Intro post - Winding up in Ultern

[red_berry]

[STARDUST BEACH]

It's a windy day in Ohritori Island. Not stormy, but the waves are high. And on Stardust Beach, a man is standing alone, watching the waves. He's tall and thin as a beanpole, wearing an oversized plain white T-shirt that makes him look even thinner, like the wind could make him fall over any moment now. But he stands there without falling, motionless. It's a bit of an eerie sight.

If you approach him, he looks at you, hair blowing in his face and covering most of it.

"...Not Alola," is how he greets you.

[POKEMON CENTER]

Later, you can find Red sitting at the cafe in the Pokemon Center, hair still a complete mess from the wind, typing on his phone and ignoring a cooling cup of tea front of him. There's a slightly grumpy Pikachu, also with wind-frazzled fur, sitting on his table and nibbling on a rainbow Pokebean.

But if you're not at the Pokemon Center, you might instead see a post on Pippi, the Ulternian version of Twitter.

[ONLINE]

Red Sr. (@)scarlet_ellipsis posted:
[Image of a Pikachu standing in heavy wind with his face scrunched up. The caption over it says "it fucken WIMDY"]
he hates this weather!! [several laughing emojis]

(ooc: This is Gold's player, bringing in a different character from the same AU! Come say hi to Red, either in person or online! He's a lot easier to talk to online though XD)

Comments

[red_berry]

Ultern... Red, who's been listening to the half of the conversation he can understand, makes a mental note of that. And opens his notes app and makes an actual note too. He gets the impression from Evie's words that it's the name of the place they're in. Maybe the beach, maybe the city, maybe the region. Either way, probably important to remember.

"(Ultern, okay. Well, I'll take your word for it!)" Pika says. Then his ears droop a bit. "(Uh, but... Could we go look for Green somewhere indoors? At least until the wind's not so, uh, windy anymore.)"

[radleyslittleevie]

"Oh sure!" Evie says. "We're going to town, so we can go in a store or something!"

[red_berry]

"(Good! Well... which store should we go in? Any you like?)" Pika asks.

[radleyslittleevie]

"I like food stores!" Evie says. "But craft stores are really nice too! Everything is so pretty!"

[red_berry]

"(Ah, that sounds nice... Well... How about you choose which one we should go to? We'll follow your lead!)" Pika says. He really just wants to get out of the wind as fast as possible.

[radleyslittleevie]

"Okay!" Evie happily leads them to the nearest store, which ends up being a toy store. She looks at everything in awe. "So fun...."

[red_berry]

"(Oh, this is... pretty cute, huh?)" Pika says awkwardly, then mutters under his breath, quiet enough that Evie probably doesn't hear, "(I guess this is where we'd end up, following a kid...)" Still, it's nice being indoors! And there are a lot of interesting things to look at, so he takes a look around.

Red's been just following along after Pika and Evie, and pauses at the entrance, looking around, before just stepping in. He's not sure why he's here, and he probably sticks out like a sore thumb, but maybe he could get souvenirs for some of the kids he knows back home.

[radleyslittleevie]

[Evie is older than she looks, but still has a childlike attitude. Mostly, though, she came in here since it was the first building they came to.

She walks around looking at Pokemon figures and plushies and little couches and chairs for toddlers. They're the right size for her too, and she hops up on one.]

So soft!

[red_berry]

Pika wasn't sure how old Evie really is, since she seemed a bit older than she acts. But now, Pika's decided she probably is a kid after all. But hey, since he's hanging out with a kid, he might as well let himself play like a kid too! So he hops onto a little chair too.

"(They are soft!)" Pika says, delighted. Though he glances around, hoping they won't get scolded by a shopkeeper or anything.

Red, meanwhile, goes to look at Pokemon plushies. Hmm, a Weedle, a Charmander... Oh, some Pokemon he's never seen before, too. He picks up an Ulternian Sunkern plushie and turns it around in his hands, examining it.

[radleyslittleevie]

[The staff doesn't seem to mind, as long as they behave themselves.

Evie looks around and sees arcade style video games with joysticks.]

Oh, that looks fun!

[She hops over and onto the machine, trying to figure out the controls.]

[red_berry]

"(Oh, I've played those before!)" Pika says, following Evie. The big arcade machines with just a few big buttons are so much easier to use than the kind with small controllers made for human hands. Pika presses the buttons and turns the joystick, and manages a bit of gameplay! It's a simple puzzle game about matching same-colored bubbles to make them burst.

[radleyslittleevie]

[Evie plays her game too. It seems to be a space travel game blasting asteroids.]

"This is so fun!"

[People gather to watch the Pokemon in fascination. They're playing games and the Eevee is talking?!]

[red_berry]

"(Haha, yeah! Kind of difficult though... Oh!)" Pika exclaims in surprise as he gets a game over. "(Darn... Huh?)" He looks around, noticing all the people around them, and gets shy. "(Ah, ahahaha... h-hello!)" he says, waving at the audience awkwardly, one ear drooping.

Meanwhile, Red's just ignoring the crowd gathered in the other corner of the shop and looking through toys leisurely, carrying a Sunkern plushie under his arm. He's going to buy it as a souvenir.

[radleyslittleevie]

Evie gets a Game Over too. "Aww...." She looks to the crowd. "Hi!"

[red_berry]

Pika is really bad with being the center of the attention.

"(Ah, erm... Wh-where did Red go? H-hey, Evie, do you see him anywhere?)" Pika asks, frantically looking around. The crowd's thick enough you can barely see Red's head sticking out from the opposite side of the store, looking at Beyblades and such.

[radleyslittleevie]

"Oh, he's over by the figures and things!" Evie says. She hops down. "We can go over!"

The crowd is in awe of a talking Eevee. They watch in amazement.

[red_berry]

Pika sighs in relief and hops down, making his way through the crowd, weaving between legs.

"(Excuse me, coming through!)" he says, even if nobody in the crowd would understand. Some do move to help the Pokemon get through anyway.

When Red notices them approaching, he notices Pika seems flustered, so he kneels down and offers a hand towards him to pet him. Red then glances at the crowd, then at Evie, making a small questioning sound. What's that all about?

[radleyslittleevie]

"Everybody watched us play video games!" Evie says.

[red_berry]

"(Yes, and it was terrible!)" Pika adds, a bit over-dramatic.

Red nods with a vaguely agreeing noise. He doesn't get it, but video games are pretty neat.

One of the people in the crowd steps forward to ask Red "Is that your Eevee?"

Red shakes his head, then stands up to his full height, unintentionally looming over the person asking, who slinks back in startled surprise.

Weird people in this toy store, Red thinks, and picks up a Beyblade toy for a souvenir.

[radleyslittleevie]

"He's a friend," Evie says cheerfully, seeing nothing strange about the question.

[red_berry]

"O-okay!" the person says with a high-pitched voice, unnerved by Red. "That's nice! Uh, have a nice day!" And with that, they wave and walk off quickly.

Red nods, and heads to the counter to make his purchases, unbothered.

"(...That was awkward,)" Pika says with a sigh, then lets out a little laugh. "(I guess... Pokemon that can talk human language are unusual around here too, huh?)"

[radleyslittleevie]

"Yeah, I guess so," Evie shrugs. She follows.

[red_berry]

"(The only talking Pokemon back home were legendaries... Oh, and one Meowth?)" Pika muses to himself as he follows Red and Evie, arms crossed and a thoughtful frown on his face. "(I don't know what his deal was...)"

As Red goes through the motions of buying souvenirs for the kids he knows back home, there are still some gawkers from the crowd around. A few kids staring at Evie from afar, daring each other to go and try to poke the Eevee or something.

[radleyslittleevie]

"Deal?" Evie blinks. "Didn't he just want to talk?"

She sees the kids. "Hi!" she says innocently.

[red_berry]

"(I... guess??)" Pika says, blinking. "(I never got to talk to him much, since we were enemies... But maybe it is that simple.)"

The kids whisper and giggle among themselves, staring and pointing at Evie. Pika thinks that's rude, so he glares at the kids from behind Evie's back. Maybe that'll keep them from causing any trouble.