Welcome to Sinnoh [catch-all log]

[fearinahandfulof]

Who: Cassandra the Dust-Eater, OTA
Where: Eterna City and surrounding environs
When: 10-24 August
Summary: Around and about in Sinnoh
Rating: G to PG? Just in case something comes up


I. Departure

Cassandra is one of those who has never seen an airport, much less an airplane, so she's really not sure what to expect as they're all herded onto the plane that will take them to Eterna City. Flight, of course, isn't unknown to her - not only does she have Pokemon capable of it, but there were a number of Awakened Beings who'd been capable of it (Cassandra had not been one of them) - but flight in a winged metal tube controlled by humans? That's new. They must be quite skilled, she thinks.

(She's still nervous, though.)

She understands why Pokemon aren't allowed to be loose in such an enclosed space, but that doesn't mean she likes it, and she spends some time before the flight fussing over her Pokemon, even though she knows they'll (probably) be fine.

On the plane itself, she sits quietly, if not entirely comfortably; warriors of the Organization always did tend to be tall, and Cassandra, at nearly six feet tall herself, is no exception. Still, she's been through worse discomforts, which is why she probably doesn't seem terribly bothered by the lack of legroom. Indeed, she spends the entire trip either looking out the window with rapt interest or stoically enduring whatever commotion may be breaking out on the plane.

II. Arrival

Finding lodgings is more of a challenge than it could be, not because Cassandra can't afford any but because she still tends to default to sleeping rough, after years of having to camp out in the wilderness on Awakened Being hunts. Accordingly, she may have to be reminded not to do that here; after all, it probably wouldn't make the greatest impression on the people of Sinnoh.

Granted, the fact that she's currently being followed around by a large, sparkly Silvally is already making something of an impression on them.

III. Underground

The Underground reminds her of any number of Awakened Being lairs; it's hard for her to not look for enemies in the shadows. It would probably help if any of her Pokemon were out with her, but Blade is too large and most of the others are a bit too chaotic (which Rhiannon the Alolan Vulpix later demonstrates by stealing the Ice Stone Cassandra had found and using it to evolve herself, much like Elizabeth the now-Aegislash had done at the department store in Goldenrod City). She does find a fossil, but... what does she do with it?

IV. At Loose Ends

There are other difficulties as well. For one thing, Cassandra has no real idea how vacations work. She had essentially been a soldier for most of her life; even her idle hours had usually involved training, or occasionally getting some much-deserved sleep. She doesn't really know what to do with all this free time. She could probably stand to have someone take her under their wing, so to speak; otherwise she'll likely end up wandering aimlessly for most of the trip.

V. You Can (Not) Surf

Of course, just because Cassandra isn't sure what she should be doing doesn't mean her Pokemon don't have opinions on what they should be doing. Unfortunately, not all of them seem to be succeeding at that, as evidenced by the Pikachu down by the water trying to cheer up an unhappy-looking Zweilous. Occasionally the Pikachu will cast longing looks at said water, before returning her attention to her unlikely friend.

Help a surfin' Pikachu and her buddy out?

VI. Floaroma Town

Floaroma Town is... pretty. And smells nice. And... Cassandra's not sure what else to say about it, really. Do they ever get sick of all the honey they put in everything? Cassandra thinks she might.

She spends some time exploring, Blade the Silvally padding along beside her, then decides she might as well head into the flower shop. Cassandra's really never had the time to consider keeping plants, but she does wonder if it might not be a good idea; certainly, it would be easier than scavenging for berries. She hopes Willow won't object...

And that's probably where Cassandra is most easily found in the town proper, either in or around the flower shop.

VII. Floaroma Meadow

...Which is not to say she just stays in Floaroma Town. The meadow is arguably more comfortable for her to be in; she's gotten more used to being around people since she was first brought here, but it still gets wearing at times. Despite this, she does manage to have a conversation with the old woman tending to the trees; she's not entirely sure what she makes of the story, but she appreciates the perspective all the same.

Blade is with her again here, picking its way carefully through the flowers; the others she rotates in and out, giving everyone a chance to see the flowers. She's not sure how likely it is that she'll see the legendary pokemon that lives here; Cassandra's been in this world for a few months now, and human for most of that time, but it's still hard not to see herself as tainted, and hard to imagine that a pokemon so sensitive to such things would want to reveal itself to her. Still, she keeps an eye out for it, if only so as not to accidentally step on and harm it in the unlikely event that it does approach.

VIII. Eterna City, Again

Back in Eterna after the field trip, people may find themselves confronted with an unusual sight: a Hydreigon swooping almost giddily through the sky, with a Pikachu riding in a sling that's been carefully fastened to keep it from falling apart in midair. The Pikachu does not seem to be entirely comfortable, but she's clearly trying to be.

Cassandra, for her part, is standing firmly on the ground, watching Priscilla carry Lily through the air. Priscilla is clearly feeling better now that she's evolved again, and Cassandra can't help but feel relieved at that, for all that she'd been taken aback by Priscilla's final form, unexpectedly similar to her own Abyssal form in certain ways for all that it's very different in others. It's the similarities that she's currently grappling with as she watches Priscilla and Lily having fun; it's not fair to burden her pokemon with her own trauma, so better to deal with it now, as much as she can.

IX. Do the Evolution?

Later, Cassandra can be found sitting quietly in a cafe with a PokeBall in her hand, frowning slightly. She's been reading about some of her pokemon, in particular the Scyther she'd picked up in Goldenrod City. From what she's read, Scyther can only evolve by being traded, and Edith would clearly like to evolve. But Cassandra's not quite sure how to go about doing that...


X. Wildcard

[Some other scenario you'd like? Let me know!]

Comments

V

[uncutetomboy]

"Is everything okay with them?" Akane asks, frowning a little as she studies the two pokemon near the water, herself hanging back a good ten feet from the pair. The particularly dopey looking Quagsire that had until then been following after her continues on to waddle up to the Pikachu and Zweillous.

[fearinahandfulof]

Cassandra is also frowning a bit. "Lily wants to take Priscilla surfing to cheer her up, but we couldn't defeat Jasmine, so I couldn't give her Surf."

Priscilla, hearing the Quagsire's approach, snaps in its general direction with one of her heads - a threat display only; they're not close enough to make contact, thankfully - while the other head hisses; Lily reaches out to shush her, cooing softly so Priscilla knows it's her.

[uncutetomboy]

"Q-no knows Surf," Akane says. "And--" She bites her lip. "I could teach Lily. If you want. I've got the HM. You shouldn't feel bad about Jasmine beating you, though. She's really tough. She managed to beat Connie and her uncle the first time they challenged that gym. One after the other too. I only won mine with her because I paid a lot of attention to how they lost."

[fearinahandfulof]

"Are - are you sure?" That would make Lily feel better, and hopefully help her help Priscilla feel better in turn. She's not sure Priscilla would trust the Quagsire to take them the way she trusts Lily, though.

At the mention of Jasmine, Cassandra nods. "I don't feel bad for losing itself; I learned a lot watching her pokemon fight. I have a few others who wanted to learn Surf, and they're disappointed as well, but they're not taking it as hard as Lily."

[uncutetomboy]

"I mean, I guess it's a little like cheating," Akane admits, "but I think this is one of those cases where you kind of have to. It's not really fair that all the good, fast ways of getting places require people to have gym badges or pay the ubird people a lot of money. And pokemon should be able to play in the water if they want to."

plane plane plane plane

[seacub]

[Well! Look who's coming along as well. With all his pokemon in pokeballs, he's a smaller sight- normally at least one ghost is hanging around after all. Walking down the aisles to his seat, it doesn't take long to find his- and for that matter, someone he knows.]

...oh! You're going to Sinnoh too? ...Is...this your first time on a plane?

[fearinahandfulof]

Yes.

[To both of those.

And then it occurs to her that she should probably answer those questions separately.] ...And yes.

[seacub]

[Hahahaaaa...] I heard that people get airsick sometimes...hopefully that doesn't happen.

I guess this is my first time in a real plane too actually. I um...I flew a helicopter once?

[fearinahandfulof]

Air... sick?

[Cassandra has not heard of this phenomenon.

Nor has she heard of helicopters, unfortunately.] Helicopter?

IV

[insidegalra]

Cassandra isn't the only one wandering around for no immediately obvious goal. Thace's wandering isn't aimless so much as, well, a patrol, but after the second time their paths (nearly) cross, Thace deviates.

"Hello, Cassandra. Are you enjoying the trip?" There's just a smidge of awkwardness there. Small talk isn't exactly Thace's forte. (The Noibat is also missing from his current entourage, although he has six out.)

[fearinahandfulof]

Cassandra notices the Noibat's absence. She wonders if they should be worried. "Hello."

Is she enjoying the trip? She's not sure. "It's... quiet, so far."

[insidegalra]

In this case, Brodar is taking a nap in the PC as part of a deal with the Cherrim, but of course Thace doesn't think to mention that. Worrying is not an unusual response to the bat's absence.

"But quiet doesn't necessarily mean comfortable," Thace adds softly. "I've been taking advantage of the chance to learn more about this world, but even research can't fill every hour."

His Honedge reaches into his pack and pulls out a Dusk stone. She sounds like she's suggesting something and Thace's sigh is fond. "I suppose I could return to dig up more stones, yes, but what would you do with a second one?"

[fearinahandfulof]

"I haven't really been sure where to begin," Cassandra admits. "Researching, I mean."

The Organization didn't exactly encourage scholarly pursuits, after all.

Her expression turns wry when she sees the Dusk Stone. "At least she didn't take it from the department store." Not like a certain Aegislash of her own acquaintance.

III

[firstonesexpert]

"Oh, you found something!"

There's no real warning for Entrapta - she's just rather suddenly in Cassandra's face, as a pair of dimly glowing, bug-like eyes. She has a fossil of her own in her hands, and the pink imp creature that was following her last time she met Cassandra has evolving into something with quite a lot more hair, and Leslie the Morgrem gives Cassandra a polite wave.

"I was studying the fossils that would be available in this region on the flight over," Entrapta continued, unperturbed by how weird she must look. "And I believe I ought to be able to help identify the more common ones if you require assistance!"

[fearinahandfulof]

If she didn't recognize the voice, she might have responded a bit more harshly than the quick jerk back and blinking that she actually does.

It takes her a moment to recognize Entrapta's form, though, to say nothing of Leslie's, although the pokemon gets a tentative wave back when she dies. To Entrapta, she says, "You were?" and then mentally kicks herself because of course Entrapta was doing that.

[firstonesexpert]

Entrapta doesn't flinch at her quick jerk reaction at all - instead she just pushes her helmet up to reveal her clean face and beams at Cassandra. "Yes! Currently there are eleven identified fossils that are able to be used to resurrect fully-grown Pokemon! And a few others that are half-identified, they're recognised as definitely being prehistoric Pokemon but their true form has yet to be formally identified."

[fearinahandfulof]

"Is that considered a lot here? Eleven doesn't seem like a large number, but..."

III

[cutesneeze]

Cassandra isn't the only one keeping a wary eye out, though in Catra's case it's baseline paranoia rather than any particular negative association with subterranean warrens. The Underground: still a hundred times better than the (ick) ocean.

This wariness means she makes note of Cassandra considering the fossil, and sidles over to peer at the other woman's findings from just out of arm's reach.

"Get anything good?" she asks, affecting a tone of only middling interest.

[fearinahandfulof]

Cassandra turns her gaze to the woman as she approaches. "I'm not sure yet."

[cutesneeze]

"A fossil?" she says more than asks as she takes in the colour and pattern of the object Cassandra's holding. "I think the guide said something about reviving them. I like the stones better, but an ancient Pokemon could be pretty handy for some of the challenges."

[fearinahandfulof]

Cassandra looks down at the fossil in her hands. "I wonder if they find being revived disorienting. They've been dead for so long..."

Like her.

She shakes her head. She probably shouldn't be letting her mind go down such morbid paths; she can't imagine what this woman thinks of that. "Yes," she says, forcing herself back to the actual conversation, "they probably would."

Floaroma Meadow. Delayed because what is sleep?

[runicfeathers]

Willow's been there just about as long as Cassandra, and the human feeling is a strange one, although she's begun to adjust. Even if she does miss being able to take flight and all the other things she used to be able to do. Kira had been lounging in the grass while Willow sat against her side, breathing in the air.

"Do you think we will see the little creature? I would think we are being peaceful enough, yes?" She spoke softly to her friend as she sees her wander through the flowers, as not to scare any of the pokemon away or risk losing sight of the legendary creature.

[fearinahandfulof]

Cassandra thinks for a moment, frowning slightly. "I'm not sure how you judge peaceful enough." Or... how the pokemon judges peaceful enough.

[runicfeathers]

"I suppose being quiet, not running around yelling for the little one?" It seems a valid enough answer in her eyes, sitting around calmly and not yelling.

[fearinahandfulof]

"Hopefully?" Certainly she can't imagine it showing up if they were running around yelling for it. Cassandra certainly wouldn't, if their positions were reversed.