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]

"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.

[radleyslittleevie]

"Enemies? Why?" Evie asks.

She finally realizes the kids are laughing at her, and she droops.

[red_berry]

"(Oh, they were from this team called... Rocket, I think? They were causing trouble and trying to capture one of my teammates, so we had to battle them to stop them,)" Pika says with an annoyed shrug. "(But I guess the team's gone now, so maybe that Meowth's doing something else these days.)" Hopefully he's doing all right.

Red finishes paying and comes up to Pika and Evie with a bag in hand. His arrival has the kids' smiles fading as they look up at the tall, imposing guy, and they decide to just slink away without another word.

"Let's go," Red says. He's not sure where to go, but both Pika and Evie seemed kind of uncomfortable, so he figures it's better to leave the store and go somewhere else.

[radleyslittleevie]

"Team Rocket?!" Evie cries. "They're the ones who took me away from Radley! I didn't see a talking Meowth, though...."

She leaves agreeably.

[red_berry]

"(Really? That's awful! But at least Team Rocket's gone for good now,)" Pika says, not aware they're from different worlds yet. "(Oh, the Meowth was just with one single group of Team Rocket grunts, so I'm not surprised...)"

Red has no idea where to go now, so he's just wandering aimlessly. He's looking around, listening to what people they pass on the streets say, not paying much attention to Pika and Evie's conversation.

[radleyslittleevie]

"Yeah, that's sure good! How did they get gone?" Evie wonders. She's too involved in the conversation to think of another building yet.

[red_berry]

"(Well...)" Pika pauses, wondering how to summarize a long story. "(Their boss just announced to all of Team Rocket that they were going to stop being Team Rocket! And then they just... stopped.)"

Red's feet lead him towards Turnbloom Market.

[radleyslittleevie]

"Wow, that's wonderful!" Evie gushes. "... I guess that guy I saw doesn't want to stop being Team Rocket...."

[red_berry]

"(Ah, yeah... There's people like that sometimes,)" Pika admits awkwardly. "(They want to reform Team Rocket, and things like that... But they never get too far with that.)"

[radleyslittleevie]

"I hope they never get it going again!" Evie says.

[red_berry]

"(Me too, kid,)" Pika says, then suddenly feels old after saying it.

They arrive at Turnbloom Market, filled with stalls and shops of all kinds. Red's already looking around, taking everything in. Food stalls, vegetable and fruit stalls, handicraft and fabric sellers, and a lot of other locally produced things for sale.

[radleyslittleevie]

Evie might actually be older than Pika, but she doesn't say anything.

She perks up at the Market. She loves coming here! There's always so much to look at! She calls Hi to all the vendors, many of whom already know her.

[red_berry]

Pika feels old next to Evie, at least, and that's what matters. He follows after Evie, looking at all the things she's looking at, and greeting people with her.

Red is scanning the crowd for Green, and listening to people talk. Some people stare at him as he passes by due to his height and unfamiliarity, and Red hears words like 'drifted' and 'drifter' said a lot around him. Huh, he'll have to figure out what that's about later.

[radleyslittleevie]

Evie keeps happily greeting people and starts chatting with a food vendor. She introduces the vendor to Red and Pika with happiness and cheer in her voice.

“They’re new friends!” she says.

“Oh, then I am very pleased to meet you both,” the vendor smiles.

[red_berry]

"(Ah, hello!)" Pika waves shyly.

"Mm," Red nods, and stands there silently, staring down at the vendor and their food, wondering if he should buy some.

"(...Sorry, he's like that,)" Pika says. "(Uh, Evie, can you tell them Red's not as scary as he looks?)"

[radleyslittleevie]

"He's nice," Evie says.

"Well, he must be, to be your friend," the vendor smiles. "Do you see anything you like, young man?"

[red_berry]

Pika's a bit relieved it was that easy. Usually people take a while to get used to Red's... everything. (Though Pika doesn't know a lot of Ulternians have probably seen a few Reds already.)

Red points at a tasty-looking meat-and-vegetable skewer.

[radleyslittleevie]

"Oh, those are yummy!" Evie exclaims.

"You're welcome to try it," the vendor said.

[red_berry]

Try it? No, Red wants to buy it. He pauses to wonder how he'll say that, but decides to just take out his wallet instead. He looks at Pika and Evie questioningly.

"(Sure, I'll have one,)" Pika says with a nod, understanding Red's intent.

[radleyslittleevie]

"Yeah, we can all have one!" Evie says.

"Wonderful!" the vendor says. Evie brings her a lot of business.

[red_berry]

No wonder Evie's so popular around the market.

Red buys three skewers and hands one to Pika, and holds one out for Evie. He's not sure how she'll eat it, not being able to hold it in her hand.