@ZarkunHelga watched the scene unfold quietly, her arms crossed while her partner Pokemon stood by her side wagging a bony tail. She listened to him give his heartfelt speech though it had an unexpected reaction; the woman looked at him with pity, which was strange because earlier she enjoyed mocking him for making his grandiose promises.
"You don't understand the weight of those words. For your sake, I really do hope that you never have to," she said turning around and continued to walk through the dense forest. Not a word was uttered by her and silence was left to hang in the air with the thick fog. There was not anything else to say, only things to reflect on. This was especially true for Jason. He was an outsider, someone with barely any ties to the region and its history. To become champion of Evig was not to just become the strongest trainer in the region, it was more than that. It was to take on the legacy of the region, all its glory and shame, it's past and future.
He would have been left to stew with his own thoughts. However, there would be something to catch his eye; a light flickered just right at the corner of his peripheral vision, and then there was more flickering and flickering until there were light green balls of fire floating aimlessly in the air. They did not seem hostile, hovering slowly. It was curious though. They did not seem to originate from any Pokemon, the air just combusted around them with no warning and yet there was no heat.
"Don't worry, it means we're close," Helga reassured him as if she had experience with this phenomenon. Her gaze never shifted from the path, completely unbothered by the flames. They would continue to walk alongside the whisps of flame.
Eventually, after all the trekking the group would arrive at a building of grey stone that went into the earth. It was covered in vines, tree roots, and manner of foliage and those flaming whisps were clustered around the general area with a high concentration, painting the darkness and fog with a green light. It was strange though. The building despite essentially being an entire garden for plant life was almost perfectly preserved save for some wear. Moss covered stairs led up to the entrance and the doorway was an arch and if Jason had paid attention, it had the same markings from route 4's ruins carved into them.
"This is as far as I can take you," she while turning around to face him.
"Remember what I said, I could only lead you here, but I cannot protect you. This is something you must do on your own."What does Jason do?
@samreaperLuckily for Tristan, no one was really paying attention to him. They were all caught up with the tour to really give the kid any passing glance and it probably helped that he stuck to the back of the crowd.
Despite his desire to leave, he pushed on and followed the crowd. Now, there is something Tristan knew about wealth and that there are two kids of it: wealthy and wealthy wealthy. Even for a brief moment of just following the group tour he was able to figure out that Aria Eberg was most certainly in the latter category. The manor itself was almost the same size of the Glory residence and just like the foyer it was filled with art if priced in this current day and age would be worth millions on millions as well as other tasteful fineries. One did not have to think hard on how easy it would have been to get lost in this manor.
The tour took them through various different parts of the manor like any tour through a dead person's home turned museum. They went through the various parlors filled with one would expect at this point, her bedroom which was also furnished quite beautifully and had fresh flowers that one would fairly assume are changed out frequently, the dining hall which had sparse amounts of people sitting where Tristan could smell the aroma of delicious freshly made food. Did he eat yet? Anyway, then there was her personal library where her personal letters and journals were preserved for posterity.
But Tristan wasn't here for those things. What he was there for was for the research center and eventually they would arrive at a place that reminded him more of Kapoc's lab; live plants were preserved in machines for god knows what purpose and there were all manner of machinery strewn about with people in white lab coats working. It lacked the beauty and taste found everywhere else in the manor.
One of the scientist's approached the group. He was tall and lanky, but looked pretty put together with his neatly combed back blonde hair, ironed light blue shirt and brown slacks with black shoes, and clean shaven. The man looked around to be approaching his forties. He gave the vibe of being a nerd, but the kind that people find socially acceptable and attractive.
"Okay everyone, I am going to hand this off to our Chief Scientific Officer and horticultural expert, Dr. Harold Burgundy," said miss tour guide.
Dr. Burgundy had a bright and friendly smile, unlike the Pokemon Professor that Tristan was unfortunately acquainted with. He said with a Galarian accent,
"Hello everyone, I hope you are all enjoying the tour of our beautiful manor. I'm quite excited to talk to you about our research. Now everyone please follow me."Dr. Burgundy began to walk the group through the lab though do his best to keep them out of the way. While leading the group he said,
"What we research here are the unique properties about the garden and the Pokemon that reside within it and in our surrounding area. It's quite more complicated than what most people think."He stopped the group at what could only be described as an incubator for various kinds of flowers. Many of them were labeled with various names with numbers and other labels that showed the different PH levels of the soil, moisture, humidity, temperature, and so on.
"Now, does anyone here know what Zones are for flowers?" He asked though to no response. It would be surprising to know if Tristan knew what it was. Seeing that no one answered, he continued,
"You see, flowers tend to grow best in certain places due to the Zone's temperature. Not all plants thrive in all ecosystems, except that's not the case here. No matter the Zone, all plants that grow in the garden thrive regardless and that is not the only oddity."He pointed towards the section of plants that were divided by soil quality and attributes.
"Different plants thrive with different kinds of soil. Some prefer more acidic soil, some prefer sandier soil, and some prefer soil with higher moisture. This too seems to not be a factor as all plants thrive here as well. Even the nutrients of the soil does not seem to decay, which leads me to my conclusion."There was a dramatic pause and he had the most stern, serious expression on his face before he cracked a grin.
"It's magic." The tour group, Tristan probably not included, and the scientist both laughed since it was such a ridiculous idea.
"I joke, but we have concluded that external factors must be at play and we are working diligently to crack that mystery. However, we believe that external factor must be a Pokemon. They have powers that we still cannot fully comprehend, even bringing life to a barren wasteland is within the realm of possibility." The extent of what Pokemon were capable of were entirely unknown. Sure, there were the stuff of legends and myth, but that's entirely what they were. The world still obeyed the laws of the universe and even if Pokemon had strange abilities they still abided by those set rules.
However, that would be put aside as the scientist continued with the tour.
"There is one other mystery unrelated to the garden, but equally interesting; Aria Eberg's mysterious partner Pokemon, the Moon Petal Pokemon." He continued to lead the group towards the next talking point, something strange yet so captivating. It was two beautiful set bouquets, except they looked like they were made entirely made of a light blue crystalline structure, yet they looked real with every vein, every crevice, every petal and thorn defined.
"These are what remain of her old partner. What we do know from her personal journal is that the Moon Petal Pokemon could be found deep in the Illusive Woods though we are not able to come and go as freely as she could."He turned around to the group and clapped his hands together.
"Now, does anyone have any questions?"
@Sanguine RoseYeah those farmers were not able to get word in before she ran off to the north. She had every right to be confused; most Pokemon were not blessed with the ability to craft objects, especially metal. Faye would be heading north to find such a Pokemon, but what she found were old dilapidated farm houses and homes that were no longer inhabited. They were probably much older than her though who knew what they were hiding? Well, that was probably not a priority at the moment.
It would've been hard to figure out where to start, but she stepped in something wet with a
splosh sound. One of her shoes was halfway covered in engine oil. Good luck getting the stain or the smell out, but it was a lead. It meant that they did come this way after all.
What does Faye do?
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