[ hymn for the missing ] ryusuke

[Pepper Bellerose]

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Honestly, she wasn't entirely sure why she was out here. She had a habit of wandering, sure, since she was trying to find out what exactly had happened to her mother. It wouldn't do her any good to stay only in Shui City, after all. Still, though, she hardly had the money to be making long journeys away from her temporary base of operations. Since arriving in Nue, she'd hopped from job to job. It was unfortunate, but her clumsiness... well, it wasn't the most desirable trait for an employee. Put bluntly, she was hopeless at holding down anything that could get her money. Her two left feet and tendency to yell at assholish customers guaranteed she would not have a future in the service industry.

A peck on the head brought her back to reality. She reached up and gave the roosting Swablu a pat, and the Pokemon chirped in recognition. "I know, I know," she said. "You've been pretty bored lately. We might find some adventure, or... something like that out here." For the past few months, she and her Pokemon had just been wandering between cities when possible, putting up missing posters for her mother. It wasn't the most effective method of tracking someone down, but it was proving hard to get ahold of anyone in Interpol who knew anything.

Azalea flew up and off her head, landing in a nearby tree. She called out to her trainer, and Pepper frowned at her. "What are you trying to say?" Azalea trilled and lifted off again, landing even higher in the tree. Pepper groaned. "You can't be serious. I'm not gonna try and climb a tree! You can't make me." That was when the Swablu swooped down upon her and began to beat her wings against the girl's hair, turning it into a horrible mess. Pepper flapped her arms, trying to shoo her Pokemon away, but Azalea was in a mischievous mood and could not be persuaded. 

Once satisfied with its little prank, the Pokemon once again perched in the tree, calling out mockingly to Pepper. She responded by rolling her sleeves up and starting towards the tree. "That's it, I'm gonna--" She didn't finish her sentence. She dug her fingers into the handholds and began to propel herself upwards, fueled by her indignant rage.

It evidently did not occur to her that she could simply return the Pokemon to its ball.

Pepper actually made it an admirable distance before her foot slipped, shaking her up just enough to cause her anger to subside. She looked down and gulped. She'd somehow managed to get about eight feet off the ground. Overhead, the Swablu laughed at her. "This is your fault!" she snapped. Usually, they got along. This was clearly not one of those times. She heaved herself up to sit on a branch, legs dangling over the edge. Huh. The view isn't too bad. Maybe if I could go higher... No! Bad Pepper!

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[for anyone who's not involved reading this thread, this takes place some time in the past few months or so. Ryusuke Ugumi]

[Ryusuke Ugumi]

Scenes come to life Showing a day Of a wandering Misfit like me Two weeks. There were a lot of things that a person could do in that time, and while intellectually speaking Ryusuke was more than aware of that, the blonde only found himself with increasingly mixed feelings on his decision as time went on. When Ryusuke had originally set out from Flash City with the intent of only spending a couple of weeks in the Wilds, the longer he was out there, the more the trainer found himself convinced that it simply wasn't enough time. Not enough time to do what he had gone out there to correct - granted, it was admittedly something of a foolish idea to think he and his Pokemon could just disappear for a few weeks and make up for years of wasted potential, catch up to trainers far, far more experienced than he was, but that hadn't stopped Ryusuke from trying. Just because he was aware of how slim his chances of success in that department were didn't mean that it was outright impossible, and if there was anything Ryusuke was good at it was saying "Fuck it" to odds or rules. He was an adult, he did what he wanted. Running into Amber a few weeks back right after leaving Flash City had been a good start on top of it all, too, in that it'd at least given his team a more immediate, seemingly obtainable goal to reach for. Relatively speaking, at least. Grovyle was the only one to ever have battled her Pokemon, and he'd come out on top both times. That being said, it was highly doubtful that Fang was her strongest, especially after what was known of the League finals from the year before. Still, the encounter had served to give his Pokemon tremendous motivation, and it seemed to be showing - two weeks in, and Turtwig, Murkrow and Frubbles all seemed to be showing an incredible degree of improvement in their reaction times and fighting capabilities. Charizard, Tentacruel and Grovyle, not so much, but in their case it was at least somewhat understandable. Those three were far, far older than the first group, and in Charizard and Tentacruel's case, short of learning new tricks and tactics, they were about as strong as they were physically going to get. Grovyle still had a lot of room for growth, but that was only assuming that he didn't try to stall his evolution as he had for so many years the last time. At the very least, though, it made those three very good personal trainers of a sort for their younger counterparts, and short of going to look for fights in wild Pokemon it'd allowed Ryusuke to set everyone up into training pairs. Charizard and Murkrow, Tentacruel and Turtwig, and.... Frogadier and Grovyle. The last pair one that the blonde admittedly wasn't so sure about, although not for the reasons that he had initially expected. Grovyle, strangely enough, didn't seem to be antagonizing his partner at all - if anything, he had been oddly serious about it. Frogadier, more than anything, seemed to be the issue. Ryusuke had noticed virtually right from the start that the Water type seemed to have something of a mean streak in him and that he tended to fight dirty, and Ricki had admittedly warned him via text message that as a Froakie Frubbles had been more than just a sore loser, but were it not for the fact that Grovyle completely outclassed the amphibian he probably would've ended the training sessions a long time ago. The Water type had been taking the training sessions way too seriously, and had there been any better Pokemon to pair him with Ryusuke would've done it - unfortunately, Grovyle was literally the only Pokemon who had a similar fighting style, so for the time being the best he could do was keep an eye on the training sessions. Easier said than done. It was in the middle of one such session that Ryusuke now found himself, sprinting after the two Pokemon as they chased one another through the tree tops of one of the many forests that dotted the Wilds, well aware that there was no possible way he was going to keep up. Charizard was somewhere up high, having taken to the skies to keep an eye on things from above, but for the moment all Ryusuke could do was follow the sounds of the conflict rather than try and do it visually. He knew that they were ahead of him, but that was about it - he didn't doubt that they would've been able to see him with the bright red coat he was wearing, but between their green and blue coloration and the forest around them, singling either out while moving was asking for the impossible. To Grovyle and Frubbles, however, the distinction was clear as day. Despite by far being the faster of the two, Grovyle had slowed his pace through the tree top branches just enough for the increasingly frustrated Water type to keep up with him, meanwhile dodging the Frogadier's attacks with relative ease. Patience effectively gone, the Water type would suddenly blur forward with a Quick Attack, only for Grovyle to sidestep with one of his own and trip the frog as it passed. No longer in control of his movement while in midair, the Water type's initial momentum would carry the surprised Pokemon clear beyond several trees to crash directly into the branch supporting a rather unfortunate Swablu. @ tag

made by duet of gs

[Pepper Bellerose]

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Pepper considered how she was going to get down. She hadn't thought about what she was doing while she climbed, and so going back the same way was probably impossible. It wasn't too far to jump, but she was so incredibly clumsy that there was a good chance she could hurt herself anyway. It was too bad her Swablu was far too small to just lift her off the branch and place her back down on the ground. I really oughta do more work on evolving her... she thought with a sigh. Maybe if I have her use Cotton Guard to catch me?

Her thoughts were interrupted by a noise she couldn't quite place. Is that-- Something blue flew into the branch her Swablu was sitting on, and Azalea was too late to react. She let out a startled screech as the branch snapped, and she began to plummet towards the ground. The entire tree vibrated from the impact, so that even Pepper's branch wobbled a little. "W-whoa!" What the hell?

Azalea lay there in the grass, not moving. Pepper opened her mouth to shout down to her, only to be interrupted as the Flying type began to stir. Her trainer let out a sigh of relief. For a second, I thought she was a goner. Thankfully, Azalea's body was light enough that the fall had merely stunned her for a moment. The girl kicked her legs, looking increasingly irritated as she realized that even with their odd interruption she still wasn't sure how she'd get down.

Instead, she called out to her Swablu. "Karma! Hah!" Ignoring Azalea's rather annoyed face (which she was somehow capable of reading, despite the fact that all she had was a beak and eyes), she found herself looking around for whatever had caused her upset. If it was an angry Pokemon looking to cause some trouble, well... she'd hardly be the opponent it was looking for. I need to catch more Pokemon, but it's so hard to find potential Dragon types. She had yet to realize she didn't have to only own Dragon types, of course.

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[Ryusuke Ugumi]

[Ryusuke Ugumi]

Scenes come to life Showing a day Of a wandering Misfit like me While certainly not at all pleasant for the Swablu that fell from the branch, the Pokemon that collided with it in the first place hardly fared any better. Careening head first into the branch hard enough to snap it clean in two, the Water type would rebound off of the surface at an angle to crash to the ground not far from the Swablu. More than a little dazed from the impact to the skull, the Frogadier would simply lay there for several, long moments, leg twitching sporadically as the Pokemon's brain attempted to reboot. Back in the trees from which the Water type had come flying from, Grovyle would cautiously make his way along the path that Frogadier had gone before stopping at the edge of the treeline to stand upright on a branch, one hand on the trunk to steady himself as the Wood Gecko took a moment to take in the scene before him. People? Well, more accurately, person? He was slipping if he hadn't caught on to the presence of anyone else nearby, although in the Grass type's defense he was more than a little preoccupied with something else at the time. Frubbles did not fight fair, to say the least, although for the moment the Water type seemed to be out cold on the ground beneath the tree, a Swablu not far from him managing to recover from the collision far more quickly, likely due to the thing's smaller size and mass. Physics, never got old, and the cruelest of mistresses when ignored. Question now, though, was how to proceed. Under any other circumstances he might've been concerned for his training partner's well being, but given the number of dick moves that Frogadier had pulled in the recent weeks, Grovyle's own opinion of the Water type was admittedly verging on complete and utter indifference. The little prick wasn't skilled enough to be a threat worthy of respect and didn't seem to have any sense of fair play - and yes, Grovyle was very much aware of how hypocritical that sounded, but at the same time it somewhat served to illustrate just how far off the reservation Frubbles tended to go. Still, though, it wasn't like the trainer, coordinator, whatever she was would be able to capture the Water type even with the condition it was in - Frubbles was linked to a specific Pokeball via the trainer registration system, so any attempt to catch the thing with another ball would end in abject failure. Ryusuke, having finally managed to catch up in the minute or two since Frubbles' more than embarrassing slip up, was at first confused by the sudden quiet, as well as the sight of Grovyle on his own in the branches above. Where had- oh. Not entirely unexpected to say the least, but at the same time Ryusuke hadn't thought it would end quite the way it did, stopping not far below the branch his other Pokemon was standing on. Much like Grovyle had been, however, Ryusuke was more than slightly surprised to see another trainer this far out into the Wilds. Amber was one thing, but she was a certified Gym Leader - not much posed anything resembling a threat to her out here, but newer trainers were likely to go through the same hell Ryusuke had on his own first day. Roads and paths existed for good reason, and without at least one decently trained Pokemon to help you along a rookie trainer was likely going to be at the mercy of whatever they encountered. More than that...... was she stuck in a tree, of all things? Whatever the case, Frubbles didn't look like he was going to be getting up again any time soon, and it wasn't like Ryusuke could recall him from so far off. Letting a breath out in mild annoyance, the trainer would simply glance up to Grovyle, the Grass type catching the motion and looking back down as the trainer began to move forward, emerging from the trees to begin approaching the Swablu, unconscious Frogadier and the other trainer, Wood Gecko mentally shrugging before hopping down to follow the red and black clad human's actions. Attention focused more on Frogadier than the other trainer, Ryusuke would simply pull the Water Pokemon's ball from his belt with his one remaining hand before recalling it. Stopping next to the Swablu to look down at the Flying type, Grovyle coming to a halt next to Ryusuke, the trainer would pause before looking straight up at Pepper in the tree above him. "Have to ask, what part of going out into the Wilds with a Swablu seemed like a good idea?" Maybe a bit blunt, but also rather to the point, and something that Ryusuke was admittedly curious about given his own first day experience. One, frankly, that had been born of equal parts arrogance, ignorance and lack of general thought, something that seemed to be in plentiful supply if the girl was stuck in the tree as he'd assumed. @ tag

made by duet of gs

[Pepper Bellerose]

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The "assaulter" was a Frogadier that was unable to recover as quickly as Azalea had. Musta been an accident, she observed. Unless it was an incredibly stupid Pokemon that thought careening into branches served as a proper attack. Azalea had wandered over and was about to poke it with her beak when it was recalled into its Pokeball, and she stumbled backwards, surprised. Pepper, too, looked a bit shocked. She hadn't expected to run into another trainer. She didn't recognize him, which... was about what she was expecting. Her eyes sparkled when she saw the Grovyle next to him, though.

"Have to ask, what part of going out into the Wilds with a Swablu seemed like a good idea?" Azalea looked offended. Pepper just seemed perplexed. "Are we really that far out?" she asked. "We were just taking a walk and I lost track of time." It seemed she'd done yet another one of her odd blunders. D'oh. Her family always made fun of her for those. One time she'd gone out for lunch and hadn't wandered back to the family ranch until the next day, having sheepishly called them during the night to let them know she had gone a little too far during the day to make it back in time.

Azalea seemed to have taken the comment to heart, though, and was now strutting around like she couldn't wait to pick a fight with the first Pokemon she saw. Pepper sighed, resting her chin on a palm as she watched her Pokemon behave like an absolute ass. She'd return her and save her the embarrassment, but she figured she might still need her help getting down.

If they were farther away than she'd originally thought, there was no guarantee she knew the way back, either. She'd need the Flying type to scout the land. "You need to think things through," her mother had always told her. "You're never going to be a great Dragon Tamer if you just plow forward and don't think about the consequences." Well, sure, but that wasn't much fun, now was it?

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[Ryusuke Ugumi]

[Ryusuke Ugumi]

Scenes come to life Showing a day Of a wandering Misfit like me Not much to go on at first, but both Ryusuke and Grovyle noted the subtle change when the other trainer noticed the Wood Gecko. Coordinator. Breeder. Still wasn't entirely clear what the younger human was as far as profession and/or discipline went, but given how far out they were Ryusuke was banking on the first. Breeders, by and large, tended to trade or obtain their Pokemon through other people, thus no real need to go as far out as the Wilds, and Coordinators... well, Ryusuke freely admitted to slight bias, but the fact remained that they tended to prefer the more civilized areas, and beyond the odd Pokemon Center here or there he'd honestly had yet to run into them at random outside of Hoenn. The girl's response didn't exactly inspire confidence in her ability one way or the other, at any rate. "Lost track o-? Yes, you're a bit out, unless I'm the one that's lost. Far as I know there's not any town or city nearby less than a day out from here." Ryusuke answered, although his own admission of potentially being just as lost was a completely honest one. After secluding himself in the Wilds for a couple of weeks and deliberately avoiding the main roads since the strongest wild Pokemon tended to make their homes well off the beaten path, Ryusuke really didn't know where he was anymore. Somewhere towards the eastern reaches of the Wilds, but that was about it, and he only knew that much because it would've taken days or weeks of traveling westward to change that, something that he knew for a fact he hadn't done. He might not have had a map, per se, as the PokeNav still hadn't been updated for Nue since he'd left Hoenn, but Ryusuke was still able to read the sun just fine. "Anyways. Wouldn't recommend staying this far out or going any further unless you've got more Pokemon than just the Swablu, whole reason I came out here was because I was looking for stronger wild Pokemon. More to the point, are you stuck?" Ryusuke continued, turning a more critical eye to the tree the trainer was in, and by extension, her utter lack of movement or any attempt to get back down since the conversation had started. Admittedly she might've just been comfortable as it really wasn't that high up, maybe only about two feet higher than the top of Ryusuke's own head, but thinking back on some of the people he'd met over the years... clumsiness seemed to be a common theme among many of them. Grovyle, meanwhile, had gradually turned his attention away from the trainer above them to watch the other Pokemon on the ground with an equal mix of amusement, pity and nostalgia. Amusement, frankly, because watching anything that thought so much of itself wanting to start something was always funny - pity, because there was much to be said for ego trumping common sense, and often in a way that proved to be more than simply physically painful. The nostalgia, however, because Charizard, at the time a Charmander, hadn't been too different when they'd all left home a few years ago. Speaking of which, where was the overgrown sap? Thought of the other Pokemon bringing back the realization that he'd also been let loose to keep track of things from the sky, the Wood Gecko's gaze would turn upwards in curiosity, searching the skies above now that the tree canopy of the thicker forest wasn't blocking his view. Oddly enough, the draconic Pokemon was no where in sight. Had they all somehow lost him when he'd been playing keep away with Frubbles in the trees? Unlikely as the thing was faster when traveling simply by virtue of being able to fly in a straight line rather than duck and weave his way through the tree branches, but the Wood Gecko's curiosity only deepened as he failed to locate his long time partner, in the process more or less ignoring the Swablu outright. @ tag

made by duet of gs

[Pepper Bellerose]

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"Far as I know there's not any town or city nearby less than a day out from here." Pepper's cheeks puffed out, making her resemble a Jigglypuff. "Well I know I haven't been walking for an entire day, so I can't be too far away," she pointed out. There was no way she could cover that much ground in the time she'd had to reach this location. Not with her short legs, anyway. She'd heard horror stories about people waking up in places far away from where they'd started hours later, but she kind of doubted that could have happened to her. She'd simply been taking a perfectly pleasant walk. The wild Pokemon she'd seen hadn't been very interested in her.

Of course, none of that meant she wasn't lost. He spoke again, and the somewhat indignant-- and embarrassed-- look did not fade from her face. "More to the point, are you stuck?" She wasn't sure how to answer that. "I could probably get down if I wanted to." Probably. She wasn't a complete idiot. "I just... haven't bothered trying yet." At least she wasn't lying, technically. All of those things were true. She glanced down at her Swablu.

Azalea had already taken note of the Grovyle's lack of interest. Her wings bunched up in a way reminiscent of tensed shoulders, a mannerism she'd picked up from being raised by humans her whole life. She fluttered off the ground, taking flight so that she deliberately obscured the Grovyle's view for a few seconds before landing on her trainer's head. She immediately began to pick at some strands of Pepper's hair, yanking on them like they were worms. "Ow! Azalea, what the heck?" Pepper swatted at her.

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[Ryusuke Ugumi]