Dual Pokemon Quest

[Blacksheep]

"Calm, Sam," Jaden said. "We're not here to fight," he told the mawile. "Just watching. What are you doing?"

Sam grumbled. He did not like this decision. He wanted to fight. The mawile watched both of them, tilting its head. It let out an odd noise, almost like a cat, more like creaking wood. It was here to play. Weren't they here for the same?

"Yeah! We want to surprise the fairy pokemon. They like to surprise people and play games, so we thought it'd be fun to do it back to them."

The mawile tucked its secondary mouth back, letting it look like a tail or ponytail, and smiled at them. It thought that was a great idea. It knew where lots of fairy pokemon passed by, did they want to come see?

[ ]Write-in

 

[Tascion]

[x]Yeah, that would be great
-[x] Mentally remind Sam that finding a big gathering of pokemon means better odds of finding a friendly spar that would be a good challenge without being a threat.

 

[Space Jawa]

Spring.

Was it really spring already? Lee could hardly believe how fast the months had gone by.

He felt torn. On the one hand, he knew that there was far too much out there in the world - in Hoenn alone, even - for him to see. There also remained the threat of Team Magma that couldn't possibly just be waiting around for him.

Yet he didn't feel like leaving yet. Even with the ghosts, there was a strange sense of comfort to be found staying where he was.

Lee wasn't sure if the fact that it would just be him and his team again when he left played into it. No longer would he be traveling with Kate and Jasper, no longer would he be traveling with any human companions.

If nothing else, it did make it easy for him to stay at least a little longer and make the most of what aid there was to do at least a little more training.

Training for Crunchbite was easy. The pokemon had newly developed wings, and while flight obviously came naturally, Lee also reasoned there was a great deal that Crunchbite could learn about the finer points of flying. Fortunately, Lee happened to have another pokemon with a far longer history of it. It seemed natural to have Archer and Crunchbite perform flight training together, which only benefited from the fact that he'd trained the pair to work as a team in the past anyway.

[X] Train Pokemon: Archer & Crunchbite
-[X] Joint Flight Training

Fathom was likewise an easy decision on training. Having finally gotten the Magikarp to a place where he could reasonably be trained, Lee focused on the fundamentals - mobility. Magikarp weren't exactly the most graceful of creatures, especially on land, so Lee put emphasis on training the Pokemon's movements in order to address the clear shortcomings.

[X] Train Pokemon: Fathom
-[X] Mobility Training

Nova was more of a tricky situation. He didn't know of anything obvious that Nova needed, but he neither wanted to leave her out or assume she knew everything she needed.

So he decided to see if he could work on identifying where Nova most needed to put in the work.

[X] Train Pokemon: Nova
-[X] Run Drills, try to identify Nova's weak points

Then there was himself. Lee had touched on the current, on connecting with others, but there was one field he hadn't exactly delved into on the same level.

Supposedly, Aura granted the power to perform special moves, perhaps even imitate certain Pokemon moves.

So Lee decided to see if he could train himself to perform just such a move.

[X] Train "Inner Aura"
-[X] Try to develop a defensive Aura move that Lee can use himself

 

[Blacksheep]

Archer was proud to once more be called upon to help train a teammate. His slowly changing plummage didn't affect that. He proudly took to showing Crunchbite how to soar. Unfortunately it quickly became clear that while Crunchbite could fly, it was only for short periods of time. He was not yet meant to hover, still meant to spend a good portion of his time on the ground. Archer wasn't going to simply let that get in the way of bonding with a teammate of course. He simply had to find ways to show Crunchbite how to get the most out of his time in the air. Crunchbite determinedly followed after, wings buzzing as he learned how to use sharp turns and dives to his advantage.

Fathom's training followed a similar direction. He had grown quite responsive to cues, though he would occasionally stop in the middle of training just to spit water at Lee. He seemed deeply pleased with himself whenever he would successfully hit his trainer. Nova's own training was more involved, just looking for where things could be improved. Nova's greatest weakness proved to be close combat. She was more than willing to get up close, but she couldn't take the blows that she wished to in battle.

Lee's work with aura was difficult. He knew better how to access it now, but he had minimal experience in developing it internally. He was deeply grateful for the lessons he'd had that had helped him there. He knew what he wanted to do. He just had to work on developing it. He spent time each day focusing on his inner self, and cultivating his inner aura. By the end of the week he could pull out and spin his inner aura throughout his body every time, ready and waiting for him to shape it.

"Are you training to be a priest?" A voice interrupted his training. A guy around his age with glasses stood nearby watching him curiously.

[ ]Write-in

 

[Blacksheep]

Sam reluctantly pulled back. The mawile cheered at the party's agreement and lead them through the forest, down to another fairy ring. It waved at them before hopping through to the other side. Oliver ran after her, vanishing into the unique folds that made up the space fairy communities loved to build in.

Jaden followed after and grinned. There were indeed plenty of fairy pokemon here running around and playing. He saw clefairies, marills, a sylveon, he even heard the soft jingle of keys somewhere.

[ ]Play at jumpscaring the clefairies
[ ]Water fight with the marills
[ ]Tag with sylveon
[ ]Hide and seek
[ ]Write-in

 

[Space Jawa]

The question confused Lee. A priest? The thought had never crossed his mind.

[X] "No." Lee said earnestly.
-[X] "Why would ask that?" He added, very much out of curiosity.

 

[Tascion]

[x]Two groups
-[x]Let Zahra out, and then explain to the team that we're guests here. Everybody can relax a little, but also not cause trouble. Sam and Zahra might wish to spar with the marills, Oliver might play tag, and Uri might like startling the clefairies. Jaden wants to go look for the mysterious jingling of keys.
-[x]Because this area might not be safe, we're only going to divide up into two groups. Keep the others in sight, and perhaps one of the team would like to come with Jaden for searching?

 

[Blacksheep]

The guy laughed a bit awkwardly. "I hope I didn't offend you! I just saw you meditating. Since Mt Pyre is a spiritual place, and there's priests and priestesses here, it made sense I might run into one. You're not dressed like one, but you could have merely been in training." He dropped down onto the ground next to Lee. "So if you're not training as a priest, why were you meditating?"

[ ]Write-in

 

[Blacksheep]

Jaden was quick to speak with his pokemon and point out the fun things they could do. There was so much here! It felt like an adventure tipping into this other world, just like it had last time. Funnily enough, Jaden couldn't sense the earth as clearly as he usually could here, but his other senses were working fine. He could even sense something similar to that pink gem that had teased him at the meteor lab.

Uri was quick to decide to tag along with Jaden. His mind had reached out, grasping along the space they were in. Some of the pokemon here had a psychic signature, but most of them ran on an entirely alien level to him. He was eager to see more of this. Zahra and Sam were both all for battling, leaving Oliver to decide to join in with them in seeking out what the strange key jingling.

It was fun wandering in and out of the bushes and trees. Everything felt more bright, and it was easier to push through bushes than usual. Marills could be seen bouncing around, and the occasional roselia trotted by. One mawile was doing its best impression of a venus flytrap, complete with hanging upside down from a tree with its secondary jaw hanging open.

The jingling seemed to constantly be out of reach, playing at staying just out of reach of the group of hunters.

[ ]Keep chasing
[ ]Try to pin it between you all
[ ]Try to lure it out
[ ]Write-in

 

[Space Jawa]

"No, it's fine." Lee replied. "I'm trying to train my Aura."

Lee wasn't quite sure what to make of the other guy, but he seemed harmless and friendly enough.

"I'm Lee Hinsu." He said, introducing himself. "You?"

[X] Tell the other guy what you're doing.
-[X] Introduce self.
--[X] Find out who the other guy is.

 

[Tascion]

[X]Try to lure it out
-[x] follow the jingling sound a while longer. See if there's a pattern of movement.
--[x] if ultimately consistent, communicate this with Uri and have him break off and circle around.
--[x] if random, Jaden will pass his house key to Uri, who will telekinetically jingle the keys as a lure

 

[Blacksheep]

The guy's eyes sparkled with interest as Lee introduced himself and said he was training aura. "Kai Yoshida, aspiring pokemon researcher. Those who work here know the most about the least understood types of pokemon out there, it's a good place to get a strong basis. It will hopefully allow me to avoid biases as well. You are strong enough in aura to be able to use it? Have you seen that affect how you interact with your pokemon at all?"

[ ]Write-in

 

[Blacksheep]

Jaden continued to follow after the jingling, trying to figure out the pattern. It took him a while before he realized that it was creating a rhyme.

[ ]Sing the rhyme back
[ ]Mimic the beat
[ ]Deliberately break the pattern
[ ]Write-in

 

[Space Jawa]

"Maybe, I don't know." Lee answered. "There's a lot of parts involved."

[X] Try to give a basic explain of where you are with Aura and ability to use it.

 

[Tascion]

[x]Mimic the beat
-[x]Sing something that meshes but comes from Jaden's own feelings

 

[Blacksheep]

Kai listened with intense interest as Lee explained what he'd learned about aura, how it was a force that connected one with the world while also being an internal source of energy he could draw on. It sounded complicated, explaining how it was types and pokemon attacks and also emotions and the earth and everything else. "So how did you get aura? Can you get it from training under someone here? Do you have a pokemon that uses aura with you?"

[ ]Write-in

 

[Blacksheep]

There was a clear pause in the beat before it continued. This time it didn't move away from Jaden, letting him find it with Uri and Oliver. A klefi jangled up ahead. It wasn't like the klefkis shown in pokedexes. This one didn't have any keys. Instead thin shaped pieces of metal were set on the ring in place of any keys. There likely weren't any out here for the klefki to take for itself. It jangled again, challenging Jaden to keep going.

[ ]Keep up with Jaden's own song
[ ]Have Oliver and Uri do a part
[ ]Work as a team with Uri and Oliver for a rhythm back
[ ]Write-in

 

[Tascion]

[X]Keep up with Jaden's own song
-[X] If the klefki doesn't pick up the song at the next pause, ask Oliver to take a turn, and then keep cycling through the team as pause come up

 

[Space Jawa]

[X] Give Kai a basic overview of what questions Lee can answer.
-[X] Ask about Kai's interests as an aspiring Pokemon Researcher.

 

[Blacksheep]

The klefki spun around and kept up the rhythm, pleased with Jaden rising to the challenge. It didn't pause again, though it did add in some flourishes of beats and changes to see if Jaden could change and keep following. It was clearly thrilled with the game. Uri hummed, projecting an idea of music in the clearing, asking if he should join.

[ ]Have the others join
[ ]Focus on the challenge alone
[ ]Write-in

 

[Blacksheep]

"I was taught it as a kid by a zangoose when I got lost. My rowlet might be able to learn to use aura when he's older," Lee replied. "I don't know how it's taught here, but the classes are free. What are you planning as a pokemon researcher?"

Kai grinned widely. "There's so much about pokemon we don't know or understand. I haven't really decided on my specialization yet, there's so many I could go into. Should I focus on a singular ecosystem, and the interactions within it? What about a pokemon line? I could study evolution, or I could look and see what I could learn about the more unknown types like ghost. I could make a discovery that changes everything we know about pokemon!"

[ ]Write-in

 

[Space Jawa]

[X] "Well, it is good to have a goal of some kind."

Which was arguably more than Lee could say for himself. The only goal he could say he knew of right now involved Rayquaza, and even that was currently kind of on hold.

[X] "Do you have any Pokemon of your own yet?"

 

[Tascion]

[x]Jaden didn't know if the Klefki was testing just him or his team. Most tests weren't group work. In fact, inviting others to help with a test was generally considered cheating. He figured he should try to keep going on his own, like the Klefki, but that Uri and then Oliver could join in on his own as well. Singing in a round, Jaden was pretty sure, was the term for multiple people individually making music in harmony.

 

[Blacksheep]

"I have my starter Hex, he's a wurmple, and a slowpoke I named Gazer. I was thinking I'd study Gazer as I travel and see if I can figure out why slowpokes are so slow to respond to their environments and stimuli. Their evolved forms certainly don't struggle with that. What about your team? Probably much more impressive than mine, you've got a rowlet!"

[ ]Write-in

 

[Blacksheep]

Uri picked up on Jaden's thoughts, and when the time was right joined in with his own deeper sounding singing. The klefki seemed delighted at Uri joining in with his own harmony to join it and Jaden. Oliver was just as excited, and joined in with stamps of his feet to add even further. They created music together until the klefki lead them to a finish and spun around with a cheerful swirl. It whistled cheerfully as it drifted over to them happy with their presence and game. It would love to play more, what did they want to do next?

[ ]Suggest a game
[ ]Pet the klefki
[ ]Ask for a battle
[ ]Ask if it would join the team
[ ]Write-in