2024-03-04: Cold Friends, Warm Reception
- Log: 2024-03-04: Cold Friends, Warm Reception
- Cast: Shige Kiwako, Sable Aomori, Timu Guado
- Where: Pewter City - Rock Road
- Date: March 04, 2024
- Summary: It's getting late, out on the Rock Road of Pewter City. But it's never too dark, or too cold, to make new friends... even in circumstances that are anything but warm or inviting.
=========================<* Pewter City - Rock Road *>========================== The Rock Road cuts through the heart of Pewter City, a city on the northmost sector of the Emerald Cape province. The shopping district caters heavily to travellers between Viridian Forest and Mt. Moon; many of the shops and stalls feature hiking and tramping supplies, and there are no small number of guided tours offering rides to Pewter's unique environs. Away from the commerce, the residents of Pewter City live in beautiful townhouses along the side of the mountains, each at least three stories high; cable cars provide views of the mountains, and walks for all levels of fitness are dotted around the city's wards. Pewter City is also a geologist's dream, housing the famed Princebridge University and Pewter Museum of Science. BGM: Pokemon: Let's Go, Eevee & Pikachu! - Pewter City - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGrGjO5F6ZM
<Pose Tracker> Shige Kiwako has posed.
It doesn't matter the world or the type of ghost, if there's a haunting it's likely Shige's going to go poke her nose into it. She likes a good ghost story as much as the next perrson and.. well. There's also her moonlighting job as a ferryman for the dead of a sort. Conductor? Either way.
It's cold, it's overcast, it's late in the evening and it's all the things Shige likes in a day. What can you say, she grew up in this kind of weather. It's home again! Just missing the snow.
That's why she's out in the field slowly wandering around. She actually has pokeballs! Not that she's used any yet. She's not sure if she's got the right.. lifestyle to help out any pokemon and she'd feel bad. Besides, she's got a peanut gallery already. The way her ear flicks and she grimaces, they're even commenting already!
Still, for now she's at least enjoying exploring a new place and playing with a phone she acquired. There might be quiet mutters that the buttons don't like her claws and she's fighting with it the whole time. Means she's not paying attention.
She does suddenly stop though and lifts her head, one ear canted upward and slowly twitches like she's trying to pinpoint something.
<Pose Tracker> Sable Aomori has posed.
Sable Aomori is not a cold-adapted person, but she manages, thanks to Nede's technology. They have hand warmers! Those neat things that you hold in your hands and rub to make Heat, only, Symbological!
But she is in the field for reasons herself, and one of her Pokemon is out: Xirua, an Alolan Vulpix. Xirua is running ahead and playing adoably in the snow.
Sable walks along behind, in a coat and gloves, and noties a figure not paying attention.
She is very Sneaky so she is probably near Shige by the time she notices her.
"Hello," she says. "Are you looking for something?"
"Pix!"
<Pose Tracker> Timu Guado has posed.
Pewter City is a bit of a complicated place for Timu to return to now, given her near-brush with death from Michael. Her burns have since healed, and it's not her first encounter with flame-related trauma (that's Bevelle, courtesy of Mauri).
It's a bit cold for her manner of dress, but as a bearer of the White aspect of Fire, simple acts of focus are enough to keep her warm. (Fire-aspected Regen does wonders for thermoregulation in cold climates, which is one of the reasons she was able to survive Mt. Gagazet as well as she did.)
She's walking with Fuecoco next to her, whose little head tuft provides soft illumination in the overcast evening as the duo are headed towards a Center for the day after a productive afternoon of training. Her silhouette and color can be made out in the snowy gloom - her proportions are decidedly non-Nedian, spindly and long-limbed with prominent hands and claws. Veins feature around her face, almost plant-like.
When she looks up, she can see the shapes around Shige faintly but she doesn't catch the peculiar scent that Guado are attuned to. (Which makes sense, being far removed from Spira - a place she doesn't miss, although the absence of the scent of the Farplane is an unusual bit of sensory deprivation to grapple with.)
"Fue?" Fuecoco looks to the side as he catches Sable's Alolan Vulpix, as if taken by their striking appearance.
"I'm sorry, am I... interrupting anything?" She asks of everyone.
<Pose Tracker> Shige Kiwako has posed.
Shige Kiwako isn't really paying attention to the human. Sable probably can't shake the feeling of being watched by something, but there's nothing there, but a funny looking cat with a spooky lantern attached to her belts.
She tilts her head back, then twists to get a better look at Sable and offers her a cheery smile, "I'd heard there were ghosts in the area. Weird sounds, spooky ongoings. That sort of thing." She sounds excited at the idea.
The little fox is offered a cheery wave too. "Nice to meet you Pix." She isn't used to the pokemon thing yet.
The pokemon may or may not be able to see what Sable can't for what it's worth!
Shige looks perfectly cozy in a button up blouse, skirt and boots. She's fuzzy and also from the arctic, this is a warm summer day clearly.
Timu's given a wave by the long haired hint of a shade. She thinks it's funny. Clearly.
"Nope?" Shige responds, confused. "I'm just doing the wandering thing I always do. What's up?"
<Pose Tracker> Sable Aomori has posed.
Sable can perceive the Unseen... but she doesn't see it outright, at first, without focusing. She can sense that there is Something...
But Xirua is perceptive, too. "Oh," Sable says. "Ghosts..." She nods. "I sense the presence of the otherworldly," she agrees.
The fox yips happily at Shige. "Her name is Xirua," Sable introduces her. "Mine is Sable."
It would be very convenient to be fuzzy, she thins. But as Timu approaches...
"Hello," Sable says, and looks her up and down. "You're Visitors," she asserts. "We should be welcoming to Visitors."
"So if you have any questions I'll answer them."
Pause. "I like your Fuecoco. That's a rare Pokemon..."
That's her take on interruption. Xirua, meanwhile, pads over to Fuecoco and then starts to stare. o_o. This is friendly!
<Pose Tracker> Timu Guado has posed.
"Yes... I am. I'm Timu Guado," Timu straightens up, and then politely bows. It's such a remote thing to the point of coincidence, but Spiran manners do share some overlap with what traditions of Hoenn have been preserved. If she weren't a Visitor of obvious origin, she might be confused for having grown up in the places where their cultural traditions and manner of speech remain common. (Up to and including habitually chasing Wingulls in circles inside one's own home.)
Fuecoco keeps their head tilted to Xirua's staring, then throws his hands up and bounces up and down, cheerfully. "Coco~!" He's making friends!
"...Thank you. He's a very dear friend to me, as... all of my Pokemon are." There's a small shakiness there, as she straightens out. She stares at the long-haired shade for a short while, uncertain about how the people of Gaia and beyond specifically do their Sendings, but she's not going to gainsay on what Shige's doing.
"It's nice to meet you, Sable... and Xirua, too."
Timu takes a moment to get her phone out, which distinctly has four vertical stripes - three red, one a bright cyan. It's been tough getting used to this, for a variety of reasons (one of them anatomical, they're not made for her fingers).
"I've heard it can get dangerous at night in these parts," she says of Shige's desire to see ghosts, and then looking to Sable as she thinks of what questions she might want to ask.
"Is everything all right?" She asks of Sable, mistaking her straightforward nature with discomfort.
<Pose Tracker> Shige Kiwako has posed.
Shige Kiwako hesitates for a moment. There's a slow inkling that Timu can see the gremlin that is her resident onryo. Who's looking up at Timu from all fours. Backwards. There's a smile, but her eyes aren't visible. Shige very slowly reaches out and nudges the ghost's leg with her foot and murmurs, "That can't be comfortable." Though isn't entirely sure.
"Dangerous? Nah it's fine. I don't think there's anything out here I can't handle." And by that, she mostly means run away from or confront with big spooky ghost things.
For Sable, she nods and offers a hand out for Xirua to 'shake'. Offering a polite little bow before she gets away. There's a moment of recognition, "I'm Shige and uh-" she watches both watching her ghosts. "They're with me." She doesn't introduce them. She doesn't now how many they can see or if the two even want to know!
There is that faint sound again and Shige twitches one ear to focus on it while the other stays pointed towards the pair and their pokemon though!
"I don't have any questions off-hand. I like to just explore and poke my head into things." She seems cheery enough about it. She's also sober!
<Pose Tracker> Sable Aomori has posed.
"Hello, Timu Guado. May I call you Timu?"
She bows in return, almost smoothly. Not quite, though. Meanwhile, Xirua cheers at Fuecoco. Friends!! She runs around him for a moment, before she accepts shaking Shige's hand.
"That's good," Sable says of Timu's friendships. Then she considers. Timu is staring at something...
And danger--
"It can be, but less because of the Pokemon and more because of the weather. It's very cold..."
Then, she considers, and then closes her eyes, breathing quietly. When she opens them, she sees--
"...That looks uncomfortable."
But no questions... Except for--
"Everything is fine," she says to Timu. "is everything fine with you?"
<Pose Tracker> Timu Guado has posed.
Timu's hands lower a little watching that onryo make the gestures she does. She can't know comprehensively all the kinds of Unsent there are beyond Spira, but something about that smile makes her seem like she's malicious in a way analogous to Fiends... but Shige doesn't seem overly disturbed or fussed about it.
"Timu is fine," she nods to SAble, as Fuecoco watches Xirua run around him the once. He gets dizzy and flops over, which is impressive for just one rotation's worth. Timu moves over and kneels down to make sure he's okay. ("Fue!" He says cheerfully. He is! He rights himself up with some effort.)
"Um... for now, I--" Timu looks up, and her eyes widen as she sees a number of silhouettes through the evening haze. There's three of them.
Large, towering brutes with a hunched-over posture and greenish skin, fanged maws and unkind-looking gazes. One of them sits down in a delinquent-like crouch. Another pounds one hand into an open palm. The third...
"HOOLI!!" They shout, as if to intimidate and scare those here.
Sable will know what kind of Pokemon these are - a Hooligre, three of them. Territorial, and known to be a bit problematic in more urban environments because of their aggressive natures. There's three wild ones looking to make this their turf, from the looks of things, and they look ready to pick a fight with the lot of them.
"Fue!!" Fuecoco holds their arms out, exhaling and snorting a little bit of flame with narrowed eyes, as Timu stands up and clutches her staff. "Look out!"
<Pose Tracker> Shige Kiwako has posed.
Shige's eyebrow goes up when Sable also comments on the gremlin of a yuurei. "Ignore her. She likes to act up when she knows she's visible to people that might get spooked." She nudges her toe in that direction again and hesitates, "Cold?" Sounding surprised briefly. She ignores her puffing breath. It's nothing new. "Kinda?" She's being charitable!
She does offer the vulpix a ear ruffle though!
The temperature IS dropping further though, not that miss feline really seems bothered still. Is it the ghosts?
The ghost in question does offer Sable a cheerful wave and a grin that might be scary to some, but Shige's playing it off so much who knows. "Her name's Sana."
"Nice to meet you two. Uh.. again at least. Been a bit Timu." Brief, long ago. Shige still wants to learn about their burial rites!
Territorial's one thing. There's are ghosts that are rather territorial too! There's a distant cracking sound as the onryo turns her head towards the ogres and suddenly skitters towards them, unnatural and jerky movements.
There's an icy wind too though. Far colder than it should be and a low mournful sound. It's near where Shige's ear had been tracking maybe-
Not that she's much older, but she IS trying to be responsible. "Behind me kids." She starts, moving forward. The shadows around her growing in number and the ghosts briefly manifesting in their ancient clothes! The armored figure stepping forward with a veteran's confidence as he draws an equally old ghostly blade tinged in ghostfire before flicking away again.
<Pose Tracker> Sable Aomori has posed.
Sable is not exactly used to ghosts, but at the same time she's not generally afraid of them. The unseen things that go bump in the night are not what scares her; the dangers that don't disappear by the light of day are.
Xirua the Vulpix rears happily at Fuecoco's tip over and cheerful righting of himself, though--and then she accepts some ear scritches.
"I see," Sable says to Shige. "It's very cold for me. I grew up in a tropical area..."
So they do know each other. That's nice--except that--
Sable, as advised, moves behind Shige. But Xirua does not. "They're Hooligres," Sable explains. "Territorial Pokemon that like to fight. They're of the... Dark type, I believe."
Fuecoco is ready. Xirua is also ready.
"...Xirua," Sable says. "Use Dazzling Gleam."
One of the Hooligres is about to take a Fairy-type assault from the little Vulpix, a brilliant, shining pink beam of light!
"...Your ghosts will have trouble against them. Their type is strong against Ghosts. So maybe you should leave the battle to our Pokemon..."
She looks over the ghost, "But that ghost is a real warrior..." She's impressed.
"Let's go, Timu!"
<Pose Tracker> Timu Guado has posed.
Timu, from a place where the lingering dead are a serious life and death concern even after Sin's final defeat, doesn't quite relax to the yuurei's introduction, but she at least doesn't make any sort of gesture to attack them or flee. She just nods, but there is that far more urgent problem coming at them!
"I'm all right," Timu steadies herself, to Sable's call to action. "Fuecoco...!"
The fight starts in earnest, and... to observances, it'll end almost as quickly.
Sable and her keen grasp of the type match-ups ensures that the Hooligre trying to beef with Xirua is not going to get to stake their claim, as the pink beam of light strikes into them and sends them tumbling butt over teakettle while they eat snow. (...the ratings board tentatively allows this phrasing)
Another Hooligre rounds about with the armored ghost, gnashing teeth and snarling as they try to take a swipe at them. To take Sable's word, were this an even fight, the wild Hooligre would have the advantage against Shige's Ghost-type analogue.
It's not an even fight, not with a long(?) lifetime of battle behind who steps forth to protect Shige, and so the other Hooligre collapses in a heap.
"HOOOOOOO!!!" The last Hooligre roars, as Fuecoco stands their ground.
"Fuecoco!" Timu calls. "Use--"
Before Timu can give the command, the two already injured Hooligres just turn tail and run outright, without bringing their last member in tow - all but abandoning the last one to their fate. It's mean-spirited! To live as a wild Pokemon means that one is subject to the harsher realities of nature, but even then...
"Wait." Timu says to Fuecoco, whom looks over at her with the equivalent of a question mark over his head, as she holds out a hand.
"Hooli...!" The Hooligre snorts. They don't look any less willing to fight, snarling with bared teeth as they raise one of their elongated arms. Timu ends up pulling one of hers back in a similar fashion.
"...Sable," Timu looks to her, "how are they seen here? They... scare a lot of people, don't they," she trails off.
<Pose Tracker> Shige Kiwako has posed.
There's a low creaking croak as the upside down onryo is clearly using some kind of shadowy magic. A curse of some kind. Blinking in and out.. reaching out to touch the first of the pokemon. Shige for her part, looks confused. "Ghost type? They're actual ghosts-" She doesn't really get the pokemon typing thing.
The wind is still growing colder and there's a slightly more audible sound as another ghost joins the fray. Just at the edge of her vision. Shige calls out, "H-hey they're saying stay back." thinking it's something like one of her own ghosts. Sort of. It looks funny though.
Then she glances back, "Hooligans. Just throw them out like they're drunkies." The kids aren't going to get that Shige.
The other ghost, looking something vaguely traditional is trying to flash freeze the 'hooligan'. Shige for her part is more concerned about the ghost and is slowly creeping her way over, using her lantern suddenly and calling out, "H-hey come on over here, Behind me. Let me handle the problem." Thinking maybe it's some kind of angry ghost. She really still doesn't get the pokemon thing.
Glancing over her shoulder briefly, watching the first one collapse. Sana.. does creepy things and starts to turn her head slowly towards the remaining one. Head twisting this way and that. She's having fun. Might be why Shige keeps a tight leash on her compared to the others.
"Wait, scare who?" She's pretty sure Timu's talking about the pokemon right? "They're only kinda scary. Big at least." She sounds kind of non-chalant. A far cry from the barely held together cat seen around 'metal demons'. She's faking it well enough at least.
<Pose Tracker> Sable Aomori has posed.
"Yes," Sable says. "Ghost types." Those are ghosts too!!
Sable is a talented Trainer, experienced enough to hold a Badge. She is slow to challenge any other Gyms though, all the more now that she has other concerns about the world.
But the last Hooligre roars... and the others leave it behind. Hooligans. Sable looks to the creatures, and...
Timu asks her a question.
"Yes," Sable says. "...Most people don't train them, because they're considered hard to control and scary, especially in urban environments."
"People tell stories about them..."
She looks to Shige, "You're very brave. I think we're okay, but I appreciate your protection."
<Pose Tracker> Timu Guado has posed.
'Just throw them out like they're drunkies.' Timu flinches a little. She has seen unruly guests to Guadosalam, especially from Otherworlders - notably those strange dark purple Unsent that apparently the Otherworld that shares the same water as Spira. (Hellions. The pyrefly saturation prevented any of their spiritual venom from spreading, but that hardly stopped their unruly behavior outright.)
Sable clarifies for Timu about how most don't train them. They're scary, hard to control... and not a great fit for where people live.
"Fueeeee," Fuecoco expresses confusion, as Timu looks to her first Pokemon friend. She takes in a breath, kneels down, and pats him along the side of his head.
"Stay here, okay?" She tells him, as she rises, clutches her healer's staff... and lowers it.
"It's not fair, is it," she says, as she steps forward and doesn't seem to heed the call to 'stay back' by what Shige's Friends Who Should Be On The Other Side are saying, stepping forward. "For a long time, where I'm from, there were a people we called bad, because they used things we were taught shouldn't be... and they spoke words we didn't understand."
"...Li!" The last Hooligre growls.
"...And my own people, the Guado, looked down on everyone. Took advantage of them," Timu continues, "and hurt a lot of people. Most of us don't live anywhere but where we come from," last she's seen or heard. "The few who want anything to do with us only care about how we can create Fiends - born from the envy and hatred of those who passed."
"Hooooo..." The Hooligre snorts, and starts taking a step back. Timu is, doubtless, taking her life into her own hands approaching them. They're close to the same height, but she's stringy compared to the cornered, abandoned beast of a Pokemon.
Timu pulls out a Pokeball, and holds it up.
"I don't want you to stay as someone's scary story," she says. She closes her eyes, thinking of the discomfort she has with her people's own ability to create dangerous Fiends to do destructive bidding, the force of will and intricate means involved in keeping them in relative control that's always eluded her personally.
"Let's be friends," she opens her eyes.
"...gre." The Hooligre looks off to the side, with no one there coming for them... and soon, enough, they sit down, bow their head, and place their hands on the ground, as Timu makes the toss. They disappear inside the ball.
One shake. Two. Three.
A click noise, follows.
<Pose Tracker> Shige Kiwako has posed.
"That-" she starts, replying to Sable, "Sure why not." Good enough for the feline psychopomp.
Shige is not a talented trainer. She has a focus in guiding dead things around. Sort of. As evidenced by the Onryo being a gremlin.
Still, there's a froslass properly visible now and she seems quite annoyed at the intrusions and Shige's ears twitch vaguely. "I don't think that'd last long." Then pauses and looks back at the other two spectres who weren't actually addressing her. Then to the Froslass. Then back to the trainer and the guado. "You guys say something?" Ghost lady's hearing things. Not creepy at all.
Shige did note the flinch while doing so. "You okay?" Starting to swing her lantern around, casting shadows. Creating more figures briefly. If it's bad..
Then she seems fine. Well enough to even throw pokeballs and she pauses, arm drooping a bit. he might be a bit too tightly wired some nights.
There is a very quiet, "But the scary stories are fun-" but she instead turns to look at the froslass now staring at her. The cat tilts her head slowly exmaining it. Then the other way. Ear flicking. "Hi." She offers. Free hand going up. She seems fascinated by the light. It is a beacon and all right?
"Did you want to go somewhere?" She's not.. they have ghost types. Are they the same as the ghosts and- she scowls. This is too much. "You can come along if you want." The idea of a pokeball doesn't even cross her mind yet. The ghost does nod her head though!
Back to Sable, "Brave? I'm just responsible." Play it off. She's also not really that, but she tries. "I uh, you're okay too right? I'd feel bad if you two got hurt and then I'd have to.. I wasn't going to mess up."
<Pose Tracker> Sable Aomori has posed.
It's not fair, Timu says, and shows empathy to someone who is considered 'scary'. Sable continues to wtch her as she does, though she does look at Shige for a moment, as she seems to recognie the ghost. "No," she answers of having sid someone.
But Hooligre...
Sable smiles. It's very small, but it's there. "I don't understand your history," she says. "...But I think your present is good."
A pause.
"It's nice... to make friends."
Then she looks to Shige, as she makes a friend too, and--
"I'm fine," Sable says, and looks back at Timu. "...I think I'm doing well today."
Xirua approaches the Pokeball with a, "Vuuul!" of approval.
<Pose Tracker> Timu Guado has posed.
"I'm all right," Timu says, though now she's kneeling in the snow which she probably shouldn't be. "I didn't say anything else."
Whoever that was that spoke.
Fuecoco hurriedly rushes up to the Guado's side, looking up with an open mouth as if curious as to what just happened - but ultimately happy about making a new friend. Even if no more than a minute ago he looked ready to chew someone's face... if he could.
Timu holds the Pokeball in her hands, recognizing how small it is. It's not the first time she's confronted the difference in Pokeball size versus who lives in there, but there's something there about acknowledging the level of trust involved in letting oneself be held like this. She holds Hooligre's new home close, looking up to acknowledge another such friend choosing to follow Shige.
Sable points out the obvious about everything Timu said - in that it's completely foreign and unknowable to anyone here.
"...Th-thank you," she says. There's something in her eyes, starting to stand up as Sable mentions how it's nice to make friends. "It is... it really is."
"Co--!" Fuecoco hops up and down, their little tuft flaring some as Timu looks down to Xirua, who is bearing their own witness to the new friend.
"How about we all go to the Center together?" Timu asks, now starting to feel the chill of encroaching night in one of the very coldest parts of Energy Nede. "It's getting late."
"Fue," Fuecoco nods vigorously, looking to Xirua and waving a tiny stubby arm as if to invite the Alolan Vulpix and Froslass along with their Trainer friends. (Or Trainer-equivalents.)