tryin' t'steal Pokemon. What if they try to steal Azoth?"

Still, Ethius is right. Azoth seems... at peace, in a way she's never seen him while in this form. What if he's actually happy, here, rather than being constantly pulled between the two worlds of Drifter and Solaris? Seeing Ragnell and Avril there, Gwen frowns thoughtfully, folding her arms. ".... I wanna hear what he wants, though..."

On goes the quickly crafted facade, as she turns to the researcher. "Gwen Whitlock's the name! Based in the Badlands, though it's pretty obscure right round these parts." She takes off her right glove, displaying her metal hand with a chaste, playful wink. "This'ere is my proof! A prosthetic, long developed t'deal and examine these types of Pokemon! It got lightning, it got metal, n' it's exclusive. Thankfully, I'm here, n' I can give your Pokemon a quick looksee. What'ca say?"

<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.

The researcher's eyes widen at Xiumei. "Wait, you know this Pokemon?" She brightens with excitement. "If there's any data you could share, that would be great...! We're not sure what his needs are, exactly, and he's refused to eat anything we offer him."

At Kaguya, she smiles brighter with what she assumes is encouragement. "It's taken a bit! But this one seems to get along with other Pokemon well. We might be able to build trust by proxy. Oh. Um. Sure! That should be fine!" She looks to Elaine, who is a child and should not be the authority here, and then nods back at Kaguya. "It's fine!"

But if Elaine and Joy turn their Poxedex to Azoth...

Well, it doesn't... not produce anything. But what it does bring up is a corrupted entry that gives precious little data. (It seems Azoth isn't completely able to hack this technology... But... why is the effort being made?!)

Venetia and Hannah know what's wrong here, but the researcher catches none of their hesitations. So does Ethius, but his swerve only makes the research more assured everything is going great.

And Avril sees it, too. Azoth looks happy, even in this form that cannot smile.

Ragnell goes ignored by the researcher. Rude! Well, she probably can't see Seraphim. But that does give Ragnell a few more options than everyone else here.

Ida and Gwen both commence in the art of their own performances. The researcher looks to Ida. "Only very recently. It was found badly hurt and taken to a Pokemon Center in Viridian before quickly handed over to us. They say the poor thing tried to run outside and froze stiff as soon as it found itself in a city of people... It really only seems to respond well to other Pokemon."

"Gwen Whitlock!" the researcher repeats. "My name's Mintha! You're a Steel and Electric expert? Wow!" That's not at all what Gwen said!! But it worked anyway?! She suddenly frets, pacing back and forth. "An expert eye would really help us out, and you do have credentials, but, ooh. I don't know. Um. Oh goodness... D-Do you have a plan for earning his trust?"

It has to be Xantia that speaks up and makes the correction once and for all.

Mintha blinks owlishly.

"Azoth? Not a Pokemon?"

She looks back into the pasture. Dot. Dot. Dot. Her head tilts.

"...No matter how I look at it, that's a Pokemon."

<Pose Tracker> Xiumei Klein has posed.

Xiumei glances sideways at Kaguya -- and gawks a little, until she realizes what she must be doing. But what could she be planning to do with that?

She begins to regret speaking up right away.

She looks to Venetia, who came with her, then to the researcher. She smiles, nervously. "I'm... I'm afraid I don't quite have any information."

A moment later, there is a soft 'evoi!' sound, and her Eevee nudges her ankle -- then he scurries up, leaping to her back, and finally coming to rest on her shoulder. Xiumei sighs, reaches up, and gives him a scratch under the chin.

"...I don't know," she admits to Hannah. She looks at Venetia. "He seems content. But..."

Ida and Gwen also step in. Xiumei glances at them, then at Xantia. She hesitates a moment more.

She looks at Elaine. Xiumei hesitates, before she smiles -- and adjusts her glasses, with her finger. "Your... Pokedex doesn't pick up anything about him?"

Then, Xiumei looks at Mintha -- she opens her mouth, but she hesitates. Azoth does seem happy.

There's a pulse of light from her bag, then another. They're both forlorn.

<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.

"What is that?" Kaguya wonders of Elaine, as she demonstrates the device's abilities. "The device, I mean. It just told me what your friend is. Called an Eevee, huh...?"

But she looks back to Azoth soon enough, when Gwen mentions the people who might try to 'steal' Azoth. She says, "Wouldn't it be better? If they could 'steal' him from Solaris, it might be an improvement."

She takes readings from her own device for the moment--temperature, visual data, trying to ping him on radio. Things like that.

"Looks like you're important here," she says to Elaine. "You ever seen one like him?"

She considers Ragnell, and looks at her--but doesn't draw attention to her beyond that one look, instead saying, "Froze stiff around people, huh..."

"How safe is he here? From others who might try to 'steal' him like someone said?" Kaguya asks Mintha. "Can you guys protect your research specimens?"

She glances at Xiumei and her bag. "...Ah."

...Aw. She looks to Avril, instead. "I'm thinking... Maybe we shouldn't interfere. What do you think? There's 'truth' and all but..."

<Pose Tracker> Venetia Vuong has posed.

Other people speak and Venetia gets to learn without ruining her know it all image. Score one for Team Vuong. Her eyes turn towards Xantia... then back towards Azoth. Inwardly, she entertains a -

"He couldn't possibly have been," Venetia begins to say, eyes narrowing behind her lace mask. "That's not..."

She doesn't answer Hannah right away. And when she does, the answer is:

"I don't know."

Venetia looks at her soberly. "The best that we can do is try to be kind, I suppose."

The presence of the Pokedexes gets Venetia to look over at them. Her expression is clearly set to communicate a message, which is sent directly to Xiumei, Ida and Hannah. That message is 'what the Dinoginos is a PokeDex?'

"It's not quite the topic," Venetia says then, to Mintha: "But let me ask you, for the sake of -- hm, let's say philosophical dialogue. What is it that constitutes a 'Pokemon', conceptually?"

<Pose Tracker> Hannah Curie has posed.

Zephyr turns his head, focuses on something, and a moment later Hannah says quietly, without quite looking herself, "Guys, that girl from yesterday is here. Should we do something about her?"

But Hannah looks with interest as Gwen reveals... a prosthetic arm? Her right arm, in fact. No wonder she only wanted to shake with her left.

But the researcher explains, and Hannah frowns in thought. She takes a step closer to Ethius and drops her voice to talk to him quietly. He seemed to be able to suss out how Azoth's program worked before, so he might have the best insights here. Quietly, she asks, "... is it possible he's outside the bounds of his programmin'? Must be pretty far out of anythin' Solaris ever stipulated for him, right...?" A pause. "Is that good or bad, though, I wonder..."

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

Ethius stands aside as Gwen goes forth and bluffs her credentials. Internally, he nods along. She might have had a knack for some aspects of what he does after all. He doesn't have the vantage point to peer over his shoulder to see what the young woman over here is looking at.
 
  While the ambient hums of higher technology have always been uncomfortable, even irritating, it is relaxing to not have to be duty-bound to have to check every strange glowing light or odd glint of metal in the last while. The only relaxing thing, but a relaxing thing. He's been 'on the clock' for nearly eight straight years at this point.
 
  "Miss Gwen," Ethius signals, as he digs through his pockets. "I believe you forgot his preferred interests."
 
  He takes out the stone that Azoth had shared with him shortly after a strangely-defined abortive attempt to check on the welfare of Guadosalam, born of confused memories of a distant trauma of a world and place irrevocably changed over twenty years ago.

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.

There's a lot going on right now. One of those things is Elaine's Pokedex, which fails to give any meaningful information on Azoth, but cheerily gives plenty on that Eevee. Ragnell considers that as she meets Kaguya and Gwen's side-gazes. She, too, has some Thoughts about the researcher's story about how Azoth came into their care.
    
'I wanna hear what he wants, though,' Gwen in particular laments.
    
"Took the words right outta my mouth. I wanna hear that, too," she replies. Her red eyes slide over to the researcher, who completely ignores her--or rather, fails to perceive her--and she bares a broad, sharp-toothed grin. "An' I think I'm gonna go do just that. Later, losers~!"
    
With that, Ragnell's form dissolves into a large orb of crackling golden light, which swoops and zips past everyone else and their philosophical debates on what is or is not a Pokemon. It zags, arcs around the Ceruledge, and then passes by it right into Azoth's chassis and vanishes from view.
    
From within Azoth, Ragnell's spiritual form says, Howdy howdy howdy! Been a hot minute, Az. Quick note: look t'your left. Before we get down t' brass tacks, what d'you wanna do about the crowd?

<Pose Tracker> Elaine has posed.

Elaine flops back, the motion causing the Eevee on her head to jump off and land on her stomach eliciting an oof from the girl before it spots the Caterpie and lets out a cheerful "Vee!" and jumps off Elaine to dance around the Caterpie. For a few moments while that happens Elaine doesn't respond to anyone just watching the sky as she fidgets with the Pokedex in her hands and listening.

"Mintha... If they say it's not a Pokemon they might be right..." she says, a bit unhappily as she glances with a bit of unease at the number of outsiders around before letting out a sigh. "But, maybe that's better? Imagine what a horrible prospect it would be if all Pokemon were evolving or becoming machines! What a paradox that would be. Veevee, be sure to behave." she says with a slight giggle looking to her Eevee playing with Ida's Caterpie.

Sitting back up, Elaine looks to Kaguya with a polite smile, holding up the Pokedex, a single shiny grey rock like badge visible one of the two straps, with 7 more holes between the two straps to fill. "This is a Pokedex. Professor Oak made it to help with his research into Pokemon." as she folds it closed for the moment thinking further. "And no... I haven't seen anyone Pokemon with a human like robotic body. There few ghost types, like Ceruledge, but the only Pokemon classified as mostly machine tend to be the golems and the smaller electric steel types like Magnamite. But even that's up in the air given how they act." she says, positing a rather complex opinion for someone her age about Pokemon even in general. "As it is... Even if it isn't a Pokemon, history knows they wouldn't be the first to find purpose and joy in sparring Pokemon. Through Ceruledge isn't a common choice for dojos."

<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.

"So, Solaris was using him..." This, too, is new information for Avril. Her own encounters with Solaris -- such as they have been, anyway -- have not suggested anything 'good' or 'kind' about the mysterious nation. As a matter of fact...

...some of their politics, as she can ascertain, remind her of that of her own people. 'The strong reign over the weak' -- or at least, such is the opinion she has gathered.

"An improvement?" she asks of Kaguya, glancing the once Gwen's way as Gwen makes her own argument. "...I see. So even the control of others like Team Rocket would be better than Solaris' own. It would be better yet if he could be free as he is now, yet..."

She's quiet for a moment more.

"There is... something lonely about this," she confides to Kaguya.

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

"Pipipi!" Caterpie trills as Eevee dances around it, bouncing up and down. But something seems to catch its attention; it lets out an almost contemplative "Pipie?", turning back to its trainer.

Ida's face stays in its carefully-crafted mask of gentle professional interest. Her brow furrows a little as Gwen starts her routine; if she were less scrupulous, the courier might've had an alternate future as a con woman. The naturalist approaches Kaguya and Elaine, glancing at the Pokedex and its glitched-out data. "I've never used one of these things," she says, which is the absolute truth, "but I take it that's not a normal entry."

Caterpie trills, and then looks between Veevee and Ida. Its antenna bobbles. It turns around, and it nuzzles up against Ida's leg, comfortingly.

"We all want to do right by them," Ida continues, kneeling down to stroke Caterpie's head--and even offer Veevee a few pats, if she's amenable. "But... I think this one might have a... complicated history. If they're distrustful of people, maybe they were badly hurt by them in the past."

<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.

Xantia looks around at the others gathered, perplexed and at a loss for words. She knows she's not the only one who knows the truth, here. Why is everybody just... playing along like this? Maybe this is some kind of 'don't interfere with the local culture' thing? She might be inclined to go along with that and follow everyone's lead... but this is about Azoth. She can't imagine even pretending not to recognize a friend, leaving him to... whatever this is.

However, Azoth seems to be going along with this. And when she looks at him out there... it does seem like the suggestion that he might be content in this role could be on the money. Even so, no matter how she looks at it... it isn't right. It isn't right at all. He didn't actually lose his memory again, did he? That would be most tragic thing imaginable. But if he didn't, and this is just an act... that didn't sit right with her either.

Ragnell, of course, has the most easy and direct way to be ascertain things. But she doesn't want to leave it all up to however that conversation ends up going. She needs to say something here, too. It may not be very fair, but, well, nothing about their respective situations is very fair. She can only do what she would've wanted others to do for her, were the situation reversed. And so, ignoring everyone else, she addresses Azoth himself.

"...Azoth. If this is something you've decided... I get it. But you know you can't stay here like this, you'll put these people in danger. It's best to correct misunderstandings, as much as possible." That would be the best case scenario here. The other one... hurts to think about. That's the main reason why she simply has to put it all out there like this. "But, if you've forgotten... then I'll remind you of the promise we made. I won't just leave you here like this. I could never do that."

Like or not, she's sure that he'll understand.

<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.

".... It's one thing t'decide for him, and another if he decides himself," Gwen says quietly to the others, as the debate continues.

"Great t'meet you, Ms. Mintha!" Gwen extends her hand out for a handshake-- specifically her left, as Hannah keenly just realized. "As for what he is, there's one way to find out. I'll see if I can communicate with 'im. T'ensure the safety of any Pokemon, could you call them back? This has been tested on Electric and M- er Steel Pokemon, but I can't vouch--" Her eyes look past the researcher momentarily as Ragnell agrees.

As Ragnell peaces out, Gwen tries to mouth a 'thank you' to the Seraph, while at the same time not drawing attention to her. One point for 'Seraphs are invisible here', at least.

Voltie takes this moment to arrive, somehow emerging from under Gwen's hat and jumping onto her hand with a gleeful 'joltik'. Gwen looks on Joltik with a soft fondness, leveling the palm of her hand out as he waves his little mandibles. "... Oh hey there, little buddy, you woke up. Eat up; I know I get hungry after a good nap."

Ethius takes out a stone, and Gwen nods, taking it in her left hand with a more subtle grin, this time. "Thanks, Ethius. Don't let me forget to give it back to you."

"Just give me a moment." She walks to the fence and takes her time to lift over it; giving some time for Ragnell and Azoth to... talk? How does that work? Either way, she'll stride up when she senses her in, waiting until she's far enough away to try to speak to Azoth himself. "Azoth. Is Ragnell chattin' with ya now? We wanted to see if all's good."

  In a flash, Voltie is on top of her hat, mandibles raised in a vain attempt to threaten Azoth away from.... Gwen. It's extremely cute.

<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.

Mintha droops and sighs when Xiumei has no information to give. "Oh. I see. But you've seen him around before?" But Kaguya brings up a good point after Team Rocket's attack, and Mintha winces. "Well. Er. Obviously we try to protect the Pokemon here! Before was an anomaly. I hope."

Venetia asks an important question, and Mintha clears her throat. "Well, for some people, Pokemon are pets. Others use them for fights. But mostly, I think Pokemon are friends." She pauses. "But. You know. Creatures. Monsters." She makes a sphere shape with her hand. "That we fit into our pockets. Where did you go to school?" Mintha, where did YOU go to school?

She's not terribly perceptive, at least. Any discussion they do amongst each other doesn't go well noticed. Certainly not when Hannah asks Ethius her questions. And Ethius looks important. He is supporting Gwen's assertions and providing more (rock-based) data. Mintha shakes Gwen's hand, still dazzled. "Um. Okay. Be gentle!" she calls as Gwen goes to do her thing. Then Xantia's gone too. "Uh..."

But it seems like it will be okay...?

Elaine proposes that this actually really isn't a Pokemon. And then Mintha sighs, pushing her glasses back up. "Machine Pokemon, huh... You know, Elaine, extraterrestrial Pokemon are not an entirely unheard of concept. Nor are artificial Pokemon."

She looks to Ida with a pointed nod. "...Yes, that much is clear to me. So if he's not a Pokemon..." She looks over the others. "Does he have a home? Does he belong to one of you? Or... ah, excuse me. Does he belong with one of you?" There's a sudden skepticism in her tone there hasn't been this entire conversation.

Ragnell hops into her vessel, Mintha nonethewiser. And Azoth abruptly stops moving, tail lowering. He does not look to his left, or to anyone. By the footsteps of Gwen and Xantia approaching, he knows who is here, and who else might be with them with that warning, even if he does not dare look back. The Ceruledge does, ready to stop them before Azoth holds up his claw. It readily backs off.

There's no response right away. Not to Ragnell, in his circuits, or to Gwen, and even for a monster of a machine the fear in his hesitation is palpable.

You know you can't stay here like this.

Azoth sinks down to the ground, slumped in a sit. He says, in that too-deep voice, but at whisper volume, what Ragnell would have first noticed the moment she took up his circuits:

"But Solaris isn't here." That could change. "There's no path to those objectives." That could change. "The overrides have gone silent."

He can't make himself look up at either her or Gwen, or even provide a unique pulse of data for Ragnell.

"...It doesn't hurt anymore."

<Pose Tracker> Xiumei Klein has posed.

"Yes," Xiumei says to Mintha. "I... ah. We're not from... we're from the same place he is." She settles on that, unsure how to best put it.

"Some manner of local device," Xiumei answers Venetia. "It catalogs Pokemon and provides information about them. It's... an effort to build a complete listing, I think."

There is a moment of hesitation, though, at Kaguya's question.

If Solaris were to come here -- if they were to find him here -- then would they hurt the people here, to recover Azoth? She feels sick considering the thought.

Then, she looks at Gwen -- and at Ragnell. Her eyes widen. "Wait, you're--"

But Ragnell is off. And Xantia is addressing Azoth directly, with Gwen following. She decides to stay back, though she keeps an eye on that.

Even if her heart sinks.

Even if she wants to tell him that he can stay here, and they'll make it work.

She glances at Elaine -- and then she cocks an eyebrow. That is a detailed answer. She hesitates, looking down at her bag. Xiumei's nose wrinkles, as she considers a question posed to her.

"Do Pokemon get to choose?" she asks. Her Eevee glances sideways at Xiumei, when she asks the question. "Who they work with?"

<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.

"That's convenient," Kaguya comments on Ragnell's approach, looking back to Elaine. She smiles back at her--she might not be that much taller, if at all--and then nods when she explains. "I see. Pokedex... Pokemon Index?"

That is an interesting set of opinions. "True. A lot of people appreciate sparring, too. Thanks, though. I appreciate the tips."

She if anything seems more relaxed around a 'Professor's assistant'. But with Avril answering, "They do." Solaris, use Azoth, that is. "I don't know Team Rocket yet, but they might not be as bad. Then again, they might."

Lonely, though? "...There's a lot lonely about Azoth, I think."

Ida mentions some history. Xantia...

Kaguya looks down, at her statement. "Putting these people in danger, huh?" She frowns. "Maybe that's true, since..."

Mintha says they'll try. "Then..."

She considers, and then, "He 'belongs' to some bad people who he's better off staying away from," she says. "If I thought you could keep him safe from them without getting hurt yourselves, I'd argue that we should leave him here in your care."

"...But," she says, nodding to Xantia, "She's right. If they find a way here, and they might, if we can find a way back..."

She sighs and looks at Avril. "...This sucks," she says. "We can't get away from our problems just by leaving them a planet away, can we?"

She looks to Xiumei, too, at her question.

<Pose Tracker> Venetia Vuong has posed.

"Hm?" Venetia says to Elaine, turning her head, but it's clear she's not being named. She looks at the Eevee in question. It is, of course, utterly adorable.

The Caterpie that flanks her looks at the Eevee as well. The Caterpie's mouth parts move a little.

The Caterpie has beef. Venetia has not yet noticed this.

Back to Mintha then. "A hole in the ground," Venetia tells Mintha, which seems like a lie, given that she is wearing clothing and is not caked in mud and poverty. "I ask this for the sake of comparison." She gestures forwards. At Azoth.

Machine Pokemon. Extraterrestrial Pokemon. "You mean from the, ahem, other planets in the vicinity, or more?" she asks Mintha, almost immediately.

But her interest in all things extrasolar side, Venetia folds her arms and watches as Azoth goes still and sits down. (She has no idea Ragnell is involved, but it does seem like a noticeable shift.)

"No matter where you go," Venetia says to Kaguya, "There you are."

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.

It isn't a surprise to Ragnell that Azoth had already been aware of the assembled crowd, or at least becomes aware as Gwen and Xantia approach. They ask direct questions of their own, but Ragnell has something more of an advantage in that she can sense the flow and ebb of electricity in his circuits. She's spent enough time inside him, helping him with their flow, to notice something right away:
    
The overrides aren't overriding. This, right now, is as free as Azoth will ever be.
    
And he uses that freedom to speak in the quietest of voices, to do as little to openly acknowledge the others as possible. He admits to the same thing he tells Gwen and Xantia directly, and... is that a bad thing? Not at all, in Ragnell's view. It's a choice he's making for himself. Maybe the only choice he's been able to truly make since she's known him.
    
"..."
    
In a flash, the energy orb that is Ragnell emerges; she coalesces into her human-like form a short distance from him. She gazes down at him with arms folded; she turns her gaze over to the others, still over by Mintha. Then she arches an eyebrow at Gwen and Xantia, before looking back at Azoth.
    
"If this is where you wanna be, this is where you wanna be," she says quietly. "I'll fight tooth an' nail to keep that true. If you want the rest o' these folks gone," she gestures at the crowd, at even Xantia and Gwen, to whom she gives another more pointed glance, "jus' say the word." She crooks a half-smile. "I'll even do it *without* shootin' anyone, if you insist."
    
It's true that the current situation might change. But that's something they can worry about afterwards. Right now, Ragnell's primary interest is in what Azoth wants--and in making that happen.
    
That's what friends are for.

<Pose Tracker> Hannah Curie has posed.

Ida speaks of this 'pokemon' being hurt badly by people in the past and sighs. "Ain't that the half of it..."

But Venetia has a question about what a Pokemon is, and Mintha's answer is... correct but perhaps not useful for an offworlder's perspective. "They're the local wildlife, Miss Vuong. All of 'em genetically modified as part of some big preservation effort. They've all got ingrained Symbological abilities, too."

'Extraterrestrial Pokemon are not an entirely unheard of concept' Hannah raises an eyebrow at that.

Not a one of them should be passing for Nedian right now, if someone is bothering to pay attention.

Hannah sighs. "Mister Hesiod, this planet's way more advanced than Filgaia and Lunar, right? Does the UP3 apply? I mean, we should probably keep low, but still..."

<Pose Tracker> Elaine has posed.

Veevee accepts all pettings with an happy 'Eeeee' trill. Elaine looking up at Mintha nods, "True, we don't really know how Voltorb and Electrode actually came about, nevermind Varoom... Or that Ro-" and she suddenly cuts herself off, clutching the Pokedex tighter to herself as she scans the yard looking for something stopping only when she spots in the distance what looks like a boxy orange mower of some sort. Its motionless, lifeless looking for the moment. "And then there's the Rotom..." she finishes, clearly on guard against the mower in the distance. "But none of them are truly humanoid in appearance. Well.. there are rumors I guess?" she says considering something as she looks at Venetia, then Mintha, then back to Venetia. "The two I've heard most recently is some company is supposedly trying to create a pokemon with all the typings, and that centuries ago a new human shaped Pokemon appeared after a meteor crashed into Johto... But noones ever proven either!"

Elaine then nods at Kaguya, saying "Pokemon Index. I believe the phone application is most popular, I used it myself until Professor Oak give me this Pokedex a week ago. The Index doesn't have everything on it but most of what its missing is just individual specifications on Pokemon. You can still learn a lot from it. Oh, every computer at the Pokemon Centers have the application too!" finishing with a nod.

At Xiumei's question, she tilts her head in a bit of confusion. "Of course they do?" she answers a bit lost before giving a shake of her head as if realizing something. With a smile, she says "Yes, for the most part Pokemon can and will choose their Partners. It might seem like because of how pokeball's work it's forced on them, but a dedicate and stubborn Pokemon can avoid ever being caught if it truly doesn't want to. Their are a number of Pokemon known as 'Legendaries' which are prime examples of this in that only a trainer they want to work with will ever be allowed to catch them. Most other Pokemon tend to be more willing to give us a shot at proving we're a good partner, and refusing commands if they want or outright disappearing." as she reaches out to pet her Eevee. "Isn't that right Veevee?" getting a happy trill back as she smiles at her Pokemon. "It's not uncommon for some Pokemon to follow or assist people just because they like them too, without every involving a pokeball. Veevee is kinda like that. Technically Professor Oak did catch her, but she fair ran away in her Pokeball, and wouldn't let anyone but me near her... And she's refused to stay in her Pokeball since."

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

When Hannah asks the question in discreet manner, Ethius nods his head. "That is one possibility, although... the intricacies of this sort of thing is not completely within my areas of expertise," he offers that much. "...Good or bad is... subjective."
 
  Ethius watches from the periphery as Ragnell moves in and others make their approach, and he can see all too well about Azoth's body language in the way they slump despite the dangerous appearance and nature of their truer self. He has been on the wrong side of that one several times, already. He can't hear what's being said clearly from here, and he can only guess ultimately at what might be said.
 
  Kaguya glances towards Avril, and Ethius glances in Kaguya's direction. A sense, to the perceptive, there might be something he has to say - but his gaze is not particularly severe. (Or... even at all.)
 
  He chooses to face forward and not speak up on that front, lowering his voice to keep what he says heard by the gathered here - and only the gathered here - to not disturb or overwhelm the local researchers.
 
  "The UP3 regards 'underdeveloped' worlds, defined by development of faster-than-light travel," he answers to Hannah as she continues with her queries, "when it comes to peers... or superiors," he has to correct himself, what he's seen on Nede is mind-blowing even for him, "the intent is to respect their worlds and people all the same."
 
  (The Vendeeni disagree with the Federation intentions and mission entirely, which is its own source of conflict when they've managed to influence a number of other space-faring species, but that's an entirely different story and problem far, far, far from here.)
 
  "We've yet to meet with any notable government authority regarding our presence here," he adds, "or gauge their feelings about the trespass." Beyond having deeply critical information for them, and even 'deeply critical' might not be adequate for describing how dire a portent the events leading up to their arrival here is.
 
  This has not stopped Ethius from going on a pickpocketing spree to ensure there was enough FOL to afford a night at a hotel, for those who needed that luxury.

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

Ida is clearly an animal person. She scratches Veevee behind the ears, then around the ruff, then gives her a few, long pets. "You were such a brave girl, yesterday," she says. "And you, too, Caterpie." Not wanting her own Pokemon to be left out, she strokes Caterpie's head; the bug pokemon leans into her hand like an affectionate cat. But then it pulls back, eyes focusing on...

Venetia's Caterpie.

"Pi?" Ida's Caterpie chirps.

"Oh, I didn't know you had one, too," Ida says, glancing at Venetia.

But she can't help but overhear Azoth's low, deep voice, and the words he says--perhaps the most truthful thing she's ever heard him say. She feels her heart rip in two.

"That's... good," Ida says, tilting her head down to try and hide the fact that she's on the verge of tears.

Will Veevee sit back and let this go uncomforted?

<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.

Gwen goes to approach Azoth directly; perhaps it's the better thing for Avril to watch how things go from here. She may be adept with machines, it is true, but there is a huge gulf between what she has managed to grasp by instinct of ancient technology and what Azoth is.

Even the Golems over which she has been able to assert her will in the past have never given her the suggestion that there is 'someone' in there.

"If... it becomes possible for us to leave Nede, or for others to come to Nede as well," Avril starts, glancing Kaguya's way, "then it would only be a matter of time."

That's the grim truth of it, perhaps: if they are trapped here forever, then that is one matter. If the gates should somehow open -- and she has little recourse to assume they won't -- then there's no saying that won't be a door that's open to anyone.
There is a reason that they were able to reach Nede, which surely wasn't always there.

"I was able to call upon the Guardians' power," she murmurs to Kaguya, perhaps the most damning evidence of their proximity to Filgaia.

But, still, Avril smiles, if only slightly. "It would be a wonderful thing if we could escape our problems so easily, would it not? Yet, I'm afraid such things cannot be outrun. There must come a time when we face them."

Even if it's painful.

<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.

"I promise. He's valuable to all of us here. And... I can't say right off the bat, but I think you've done a stellar job of givin' him a place he feels at home." The last sentence worms its way past the crack in Gwen's artful(?) mask; it sounds a little too heartfelt to be from someone who's a perfect stranger, or merely an admirer. Ida may be partially right; if Gwen had been a different kind of person, she would have made for a decent enough con-woman. Something just went terribly wrong (or right, depending on the perspective) with how she developed.

Walking up to Azoth, Gwen respectfully stops when the Ceruledge seems ready to intervene; while Pokemon are completely foreign to the courier, there's a lot of messaging she understands just in the way they handle themselves, and communicate. Not everyone will be like a horse, but she knows to respect a display. Voltie, on her head, valiantly strains out its mandibles in a display of trying to defend his moving turf.

Azoth holds up his hand, which seems like a good sign for Gwen (and Xantia, perhaps) to walk up, and Voltie, in turn, hides under her hat.

Azoth's words, however, stop Gwen in her tracks, as she thinks, for the first time, of what they mean. Her gaze softens, her eyes threatening to brim with tears.

Her breath hitches, but she holds it in; this is the time for words, not tears. ".... Sounds like... you found a place where you can think, without any of us weirdos pullin' ya one side or another. I get that. .... Gonna take a sit right here, if ya don't mind. I don't want them t'think I'm gonna abscond away with ya." Or Ragnell, as it seems. She nods to the Seraph as Ragnell manifests, sitting a comfortable distance from him. "Ethius seemed to want t'show you this, Azoth." She opens her left palm, displaying the stone to Azoth. "Ain't sure if it was on borrowin' or givin' terms. It's a neat stone, at least."

Ragnell has Azoth's back, too. She smiles at Ragnell then, sniffing and rubbing one eye with the back of her hand. "No worries, Ragnell. Thank you for bein' in his corner."

Xantia may be the harder one to budge. "... Xantia." Gwen looks over her shoulder at Xantia, realizing one of the key differences between them, for all she and Xantia seem to be of the same mind on a lot of things. "A lot of things have happened in the past month. You know the time you had to go be with yourself? I had to do a little of that too myself, after Siegfried. Our reasons may've been similar, or different, but we needed it, right?" She scratches the back of her neck. "I don't think Azoth ever got that chance, like we could. Even on Lunar, he can't get away from them. Here, he can, if just for a little while. So maybe... our goal is t'make sure he gets as long of a break as he can. How long it might be is up to him; it may be for a long, long while. But that's a part of his path, right? Solaris ain't here, n' even if there are some agents that got transported here, chances are, we'll find out soon enough, n' we can deal with it."

The thought of having to somehow deal with Loren over this may make things more... difficult, but hopefully, Loren's just on Filgaia.

"... Wounds need a chance t'heal, or else they fester. Decisions can come later, when we find a way back."

<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.

'Be gentle', Mintha suggest. Xantia basically does the exact opposite with her words. She isn't incapable of being gentle, but she doesn't exactly default to it. Especially not when it's this personally important. There is an allure in seeking to avoid one's personal issues altogether, certainly. But it's a trap. Avoiding immediate pain will just make it hurt more when it inevitably catches up with you. Especially when others end up in pain because you avoided yours. Well aware of that, she seeks to avoid things ending up that way at all costs. And she wouldn't wish it on another in similar unfortunate circumstances, either.

And besides. They did make that promise. In her phrasing of it, she'd deliberately chosen the words 'when we both get our memories back'. When, not if. That means no giving up the search. No matter what lies at the end of their respective searches, she's put her absolute faith in everything ending up alright for the two of them.

Of course, that doesn't mean that she likes to see Azoth this way, forcing him to confront the miserable reality. She only wishes that she could accept his actions as a valid solution, even a temporary one. But the longer the lie lasts, the worse it'll be at the inevitable moment when the truth comes out.

"...I'm sorry," is all she can say to him, at first. Not for her words. For the fact that it sucks that things have to be this way. After a moment, she adds, "I don't want you to, you know... not enjoy yourself, while you can. But I... we won't stop until we find a way back." The silent implication being that once there's a way back, people likely could, and therefore would, come back the other way, too. He needs to be prepared for that.

She looks to Ragnell then, expression neutral at first. Then she smiles. Ragnell cares in her own way, she understands that. She understands that every word spoken is absolutely true. "I appreciate that. You're a good friend." Her smile fades a bit, a tinge of sadness in her eyes. "But, I have to be a good friend too, in my own way. And when I see a friend making a mistake... I'll correct it, no matter what I have to do." Potentially having to fight friends for the sake of other friends isn't exactly a happy thought since someone she cares about'll get hurt no matter what, but... it's a valid way to settle a difference of opinion.

Gwen speaks to her next, and those words don't miss their intended effect. It's plain to see on Xantia's face - she hates this, this entire situation. Especially because, "I know that... I know all of that. I don't want to... take that away from him or anything, I just... it's important to be honest to yourself. If you aren't... you'll end up losing everything you care about." Like she almost did. It was Azoth who corrected her point of view, when she needed it. How could she not do the same for him?

It happens in a flash, before anyone can protest. Just like that, in the blink of an eye, Xantia bridges the distance between her and Azoth... and hugs him. In that form, she's extremely likely to cut herself. She doesn't care. Azoth needs a hug, so she's giving him a hug. A light one, mind, badly hurting herself wouldn't make Azoth feel great either. But if she needs to bite back a little bit of pain, that's fine. It doesn't mean she can't offer him what little comfort is possible under the circumstances.

"...Of course I want you to take whatever time you need. But, let's put an end to this silly Pokemon act, okay? People will understand." She doesn't know that. But she believes that. That's all she's ever needed to base her judgements on.

<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.

Xiumei helps add more important data points: Azoth is an outsider, like them. But Mintha seems to have gone a different direction with her thoughts. Where Azoth is from is not her concern, but how he might be cared for. Same as everyone else here. If only that made it easier.

Which makes what Kaguya says put a frown on Mintha's face. "...I see. So you'd take him back there, then? To the people that made him..." She glances to him and back. "Skittish? That doesn't really sit well with me. Oh, but that Gwen Whitlock knows her stuff! It isn't even shying away!"

She is absorbed enough in this to conveniently miss Ethius' explanation on everything. She would be so easy to pickpocket right now.

To Venetia she has a more furrowed brow of a frown. "Oh! You're outsiders!" Guess who wasn't bothering to pay attention, Hannah. "Sorry. I'm sure outsider school is great. It just doesn't have Pokemon! Which is sad." She sighs, adjusting her glasses. "Not planets exactly. Have you ever heard of a Cleffa?" Elaine provides other examples, and Mintha nods sagely like this is all proven. This is not proven.

As for Azoth...

Ragnell makes a powerful offer. Gwen sits beside him and hands him a stone that communicates a powerful message. Azoth carefully moves it over in his claws.

"It is a piece of somewhere that was important, but he could not stay. Because they cannot override a piece you can hold."

It doesn't hurt. But it will. Because there's no place where the Azoth can exist without endangering the people who care for him. Is there any piece here he gets to take with him, when the inevitable happens? Azoth lifts his head up, as if looking for them now: rocks. Physical bits of memory of the earth and where and when you stood on it.

Ragnell's offer hangs in the air while Xantia speaks. They're both willing to fight in their own ways for the exact same thing. "...No, it's all right, Ragnell. But. Thank you." He means that. He always does. Somehow it never feels like enough.

Xantia won't stop looking for a way home. He knows that to be true. It's a finality. A death sentence. Xantia never gives up. Xantia always finds her way. Xantia needs to go back to Filgaia and Azoth would never imagine stopping her. For her to delcare it nestles a datapoint within him with certainty: this is temporary.

A broken little sound escapes him as the world crashes down. But then -- then the Azoth is hugged. His reaction is immediate, wrapping back around her and burying his face down, despite being the larger and monstrous of the two. He is sharp, but he is careful, somehow even in this desperation, none of him hurting her while he finds the shelter there.

"...Okay."

<Pose Tracker> Xiumei Klein has posed.

"Mm." Xiumei glances at Mintha. "I don't want to take him from somewhere that he's happy. Even if he's not a Pokemon, if he's happier here..."

But she hesitates, as she thinks of what Xantia said earlier.

Xiumei watches as Ragnell comes back out. She can hear a little of it. It's up to Azoth -- and she, certainly, isn't going to fight to forcibly remove Azoth from here. But, as Kaguya says:

It sucks.

Not that Xiumei would use that phrasing.

She looks at Elaine -- then she smiles. "That's... that's good, then. Where we're from, it... hasn't always been like that. Some people have forced others to fight for them, and found ways to control them."

She frowns, for a moment, at that.

Then, she looks back to Azoth. Her eyes move between Gwen and Xantia, as she considers what they say. Then, she walks over. She's a little hesitant.

"...Varius and Avile don't want to chance coming out right now," she says. "Until they're sure it will be safe." After being killed and controlled before, she can't blame their caution.

"But they said that... the best thing that ever happened to them was a chance to be themselves. Away from the people who used them," she says to Azoth. Xiumei looks down. "Even when it hurt later."

She looks back up at him, then she smiles. "So... so take all of the time you need, okay? We'll... we'll figure it out, Azoth."

<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.

Kaguya glances at Ethius, too. But it's only a glance; she doesn't say anything. Her answers go to Avril, instead. "Yeah..." At first, it's jsut speculation. But Avril brings up a good point in her murmur, and Kaguya's eyes widen slightly. "Then..."

They're not fully apart from Filgaia at all, one way or another.

Avril's smile gets a wan one from Kaguya. "Yeah. ...That time has to come. And I have things I have to do, too."

No government authority so far... Hmm.

She glances at Hannah's explanation, but then back to Mintha. "Not willingly," she says, "But I suspect they'd come for him." Then--outsiders. Hmmm.

Azoth's broken sound--Kaguya's Veruni hearing picks it up. And the way he hugs Xantia...

"...Wish we could just leave you here," she admits. "But Xantia's right. Avril's right."

She looks at Ragnell thoughtfully. "If he had decided to stay," Kaguya says, "You wouldn't have had to fight me about it. And if I can, I'll stop Solaris from taking him back. ...But I just don't think I can. I'm not that 'powerful'."

"...But if they get him back I'll make them suffer for it. That I can do." Kaguya puts away her tablet. "Thanks for looking after him," she says to Mintha.

She remembers her promise to Azoth, too. And it means...

"I'm satisfied. Avril... You want to get out of here? I'm kind of in the mood to see Dean all of a sudden." She looks glum. "Don't tell him I said that."

<Pose Tracker> Venetia Vuong has posed.

"It seems as though 'Pokemon' is a contested category, or one with a pragmatic definition, rather than a strict one," Venetia says, though she doesn't sound very happy about it. "By that reasoning, then, perhaps one might assume the mantle, the role of 'Pokemon' for the sake of satisfying one's -"

Ragnell reappears. Venetia blinks. "-- needs," she concludes, which may not have been her initial brainwave.

She breathes out. Her face tightens. She folds her arms again, more firmly --

And then her head snaps suddenly to look towards Ethius as he speaks at some length. (The Caterpie's does as well.) She steps forwards towards him. (The Caterpie follows.) "Wait," she tells him, "hold on for a moment. 'The development of faster than light travel.'"

"Define 'development,'" Venetia says to Ethius, leaning in for a moment.

But it's passing. She turns her attention back to Xiumei. (The Caterpie doesn't. It's got your number, Hesiod.) Xiumei says something encouraging, and so Venetia looks towards the others and runs the mental tape back -- ah, she can see... how heartwarming.

"Indeed," she says towards Azoth. "I imagine we'll be around for a while. If anything this is quite remarkable hospitality. Does it beat Spira's?" She looks towards the fellow members of ARMS. "I missed that one." (Venetia thought Spira was a fricking lie for about seven months.)

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.

Ragnell glances down at the stone Gwen offers Azoth on Ethius's behalf and quirks a brief smile. (The permanence of the earth, of something you can have and hold, is not fully beyond Ragnell even if she's as mercurial as the stormwinds.) Between her and Xantia, it seems like she vibes better with Ragnell--does her best to try to explain to her why Azoth could use a break. And it's not like Ragnell doesn't get Xantia's point of view, or doubts her desire to help Azoth. But while she gives her a little scoff and a little shrug when Xantia calls her a good friend, her red eyes narrow when she says she has to correct Azoth's mistake.
    
"It might be a mistake, but it's *his* mistake to make. You DON'T get to make that decision for him," she states. There is no compromise in her tone or stance. If she relents at all, it's when she adds that it's important to be true to yourself. At that, Ragnell puffs a little sigh, stance relaxing a hair. "...Well, you're not wrong about that one. S'true that you should be honest with yourself. But..."
    
She glances at Azoth. "...The 'Azoth' he's been presentin' to y'all all this time--how's that different from what he's doin' right now? If he's fakin' bein' a Pokemon, it's not any bigger of a lie than fakin' bein' a human-sized Drifter." She narrows her eyes at Xantia. "At least this way he's not in constant pain."
    
But Azoth turns her offer down. Ragnell gives him a concerned frown--but just as she left his chassis when it became clear it was a source of distress, she abandons the offer with a single nod. "Okay. If you change your mind, lemme know, but I ain't gonna force a fight you don't want."
    
It might not feel like enough, but it is.
    
Still, she's silent as Xantia and Azoth hug, folding her arms behind her head. Azoth has always been a soft-hearted monster, caring more about others than himself; she has no doubt he welcomes this hug, even if he may not welcome Xantia's line in the sand. He accepts both of them, though, and that's his choice to make.
    
She glances over at Xiumei and Kaguya and the others as they approach once Azoth finally drops the act. Xiumei has some good things to say, and Ragnell leaves them at that; instead, she huffs a faint laugh at Kaguya. "Yeah, no, I gotcha. No one person could dismantle Solaris all on their lonesome."
    
She looks back at Azoth poker-faced, and doesn't say what's in her head: that's what everyone is for.

<Pose Tracker> Elaine has posed.

Elaine winces slightly at Xantia's words, saying only after a moment with a pensive look "I don't know if there is truth to it, but there has been a rumor of those Team Rocket bullies working on ways to force Pokemon to do things... And well. Some Pokemon can force other Pokemon to do things too. Or people in the case of certain species like Hypno." shaking her head slightly. "People that would abusing Pokemon are the worse." she declares simply, with all the confidence of a child secure in their version of what is just. To Ventia, she says "I wouldn't say it's that loose... Pokemon does in general refer to our current species of fauna, we did once have non-pokemon fauna but they couldn't survive the conditions here and well." she lets it trail off, adding instead "Supposedly only some 150 unique species were originally called Pokemon, but now we have some 500. Hence Professor Oak's research, and the importance of tools like the Pokedex for cataloguing new Pokemon."

Veevee, still playing with the Caterpie and running around the people about as they talk is all to aware! Sadness is in the air! Seeing Ida looking down and away, she runs up to her and jumps up at her to see if she'll catch her. If not, she will soon have an Eevee on her head trying to look at her face from above. The small brown furred Pokemon only weighs about 15 pounds at best, making her fairly light if a bit uncomfortable.

At the the mention of Cleffa, Elaine makes an amused face, but doesn't comment, as she instead stays seated listening and watching whats going on. It's clear why she's a field assistant for a moment, the young girl taking her time to careful observe and assess the outsiders about the field while making mental notes to herself.

<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.

Avril hadn't had the time to fully reflect on it in the moment: she had simply done what had come naturally. But in the time that had followed...

They were not 'far' from Filgaia, at least not in a way that mattered for the reach of the Guardians. And surely, there had to be a point where their presence faltered. Yet, even without knowing what that might be... it suggests they're still 'close to home', in a fashion.

"I confess that I, too, should like to be free of my duties," she says to Kaguya quietly. "Yet, they are not a thing so easily surrendered: I would feel their absence as surely as I now feel their weight. We have a duty to see things through... whatever our hearts might desire."

Because they couldn't stand it any other way, in essence.

Something crosses Avril's expression at the sound Azoth makes. She glances askance, then over at Kaguya; there's little she can say when it comes Azoth's wishes or Azoth's likely fate save this to perhaps both Xantia and Ragnell alike:

"Thank you."

With that, she turns towards Kaguya.

"He should be back in Viridian City," Avril answers, on the matter of Dean, turning one last glance towards the pasture. "Perhaps it will be alright to go there, if we can leave this place in everyone else's hands. I need to tell Rebecca and him about what's happened in any case."

They all ought to speak to the Professor -- Oak, that is.

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

Ethius doesn't pickpocket the researcher here. There's too many witnesses and all it takes is for one of the Drifters here to just go 'Ethius!' to get them all in trouble. He watches as various people sort out their feelings and opinions of Azoth's choices and feelings, and even he has a hand to his forehead in consideration. (when does he not? it's like a wizard and their orb, with a clearly established relationship as to who verbs what)
 
  Venetia leans in.
 
  "By 'development,' I mean... a civilization having created the means to achieve and replicate the technological feat regarding travel through space." He speaks of an idealized form of 'they figured out how to do this themselves.'
 
  Venetia may notice the way he flinches a little when she leans in. He knows of her hunger. The hunger, for more meta-thallium. His mind is already occasionally wandering across other elements of the Modern Space Date Day of the Periodic Table of the Elements and quietly dreading her excitement about some other items on that list.
 
  May she never discover Eridium or Element Zero or their ilk. (It is technically a breach of confidentiality to even think about them, in his field, and so he endeavors to never do so again.)
 
  Ragnell's voice speaks up in defense of Azoth's choices, and on some level, one imagines they might ask Mr. Space Lawman himself, so he has to straighten out and weigh in in case his words might defuse some of the conflict. Some.
 
  "...Regardless of the extant risks," Ethius says, "if the people of Nede choose to welcome him, I'm not against their decision... to the extent, I would be able to weigh on that," aware of incurring Ragnell's wrath on that front even the words are largely in the direction of Letting This happen.
 
  The pauses of awkwardness are all for how he has no script from his line of work to follow in this novel situation with absolutely zero precedent.

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

Ida double-takes at Elaine. "...Only hundreds of species?" Even if it's just animal life--she's seeing trees and grass and other flora right now--that's still... desperately sad. Filgaia is dying, but it's still home to so much life. Ida swallows. She's hearing bits and pieces of the other conversation, too--Xantia and Ragnell being dear and loyal, in ways only they can be. She wants to go over there and hug Azoth, too, but...

Is it her place, to, knowing what she's hidden from him?

Thankfully, Ida--owner of two small, affectionate, socially-intelligent dogs, now--scoops Veevee into her arms, and holds her tight. Caterpie trills, and leaps up a moment later; Ida balances it on her shoulder as it nuzzles her face. "Thank you," Ida whispers. She turns to Elaine, then, flushing slightly. "Hello, young lady. I'm sorry for... corralling your companion, here. My name's Ida. I saw you at the lab the other day." Ida was at the lab the other day; if Elaine saw, she was one of the people fighting off Team Rocket with her bare hands. "My name's Ida. That 'Pokemon' over there is a friend of mine, and he's been through a lot. I'm... glad he's happy, even if it's only for a little while."

<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.

Xantia responds in a way that Gwen could only attribute to Xantia: with all her heart, with no hesitation, and with all her soul. When Ragnell responds, Gwen holds back on her instinct to intervene and be the cheerful diplomat; this is their debate.

It might be good for Azoth to hear, besides; how the ties of friends could present in more than one way. Ragnell's right in that the humanoid version of Azoth is in itself a deception; he admitted it himself. "Maybe this is a good spot for him to learn the kind of self he wants to be. I'd be happy t'see that, myself, as long as he's the one that gets to decide-- Hey, hey, don't you go hoggin' all the hugs Xantia!"

It takes a Xantia to bridge that reluctance to cross over Azoth's personal space; now that it's been broken, Gwen can't resist. Standing up, the courier tries to wrap her arms over some part of Azoth's upper torso, as he cradles Xantia.

"You know..."

Leave it to Gwen to see where business might be possible, as she rubs her chin.

".... You may not be a Pokemon, but you might be somethin' nobody saw comin'." She sniffs. "Yeah... like, a horse whisperer? But for Pokemon. The kinda guy that goes and gets on their level. I mean, you've been here the same amount of time as we have n' you got Pokemon seemin' to understand you."

Gwen tilts her head towards Ragnell, and then at Azoth. "I will say there's a group called Team Rocket that's been runnin' 'round, stealin' Pokemon. One of theirs said it was due to some plan t'stop the Ten Wisemen. I'll need to collect more info on them since I ain't sure if that's just somethin' they're tellin' new recruits or somethin' their leader or leaders, plural, believe, but if you want to lay low, Azoth, watch out for any people in smart-lookin' white or black uniforms with R on the back."

Letting go of Azoth, she rubs the top of what exists as his 'head'. "This ain't goodbye. It's a new chapter. I wanna see the you you decide to become. In fact, I might come back tomorrow, n' the next day, n' you'll be sick of me, n' Ragnell will have to zap my ass." She chuckles. "Okay, I won't go that far. But... I think I'm gettin' excited 'bout all this now."

<Pose Tracker> Elaine has posed.

Elaine makes a soft ah sound, while Veevee trills over getting a hug. "Oh. I'm Elaine -." she stops suddenly as if considering something, and then continues. "Umm, nice to meet you?" she phrase it as a question through there isn't any uncertainty in her voice making it seems she's still not entirely settled on her thoughts about the outsiders in Nede. She pushes herself up shortly collecting the monitor and a roll the cable was on that was hidden by the tall grass next to her saying "Pardon me, but I need to move this back since it's not needed anymore it seems. Come on Veevee, we have to finish making plans for getting to Cerulean City soon too."

<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.

Xantia didn't expect Ragnell to just accept her viewpoint, but she can only shrug at the assertion that people should be allowed to make mistakes. There's nothing she can say to that, it's simply where their viewpoints fundamentally differ. She's not the kind who can let things she perceives as bad happen. As Azoth is well familiar, she's always going on about the third option - avoiding either extreme when both options aren't ideal. It doesn't always mean that the compromise she sees is free from its own hardships. To the matter of his form, though...

"I don't blame him for doing what's more practical. It's not faking when people know who you are, right?" She just sees... no issues with that. Azoth can present himself however he likes, as long as people know his identity then surely there'll be no problem. ...Her perspective may be a little different than most, not needing a lot of mental adjustment to accept Azoth's forms as the same person. Her problem is that this felt more like Azoth was... giving up on being Azoth. That's not something she can accept so easily. Maybe it does avoid pain, for a little while. But in her opinion...

"...The real pain comes from uncertainty." She doesn't elaborate on that further. It's probably obvious that that's been her own experience.

She couldn't deny being surprised, that even with such a quick and rash action on her part, Azoth manages to perfectly anticipate it, and maneuver his body in such a way that the many sharp bits don't end up cutting her at all. The moment may be a sad one, but she still feels a measure of happiness at this level of understanding they've reached, and being able to give a small comfort in spite of miserable circumstances. "You see? When it's completely up to you, you wouldn't hurt anybody. That's who you really are."

She can't surpress a laugh when Gwen comes in to join her (shouldn't there be more alarm with all the sharpness going on?), thankful for the extra support. This Azoth should get more hugs. "She's right, I can't understand these creatures at all. That's another talent you have." She files the information on Team Rocket away for later, releasing the hug not before Gwen does.

"Well, whatever else you decide, if I can help in any way, any way at all..." She glances aside at this point, not adding to the discussion regarding Solaris, only implying the obvious fact that it extends to that as well, before finishing cheerfully, "Just holler!" In the mean time, maybe she'll go see if she can find any more pretty rocks to show him. Can never go wrong with pretty rocks.

<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.

Elaine already explains it. Even if Azoth were a Pokemon, there is no intention to force him to do anything here. Perhaps Azoth had picked up on that from the people of Nede -- at least these ones. Even Mintha can only sigh as she looks at what's happening, pushing up her glasses again. This seems like it is a heavy, sad situation. One that's now out of her hands. "... I see. All right. Okay," is all she knows what to say. She doesn't really see. But with Azoth latched onto Xantia, it's rather obvious where his trust lies.

Azoth emits pings for Varius and Avile to let them know he acknowledges their presence, and does not expect the data back: the deserve to hide, the way he was trying to hide, from the things that hurt them.

Ragnell comes to Azoth's defense, saying all the things he calculated himself, but neglected to say when he ran to the inevitable conclusions he knew he would not fight -- Xantia is holding a few critical, unspoken data points when it comes to Azoth. But it's true he's not human any more than a Pokemon. There is hope that it's like Xiumei said... there's a rare chance to find a piece of what he is.

That's who you really are.

Azoth doesn't have words for Xantia, only a slightly tighter hug, harmless and gentle.

Kaguya wouldn't have fought, and Kaguya has her own promise to Azoth, even if it's one he thinks he won't get to see. Venetia asserts there's at least a little time, however it goes. Ethius says that he would help Azoth establish a home here. Gwen hugs on, too, with promises that this could be a new chapter. Could it? Can he let himself grasp that?

All of their hopes for this broken machine... This weapon that never should have had his own thoughts.
Azoth, however impossibly, has made himself several good friends.

Each and every sentiment, however small, holds an impossible amount of value. It's this sort of thing that's always made Azoth feel inauthentic.

What possible response can ever accurately convey the precious value of their words and deeds? The calculations in his circuits are so clear and precise, but nothing he knows matches up to their meaning. He only has the one phrase that comes even slightly close.

"...Thank you, everyone."