Group RP Pokemon: Evolution Quest (IC thread)

Chief Ampharos

Just when Chief Ampharos was about to lay down in bed, he saw a random Eevee (to him, at least) coming his way. "Oh, hello," he greeted the sleepy Eevee. "You look tired. Do you need anything?"

Blacky

(Iirc Aine's already in bed, so might as well let Blacky handle that instead.)

Blacky, meanwhile, noticed Atelier going straight upstairs with no payments just when he was going to hit the hay for today, so he went back to the innkeeper and paid for Atelier's room as well. And probably Xuehua's too since he didn't know whether she'd already paid or not.

 

“Huh? Me? I’m okay…” Atelier yawned. “Oh, I’m sorry if this isn’t my room. Am I interrupting something?”

 

"Not really, no. I'm just about to sleep," Chief Ampharos brushed the apology off. "You do look like you're sleepwalking, though."

Apparently that last part was loud enough that Blacky could overhear it as soon as he got upstairs. One sneak peek revealed an Eevee in a foreign (yet familiar) robe somehow ending up in Chief Ampharos' room.

"Atelier?"

The sight of a familiar Umbreon at the doorway perked the Ampharos up. "Oh! Blacky, my friend! You know him?" he asked, to which the Umbreon sheepishly nodded. "Yeah, he's the Eevee in Lady Aine's team," he strode to Atelier's side and gently lifted his arm up, supporting some of his weight with Blacky's own arms.

 

Atelier gratefully took Blacky’s help although he wasn’t completely sure what was going on. Neither was Atelier ever aware that he could sleepwalk!

He yawned and fell asleep the moment Blacky carried him out of the room.

 

So now Blacky went out of the room with Atelier in tow right after mouthing an apology to the Ampharos. Took him awhile to find Atelier's room -- and when he did, he carefully put the guy in bed and set his belongings aside. Turned out that a bag full of books could be as heavy as a bag full of swords and it was a wonder how Atelier could even carry all those stuff through various tracks and dungeons and what have you.

Blacky then retreated to his own room and called it a day.

(Shall we see what Xuehua would do once @ChocoChicken returns? Or shall we move on to the next day?)

 

(We can wait for Choco)

In the sense of Atelier’s bag, Blacky might as well have considered it a bag of rocks. One would wonder if Atelier was the most athletic amongst the group, or maybe he was just better at endurance than most.

Atelier had immediately drifted off to deeper sleep the moment he hit the bed.

 

From the minor amount of commotion outside, Blacky and Atelier had made their way to their rooms. They were probably passed out already, preparing for the next raid already. She probably should also get to bed, but it wasn't really like her sense of impending doom would give her enough peace to really rest.

She hadn't told the rest of the party about what could happen to her once she stepped back into her hometown - a fact she intended to keep in its place far in the past. And there was the fact that she was very much a wanted criminal in there.

She took a moment to brush all the dust and dirt off her hood, potentially even wipe it down a little. After all, she'd probably be wearing it for quite a while, if Shadowblight was still standing. And it would give her something to do until a late-enough hour, some time she could spend sorting out her thoughts and feelings on the whole debacle.

 

@WavePearl @122 Generation @ChocoChicken

The next morning, Blacky was rudely woken up by random bangs from the hallway. Thinking the inn was under attack, he hastily drew out a sword and opened the door only to find Chief Ampharos wobbling around and bumping into everything. Again. No, really, Chief Ampharos did say it happened all the time.

Really, now? For the love of--

Still couldn't believe his eyes, Blacky quickly sheathed his sword and ran up to the Ampharos before he could (potentially) enter a random room like Atelier did last night.

(Stopping here to see if anyone wanna react to that.)

 

(“Like Atelier did last night”)

Even the commotion had woken up Atelier despite his tired state and he too thought that he was under attack. Immediately, he jumped up to grab his sword (the closest weapon he had on hand).

Suddenly, he had flashbacks of the last encounter with the Dragon King. He didn’t realise it at first, but he really was edgy wasn’t he? Maybe it was because his mind was tired still, or that he might have symptoms of stress.

The moment he opened his room door, he wondered exactly how he came about here. He recalled clinging onto Xuehua’s arm, and then he passed out. Soon enough, he saw Blacky and a certain Ampharos outside. What was happening here?

 

Thankfully, both Aine's concerned call and Blacky's physical approach were more than enough to stop Chief Ampharos in his tracks. "Y- Yes... I will survive..." the Ampharos responded albeit still looking like he was... dizzy? Yet it wasn't all that surprising for Blacky as he helped Chief Ampharos back on his feet. "Yeah, milady. That's Kickenham guildmaster for you," the Umbreon assured Aine (and the other witnesses, if there were any).

 

Guildmaster? Not Wigglytuff, but someone else now? If Atelier didn’t know better, he was noticing a clumsy trend among Guildmasters.

“Um, if I may, can we help you with anything?” Atelier asked.

 

"Is it some type of affliction?" Xuehua called from upstairs as she made her way down, having heard most of the hassle and Blacky holding on to the newbie they'd seen before. She seemed to have gotten ready in her room already, hood and robes actually smoothened and even for once. Her staff was even by her side, although they were only in the inn.

 

@WavePearl @ChocoChicken @122 Generation (Somehow Choco's narrative made me think of the inn as a 3-storey building. )

Now that Chief Ampharos had recovered from his bout of dizziness (?), he had a good look at everyone who were present aside from Blacky: the Eevee who wandered in his room from last night ("Oh, you must be the Eevee from before. Did you sleep well?"), a shiny Sylveon ("Miss Aine, right? How do you do? My friends told me a lot about you."), and a Glaceon in a deep blue cape ("Well well well, I’ve got the world’s worst sense of direction...especially in new places… And so I just wander, bumping from place to place. It’s quite the hassle!").

"But, silly me, I’ve not yet introduced myself," Chief Ampharos chirped following a brief pause after his previous responses. Since the gang probably had little to no idea about who he was aside from Blacky's offhand introduction, a proper one surely was in order. "I am Ampharos! Known far and wide…" he then posed dramatically, "...as the Dashing Wanderer!" Cue Blacky's awkward grin as he tried oh-so-hard not to chuckle at the introduction.

 

@SAF

(Yup, I'm imagining the Ampharos pose where he poses in front of the camera, along with dramatic sound effects. You know, I would have thought the inn to be two-storey)

Like Aine, Atelier facepalmed at the introduction. If this really was a guildmaster, then did he have to make a point in this fashion? Now that Atelier was well-rested, he was snapped awake by the fact that Ampharos was appearing like this.

"Um, Ampharos, sir," Atelier waved. "Do you need help with anything? Like... getting home?"

 

@ChocoChicken

Believe it or not, Blacky shared both Aine's and Atelier's sentiments, though it wasn't even a new thing to the Umbreon. I mean, hey, Chief Ampharos' weird sense of direction was an open secret to Kickenham folks and the Expedition Society members had to make sure he got company whenever they had an outing. Not that it was foolproof or anything, but still...

"Oh, me? I can't go home yet, no," Chief Ampharos shook his head at Atelier's question. "It's just--" he continued only to be interrupted by the sound of a growling stomach. "Can we move to the lobby, please? I'm hungry." Blacky nodded to Chief Ampharos with a quiet-ish "Yeah, me too," before the two made their way to the lobby downstairs.

And while waiting for everyone to come along, Chief Ampharos sat down on a table and Blacky got themselves two plates of apple curry.

 

Right, it was breakfast. Xuehua quickly followed the other two downstairs. She shouldn't keep them waiting. Unlike the two from Kickenham, she immediately went for the first sweetened pastry she saw. A bit of an indulgence, she knew, but her days could potentially be numbered. A short number at that.

It was an odd thought that was now finally catching up to her, even though she guessed she knew all along what they'd face on the penultimate leg of their journey. Until she faced that fight, though, she'd promised herself to give herself what she deserved - and if she could secure it, that very much included justice, no matter the price.

 

Atelier himself went to prepare a fresh brew of coffee for everyone. This probably was a good time to do it, after all! Like Blacky, he also treated himself to a plate of apple curry to start off his day, complete with bread. By the time the water was boiling, he had crushed coffee beans and laced them with the aroma of apples as well. Then the aroma of coffee wafted in the lobby as he poured water over the grind.

He served everyone cups of coffee afterward, including a cup for Ampharos. As he served a cup to Xuehua, he noticed she was being unusually quiet. "Um... there's no sugar in yours. I'm sure it will taste fine with your pastry."