2024-02-23: Pigeons and Psynymphs
- Log: Pigeons and Psynymphs
- Cast: Damian Tamaoka, Nina Chiyome as Nami, Josephine Lovelace
- Where: Viridian City - Emerald Way
- Date: February 23, 2024
- Summary: Damian, Nami, and Josie cross paths in one of the parks in Viridian City, whereupon a discussion about Pokemon generally, Psynymphs in particular, and the matter of pigeons is had.
<Pose Tracker> Damian Tamaoka has posed.
Viridian City is a popular waystation for those on the Pokemon Journey, even moreso for those starting out from Palette Town, but even without that it's a crossroads between several destinations, and, of course, has a famously catchy song written bout it.
And because Nede loves preserving nature wherever it can, there are plenty of small parks littered about, especially in the residential districts, where people can go and relax or play in a somewhat scenic location, but without the dangers of being confronted by wild pokemon. (They keep the grass cut short, see.)
Damian is in one of these parks, sitting on a bench. He's dressed as he always is, in a purple hoodie, brown shorts, and black sneakers. He has messy, light purple hair and very pale silver eyes that are normally partly obscured by his square glasses. There is a healthy assortment of pokemon around him, as well. Pixi, a vulpix, is stretched out in the grass in front of him, and Silci, a Silcoon, is next to her.
And next to her is a quite rare sight indeed: a real live Psynymph (by the name of Mypsy), who is looking up at Damian curiously, but occasionally glancing around at all other people further away in the park. Purri, Damian's Purrloin, is laying next to her, occasionally nuzzling Mypsy and meowing quiet, reassuring things to her.
Damian's backpack is by him, on the bench, with an Egg on top of it, but the (second) most notable thing today is that Damian appears to be playing a flue. His phone is blasting out a backing track, and Damian is playing along to it, captivating Mypsy in particular.
BGM: Secret of Mana - Fight Into The Unknown - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMkgyjpmqF4
Those into their video games might recognize the flight music from that classic video game series, Secret of Aura.
<Pose Tracker> Nina Chiyome has posed.
There's ninjas about. This one might look somewhat familiar, though she does wear her hair different (It's pulled up!) Though otherwise she'd be the splitting image. Well, she also dresses a bit differently! Dressed in a swim top (Plain cerulean blue) and a zip up hoodie to go along with cozy looking shorts and sandals.
She's being followed by a totodile which is probably a bigger clue for anyone that knew her, but.. Nina didn't talk did she?
On the phone she even sounds the same, she's talking to someone. Though she pauses mid-sentence when she sees something rather rare. Her eyes light up and she says, "Hey one sec, call back. Gotta do something." Suggesting that impulsive thing isn't just a Nina thing. Though she didn't just hang up either!
Bounding over, she stops by collection of Damian and the pokemon. Her focus is narrow though, right there on a psynymph. The others might as well not even be there. "Oh oh, where did you come from sweetie?" She asks, starting to reach out. Then pausing and taking a picture with her phone. Then.. only then realizing there's people there.
She slowly looks over. Grins and says hey. Sorry." And hops back. "Hadn't seen one in person, got excited! I'm surprised you have one, they're kinda tricky to take care of aren't they?" It's almost like she's reviewing notes in the back of her head. She looks so similar though!
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
Somewhere, in this very park, there's Penelope.
But we're getting ahead of ourselves! More to the point, where there's Penelope, this is generally the fault of a very specific person, which is to say Josephine Lovelace, former (?) criminal and terrorist.
She's learned a thing or two in her time in Energy Nede and she's got to say: it's pretty great! Shame about the organized crime and the ancient criminals from its past currently threatening it, but all else being equal, it has a lot going for it. For one thing, there's free room and board which is a far cry from Filgaia's effective policy of 'too bad'. Sure, it's not necessarily nice digs, but coming from someone who has slept outside or in a boxcar or anywhere she can find a dark corner and some peace... Josie's not complaining.
Also, the birds are pretty friendly. It's been well over a decade since Josie's been graced by more than 'just the one'.
"So that's a rare one, eh?" Josie remarks, rolling on up as the girl admires the Psynymph. She is, at a glance, apparently unaccompanied. This is not in fact the case, which can be seen if one lifts their gaze to the trees nearby.
...The Bombirdier is probably the most notable case. But there are others clustered about in the boughs, watching.
Again, somewhere in this very part is Penelope, and she may not be very far away at all.
<Pose Tracker> Damian Tamaoka has posed.
Damian, at first, misses the conversation not-Nina is having as she approaches, engrossed in his flute playing as he is. (It's tricky! He hasn't kept up with his practice and he keeps fumbling his fingering in a few places, but otherwise he's doing pretty well.)
But Mypsy notices, and the triplet's fast approach is New (and thus Scary), and when she starts to fawn and gush over Mypsy the psynymp lets out a keen whine. "Psssyyyy--" She withdraws from the attempted touch, her whining growing louder. But thankfully Purri is on the job, hopping over to swat at the camera (and ruining the photo!) and letting out a loud hiss.
Damian was too stunned to do anything at first and then sets his flute down and bends over to scoop up Mypsy into his lap. It's rather a reverse of the usual, where Damian is now comforting a scared, quivering thing in his lap (instead of being the scared, quivering thing and being comforted by a Purri in his lap.) "Sssh, shhh. It's okay, Mypsy. Don't worry." Damian is cooing softly to Mypsy, his arms carefully wrapped around her.
"N-Nina, p-please, sh-she's skittish around new people!" Damian looks up and blinks. "O-oh, you're doing something d-different with your hair. It looks good." He reaches over to hit something on his phone to stop it. Quietly, he adds, "Purri, it's okay."
The feline pokemon keeps eyeing the triplet suspiciously but does back up. Pixi is standing now, and even Silci has done a few little hops in place to slowly turn around and face the newcomer.
"Y-yeah, we found a small group of Psynymphs in a nest... th-this one imprinted on me." He nods. "Th-they are, but I-I'm getting some help, from a Professor." (Two of them, and one of them definitely didn't commit crimes to get some information on Psynards, either.)
Damian blinks as Josie makes herself known, which gets another whine from Mypsy. "Sh-she is. She's a Psynymph, a-and they're endangered. But they can evolve into a Pokemon called a Psynard, wh-which can fly, and carry a lot of people..."
Gently, he says, "M-Mypsy, this is Nina and Miss Josie. Nina, Miss Josie, this is Mypsy."
<Pose Tracker> Nina Chiyome has posed.
Nami's expression goes from confused at the reaction. To annoyed that the shot was ruined. Not that it lasts long because she gets a briefly impish look on her features. She strikes a pose, hand emphasizing her hair. "Oh I'm so glad to hear that-" she starts. Then says flatly, "Also I'm not Nina." Completely deadpan. Sure it might have been fun to play along, but both the trainer and pokemon seem uh, timid. And that takes some of the fun out of messing with people.
She leans forward and rubs her chin, then says simply, "Nope. No clues. Who're you?" She's a different kind of blunt to Nina, but it's probably not hard to see how they're related. The croconaw behind her is already tugging at her hoodie though. He wants.. something. She twists, one arm raised so she can see clearly, "Not now Aoi, you've already had some snacks." Then pauses and twists. It's one of the strange people! (Blame Nina.)
Also. Birds. Lots of them.
That's what the pokemon had been pointing out. "I said no snacks." Which gets a grumbling noise then he points again. "Yeah yeah yeah, you can play if you want. You don't have to ask, I keep telling you!" She gives the alligator pokemon a playful pat and watches as he chases after one of the birds in the trees. Standing at the base of said tree and bouncing.
See now the real question is whether she should correct Damian or play stupid about her sister. "Hiya, I'm Nami. Pokemon researcher in training and you.. should probably take it somewhere less crowded if it's so stressed out." Which to be fair, she didn't help, but she did back off for now!
She does respond to Josephine though, "Very rare out in the uh, wild. Here." She gestures around. "Urban wild? Not the wild wild."
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
"--Oh."
Josie has just worked out that the Pokemon isn't just rare, it's terribly shy. For a variety of reasons, here is a place where she takes a step back, watching the young man attempt to comfort the Psynymph in silence.
The Pokemon isn't the only one who's shy, though, Josie notes, resting her hand on her hip. "You're the kid from, eh, what was it..." she says, frowning. "Right! Damian, weren't it? Nice score, like," she comments, and sounds like she means it.
But it's the rest of what he says that seems to ring a bell for her, as it were. "Flying, eh..." She tilts her head back, as if to gaze up in the general direction of the nearby tree.
That Bombardier is like. Still there. It shifts its weight as if in anticipation of something. Josie narrows her dark eyes.
"Be nice," she half-playfully scolds her. "You're not allowed to ruin any more picnics, you know."
The Bombirdier tilts its head in an imitation of a shrug, as if to suggest, 'what can you do'.
"Don't you mind her or none," she tells the two of them. "She's been sulking since yesterday, yeah?"
Damian introduces that girl as 'Nina', but...
"Sisters?" Josie guesses. She's not the only who has ever played sister-swap. "Nami. And you're a researcher-to-be, eh? Gotcha-- oh," she starts to say, turning her head towards the tree as the Croconaw starts to try to harrass the birds that have gathered in its branches. "Wouldn't do that, now," she cautions them, turning to watch and see how this goes.
A small spark of electricity narrowly misses the Croconaw! This appears to be intentional as a warning shot, as the Wattrel that's also up in the branches makes herself known.
"What'd I saw about playing nice, Ariadne?" Josie sighs, waving her good hand dismissively through the air.
<Pose Tracker> Damian Tamaoka has posed.
That's not Nina. Damian's eyes widen, and he blushes. "O-oh! I-I'm so sorry, you-you looked just like--" He shrinks back a little under the scrutiny. "I-I'm Damian. S-sorry I mistook you for... um..."
Sister? Cousin? He's friends with a Joy. It could be the whole family, for all he knows.
He pivots to another compliment to try and be nice, instead. "... Your t-top is a really nice shade of b-blue..."
Damian's pokemon all seem to settle now tat Damian is taking care of Mypsy. Damian watches as Aoi runs off, smiling a little. "H-he seems excited..."
"N-nice to meet you, Nami. O-oh! You have the same name a-as a friend of mine, who's also a Pokemon Researcher." A beat. "B-but you two don't look like. Um... D-do you know, a Nina, by chance...?" Somewhere less crowded. "Y-yeah, I know, but it d-didn't seem that crowded, and I'm trying to get her acclimated to being out in the open..."
He's still gently cradling and rocking Mypsy in his lap, and the little Psynymph--she's on the smaller side, too, compared to normal--is starting to settle down again, with soft little chirping noises.
"W-we found her in the Cave of the Crimson Crystals." Where else would you find a Psynymph, really? "Th-there were some pokemon acting up, b-but... we got her a-and all her siblings out safely..."
Josie is fishing for where they've met, and Damian just nods. "W-we met at the P-Pokemon Center, in Pewter City..." He nods to his name. "Th-that's me. A-and thanks. I-I'm just glad she was safe."
"S-Sulking? I-is something wrong...?" A pokemon in distress seems to be something that catches his attention quite easily.
But he looks with interest as another bird appears, and he remembers seeing Josie with all those bird pokemon--and one not-Pokemon bird--at the center. "I-it's nice, seeing Visitors taking to Pokemon so well..."
<Pose Tracker> Nina Chiyome has posed.
Nami glances back to Josephine and puts a finger to her lips. The universal 'Shhh' line. Though as Damian sinks into himself she sighs. It really isn't as much fun when they're this skittish! "I'm Nami. There's one more of us running around. She stands out the most though." In that hse doesn't try to stand out. She does impromptu art too though!
She was going to stop teasing the poor guy right up until he shifts to a different compliment and she just can't help herself. She tuts teasingly, "Oh now I get it." She's not laying it on too, too thick at least.
"Aoi knock it off, they're going to zap you then you're going to get the area soaked and I'm going to have to explain why a tree burned down or something." She also adds, "He's not trying to eat them. He wants to play." With a brief pause, "I.. think."
She raises an eyebrow though and asks, "Wait you know another Nami? Neat. Doubt she's as cool though." That's also teasing. She doesn't know the person. She hopes it's clear that she's teasing..
"Hm. Don't have any more treats on me." She raises her voice teasing the croconaw, "HE ATE THEM ALL" Which gets a jet of water her way. They're clearly on good terms even as she's now soaked. "Yeah I had that coming." With a laugh. Then a shake of hair to clear it. "Haven't had a chance to talk to any of the alvisitors." Again, blame Nina. It caught on between the three of them. "Nice to meet you guys face to face!" She offers a hand out. There's a brief pause and her other hand goes to Damian, "So I'm not being rude. Didn't mean to."
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
"Mistaken for the sister, eh?" Josie remarks to Nami, arching one pale eyebrow. "Or cousin, or what-have-you. Guess it'll depend on if that's a good thing for you or not, right?"
Again, Josie swipes her hand through the air at Damian's expression of concern. "Don't you feel bad for Kirke, now, kid. I weren't kidding -- just the other day she ambushed a picnic," she says, smiling at the two youngsters lopsidedly.
And they are young, compared to her. Josie is, after all, in her late 30s...!
"They ain't all that different from birds," Josie remarks, and there, on cue, comes the hellion (lower-h) known as Penelope, descending to the base of the tree as if to there act as guardian.
"Relax, Ariadne. He's just a little guy, yeah?" Josie remarks, gesturing vaguely to the tree full of bird Pokemon. They're just hanging out like this -- the Pidove and the Fletchling will be familiar to Damian, at least, once they make themselves visible among the boughs.
"Right," Josie says to Nami, nodding her head as if to agree with the sentiment, "but she ain't seein' it like that. She's peaceful-like, usually, but when she's got her hackles up about this or that..." Her gaze shifts from Ariadne to Penelope. "Ain't unfamiliar, neither."
...What does Penelope do when she gets agitated, then?
She nods in Nami's direction. "But hey! Nice meetin' you lot, too, yeah? Energy Nede's been a right friendly place to kick around. Shame about the crime, though."
This is rich, coming from someone like Josie!
<Pose Tracker> Damian Tamaoka has posed.
One more... Damian frowns as he ponders that. Nami, plus Nina, and a third one... "... Triplets?" he asks, hazarding a guess.
Damian blinks a little as Nami gets... something. "Huh? Get what?" He might've just made his position worse. He looks to Purri, quietly adding, "I thought it was cute, at least..."
"I-I think she's really cool, though! She studies Pokemon evolution, a-and she's helping me with Mypsy." But he recognizes the joke, this time, but flounders for a moment trying to recover from 'whoops I missed the joke but caught it after I started talking.' "... Um, I-I'm sure you're cool too, though."
Pixi makes sure to get out of the way of that stream of water, and Damian perks up. "O-oh, I have some I made, if you want some..." He's always got a poffin or two on him, in fact. He sees the hand extended and is trying to maneuver Mypsy so he can reciprocate. But Mypsy, while having settled down, is making a quiet, keening sound at all the new people around and Damian finally has to set her down, then recall her. "T-take it easy, Mypsy. W-we'll try again later." Then he shakes Nami's hand. "N-nice to meet you..."
Damian nods as Josie clarifies that yes, there was a picnic that was ambushed. "O-oh. I hope everyone was okay... Um... I had a picnic with Mypsy the o-other day. It was nice."
But Penelope makes an appearance, and the sight of her--and the comparison to bird-type pokemon--reminds Damian. "O-oh! Miss Josie, I m-meant to ask you... Y-you had a--" He is so ready to say 'Pokemon' but catches himself "--bird I've never seen b-before. Are they from Filgaia or Lunar? Wh-what kind is it?"
The enthusiasm for 'discovering new creatures' is immediately dampened by the mention of the crime, and Damian looks down to his lap. Purri takes her queue to jump up into Damian's lap then, and Damian starts to pet her... but this time it's for his sake, not Mypsy's. "Y-yeah... Th-that's... that's... N-Nede is really nice, h-honest." Is he sad? Or maybe even a little guilty-sounding? Or maybe he's just from being so timid. It might be hard to tell.
<Pose Tracker> Nina Chiyome has posed.
Nami gives Damian a slightly surprised look. Then snorts and shakes her head. There's a look given to Josephine just to make sure she herself isn't getting messed with! Then there's a moment of introspection. Fingers curled against her chin like she's running the math. "I appreciated the compliment for what it's worth." She wants to pat Damian's head like he's a little brother. Not that she had a little brother. Her older brothers did it though.
She does shake Damian's hand... and might try to see if she can get a squeak with a squeeze. (Not crushing or anything, but..)
Josephine's mention of ambushing a picnic is met with a snort. "That sounds like a party really. Other than losing a jelly donut or something." The question is, did she mean a donut or an onigiri.
Still, "Aoi, come on back. Seriously." The croconaw makes a bored sound, something of a groan before wandering back and curling up alongside Nami. She crouches down and gives him a scratch along one of those ridges, "We can find someone else that wants to play later. You'll scare the locals." Or at least one maybe.
"Yep. She's.. still in this area?" Her phone's out again and she's clearly messing with her sisters for a moment. The return chime and a rude picture might even be briefly visible!
"We didn't used to have the crime problem so.. obviously? Been crawling out of the woodwork lately though."
"And yeah, following in our older brother's steps. He's out-" she spins and points in a random direction. Making it clear in her mind, "Somewhere seeing what new discoveries he can fish up and what kind of habits he can learn." She holds her prized camera up from her bag and adds, "I take pictures for him when I catch something neat. Got the studies for it too."
Also ninja stuff, but she's not as on the nose about it.
Damian's guilty look gets a confused glance, "What're you worried about? It's not like you had any direct way to stop it or anything. More of an adult problem at that point!" She clearly thinks it's for another reason. Clearly!
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
Josie's response is to grin back at Nami, toothily.
"Triplets, eh? Well, that's a new one," Josie remarks, folding her arms over her chest. "I've heard of 'em, aye, but I ain't ever met one of three, as it were! Now, that's a handy enough trick when it comes time for skippin' class or the like!" She smiles, lopsided and bright.
"They weren't badly hurt or none," Josie affirms (josie that's not a good thing), only to laugh at Nami's comment. "Can't say the same for their jelly donuts, eh?" She rolls her shoulders in a loose shrug. "Still, they weren't blaming me for it, so all's well that ends well." She glances up at her sulking Pokemon. "Well, 'less you're Kirke, here. She's bemoanin' bein' in time out!" Time out for Josie apparently means 'being outside the Pokeball'...
She turns her head towards the kids. "Don't you worry for her, now. She's got to learn sooner or later she can't go all out on them that ain't her opponents," she affirms. ...Even if it was kind of funny when it happened.
He'd meant to ask her something earlier--?
Josie pauses, then kneels to extend her left arm to Penelope. After a moment's consideration of the offered appendage, Penelope hops aboard.
"This is Penelope, and she was hatched in Filgaia, right. She's what they'd call a 'fancy pigeon'," she says, gesturing towards the black and white bird. "Specifically, she's a nun pigeon. ...Nuns're a sort of religious deal for ladies back home. They dress in black and white like this girl, here."
Penelope preens, displaying her black crest.
Josie considers the two Nedians and adds, "An' pigeons're like... they ain't all that different from a Pidove."
"Pido," says Ikaros up in the tree, apparently realizing that he's being talked about...!
Is Damian a little guilty-sounding? Maybe, but Josie hasn't worked out the potential cause for that just yet. Maybe he just feels bad about Nede's issues affecting her home, like back in Pewter City.
...She has not heard about the disturbance in Marze. Yet.
<Pose Tracker> Damian Tamaoka has posed.
Damian looks to be completely earnest here. He's not really the type to mess with others like that. He does brighten a little as Nami says she appreciates the compliment, though. "You're welcome!" he says cheerfully.
There is a small eep at the unexpected squeeze, though. (So Nami gets that point, at least!) "Y-you have a r-really strong grip..."
"O-oh, that's nice, taking after your brother like that..." He looks at the camera with interest. "O-oh, nice... I j-just use my phone, but I bet y-you can get some really nice shots with that..." He looks down at Purri, continuing to pet her. "I think... I-I'd like raising pokemon..." He means 'as a profession.' Though he's still awfully young to be deciding his whole future just yet. (Then again, he'd already got an egg and a Psynymph.)
Damian can't quite bring himself to look at Nami, and instead Purri starts nuzzling at him a little more firmly to try and calm him down. "... Just... makes me w-worry, is all..."
Joy is impressed to meet a triplet--Damian would tell her about the Joys, except his Joy friend, Alice, has some... complicated feelings about the rest of her family. And Damian isn't keen to spread that around, even by proxy.
But Josie is trying to teach her pokemon not to bother people who aren't her opponents... Damian nods at that, seeming to accept that explanation readily. "T-training your Pokemon is important..."
But all of those bad feelings seem to evaporate as Josie gets to show off Penelope. "H-hi, Penelope. It's nice to meet you..." And when Josie starts describing about 'fancy pidgeons' and 'nun pigeons' Damian picks up his phone and starts taking notes. "M-may I take a picture?"
But they're like a Pidove... Damian nods. "I-it seems like... there's a lot of animals that are similar to pokemon... like... like horses and Ponyta." (Damian, no, let's not bring that up again...)
But the introduction reminds him. "O-oh, um, and this is Purri, Pixi, and Silci," he says, indicating the Purrloin, Vulpix, and Silcoon in turn. "I haven't named the egg yet though."
Yes, that must be it. Damian is definitely worried about Nede's problems affecting other words.
<Pose Tracker> Nina Chiyome has posed.
Nami sticks out her tongue, "Not as easy when we all have the same class. Ninjas or not we're not that fast." Not that they didn't try at least once. "Those monsters. Eating tasty snacks." She snickers and looks to Damian again, "Lots of practice. We did a lot of climbing and things. Need a good grip for art too." Complete with a nod. The closest they'll get to a clue that all three probably get into trouble with spray cans!
"See the real trick is when you're doing tournaments and you know you're at a disadvantage, but everyone's masked up because tradition and then you just uh.. substitute." Hey, it's only cheating if you get caught.
"Horse? Weird name. What's it lo-" She starts to ask, but then there's that Ponyta bit. "Big, four legs and on fire then. Neat." That's totally going in her notebook.
She does give Damian's flimsy excuse a curious look. "Aoi's the crocomaw running around."
There's also talk of pigeons. Which she completely mishears. "Pidove look nothing like Pidgeys though. You have the little mask and-" she says this mimicking the mask with her fingers. "I like them. They're cute. The bigger one's cute too." Yes she knows the name.
She does offer a cheery wave to Penelope though!
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
"Bad luck for you! Ninja, eh?" she remarks, arching an eyebrow. "New one on me. Can't say I've heard. They a quick sort, then?"
Something about the few descriptive terms that Nami's tossed out make her think they're likely fast, agile -- and adept at rough terrain, judging from she says to Damian.
And masters of disguise.
"Sure are, 'specially when they're as capable as these lot," Josie opines regarding the matter of Pokemon training, casting a glance up at Kirke who has the decency to look away. "'Least she ain't setting anything on fire, I tell you." At least, as long as Josie hasn't granted her access to the right TM -- assuming that's a skillset that's even open to a Bombirdier via TM.
TMs, she's decided, are something she's going to definitely need to take a closer look into, once she has some spare change floating around.
But in the meantime, she'll introduce Damian to Penelope.
Penelope turns her head and stares up at Damian, her eyes a flat, endless black. What sort of calculations are occuring there inside her mind?
But not once does she do anything untoward to him, such as biting. Biting would be deeply untoward! Instead, Penelope lurks there on Josie's arm, the very picture of smoldering malice. ...Or is that just a trick of the light?
"Pigeon," Josie repeats, though there's a ghost of a smile on her lips. "Pretty close to Pidgey, though they ain't lookin' a thing like our pigeons!"
"Knock yourself out," says Josie to Damian. She's seen enough of the people around here to get an idea of what those strange devices of theirs can do -- getting one herself would be a neat trick, especially since she's pretty much broke.
Penelope, as if realizing that it's now time to be 'on', appears to shift as if presenting her best side to Damian.
"Oh yeah?" Josie says, of Damian's assorted buddies. "Hi, little guys. Little egg," she appends. "...Where do the eggs come from?"
Nobody on Nede has been able to answer that question for her yet. NOBODY.
<Pose Tracker> Damian Tamaoka has posed.
Tournaments with masks... Damian frowns as he tries to puzzle that out. "But pokemon tournaments don't normally wear masks... A-and if you tried to switch with someone, they'd know your pokemon were different..."
"Oh! I can show you!" Damian switches apps on his phone, and brings up a picture of a proper Filgaian Horse. He's got quite a few pictures, too, and they're all on ranchland that definitely does not look like anywhere in Nede. (And they all have different patterns! Must be a lot of regional variants.) "I g-guess they also kinda look like Mudsdales...?"
"Hiii, Aoi," says Damian to the Croconaw.
Not settting things on fire. "W-well, she's Flying and Dark type, so..." There might be a TM she can use, but Damian doesn't ahve all of those memorized.
Damian somehow seems to miss the cold menace and potentially dangerous calculations... or maybe he just doesn't know all the body lagnuage of a Filgaian pigeon yet. (Or maybe he's just too eager to learn about New Animals to care.)
"Thank you!" He does let Penelope present her best side, though, wanting to take the most flattering picture possible. He takes a few, in fact! "You look very nice, Penelope." Damian turns the phone around to show her--and Josie!--the pictures.
Where do eggs come from? "Dunno," says Damian with an unbothered shrug. "You can take two pokemon to a daycare, or sometimes you have a picnic, and then an egg just appears. Um... this particular egg just kinda appeared in my backpack though wh-when I was camping...? I'm not sure what it's gonna be yet..."
He reflects. "M-maybe sometime I'll try to get a Horse egg so I can raise one."
<Pose Tracker> Nina Chiyome has posed.
Nami looks to Damian and gives him a raised eyebrow. "Sparring. Old traditions. Hitting padding with sticks? You sure you met Nina? She's usually pretty on the nose about it." There's a mumbled follow up, but she doesn't comment for anyone, but herself.
"You sure that's not a Mudsdale? Bet it stomps the same either way." That's a good follow up and change of subject.
"Uh. Dirty fighters?" That's a good explanation to Josephine. "In a matter of speaking. I could go into the history of them, but then you'd be here for the next couple of hours and it would be easier to have you go annoy someone back home for a history lesson where you can see the architecture too you know?"
The question on where eggs come from gets a wry look from Nami. "You uh. Really don't know?" She's not answering either clearly.
For what it's worth, Nami also takes a few pictures. Both of the alien and the alien monsters! She seems quite pleased with herself. Also she sneaks a picture in of the other pokemon and people present too. She's going to mess with Nina. Or conspire somehow. Who knows at this point.
Aoi wanders over. Stares up at Damian. Then slowly opens his mouth and points to it. He'd heard tell of snacks. Nami sighs and says, "If you don't mind he can have one. I don't want him eating too much again."
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
"Fair enough, fair enough," Josie says, regarding ninja. "There's a library or like around, right?"
Josie cranes her neck, as if to get a better look at what Damian has on his device. ...Yeah, that's definitely Filgaia, and definitely horses, at that. She arches an eyebrow. A little 'cross-cultural' exchange is inevitable at this point, but...
To be honest, she's not certain which side of the equation she's more concerned regarding.
"Nah. Those're horses. Trust me," Josie says, flashing a smile that does not, in fact, suggest trust.
"Ha! Don't get her started and all, I say," Josie proclaims with a laugh, only to shake her head. "Let me get a handle on this training business, and then we'll see if I'm cut out for the pyromanic type, eh?" she adds, as if she didn't already have a Pokemon quite able to start fires.
(Her Fletchling might do it by accident, as it stands.)
Is this the sort of behavior typical of a Filgaian fancy pigeon? Or is it just the sort of thing that Penelope is wont to do?
"Flattery'll get you anywhere with her," Josie remarks as Penelope poses for the camera. Indeed, Penelope seems to be mollified...!
"Right?" Josie says, on the subject of eggs. "That's what they say. I asked 'em, ain't they coming from those Pokemon and they just gave me the witheringest stare..." she laments.
Obviously, over the tens of thousands of years, Pokemon researchers already ruled out that as the source of the Eggs.
<Pose Tracker> Damian Tamaoka has posed.
"O-oh! W-well, I haven't seen her f-fighting, or sp-sparring, so..." He winces a little bit. "D-didn't get to meet a lot of ninjas in... w-well, back where I'm from." And really, Alice is more of a fighter than he is.
"W-well, they did say not to stand behind them, b-because they kick, but... they seemed confused, when I asked about iif it was Double Kick, or Mega Kick...?"
Damian smiles down at Aoi, "O-oh, sure. I don't mind. Hang on..." Damian roots through his backpack and pulls out a small container. "H-here you go, Aoi." Damian hands Aoi a poffin, and then hands one to Purri, Pixi, and Silci as well. "I m-made these myself!"
Damian, at least, finds Filgaia interesting... whether for its own sake or for the fact that it's New (to him), or just... Not Lavender Town.
"I-I think Alice caught a horse... I sh-should ask her how it's getting along..."
"O-okay," Damian says to Josie getting a handle on her pokemon. "I-it's probably best to work up to more advanced things..."
Damian is very happy to lay some compliments on Penelope! And to make sure he gets the best picture he can.
"I-I think they're still figuring that one out... I-I should ask Nami--s-sorry, the first Nami I knew--or Doctor Aomori sometime, a-and see if they've made any new discoveries..." Hey, that's Sable's mom! Small world fragment.
Something beeps on his phone and he looks at it. "Oh, I should get going..." Damian recalls Pixi and Silci, but Purri jumps up onto his shoulder, still carefully nibbling on the poffin. The flute is put away, as is the egg, and Damian shoulders the backpack as he stands up. "I-it was nice seeing you again, Miss Josie, a-and nice meeting you, Nami, Aoi, Penelope, and Kirke!"
<Pose Tracker> Nina Chiyome has posed.
That smile of Josie's does not in fact suggest trust. "Got a family history full of those kinds of smiles." Teasing a bit in a vague sort of way. "Still say it looks like someone edited a ponyta photo." She shrugs.
The wince gets another curious look. Then she claps her hands together and gets a grin, "You. I think I have some plans that would help you out." Before leaning forward to try and look him in the eyes, "See our family runs a nice dojo and we always like more students! I bet I could get you a discount on accounts of you knowing two of the three of us." She holds a finger up and even adds cheerily, "And teasing aside earlier, I bet it would help." Confidence! Pride! She shrugs. Standing up. "Not going to force it of course."
Then he states the person's name. "Always known her by Anne or Sable's mom." She peers, "Our ninja school's better than hers." Because of course it is. It's theirs! Then she tilts her head and taps her chin, "Wait how did we never hear she had another name?" Even if she just stated the reason.
She does wave to the skittish guy though and turns to Josie, "If you need help lemme know. We can work something out. Nina seems to like you guys."
<Pose Tracker> Damian Tamaoka has posed.
Damian blinks a bit as Nami says she has plans that could help him. It's not too hard to look in his eyes--he's shorter than practically everyone he knows, and is an inch shorter tha Nami, even. One thing is clear as she leans in to stare him directly in the eyes: they look kind of unusual, a very pale, but shiny silver. After a moment of the eye contact he looks down with a blush.
"A-a dojo...? I d-dunno..." He glances away, and then looks slowly back to Nami. "C-can I think about it...? I d-dunno if I'd be any good..." He does think on it a moment. "... I have a friend who m-might be interested..."
He'll exchange contact details, if desired, and then makes his way off to his next destination.