Group RP Pokemon: Evolution Quest (IC thread)

Xuehua initially gave Blacky and his family a nod as they all regrouped. A dancer with swords... she'd heard of something like that before, perhaps over in the eastern regions? Maybe Coco's teacher came from there.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the movement of the Misdreavus floating away from by the door. It seemed none of them had noticed the Misdreavus leaving.

Better things? Like possessing people? Late orders from Magius? Nope, not on her watch.

"Just got a loose end to tie up real quick," she muttered to Blacky, as his sister and in-law were busy with Aine. "I'll be right back."

With that, she began her chase after the ghost, eyes narrowed in concentration and staff ready by her side.

 

Kickenham was clearly in a state of alert - Rika could see that was obvious. As she walked more and looked at her surroundings, she caught wind that she really couldn't do much unless Atelier was with her. It seemed that the local guild was already taking care of the evacuation and relief efforts, so what more could she do?

"I can't believe they're gathering together like they're having tea," Rika said to herself. "It's like giving up. Oh! And what's his name - Atelier? - he might as well have given up, even if he wants to sleep. I get he's tired, but that's no excuse!" She sighed heavily and continued walking. "Why am I even talking to myself? Not that ANYONE understands..."

Soon enough, Rika approached the blacksmith where it appeared to be the busier parts of Kickenham at the moment. Weapons were either forged or repaired at the moment. Perhaps she could have a little fun in playing with the dark side here, although she didn't realise she was being followed.

 

(Yeah, that should do. )

@ChocoChicken

To Xuehua, Blacky nodded. "Careful," he whispered back, knowing full well that the town was not exactly safe until the local warriors deemed so-- wait, technically he's one too, right?

@122 Generation

As soon as Coco got over her fangirl mode, she glanced at the passed-out Eevee from before. Judging from the way her brother checked on him, this guy had to be his friend as well. But still, there should be better places to take a nap than in a training room, Coco surmised. The Eevee guy surely deserved it.

@WavePearl

With that in mind, the dancer turned to the minstrel lady. "Say, wanna stay at my house after this?" the former offered. "I think your friend over there could use a bed," she gestured to the sleeping Eevee as she said it.

 

Xuehua kept her eyes on the Misdreavus as she trailed behind. A Misdreavus... the pre-evolution of a Mismagius. As far as Xuehua knew, she'd been the only protege Magius had ever trained, but she'd been gone a while now. Who knew if that hag had taken another under her cruel wing?

Stealth - something involving a lot of patience - wasn't her strong suit, but getting out of Shadowblight had taught her enough. She stuck to the shadows, ducking behind any supplies and watchtowers left around, all while keeping the spirit within earshot. This meant she could at least hear her strange mutterings, even if her own focus had to remain on staying quiet. Something about giving up? Pah, what did she know? And... what was she even saying? How did she know Atelier's name?

Looked like the ghost was headed for the weaponsmiths - an area to restock, perhaps, she thought as she trailed behind. Before the Misdreavus could get close to any bystanders' viewing distance, though, Xuehua took that moment to act.

She leapt ahead of the Misdreavus, cutting her off. As a follow-up, she swung her staff around into a battle-ready position. "Giving up on what? Don't think my guard is down just because my friend is. Now if you're here to avenge your master or whatever, I'll make sure you're frozen solid long before you can make a move!"

 

@ChocoChicken

Rika's mind went momentarily blank as she processed what exactly the Glaceon was saying. But given the tone that Xuehua had confronted her with, Rika could only respond with a very annoyed tone. "Your guard? My master?! Has anyone ever told you that what you're speaking makes no sense whatsoever, gawds! You're speaking only nonsense," Rika added. "You don't know what's like, being sheltered in book, and I have no idea what this master is, but it sounds like you fought them recently. If you're done, I have other things to do. I deserve as much!" Rika stamped her foot like she was throwing a tantrum.

She decided to quickly pass by Xuehua, anyway - and also berated her with a nonstop barrage of questions. "I sense you're strong with the dark side. Ever thought of joining it? How about I possess you for a moment and show you? Oh, and how about giving up on the Dragon King and the townsfolk while you're at it? If you think that's not important, then go on and freeze me. See if I care."

Why, Rika even rolled her eyes with that last remark and picked up her pace.

@SAF

While Rika went about saying she deserved doing her own things, Atelier looked like he deserved a better place to sleep. This wasn't the first time that he was so tired that he would find whatever place he could to sleep.

It was at that moment that Swirlix had appeared in the warriors' hall with a crate of apples behind her. "Oh hey! Anyone want a snack? The guild is basically rationing the food supplies now that we're under attack. So I'm finding it really hard to not snack... Want to eat these here?"

 

The talk of the "dark side" initially set off alarm bells for Xuehua, whose grip tightened on her staff. This Misdreavus thought she was speaking nonsense while talking about this... apparent "dark side" that didn't involve anything to do with the actual evil overlords in Ardamore? The heck was she talking about?

The mention of being sheltered in a book, though...

Shadowblight did tend to dabble in necromancy, probably a bit too much. Binding someone's spirit to an object wasn't completely foreign - they'd done so with Eternatus's bones. Someone who had been dead, possibly even predating those Dragon Wars the Kickenham guild had books on, wouldn't understand what was going on in the modern world. At least what she was saying ruled out the theory of being related to Magius, and thank Arceus for that. She wasn't in the mood to pick up any more pieces of the old hag's problems.

Take the logical explanation, Xuehua. Like those murder mysteries. She sighed, swinging her staff back into a resting position over her shoulders. Atelier and Blacky, if they were here, would have told her to hear out the stranger, anyway.

"I have no intention of stopping my mission until every one of those tyrants is rotted away. If you're not with Shadowblight, then... whatever your 'dark side' club business is, I'll just leave you to that." The teenage tone of the Misdreavus meant the worst she could do was probably something on Garma's level of spooking some passersby or maybe some wall graffiti, nothing dangerous at the end of the day. "But leave Atelier out of it. He still has work left to do."

 

@WavePearl

Thankfully, Aine took up Coco's offer. It sure was a wise decision on her part considering the current situation. Plus, neither Coco nor Benny would dare to charge any fees for this one. They just wanted to help, really.

@122 Generation

And then the Society's Swirlix showed up with a crate of apples (Arceus knew how she even moved that thing around). "Oh? Don't mind if I do," Benny unassumingly took an apple and munched it. This, in turn, spurred the resident siblings to nab some apples as well -- two for Coco in case her Misdreavus friend (?) would return and three for Blacky (or maybe four unless Aine picked her own apple) with him planning to slip one into Atelier's bag and keep another one for Xuehua.

 

Rika made a face at the Glaceon, suddenly looking flustered. "H-hey! Don't you dare call the dark side a 'club'! Hate me if you want, but I can make you have a taste of it. Oh, and if you take pleasure in slaughtering dragons, I suppose you're on the pathway to the dark side already. Good for you. Anyway, are you going to help or what? I don't need you to make me feel proud of myself for helping others."

She paused. "And if he doesn't wake up, I guess I should just go and invade his dreams and make him wake up. Of course he has work to do, but he shouldn't be sleeping over it." Then Rika went by the blacksmith to a staging area where the local guild was handing out food and water supplies to the civilians who had just come out of the shelters while there was no incoming attack from the Dragon King.

The thing was, though, was that Rika was hesitant to approach them, like she didn't know how she would start.

 

"He just finished helping to slay one aforementioned dragon last night," Xuehua retorted, before her attention was caught by the local guild. Well, seemed like a decent opportunity. Though the Misdreavus's pause made her shoot one last question with a raised brow. "I thought you said to give up on the townsfolk?"

After that, she hurried for the crowd, ready to get to work. Get moving, ask questions later - it didn't take much for her to slip back into the motions. It wasn't unsimilar as to what they'd done back at Greenbury, after all, returning the Earth Dragon's stolen goods. "Hey, would you like a hand up there?"

 

@ChocoChicken

Rika had stayed silent since it appeared the Glaceon had caught her with her own words. If one looked extra closely at her face, there might even be hints of a blush. "I only said we might as well give up on them... Not that we're actually giving up, gawds," she muttered to herself. In her hesitance, she didn't even notice that Xuehua had gone ahead of her to the crowd. "Hey! Wait for me! I'm supposed to be there!"

A Corvisquire who was supervising the relief effort waved at Xuehua. "Great timing! We could use some help. The food distribution is a wreck right now. We need to ensure there's enough food for the citizens and for the soldiers. The guards have been up all day (and night) trying to hold the line against the dragon and keeping the town from falling. Arceus knows what would have happened if it weren't for Jirachi." He pointed to his side, seeing there was a barrel of what looked like a thick liquid. "That's actually apple soup that the kitchen has made. Then we have mass-produced these ration bars.."

Rika, who was peeking over the Glaceon's shoulder, paled at the sight. "That ration bar doesn't look appetizing. Who would eat that?!"

"Say what you want, young lady, but they're packed with energy and at least the bakers tried to improve the flavour and make it taste kind of like cheese," the Corvisquire said. "Are you helping too? Great! Now if you can, bring that barrel, the bowls, and the crate of ration bars to the shrine. We want to make sure our healers are well-fed, as well as anyone who needs to eat. So I'm counting on you to help set up the booth. Come now, everyone needs to be fed, especially when they might not have appetites from sheltering in terror."

Rika's mouth fell open. "That looks really heavy. How am I supposed to carry that?!" she said very quietly.

(But there are alternatives to move the food around)

 

"On it!" Xuehua wasn't much of the strongmon type, but she knew she could carry some weight. The crate seemed like the easiest option to move quickly, if she were to take one at a time, but she wasn't going to settle for just that given the state of affairs.

Then there was the Misdreavus. Her hands looked little more than nubs. But here was a thought...

"You said you could possess people, right?" Xuehua paused, looking at the Misdreavus. "Does that extend to material objects as well?"

She turned to check for a cart or anything of the like. Sure, the ghost was no Ponyta, but if she also lent her own strength, things would probably work out. If there weren't any, a possessed barrel could roll on its own, and she herself would only have two items to juggle.

 

"Well, yeah, of course I can possess material objects too. Why else would I have been kept in that hellhole of a tome? I even threatened to bite the Umbreon too because he wouldn't let me be with Atelier," Rika replied. "And you know what he did?! He threatened to burn me alive! What a jerk." She crossed her arms. "...Okay, I can possess people, yes. I almost did it to Atelier. But I can't possess someone or something if there's another soul in my way. If that happens, I would need a lot more time to deal with it. If you're going to tell me to force out a soul, I won't do it!"

The Corvisquire seemed amused by Rika's rant. "Whatever you say, young lady, but these food supplies aren't moving on their own. Now, I'll leave you to it." Then he was on his way.

Rika sighed. Being addressed as a young lady (in which she probably was) meant that it looked like no one could take her seriously. "Anyway, do you have any ideas?" she said to the Glaceon.

 

@122 Generation

That girl was going to possess Atelier? Wasn't that during the showdown with Magius?! Now that weird scuffle they'd had with the book made some more sense. "Yeah, about Atelier - don't try that again. I'll be watching. And so will Blacky."

@WavePearl

The voice of her friend speaking up alerted Xuehua, and she whirled around, reaching for her staff, only to see Aine already fumbling with a crate. "Whoa! Come on, tell me if you're gonna follow me out instead of sneaking up outta nowhere! These are headed for the temple. I'll... figure out the way there when we get going."

That did mean there were three of them. Three items, three girls - the lack of cart wouldn't be a problem. She picked up the bowls herself, then looked back at the Misdreavus. "So, ghost girl, back to you - what do you say about possessing that barrel of supplies over there? Pretty sure barrels don't have souls, so it'll be fine. Maybe a bit heavy, but you can roll it from the inside."

 

@ChocoChicken @WavePearl @122 Generation

Warrior's hall

After making sure both Aine and Atelier got their shares of apples, Blacky filled the couple in on his journey with Aine so far. He was so engrossed in his tales that he failed to notice Aine going out.

Outside

Among the civilians gathering at the staging area was a Kangaskhan carrying food in her pouch in lieu of a mini-Kanga. This Kangaskhan, Alys, had to carry a little too much food supply because apparently she had a few too many mouths to feed and all of them were the orphanage kids under her care. She was not alone either -- accompanying her were Morgan the Indeedee (one of the orphanage staffs), Josson the Jolteon (Alys's husband), and Corey the Kirlia (another one of Josson's proteges), each carrying the orphanage's share of food and water supplies. However, upon seeing three young ladies fumbling with what looked like food supplies, Alys nudged both Josson and Corey to help them out with Morgan assuring them that she and Alys would be fine on their own. So off the warriors went while Morgan warped Alys and the supplies away before Teleporting herself.

Once they came closer to the girls in question, the warriors immediately went to work. Corey enchanted the barrel with a no-spill protection spell (better safe than sorry -- he had a feeling that this barrel must have some sort of liquid inside) before rolling it himself while his liege went to help the shiny Sylveon out ("Lady Aine!" Josson called out before doing the heavy lifting). "We're going to the shrine, right?" the Kirlia squire asked to double-check now that he'd overheard the Glaceon telling her Sylveon friend where to go.

 

@ChocoChicken @SAF

One of Rika's eyes sure looked like it twitched when the Sylveon minstrel appeared, and more so when she was addressed as 'ghost girl'. "I have a NAME, you know! It's Rika... Anyway, at least someone has the decency to make sure it doesn't spill out the soup," she added, nodding at the Kirlia who had enchanted the barrel. "I guess I'm supposed to roll that barrel around, but only because I have to." She was suddenly self-conscious that it really was just her and two girls who were carrying the supplies off, at least until the Jolteon arrived. Well, at least everyone else had the decency to help (unlike a particular tactician who Rika pretty much regarded as a jerk).

As was expected, there was no soul possessing the barrel, which allowed Rika to phase right into the barrel (and definitely not the soup). If she had time, she would have liked to possess the Glaceon for a little bit but she figured there were more important things to do. And Rika was anything but a trickster. "Okay! Let's get going," she said (from the barrel) and essentially wresting control of the barrel away from the Kirlia. Honestly, it looked amusing and scary to see a barrel rolling around - and stopping - on its own. Never mind that she didn't make her presence known to the newcomers. What mattered was getting the food and water supplies to the shrine first.

So it appeared that the lone barrel was rolling forward ahead of everyone else, but it occasionally had to stop because Rika needed to look for the shrine itself.

Meanwhile, still in the warriors' hall, Atelier continued to sleep soundly. It was nice of Coco to save some apples for him and the others, but it would be a long matter of time before he would wake up. One would think he was even bewitched to fall asleep, even amid an attack from the Dragon King.

 

Xuehua grinned a little at the self-moving barrel. After everything else, a barrel delivering itself to the temple was more funny than scary. But she did still keep an eye on it - if anything, just to reassure startled townsfolk that it wasn't some evil spirit at work (despite the whole dark side chicanery).

Well, she had to catch up. Holding onto the bowls securely, she followed closely, keeping her eyes out for the shrine or asking any passersby for directions - or at least, with Josson here, she could get some notes from him. Though the ghost - did she say her name was Rika? - did seem capable of talking whilst possessing a barrel, whether or not she could read street signs while in there was another thing.

 

@122 Generation @WavePearl @ChocoChicken

Just when Corey was about to roll the soup barrel, the darn thing somehow rolled by itself. It sure caught both warriors off guard, though Josson was unable to act because he was still helping Aine carry the crate. Corey, on the other hand, quickly chased the rolling barrel and directed it to the shrine while at it, much to his master's amusement. "Don't worry about him, Corey should know where to go," the Jolteon assured, albeit with no context on who Corey even was.