bravenewworld | [Action] Let's Talk to Pokémon!

[Raftina gets struck by the Spark attack, a burst of electricity shooting through the air. She flies backward, hits the ground hard, and bounces a couple times before she hits a tree. Cecilia stares, frightened, in her direction.]

Raftina!

[She starts to stir, thouugh. Cecilia runs closer, putting herself between the Shinx and the injured Eevee; she swings her staff out to face it, and shoots another fireball.]

[She chances a glance at Apollo, but can't do much besides look right now.]

[Apollo hadn't thought this through quite as much as he should have. The most critical flaw in his plan was one that wasn't obvious to an outside observer; the electricity was causing his muscles to seize up at irregular intervals, preventing him from maintaining proper control of the knife. Despite holding it to the Luxio's throat, he didn't really want to kill it, and he certainly didn't want it to die because his arm had twitched too far like it was threatening to do.

He began pointing out to the Luxio what the electricity was doing, and that at this point he would have a hard time getting off of it if he wanted to.

Fletchling, meanwhile, Growls at the remaining Shinx, since he can't really attack it safely due to his type weakness. The problem with not having any ranged attacks is showing itself now.]

[Apollo is as honest as usual and tells the Hippopotas that this wasn't the kind of red rock that he was looking for and asking if it knew of any other kinds in the area.]

[But where are its heaping accolades...

Hippopotas huffs a little and seems annoyed at its generosity being rejected. The red dust was its favorite if you mixed it with water and rolled around in it it felt so good.

...The answer to that is probably 'no'.]

[Shinx has learned from the mistake of its fellow. When the fireball comes its direction, it deftly hops to the side before launching itself at Cecilia and her staff. Its strategy is clever - it attempts to Bite her hand so she'll release the source of her attacks. The Growl isn't fully registered at this time, though it will mitigate the pain of the attack somewhat.

Luxio seems ready to chance it. There comes another roar of anger and it attempts to buck off Apollo despite the danger of the knife. It seems to be unfazed by the threat and spurred by the thought of something worse than suffering a stab wound. Besides, his hand was twitching so much he probably couldn't even exert that much force.

But for the first time, there is a flicker now of fear registering in its emotions. From the Shinx, too, if Apollo can concentrate on anything other than Luxio. The fear doesn't seem to be for itself so much as... detached, placed elsewhere.

Having gotten back to his feet, Lucas will step behind Cecilia to stretch a hand towards Raftina.]

Ow!

[Cecilia gets her hand bitten. It draws blood; moreover, she drops her staff to the ground with a yelp. She is many things, but she is not strong. When she lashes out by kicking at the Shinx, it's far from a particularly powerful move.]

[Raftina looks up at Lucas. She's hurt; it's not quite critical, but she could definitely use a heal, before she leaps back in.]

[That was disappointing. With the channel left open as it were, Apollo's disappointment came through, though it certainly wasn't disappointment at the Hippopotas, but rather disappointment that success in the search hadn't come so quickly.

But the search for iron ore wasn't the only thing on his mind. He'd never seen a Pokémon like this before, which meant that there was a good chance that others hadn't either. It didn't seem to mind his presence and was willing to help him; maybe it would be interested in meeting more humans?

Apollo projects images of Union, the habitat tower, humans and Pokémon working alongside each other, all kinds of peaceful scenes from daily life, but also some not-so-peaceful scenes, scenes of him and the other Rangers in their duties protecting the city and its inhabitants, of trying desperately to convince hostile Pokémon that the humans weren't a threat. The overall collection of images is of course tinged by Apollo's perceptions and is a bit more hopeful than the reality, but he makes an effort to be as honest and open as he can, so that the Hippopotas will be able to answer the question that follows.

Would the Hippopotas be interested in coming with him and meeting the humans and Pokémon who live in Union? Apollo's sure that there would be plenty of people who would be interested in meeting the Hippopotas, too. And of course, if it turned out not to like the city, Apollo would escort it back to the canyon and not disturb it again if it asked. What did it think of that?]

[Hippopotas ponders all of this in its slow, methodical way, and perhaps it isn't clear at first whether or not it even really understands what is being asked. After a moment or two, though, it will lumber towards the small opening towards the back of the passage and vanish.

Apollo might think this is a rejection, but then, its thoughts hadn't indicated as such, really. There is a scraping noise for two or three minutes...

Then it reemerges with something clamped in its mouth - the end is sticking out. It is a large, white tooth.]

[Apollo's held back as much as he can, and while unfortunate he needs to end this. He remains open to the emotions of the Pokémon around him, not wanting to deny them the courtesy of listening to their final moments. He forces the knife at the Luxio's neck, sensing fear as his twitching starts to draw blood... and stops, pulling back slightly as he senses the kind of fear that it is.

He rather forcefully demands to know what they're afraid for, then draws on his knowledge of Pokémon behavior to make a guess: children?]

[The electricity arcs even more powerfully as the knife begins to dig in. If it was going to have its throat slit, it would do its best to electrocute its attacker as it died.

...Then Apollo stops. And Luxio pauses, too. It seems momentarily surprised by the query before it snarls and attempts to ignore Apollo altogether.

The remaining Shinx has other ideas. With a roar that's more cute than threatening, it leaps up to try and claw at Apollo to push him off. The fear is resonating strongly now with this one.]

Everyone... wait. I think we're already done here.

[The glow of healing surrounds Lucas and Raftina before the boy calls out.]

We can all understand them, at least a little bit, right? And Miss Cecilia, you can speak with them directly, can't you?

Let's ask the Shinx what's wrong. ...Before we do anything else.

[Apollo notes the lack of a direct rejection and waits patiently for the Hippopotas's return. The tooth doesn't look like it's from a species that he's familiar with, which leaves him with several guesses as to its significance, many of which could be valid.

He admits his lack of knowledge of the tooth's nature and asks if the Hippopotas would be able to tell him about it.]

[Hippopotas seems slightly surprised before patiently introducing him to Mother.

OK, it's all packed now.

Let's go.]

[Apollo's slightly surprised as well - that most certainly wasn't one of his guesses as to the tooth's significance - but he greets Hippopotas's mother (or something roughly equivalent; the mental contortions required to send a psychic message to an inanimate object while letting someone else "overhear" it are enough to make his head start hurting) and indicates that of course she's welcome to come too.

He starts walking towards the entrance.]

[If Apollo ever feels like getting the tooth examined he will find that it indeed belonged to a Hippowdon.

Perhaps the Hippopotas isn't slow more than it is quite young.

Congratulations! Apollo has successfully bonded with Hippopotas! It is Level 11 but the rest of its stats may be chosen at your discretion.]

[Cecilia takes a deep breath, then she nods. She looks down at the Shinx, wiping at her hand. It's still bleeding; she'll need to get it bandaged and/or healed before the day is done. But, priorities.]

What's wrong? [It's spoken softly.] What's made you so afraid?

[Apollo remains on the Luxio despite the clawing Shinx, partly to make sure it doesn't attack anyone else, partly because he's having trouble getting up due to a mild case of the Paralysis status condition. Talking is also proving problematic. Note to self: never try this on a Luxio again, even if it's worked on other kinds of Pokémon before.

While he's here, he'll heal that aborted throat-slitting and join in on questioning the Shinx.]

[Cecilia will probably hear that the Luxio hisses at the Shinx to shut up, but it fails to do so.

The story is long.

There are two prides of Luxray, Luxio, and Shinx in the canyons, just out of the forest. They are rivals. They maintained a healthy rivalry, neither group dominating the other, until their pride leader grew ill. It was wholly unexpected. There didn't seem to be anything they could do.

Luxio is next in line to take charge, but it isn't strong enough to do so yet. Their pride has been slowly losing territory, and at the rate they're going, they will starve. They have taken to leaving the canyon to find food elsewhere, despite the warnings of their pride leader.

They know about humans. It was Luxio's idea to attack them because they were larger than the other prey in the forest. The Shinx thought it was a dumb idea. Luxio is too proud and stupid to look to the future, but if they kill Luxio, their pride leader will starve. The others in the group only bring in enough to feed themselves, and then just barely. It was Luxio who was largely sustaining them now.

If they let them go, they won't bother humans anymore.

When it is finished, Lucas glances towards Cecilia for a translation. He had sensed the emotions as the creature had explained, but it was hard to put together a complete story.]

It seems like they just want us to leave them alone now... Is that right?

[Cecilia listens, mostly. She asks a few clarifying questions here and there, just to know that she has the details right -- which pride is which and the like -- but at the end, she turns to Lucas. She nods, looking at him, then at Apollo.]

Yes... their pride's leader grew sick, and they've lost territory. Luxio thought to attack humans. But, if we leave them alone, they'll stop...

[Apollo has a turn come up where he can act and nods, then rolls off of Luxio.]

Then we'll let them leave.

[His voice sounds a bit off, like novocain is almost done wearing off. Also don't mind him. He'll just lie on the ground for a bit until the paralysis wears off.]

[Lucas will nod slightly at the explanation.]

They must have been desperate...

[He would say that they should see if they can't help the pride leader, but he was quite sure Luxio would rather have its throat slit than lead them back to its pride.]

...I think this one needs some help to walk.

[The injured Shinx will be tended to first so the three Pokemon can abscond. There is a faint glow as he closes its surface wounds and taps it lightly on the forehead to lift some of its exhaustion. He'll turn to Apollo next.

As he works, the Luxio will slowly back up a few steps. It growls - then turns and leaps off into the brush. The two Shinx are a bit more polite and thank Cecilia before following their leader.

Lucas breathes a slight sigh of relief.]

I hope they'll be OK.

...If we do hear about any Shinx attacks on humans, though... We'll have to track them down.

They must have...

[Cecilia nods at the Luxio and Shinx, as they leave. The latter get a slight bow, even; she takes a deep breath, before she turns her head and looks at Lucas. She nods.]

We will. But... we must simply hope they do not. We'll have to trust them.

[Raftina crawls up next to her, nudging up against Cecilia's foot, and watches them leave.]

[Apollo climbs to his now-bare feet.]

They meant it when they said it. We can trust them.

I wish there was more we could do to help....

[The removal of the paralysis will come as a warm wave of energy, like being washed clean. Lucas's face is growing a little pale now as he steps away from Apollo.]

Miss Cecilia, do you want me to take a look at your hand? I think bites like that can get infected pretty easily.

I'm not sure what, but maybe something will come to us eventually...

[She frowns at that, then she looks at Lucas. She nods.]

I'd appreciate that, Lucas.

I don't know how much help they want.

[Apollo visibly relaxes when Lucas removes the paralysis, and is about to thank him when he notices Lucas's face.]

How tiring is it for you to heal, Lucas?

[He knows that it's pretty tiring to heal wounds on Pokémon from his own experiences. Does Lucas also being able to heal humans make him tire faster or slower? It wouldn't be good for him to pass out from exhaustion in the wilderness.]

[Action] Let's Talk to Pokémon!

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