a whim away [r]

[king]

"this is a weird place for a town." luke said, looking around the caverns. garrett kept close to his side, ears flattened against his head. his trainer picked him up, holding the eevee in his arms. "don't worry. we'll just walk around until we find the gym. i guess."

they found not the gym, but some place that was incredibly hot. another spot was covered in cobwebs, but there was a large pillar in the entrance. there was a chill coming from the interior though, and luke was currently trying to push the pillar aside. he would do better with hm strength.

vertigo w/ ikram

[vertigo]

one step into the di manes caverns, and ikram was wishing she had learnt the electric sign to light her way. her previous attempts at making something out of her heart sign had resulted in extreme failure -- she had coated three or four trees in ice after her attempts, and she decided to give up and walk in.

wukong walked a few steps before her, and ikram lamented the fact that he wasn't a charmander. at least a tail flame would work better as a torch than the little stub of flame that it had for a tail.

she kept walking, though -- until they hit a wall.

the ranger watched the trainer pushing a pillar for a moment.

'weird,' said wukong. 'why would you do that?'

ikram shrugged. "hey, you know that's not gunna budge, right?" she called out.

king

[king]

luke frowned. "well, maybe it will if you help me." he hesitated for only a moment before correcting himself, standing up straight. "sorry, i just wanted to know what was behind this. i didn't mean to be rude." garrett squeaked in unison.

he looked down at the chimchar. "cool pokemon. are you a trainer too? or a... uh. researcher?" it didn't seem to occur to him that people could be things besides part of eos.

vertigo

[vertigo]

did he actually expect a girl to go down there and start pushing a pillar just to know what laid behind it? ikram wasn't going to do that.

all she'd have to go was slap a ghost sign on herself and phase through it. obstacles weren't going to be a big deal at all in that case. she supposed that he wasn't a ranger, then, without the ability to use signs to his benefit.

she glanced from wukong to him. "you were rude," she said dryly, "but it doesn't matter." she smiled. "i'm neither of those -- i applied to become a ranger, which is vastly more useful in the wilderness than in cities." she indicated the styler on her wrist, lifting it up so that he could get a better view of it.

"it's a little less interesting than a trainer's life, though. we don't really do gym challenges."

wukong rubbed the back of its head before approaching luke, hand outstretched to shake his. if it was a trainer then it wouldn't understand it at all. the eos class divide was honestly very frustrating at times.

king

[king]

luke happily shook the chimchar's hand. "hi there." he smiled. then his attention was turned back to ikram. "what does a ranger do then? i'm new to eos, sorry. i'm not really sure what anything is. all i was told was to fight the scourge."

he barely even knew what they looked like. luke wasn't even sure if the thing that attacked his prison was scourge. "oh. my name's luke by the way. and you are...?"

garrett shuffled over to the chimchar, sniffing it curiously. <i'm garrett. it's a silly name. what's yours?>

vertigo

[vertigo]

"ah," ikram said. so luke knew little. she wasn't keen on explaining -- "is it fine if i just ... don't explain it to you? it's kind of difficult to say. but it's good that you've been told to fight the scourge. i think -- uh, it looks pretty dire around now." she wasn't sure what she was talking about, but armed with confidence, ikram soldiered through a particularly rough patch of conversation.

they thankfully moved on to introductions. this time, ikram knew what she was talking about.

"ikram. nice to meet you, luke!"

wukong glanced at the eevee, before waving at it in greeting. 'garrett? it could be worse, so look on the bright side!' said the chimchar a little too cheerily, 'and, well, i don't know if you'll find my name silly, but it's wukong.'

king

[king]

the fact that ikram didn't want to explain was fine with luke. he would find out eventually. "that's okay. the pleasure is mine, ikram!" he offered a happy smile. "so, what brings you to di manes? or are you just passing through on your way to nerio?" he abandoned his quest to move the stone, perhaps another day. instead, he dusted himself off and walked over to have a proper conversation with the girl.

garrett squeaked. <it's a little funny, but a lot of people have funny names lately... even pokemon.> the eevee bounced around the chimchar, tail wagging excitedly to have a friend. <wanna go play?>

vertigo

[vertigo]

ikram smiled back. "i just dropped by the anvil," said ikram, glancing in the general direction of the vulcan depths. it had been remarkably entertaining to see people walk away with weapons. she hadn't the chance to get one of her own yet, but she had half a mind to. "i intend on getting a weapon from it sooner or later. it seems like a random game of chance to see what it gives you."

she had seen someone obtain various curiosities. she too, wanted one of them just to mess around. "what about you? di manes gym, i assume?"

'... even pokémon. you're on to something there,' said the chimchar, nodding. it seemed to make sense. 'play? around here in the caves? we'd have to be careful not to set off a cave-in, hehe!'

king

[king]

"yeah..." the chances that he could actually beat esme right now were almost abyssmal. "it's a work in progress." he glanced down to the little eevee. "i think i'm going to try to evolve garrett into an umbreon first... i don't really have anything good against ghost types."

<we'll be careful! promise.> the eevee tapped the chimchar. <tag you're it!> with that, the eevee dashed off, careful to stay in sight.

vertigo

[vertigo]

"but an eevee won't get harmed by ghosts. an umbreon would sustain damage," she said. it was better to have an eevee get to the point where it learnt bite, and combat esme with that in any case. not getting hurt was better than having something super-effective against it in type -- but not offensively.

'heheheh!'

wukong pounced after the eevee, flames whirling around its feet as it surged towards the creature. 'i'm gunna getcha!' it announced, leaping and darting after garrett.

king

[king]

luke was quiet for a moment. "that's true. i have a braviary too but... he's still pretty injured. he's not really ready for battle, but he would be helpful."

eevee fell to the ground, squeaking. <ahh! no, you won't!> garrett leaped over the chimchar, dashing around the caves, excited to have some company that wasn't his dumbass clueless trainer.

vertigo

[vertigo]

"he would," said ikram, "that's a very strong pokémon to have." she knew that it was a first-stage evolution, and that it was a formidable thing to fight -- but that was really it. "it seems like a big difference from your eevee, though." she glanced at the squeaking furball as wukong chased it down again.

the chimchar leapt at garrett, flames flanking it as it screeched to a halt before the creature. excitement seemed to make its flames burn hotter and brighter. ikram, for one, was glad for the added warmth - and light - that the monkey offered. it was a step up from the meagre flame they relied on in the beginning.

wukong stretched out an arm, trying to grab the eevee. 'yes, i will!!'

king

[king]

he let the braviary out of the pokeball. "lance here is strong, i can feel it. but he's..." the braviary stepped a few times, clearly favouring one leg more than the other. "still got a bit of a way to go."

garrett squeaked as he was caught, tumbling over into a ball and skidding a few feet away. <darn it! now... i'm it! you better run!> the eevee began to chase the chimchar this time, eager to get a move on.

vertigo is this thread almost over yet

[vertigo]

ikram studied the braviary for a bit. it seemed slightly tired and weary, and she supposed that couldn't be helped considering its situation. trainers had it different from rangers, obviously. "good luck with lance," she said, running a hand down the braviary's neck, "he'll get better soon enough."

the chimchar was obviously swifter and faster than the eevee. it darted away, snickering.

king idk

[king]

"well, we're working on it." luke smiled. "garrett, c'mon. time to move on."

the eevee darted over, a little out of breath from trying to run from chimchar. "we're going to get going. need to train some more for esme." he parted with a cheery smile. "have a nice day, ikram!"

vertigo