[Open Log] The Collegiate Gym

[findingbeasts]

Who: Newt, Sion, Ryner and anyone else!
Where: Ecruteak/The Collegiate Gym
When: August 6th and on (He's going to be here awhile sorry)
Summary: Newt is newly arrived in Ecruteak!...and is bee-lining for the gym. This is going to ultimately be a catch all for his time at the Gym and in Ecruteak so it's not limited to just the initial post by any means.
Rating: PG



[To say Newt was excited to visit the gym was a bit of an understatement. He was thrilled at the idea of visiting a library in this place and reading up on whatever he could in regards to the creatures of the world. Being out in the field and observing them first hand was definitely his preferred method but without magic, traveling around did take longer. A lot longer. He really needed to get his hands on some of those HMs he'd been hearing about...

Regardless, he'd made it to Ecruteak and found the Collegiate Gym where it sat just south of the city.

As he entered the building Newt hesitated, glancing around for any signs of other people before glancing at Fay where she sat perched on his shoulder.]

He did mention we might run into Ryner in the library. Shall we try there?

[The Flabebe twilled and drifted off his shoulder towards the way up and Newt smiled softly, following after her. Clinging to the back of his jacket, as always, was Salazar his Nobibat companion and trotting along on his heels was Roxy, his Rockruff. The others were either resting or out and about--such as Merlin who had been gone for a few days now--but Newt would let them all out in due time.

Making his way upstairs after Fay, the library was spotted immediately and the young man's gaze lit up. It wasn't the biggest library he'd seen but it was the first one he'd found since arriving here and it was a welcome sight. Fay twilled and chirped, twirling over to some of the shelves and skimming along the shelves while Roxy, with her nose to the ground, started to explore.

Newt approached the shelves and started to look over all the books there, noting that the majority of these ones were battle tactics and strategies.

Understandable of course.

Excuse him while he searches for the ones on Pokemon in general--including the mysterious Legendaries.]

Comments

[keep_surviving]

[It won't take long until Roxy runs into another Rockruff. A funny smelling Rockruff who yips at her and goes down into a play bow, wagging its tail.

Its Trainer must be off looking for a book.]

[findingbeasts]

[Roxy blinks, snorting softly as she tilts her head, watching the other Rockruff. It only takes a moment before she let's out a happy yip and pounces forward only to dip into a bow of her own.

A friend! She found a friend!

Hearing the yips, Newt leans around one of the shelves he had ducked around, smiling at the sight of the pair.]

Why hello there. Exploring the library?

[keep_surviving]

[The Rockruff barks and runs around in a circle, chasing its own tail for a moment before noticing Newt.

It stops and tilts its head at him.]

[findingbeasts]

[That gets a chuckle out of the young man and he fully steps around the shelf only to kneel down. He offers a hand and a smile as Roxy yips then yawns in her typical fashion.]

It's alright, little one. Are you here alone?

[keep_surviving]

[The Rockruff sniffs at his hand for a moment, then barks before its curious expression changes. It grins? And chuckles?

It gives its body a hard shake, the image of a Rockruff melting away to reveal a Zorua. Who yips and bounces in place for a moment, fluffy tail wagging. Then it darts behind one of the shelves.]

[findingbeasts]

[Newt blinks in surprise before letting out a breathy laugh, watching the Zorua dart off.]

A Zorua! Spectacular!

[As he stands, Roxy let's out a confused yip, looking up at her trainer then in the direction the Zorua went before she's taking off after it.

Newt follows, looking more amused than anything else as he peeks around the shelf.]

[keep_surviving]

[Around the corner is a young woman, whose sight is fixed upon Roxy. She's looking wary, body tense and taking a step back as the Zorua continues to yip playfully and bound around.

They seem to notice Newt and recognition flickers in her eyes, before she glances back and forth between the man and his Rockruff.]

Oh, hey. I know you.

[Her shoulders seem to relax.] Which means she's...

[findingbeasts]

[Newt goes still when he sees the young woman, hesitating a moment before he steps around the corner of the shelf completely.]

Hello, yes we...you are Lana's trainer, are you not?

[Don't expect him to remember human names but the names of Pokemon? He'll always remember.

Roxy seems to put together who this is and her tail bobs about as she gives a happy yip in greeting to Diana. She remembers you!]

[keep_surviving]

[Diana nods.] Yeh, and you're... [Her brow furrows in thought for a moment.]

Newt, right?

[Her tension melts away at the confirmation that this was indeed one of Lana's litter and she smiles down at Roxy.]

I haven't seen you since you were tiny.

[The Zorua tilts its head and barks at Roxy.] Your trainer knows Lana?

[tearsofademon]

[The Collegiate Gym's library, like any library worth its salt really, had areas set aside during its inception for reading areas. Any good reading area has not only regular tables and chairs for note-taking and work and the like, but also more comfortable offerings, such as couches.

Ryner picked out these couches himself, in fact. The comfiest he could find, for both sitting on... and taking a nap, because sometimes you get tired during a good research session and need a nap in order to get your brain sharp again.

Hence, should this be a thing you would notice, you will find one of the co-leaders of the gym flopped on a couch, fast asleep, an open book over his face.

(To be fair, this is probably a common sight when Ryner's not downstairs actively taking challenges. Some things never change.)]

[findingbeasts]

[It's not that Newt that finds him first but Fay, his Flabebe companion. She let's out a curious sound, floating over to where Ryner was sleeping and settled herself carefully on his chest.

She let's out another sound, a louder twill as if to try and get his attention, head tilting as she rises and falls with each breath he takes in his sleep.

It's just as she starts to drift closer to his face, clearly about to try and squirm under the book, that Newt comes around a shelf, closing the book he's holding as he let's out a scolding sound.]

Fae!

[tearsofademon]

[It can be said, without too much exaggeration, that, if he felt like it and was permitted to do so, Ryner Lute could sleep through the apocalypse. A tiny flower fairy settling on his chest is, therefore, not enough to rouse him from his nap. (Besides, his Joltik climbs all over him in his sleep all the time. Nothing new.)

He does, however, have responsibilities that he acknowledges, and he has been trying to make an effort toward fulfilling them. One of those responsibilities is to be a gym leader, which he recognizes involves being helpful to visitors if he's needed, even when he's not on duty downstairs.

So he does stir, a little bit, when he hears a human voice. If only to determine whether he's needed or whether he can go back to sleep.]

[findingbeasts]

[Unfortunately that's not going to stop Newt from worrying.

Or stop Fae from being a little imp.]

Fae--

[The Flabebe giggles as she realizes that Ryner isn't waking up that easily and she darts then, squirming under the book and right onto the man's face. She let's out a twill and starts to poke at his eyes, wanting to know if he's alive or not.

Newt groans and goes over, setting the book he was holding on a table in the process.]

You terrible little thing, leave him be!

[tearsofademon]

[Well. Poking his eyes is enough to get him to react.]

Ugh, stop, I'll get up...

[His eyes don't open - obviously, he's not about to open them to direct prodding - but he does sluggishly reach up to grab the book off his face with one arm and to gently nudge the Pokemon prodding his eyes away with the other.]

[findingbeasts]

[Fae giggled as the book was removed and flitted away as she was gently nudged, leaving Newt to sigh in exasperation.]

I sincerely apologize for he. She's a bit of a troublemaker and without her sister around I'm afraid she's been worse than normal.

[tearsofademon]

[He pushes himself into a seated position, rubbing his eyes.]

Ahh, 'sfine. I probably shouldn't be sleeping here anyway...

[findingbeasts]

Don't encourage her or else she'll do this anytime she encounters someone asleep.

[And if the giggling from Fae is any indication, he's absolutely right.]

psst, I think you made a typo in your first sentence there...

[dreamsofahero]

Sion had known to expect Newt's visit, and while naturally the daily tasks of the gym came first, as soon as he had a moment to spare he went to see whether the man had arrived. Especially since, while the gym's layout was rather straightforward, there were plenty of rooms and such for any curious type to poke their head into if one didn't know where to find things. Even if, admittedly, the library was probably one of the easier places to find, given the windows that looked down into the open atrium at the entrance.

But in any case, it didn't take much time at all to do a quick check of the entrance and first level halls leading to the stairs, just in case. And once upstairs, well, Sion imagined it was rather hard to miss the library from that point, with the doors in plain sight straight ahead. So he went on in, quickly glancing about the room (which hardly took long, for all the space allotted only a relatively small portion had actually been used so far) and almost immediately spotting his and Ryner's guest.

"I see you seem to have found your way," he remarked as he strode over.

shhh you totally didn't see anything ajhsdjkashd

[findingbeasts]

Standing before a shelf full of books on Pokemon lore, Newt clearly didn't realize anyone was around until Sion spoke. The young man startled and, in turn, startled the Noibat snoozing on his back, almost dropping the book as Salazar yawns and blinks in confusion.

"Mr. Astral! Yes I--my apologies, I had meant to seek you out first," he said in a rush, smiling sheepishly as he closed the book before offering a hand to the other man. "It's a pleasure to meet you in person finally, sir."

*patpat*

[dreamsofahero]

"Just Sion is fine," Sion said, taking the proferred hand with a smile.

"And don't worry about it, I'd only just finished up some matters, myself."

Which mostly meant seeing to the pokemon, as the gym was still new enough that it didn't have much by way of regulars. Yet.

"I hope you've been finding the library to your liking?"

[findingbeasts]

Newt relaxes as they shake hands, his smile less sheepish now.

"It's wonderful. Truly. I have certainly missed having a library like this at my disposal," he admitted, looking around in admiration of the place. "I have learned quite a bit while I've been traveling but nothing really compares to a library in terms of knowledge."

His gaze settles on Sion again and his smile becomes a bit wider.

"Thank you again for the invitation. I appreciate the opportunity more than you can know."

[dreamsofahero]

"Well, we hope to improve and expand it with time," Sion replied. "As you can see, there's still quite a but of space at our disposal..."

Though at least they'd arranged things so that the empty spaces has chairs and such, so it wasn't completely unused.

"I'm glad you like it, though. Have you seen our section on other worlds yet? I'm afraid it only contains what we've written oregarding Menoris so far, but..."

[findingbeasts]

"The makings for an even more expansive library and gym," Newt added, sounding rather excited at the prospect even if he has nothing to do with this place outside of visiting. Places of knowledge are always something to be appreciated though.

"I have not, no. I assume it's something you've put together yourself with new arrivals and the like?" he asked, looking intrigued.

[dreamsofahero]

"That's the idea. It may take some time, but eventually this should be a place people can come to learnn. Whether by studying, testing and experimenting with new ideas, or lessons given by others."

Like a school, in a way, but one that people could come and go from as they pleased.

"More or less, yes. Ryner and I have written up a few things on our world, at least. We hope others will be interested in doing the same."

[findingbeasts]

"You intend to make a school of sorts, then?" Excuse him while he sounds a bit intrigued. He may not have finished school back home due to a rather unfortunate situation but that didn't mean he wasn't interested in teaching and learning from others.

"I'm sure there are many that would be intrigued by the notion. I would be, I can say that much."