The land remains, the land endures

[stormkingofshepherds]

Arrival, Part 1

Anyone walking out on Stardust Beach might be surprised to see someone new, a young man with brown hair lying facedown in the sand, groaning. A Carnivine hovers over him worriedly, drifting back and forth in what looks like the equivalent of pacing. Finally, he turns over, looking up at her.

"Ugh, Macy...where are we?"

"Vine..." She sounds just as confused as he is.

Arrival, Part 2

Meanwhile, Turnbloom Gym now has a young teen hanging around outside, face pressed against the glass as they observe the gym interior. They're holding a carved walking stick that seems way too tall for them. After a bit, they try to wave down a passerby.

"Hey! Do you know where we are? And have you seen my dad?"

(Responses will come from loudvoiceloudbabybird!)

Comments

[stormkingofshepherds]

"I'm fine," he says quietly. "It all happened...a long time ago. I just need-" He reaches out to his side, then frowns.

"Where's my walking stick?"

Macy looks surprised as well, although she does quickly add in her own language that she can help support him, though they should probably try and figure out where his walking stick went...

[radleyslittleevie]

"Oh.... I'm glad you're not hurt now!"

Evie listens to Macy. "That's so wonderful he has you to help! That's weird about the walking stick.... I hope it didn't go in the water...."

She walks a few steps all around, looking for it.

[stormkingofshepherds]

The scars still ache sometimes and he still has complications, but at the same time he doesn't feel like getting into the details, so he just nods.

There's no sign of any walking stick around, not even an indentation in the sand where it might have lain. Macy lets out another hiss, noting that they might want to get off the beach first so Nathaniel can sit down. She wraps some of her vines around his waist as she floats, supporting him for now.

[radleyslittleevie]

"I don't see it.... Why don't we go over here?" Evie indicates some benches up by some shops.

[stormkingofshepherds]

"Yeah...it'd be good to have somewhere to properly sit down," agrees Nathaniel. He starts making his way slowly across the beach, leaning on Macy and stumbling occasionally, although he manages to keep himself mostly upright.

[radleyslittleevie]

Evie walks alongside to make sure all is going well.

"Do you want food? There's yummy food here!"

[stormkingofshepherds]

"What kind of food?" Nathaniel is trying to alternate between watching his feet and occasionally looking over at Evie, since he's not sure if that'd be considered rude otherwise.

[radleyslittleevie]

"There's sandwiches and desserts and lots of yummy things!" Evie says.

[stormkingofshepherds]

"Well...I'm not very hungry yet, but maybe I can get some sandwiches for later." It's hard not to smile at the small Eevee's cheerfulness. He pauses. "I don't think I have money from this region though..."

[radleyslittleevie]

"The people here are really nice!" Evie says. "They'll give people food when they need it!"

[stormkingofshepherds]

"Really? Well, that's a little reassuring to hear."

[radleyslittleevie]

"Yeah! I love it here! If Radley was here, everything would be perfect!" Evie says.

[stormkingofshepherds]

"Is Radley your trainer? You were brought here without him?"

[radleyslittleevie]

"Yeah, he's my person! But ... well, we were apart before I came here.... Team Rocket took me away from him and I'm still trying to get back to him," Evie says, drooping a bit.

[stormkingofshepherds]

His eyes darken slightly at the mention of Team Rocket. "Of course it's them...at least you're safe from them now."

[radleyslittleevie]

"Yeah.... I wish Radley was here too," Evie says. Perking up, she adds, "But everyone here is so nice! I love being with everyone!"

[stormkingofshepherds]

"Really? There aren't any Teams trying to make trouble here?"

[radleyslittleevie]

"Well ... sometimes, but it's not like it is back home!" Evie says. "Even Team Rocket people can learn to be nice here."

[stormkingofshepherds]

That gets a slight eye-narrowing from Nathaniel. "There are members of Team Rocket here?"

[radleyslittleevie]

"Yeah, but most of them are nice now!" Evie insists.

[stormkingofshepherds]

"Really? How'd they end up changing their ways?" Well, he supposes if they've really repented he shouldn't go after them, but still...part of him worries. At least they're almost by the benches now.

[radleyslittleevie]

Evie pauses, blinking. "I'm ... not sure.... I guess they saw how nice everyone is and it made them want to be nice too!"

She doesn't realize she may be at least partially responsible where one of them is concerned.

Are you cool with merging this with one of the Brinda threads?

[stormkingofshepherds]

"Hm. I guess if they don't have their bosses giving them missions, it makes sense they'd try to just do legal work instead..."

Nathaniel sighs, as he sits down on a bench. "Well, Team Rocket did help us a little, back home. But I'm pretty sure it was for their own purposes as well."

Sure!

[radleyslittleevie]

"How would helping you help them?" Evie innocently wonders. "If it wasn't just to feel good, I mean."

[stormkingofshepherds]

"Well, first of all, Team Plasma was still active at the time," he begins. "And they were working together with Team Rocket, except some other Rockets wanted to take over themselves and didn't want to work with them. So the ones who didn't like Plasma sent us information we could use to fight them. Not all bad guys get along, after all." It's a simplification of the situation, but the best way he has to put it for now.