Remram
AchronumAlright, whoop, long delay there but Aedre is free to time skip too!
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Aedre Charbonnet
— Mesalon City Gym —
Aedre listened to Amber silently and with more resignation than she’d like to admit. Again, the other researcher pointed out her weakness, encouraging her to be less hard on herself, but how could she? If she failed even when she pushed herself, how could she succeed when she didn’t?
When Amber brought up the other attacks, though, Aedre held her breath. So this wasn’t irreparable—she still had a chance to make it right, however small that chance might seem. She had a chance to find the package, a chance to right her mistake, a chance to set herself back on the right course and not arrive home and break her mentors’ trust.
“Yeah, thanks so much Lacey, Dee.” The sash reaching towards her caught her eye only when she had Decus’ Pokeball in hand, and she stopped, watching as Decus coiled it around her leg. The nondescript texture of texture of the cloth distracted her for a moment, but then she registered a slight tugging sensation—a tightness—but not from Decus’ grasp, which was featherlight. Rather, the feeling seemed to come from under the skin, and the closest sensation she could relate it to was that of a mental nudge from a psychic-type.
“Dee?” Aedre stared at Decus, trying to read him. All information about Honedge said that their sashes drained life energy, yet Aedre felt perfectly fine, so what was he doing? Was he just… comforting her?
“Oh,” Aedre breathed, her hand dropping. “Thanks, Dee.”
Aedre touched the Honedge’s hilt, then turned to Amber. “Yeah, let’s go.”
The police showed up, which was to be expected after Amber had contacted them. Aedre was made to answer questions, as well as her friends, who fared significantly less questioning due to their not being there. Yes, a woman. Dark hair, late twenties or early thirties. A Sneasel, normal-sized and -colored. Around a third of the way from the gym to the Pokemart, where—yes—where she got the package. And yes, she was fairly sure it contained a Pokeball, because Occam’s Razor: When you hear hoofbeats, think horses not zebras. Okay, so she wasn’t completely sure, because no she didn’t open the box, but she wasn’t about to be the person calling a zebra in this situation.
And so the questioning went, needling facts from a fuzzy narrative that got clearer as Aedre recounted more—dangerous, since the mind tended to fill in gaps and believe itself, but everything made sense with the gaps filled. The police would get back to her with more information like if this female thief and Sneasel duo had been seen before, and soon after relaying some messages that were clearly rehearsed to be reassuring, they were off.
“Well, hope they find something,” Aedre said with a forced smile as she returned to her friends. She’d just filed one of thousands, maybe millions, of stolen item cases, and she didn’t even know what she’d lost.
@luckyblackcat
Aedre Charbonnet
— Mesalon City Gym —
Aedre slapped her forehead. “Of course! Arceus, it completely slipped my mind!” Her journey from Pokemart to gym had been completely normal except for one, glaring thing: she’d smacked into someone on the way. The encounter had completely slipped her mind since she’d been focused on getting to the gym, but now that the facts and proofs were laid out in front of her, it was as plain as day—or as dark as the Sneasel’s fur.
“On my way to the gym, I ended up bumping into someone—physically—and falling. Right at, um, that corner.” Aedre pointed at the spot where it happened, which was a mere five meters or so from the footprint. “The woman I smacked into helped me up, and when she was leaving I saw a Sneasel run to her side. Smirking, I think.” Aedre paused. Was that evidence though? Or was it just her reading too much into the situation? “But the Sneasel… if it used Thief…”
Aedre trailed off, mind whirling. If the Sneasel was the culprit like what the clues seemed to suggest, and if she wasn’t reading too much into everything that was happening, then that meant—
“Someone stole the package,” Aedre whispered, eyes wide. The possibility hadn’t even crossed her mind, considering that she’d just received the parcel herself, but it was a definite possibility. A likely possibility, even, considering that the package had been important enough for her research lab back home to refuse to tell her anything about it. Pick it up, they’d said, and bring it back to Hoenn with her. No other instructions.
But why would anyone want to steal the package? What did it contain for it to be so valuable, so desirable that someone had tracked her down? This question, Aedre supposed, could be answered quite simply: the package was exactly what it appeared to be—a box containing a Pokeball—and it held exactly what it was supposed to—a Pokemon.
“I think,” Aedre said, inhaling to calm her frayed nerves, “I think the package was a Pokeball with a Pokemon inside, and whoever it was that stole the package wanted that Pokemon.”
Aedre swallowed, her mouth dry. If she was right—and she was fairly sure she was—then her lack of caution had put a Pokemon in danger. And, unfortunately, the weight of that mistake was even heavier than the responsibility of losing a package because unlike objects, Pokemon were living creatures, and living creatures weren’t so easily replaced.
A flutter at her ear had her glance up at her Fletchling, again perched on her shoulder, and she tried for a small smile. “I really messed up this time, huh, Little?”
@luckyblackcat
@Skai Oof was in the middle of living up my winter break, didn't think anyone would notice / be waiting on me considering how often posts come in but noted! I'll try and make a post happen in the next few days.
Aedre Charbonnet
— Mesalon City Gym —
“Yeah,” Aedre said, looking to Lacey as well. As an aspiring researcher, working with physical and elemental types was always easier, since their abilities were more readily defined and understood. With psychic-types and ghost-types, though, science often hit walls—questions that couldn’t be answered. That much superstition revolved around psychic and ghost-types was a direct result of this, and though Aedre never felt particularly comfortable with not having answers, being someone who preferred the assurance of facts, her lack of understanding only helped to fuel her interest in trying to fill the gaps in her understanding. That was, of course, why she’d elected to come to Kosei and take on the task of investigating the Honedge—her Honedge.
“That’s right!” After a moment of hurried struggle, Aedre found the Pokeball she was looking for, Decus appearing at her side a moment later. “Dee! I lost something, but I’m not sure how, so I was hoping you could help me look.”
Decus’s single blue eye scanned his surroundings before settling on Aedre again, and, after a moment of consideration, he blinked once, indicating what Aedre hoped was consent.
“Excellent!” Aedre clapped her hands together. She’d been sceptical at first, but nowt that she had all these Pokemon and abilities to help her look—now that she’d given it more thought—maybe the package going missing was because of a Pokemon. With all the inexplicable capabilities of ghost-types and psychic-types, maybe a Pokemon was responsible for the box’s disappearance. “Now, let’s start walking. It’s a pretty straightforward path through the town from the gym to the mart. Just along this road.”
Hearing Amber’s comment about being harsh on herself, Aedre froze, cringing. How embarrassing to be accused of being self-critical by someone like Amber, who Aedre herself looked up to. For someone like Amber, who had her own issues and problems to deal with, to think about, to notice meant that Aedre had probably been much too vocal about her complaints.
But, had she been too hard on herself? Aedre paused to consider this, her eyes dropping to the ground. She had, after all, been criticizing herself over losing a package—a package she had every reason not to lose. Because, after all this, if it really was her fault, then she’d deserve all of her own criticism. Every bit of it. Wouldn’t she?
Despite her surprise, though, she managed to keep walking, albeit with a slight hesitation before picking up her original gait. The Pokemon around her, too, helped distract her, especially after Amber’s question about the box when they started laughing. Following Lacey’s gaze, she saw Amber, hair chock full of tree parts. Unable to help herself, Aedre burst into laughter, doubling over and clutching her stomach.
“Yeah,” she said, nodding as she wiped tears from her eyes. “Thanks, Tacita. Very inventive.”
Noticing Lacey move away from the group, Aedre focused on her, watching as the Gothita leaned down to inspect the dirt ground by a bush. The area of interest was unassuming enough, with nothing to set it apart from any other section of earth.
“Huh. This patch of dirt?” Aedre bent down, scouring the unmarred ground for anything of interest. “I… can’t tell what’s special about it.”
Decus floated over, the tip of his blade scratching the concrete slightly as he took his turn looking at the ground. Then, glancing between the dirt patch, Lacey, and the two trainers, he jumped up and unceremoniously began moving around in the dirt, his blade marring trails where he moved.
“Whoa, whoa, Decus what are you… ” Aedre trailed off, realizing that rather than moving randomly through the dirt, the Honedge was, in fact, tracing something. When he stopped, levitating away from his handiwork, he brandished his sash with a low murmur, watching as the trainers took in the footprint he’d traced.
“A footprint… Pokemon…” Aedre fumbled for her Pokedex, pulling it out and scrolling through the entries. “I’ve definitely seen that footprint before. Two-clawed and small, circular paw…”
@luckyblackcat
Everly
“I’m heading out!” Everly waved her apron at Tim, who responded with a shout of acknowledgement before his attention was again wrapped up by the hectic kitchen. After the sun rose, the first employees had slowly trickled in, and the early bird customers were fast on their heels. With the rising sun, however, came the eventual ping of the alarm Everly had set back during the early AMs, knowing full well how lost she got in planning and testing menu items, lost in the clatters and sizzles of the kitchen that gave her a strange comfort, filling some nondescript emptiness she didn’t know existed and couldn’t begin to describe.
But, despite the mysteries of the world, life went on, and so did Everly’s tidy schedule. Class was slated for the morning, and the thirty minutes before her first were allotted for transportation she didn’t need. Instead of taking the bus, though, she headed home, disappearing through her office into her bedroom. The muffled sound of the shower running greeted her when she arrived, so back through the mirror she went, exiting and entering her apartment again noisily, keys jangling in her hand.
“I’m home!” Everly dropped her keys on the kitchen table, knocking on the bathroom door as she passed it on the way to her room. “Breakfast is on the table, and I’m leaving in five minutes!”
“Okay!” Emily’s voice was muted and covered, but it still brought a smile to Everly’s mouth when she registered the American tilt in the Thai—something her sister managed to pull off better than Everly, who had the traditionally flat tone she’d picked up from her mother.
“‘Okay?’ How about a hug instead?” Everly said as she changed into clothes that didn’t smell of the smoke and oil that saturated Chinese kitchens. “Well?”
“Fine,” Emily appeared at her door just as Everly poked her head through her tee. “Were you up all night again?”
“Were you?” Everly kissed Emily’s forehead, not minding the moisture that seeped into her clothes as she pulled her sister close. “Bye Noongsaaw, love you.”
“Love you,” Emily echoed in her slightly exasperated tone as Everly bolted out the room with a grin, which slipped from her face as she locked the front door behind her, chewing the inside of her lip. She hated hiding things from her sister, hated the thought of not being as open to Emily as Emily was to her.
But, more than she hated hiding the truth, more than she hated the ‘white lies’ she told, she hated the look Emily gave in the recurring nightmares she had—the look Everly herself resonated almost painfully with.
The look of betrayal.
Classes weren't that bad, seeing as Everly hadn’t slept a wink, but she knew it was the adrenaline carrying her through the morning. She’d elected to take all her classes in the morning precisely because of her sleeping habits. Lingering behind the clarity she forced on herself, however, was the haze that came with failing to rest, but she pushed through. After all, there was no sleep until after class, and she didn’t much feel like trying with all her fresh case studies and assignments. Those kept her busy through late morning, and by the time she exited the library, the sun was well on its way across the sky, With the passage of time, though, had gone the vague ache of hunger that she’d chosen to ignore since hours earlier, and though the last thing she physically felt like doing was trying to stick food in her mouth, she knew she’d do well to.
A passing student caught Everly’s eye—or, rather, the coffee they were holding did. Caffeine was a bad idea, she knew, but she didn’t much care for trying to sleep anyway. She hadn’t finished her readings, which were due at the end of the week, and she also had to update the Golden Harbor’s budget for the week, seeing as she now had a definite number to do so. As such, coffee really didn’t sound bad, and she rounded a corner to the bathroom, where she stepped onto the sink and ducked out of a window on a quiet street on the edge of the Arido Valley.
Everly’s destination—a quaint little coffee shop called the ‘Woven Roast’—was a newer discovery of hers. She’d originally seen the sign when heading to the dojo, and she hadn’t given it much thought. The name, however, had resurfaced in her mind when she was pinned down on the mat by an older, more bullish member that seemed more intent on proving that he was above rolling with a woman than he was in training. As the lack of oxygen slowly reached her head, all Everly could think about was what a preposterous name the ‘Woven Roast’ was, given that it seemed to be a coffeehouse. Did it play host to a weekly knitting club, or was the owner just trying to be unique in some outlandish way?
Everly’s redirected frustration—because all it took for someone that much heavier than her to win was maneuver so that she was forced to bear their weight, and she hated how cheap but effective the tactic was—nominated the coffeehouse as its unfortunate target, and she was back in front of the shop later that night, stifling the ache of her bruising forearms with a mixture of annoyed acknowledgement that she’d been too rushed to notice what was clearly visible now that she was looking. The Woven Roast had a seamstress’ touch that was made blatant by a mannequin behind one window, clad in some chic, boho-style Californian outfit that Everly tended to associate more with locals than herself.
The shop had already closed its doors that night, but when Everly returned during normal hours, she found that the place held a slew of small niceties: a quiet and comfortable space, a friendly atmosphere, and the just-right ratio of the smell of coffee grounds to fresh air. While the owner, Taylor, had been a bit too enthusiastic for Everly the first time she’d gone, Gabriel, the other barista, was much more pleasant to be around, his lack of immediate warmth—or even conversation—allowing Everly the headspace she needed to pull out her books and fit in a bit of studying over coffee. Still, with a few visits came an eventual acceptance, then slight admiration, of Taylor’s cheeriness. Everly could never imagine herself with the same perkiness, but she dropped by sometimes to remind herself that there were still people out there who offered optimism and kindness even to strangers, however fruitless the might endeavor seem to her.
It was on days like this, when Everly was neither tired nor not, that she liked to drop by and sit in, holding a mug and listening to Nicole prattle on about one thing or another. The girl had been quick to pick up on Everly’s unwillingness to share, and though she’d tried at first to pry, Everly had never entertained her offers. Rather, she kept a cordial distance, revealing what surface details she would to any interested parties: that she was attending the local college, had moved over from winter-battered Minneapolis, and co-owned the Golden Harbor in another part of town. Such details she was comfortable with, since failing to reveal them meant possibly tripping up over details from one person to another. Instead of trying to craft multiple stories for herself, she liked to keep things simple and save herself the headache.
Opening the door to the shop, Everly was a bit surprised to see another customer, but she proceeded in anyway. Worst case scenario, she’d finish it quickly and cite her job as an excuse.
“Hello, hope I’m not interrupting,” she said, smiling and setting her bag down on a corner table before approaching the register. “Could I get an Americano, or whatever’s fresh?” A few times, she’d opted to let Nicole brew whatever the girl felt was right, and Everly had been pleasantly surprised with the results. “To go,” she added, fetching her credit card when she spotted the man’s laptop and charger. He was going to be here a while, so Everly might need to use her excuse after all, seeing as he was likely a regular. Everly had already made the acquaintance of a few loyal customers of the shop, and while they weren’t all people she’d want to see again, she liked to think she gave people the benefit of the doubt—or at least that much when she was waiting for her coffee.
“And feel free to continue your conversation. I’ll probably head out soon.”
@chukklehed @Lord Wraith
Aedre Charbonnet
— Mesalon City Gym —
“Yep, no problem, take your time!” Aedre said, watching as Amber approached Sophia, who looked like she’d seen better days. Seeing as they were at the gym, Aedre figured it probably had something to do with badges and accomplishments—stuff she wasn’t really bothered about, now that she thought about it. Her primary goal had always been to learn and document, not to train and adventure, but were the lines really as definite as she’d thought? Could she perhaps fit in some training, adventuring, and growing in her purpose too?
But, all speculation about what the future held and whether or not she’d be heading home soon came second, after the priority that was finding the package she’d lost. When Amber returned, Sophia’s Gothita following closely, Aedre smiled nervously. It occurred to her, now, that she might very well be leading Amber on a wild goose chase. Who was she to say that she could even find the Pokeball? But, it was a bit too late for all her doubts, so she pushed them to the side and straightened up when Amber came back. She needed to find that package.
“I definitely had the package when I left the Pokemart, but past that I’m not sure,” Aedre said, frowning. After slipping the box into her backpack, she hadn’t bothered checking on it. After all, she’d never lost anything from her bag before. “Maybe it slipped out while I was walking.” She trailed, vaguely aware of how that sounded.
But, before she could pursue that line of thought further, movement at the corner of her vision caught her attention. Sophia had slumped over, and Amber was at her side the next second, Aedre too as soon as she’d recovered herself.
“Sophia! Are you okay?” A gym battle couldn’t have drained her this much, meaning it was probably something else entirely, which Amber’s words seemed to suggest. However, Aedre didn’t want to bring up anything that could upset Sophia right now.
Sophia’s Gothita, though, was equally quick on her feet, and she was between the three in an instant, putting herself protectively in front of her trainer and voicing her thoughts on the matter. The Pokemon’s insistent tone surprised Aedre causing her to take a step back, and Little was on her shoulder immediately after, eyes watchful as Sophia spoke. His grip on Aedre’s shoulder tightened slightly when the Gothita moved again, but otherwise he didn’t move.
“Oh, it’d be amazing if you could help out!” Aedre said when Sophia translated her Gothita’s thoughts. Seeing as Lacey was a psychic-type, she’d be able to cover what Tacita couldn’t, tying any loose ends there might be.
“We’ll take care of her, don’t worry,” Or, at least Amber would be able to, Aedre figured, but she didn’t voice that nagging thought. Instead, she voiced a word of thanks to Sophia before she left, turning to Lacey as her trainer left. “Thanks for offering to help. I really appreciate it.”
Waving hello to Oscar, Aedre noticed that Sophia didn't acknowledge the boy, wondering if there was something there but figuring after a second that it was likely just because she was tired. After all, even though her pride would probably have never allowed her to show weakness to others, she'd just done so.
Then, as the de facto leader of the search party, it was again time for Aedre to again try and figure out where they should start looking.
“Um, I don’t have any great ideas as to where to start looking, so I was thinking that we’d, um, just retrace my steps again.” Aedre cringed sligihtly as she finished the sentence. Yeah, retracing her steps sounded like a great idea when she’d already said she’d gone over her trail multiple times. Still, she had no better ideas, so she stopped herself their, submitting herself to Amber’s judgement.
@luckyblackcat
Eryn Montero
Route 2 || Night
Eryn watched, stunned, as the Totodile freed itself from its bindings, but before she could lament her wasted efforts, the Totodile was already making for the water, not even bothering to look back.
“Hey, wait!” Eryn called, alarmed that the Pokemon was leaving already. But, it didn’t turn back, and she was reminded again of how expectations differed from reality. Pokemon had lives outside of entertaining trainers, and she knew she’d do well to internalize that. Though she was a fair bit disappointed, she couldn’t quite pinpoint why. It was a mix of finding the Pokemon she’d heard rumours of and being, in a way, almost let down by her findings. Sure Totodile were awesome, and sure she could use a water-type on her team, but the Totodile just didn’t feel quite right.
“Well, I guess we got muddy for nothing.” Eryn paused. “Not nothing—we got the boat out of the water. What was an empty boat doing in the middle of the water anyways?”
Walking over to the remains of the broken vessel, Eryn ran a hand against its hull, admiring the worn wood. It seemed like it was a well-used boat at one point in time. What had changed?
“What do you two say we pay the fishermen a visit? I’m sure they’ll have some interesting stories to tell.”
Kylie gave a mild “Maw” of consent while Dei stayed silent, staring in the direction the Totodile had disappeared. It seemed like Eryn wasn’t doing her job of keeping her Pokemon entertained.
“All right, you two. Let’s go and see if we can catch a meal and find a guide,” Eryn said, leading the way over to the fisherman huts that were tucked away where the path ended and the water began. The sun had set, but night usually didn’t deter her. Right now, though, she found herself lacking the extra bit of pluck she usually had, and she figured that if anyone had any advice about how to traverse the route during the night, it was the local fishermen.
And, of course, she kept her fingers crossed because maybe—just maybe—the locals had some tips and tricks on finding the hidden Pokemon of Dragon Lake.
@PlatinumSkink
In
Deadly 8 (Ghost hunting adventure inspired by Killer 7 & Silent Hill)
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6 yrs ago
Forum: Advanced Interest Checks
Consider me interested as well
I'll drop interest for a character with a Black Gabumon partner
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