( open ) a team of world-champion dorks

[geophile]

Who: steven stone (geophile ), his pokémon, and you!
When: all throughout IC 5/16 - 5/21 - the days leading up to the event.
Where: all around! check out the prompts for specifics.
What: a general day-to-day mingle log with steven and his team of horricute pocket monsters. steven will eventually show up in each thread to bail you out say hello.
Rating/Warning: PG for... battling? it's pokémon guys it's not gonna be hardcore

I. SKARMORY

[ out of all of steven's pokémon, skarmory is the one who enjoys being on his own the most. it's actually quite common to find him away from steven's side, flying around the colony and resting on building rooftops. it's a habit of his lonely nature... and he likes to think that it makes him look cool.

today, he's found himself quite curious at not the colony itself, but its residents. as you're walking throughout the city going about your day, you may take notice to the fact that you're being followed by a fairly large metal bird. maybe you've got a delicious-looking snack with you. maybe he likes that hat you're wearing. or maybe he just thinks you look like you'd be fun to mess with. whatever the reason, whenever you look up, you'll see skarmory looking right back down at you with intrigued, yellow eyes.

better not make too many sudden movements - those wings look sharp as blades, and he's a bird of prey. ]


II. CRADILY

[ if you're in the CERES gardens for a stroll, you might notice that something is a little... out of place. while most of the flowers and plants are of a reasonable size, there's one that's "planted" into the ground that looks as alien as can be. its roots have visibly lodged into the ground, and it seems to be basking in the sunlight's gentle rays. those petals sure look weird, too! and what the heck is up with that dark crescent opening and weird patterns on its head? welp, this is an alien planet. maybe it's not so weird after all.

if you're curious (or brave) enough for a closer look, you'll be greeted with two glowing, yellow orbs staring at you. that isn't any plant - that's a cradily, and you've interrupted her lunch/nap combo. her neck stretches as she begins to wake, and with the way those "petals" are moving and flexing, maybe sticking around isn't be the best idea...

...wait, those are tentacles. ]


III. ARON & AGGRON

[ if you frequent the junkyard (what a nice place to spend your time), you'll find that you aren't alone today. even the biggest behemoths need time to get fresh air and eat some good grub, and aggron is no exception. a junkyard full of steel means plenty of delicious leftover iron ore to snack on, and who doesn't love diving into a pile of snacks? no one, that's who.

aron has tagged along on the excursion as well - while she doesn't need nearly as much ore as her big brother, a growing girl needs her food! and with luck, maybe she can find something cool in this pile to bring back to her trainer. if they notice someone nearby, they'll stop their pigging out for long enough to look inquisitively at you. if you're friendly, aron will even waddle over to introduce herself and help you with whatever you're looking for. how friendly! ]


IV. BELDUM

[ the baby of the group always seems to get itself into trouble. beldum lives up to that reputation well, due to the fact that today, it's literally gotten itself stuck in a garbage can. that's really all there is to this prompt - in its latest attempt to be brave and independent, it decided that checking out that overturned trash can with space to float into would be cool... until it got spooked by the dark and turned it over completely, trapping it inside.

if you're passing by in the shopping district, you might be surprised to see an overturned trash can making distressed beeping and chirping noises while moving around jerkily. poor beldum isn't strong enough to lift it with its magnetism just yet - will you be its saviour? ]


V. STEVEN & METAGROSS

[ in a nice, peaceful turn of events for this post, you may simply come across steven and metagross in the residental district park. steven is taking the time to relax, book in hand as he rests against his partner's front leg. metagross doesn't seem particularly bothered at all, resting quietly and watching people go by. beside them lays a mask, its lips caught in an expression somewhere in between a smile and a frown.

if you know them, come on over and say hello! if not, come on over and ask what the hell that five-foot tall metal monster is! ]



VI. ALL

[ in the absence of a proper battling arena, the best place steven has found for training is ViViD's virtual environments. it keeps property damage to a minimum while allowing him to formulate strategies that can be fluidly applied to real life battles.

he's reserved time in one of the PVP arenas for space, but he's the only "player" inside. in the arena, he's surrounded by all of his team members (even the little ones), watching him with enthusiasm once they've been released from their poké balls. ]

We'll be doing some general training today - strength, agility, and move combinations. Let's do our best, everyone.

[ a champion has to keep himself and his team in tip-top shape, after all. if you're curious upon seeing that there's only one player in this arena, you'll walk in to see a virtual barrage of organized chaos - pointed stones erupting from the ground in various patterns, large boulders scattered about, acid bubbling on the ground, small, hastily dug holes in various areas...

and steven in the middle of it all, orchestrating each move. when he's not dictating move combinations, he's watching over agility training, watching his pokémon spar and helping them along. it's a scary, yet strangely captivating scene, especially because everyone seems to be having fun - even steven himself. it isn't often that you'll see such an excited smile on his face. ]

Comments

vi.

[meouch]

[ there's pretty little reason for adrien to slip around as chat noir when there's no salty akuma roaming about or any Cereal Disaster™ happening (just add milk), which is probably a blessing for plagg. of course, that doesn't mean adrien doesn't — it doesn't really do much to get rusty when things do happen here, and there's always vivid.

that's how he's here, and that's how he manages to walk in to steven's very impressive display. it occurs to adrien that he should... probably not linger and be noticed by someone like steven, but he's kind of caught up and distracted so... so much for that.

the abilities are cool, yes, but even more nice to watch is everyone's excitement. he doesn't think he's seen steven smile like that before, but technically. speaking. he wasn't supposed to have seen the trainer before at all. ahem.

it's probably weird if he's staring and he doesn't say something at this point. ]

Don't mean to interrupt—! [ is what he calls out first, hand outstretched in a wave. ] I wanted to say you and your friends, ah... [ a glance to the scattered earth and boulders, then: ] ... rock?

[ yes amazing

maybe if he makes enough puns it'll distract steven from looking too hard at the guy in an embarrassing cat suit ]

[geophile]

[ it's hard not for him to smile - as much as he's considered giving up competitive battling, pokémon training is in his blood. it'd be impossible to retire completely, and the exhilaration that comes from training with his team is proof of that.

he's snapped out of his concentration on coaching beldum's agility as it dodges armaldo's strikes, turning around to see... a young man in a black... cat... suit.

uh. ]

That's... well, thank you. We're all working hard.

[ he isn't really sure how to react to someone dressed like that. ]

[meouch]

[ god... the costume's a lot easier to explain when you're a celebrity back in magic au paris but alas. he's gotten used to the fact it's a thing to Explain when needed though, even if the fact he's internally questioning whether steven's internally questioning him is making him somewhat sheepish. inside.

outside he's just fine. other than, you know, pretending he's never seen any of steven's pokémon before. (he doesn't need to pretend with the "being fascinated" part, he feels that pretty well. and there's some he actually hasn't seen before—) ]

You're all covering a lot of ground, that's for sure. [ shut up. but now, pointing: ] But like I said, don't let me distract you, I'm just looking. That little one was doing pretty well!

[ he can't take away training time from beldum to be a curious cat it's gonna grow up to be a badass

keep going beldum ]

[geophile]

[ upon seeing this "new" person, beldum pauses to look over steven's shoulder... but oh! he sure seems familiar, and upon a closer look, he is! when it realizes who the human behind that mask is, it'll float over to him excitedly and nuzzle into his hand, just as it did once before.

it's certainly surprising to steven, and it's enough for him to approach this odd young man as well. ]

That's a little strange...

v.

[bropane]

[ tadashi's decided to go to the park this afternoon for a walk with his talking cybuddy, demo. the dog runs to where the strange creature (metagross) is, and sniffs it if he can. ]

What are you?

[ yes, the cybuddy does talk.

its owner, on the other hand, is yet to be seen. ]

[geophile]

[ he most certainly can sniff it! but it won't get a whiff of anything organic - he'll smell something metallic, but not much else. metagross doesn't make much of a point of moving, not considering the cybuddy a threat.

if demo can read magnetic waves, he'll be able to hear something along the lines of "What are you?". otherwise, he'll only get an inquisitive stare. steven does the same, his eyes raising from his book. ]

[bropane]

[ demo's default setting is to scan any living being the moment he makes contact with them, so he scans steven first. he cannot read magnetic waves, however, so he hears nothing. ]

I suppose you can't answer my question. [ the robot tells metagross.

then it looks back at steven, whom he had scanned earlier. ] Hello! My name is Demo. Can you talk?

[geophile]

[ it's only slightly surprising for steven to see a talking dog, but it only takes a moment's thought to connect the dots. he's not sure who this "Demo" belongs to, but he'll at least give it the time of day. ]

Yes, I can. You're a CYbuddy, aren't you?

I.

[debossy]

[Skarmory isn't the only one who takes to the rooftops from time to time.

Sakuya avoids making it a constant thing; it's a matter of pride. He doesn't like feeling as if he's been forced off the human (well, and alien) clogged streets and into the air like some common gutter bird from two hundred years ago. Most of the time, he bustles through the sidewalks like any other person here, glaring daggers at anyone who dares comment or mistake him for a pest.

But there are times when a bird's just gotta bird. The view's a hell of a lot better on the roofs, for one thing; why not use a natural advantage at navigation when you've got it?

So that's where he is, on this particular afternoon, perched on the edge of a rooftop with his CereVice in his wings, considering the map and the layout of the streets below. A perfectly calm, ordinary moment in a bird's life . . . until the glint of metal catches in his peripheral vision, and he whips his head around to see what's on the roof with him, and once he looks it just raises even more questions than were answered.]

—What in the hell is this? One of those "Cybuddies"? What irresponsible owner would allow a machine like this to fly free in a heavily populated area?!

[geophile]

[ oh, no. skarmory definitely isn't a cybuddy, and the lifelike look in his eyes is proof of that. he's not quite sure what to make of sakuya - definitely not a pokemon, but definitely not a human, despite speaking like one.

either way, sakuya is in his territory. so he'll stand his ground, looking down at him with a look of disbelief. and just what are you supposed to be, squirt? ]

[debossy]

[Luckily—maybe, or maybe not—for Sakuya, he isn't easily cowed. He can tell, this close up, that this creature is a living thing, despite appearances . . . how odd. Well, he's becoming used to it, living in this bizarre colony. But this is still an experience outside of the ordinary.

He draws himself up to his full height, which is still less than half of this—creature's, and looks it in the eye.]

Yes? Can you understand me? What are you staring at?

[geophile]

[ he's staring at you, pipsqueak. those fancy feathers send a clear message that this guy is a show-off - too bad skarmory's are better. there's a staredown, between them, with skarmory trying to convey his words through his gaze...

...and then giving up on that and deciding to push sakuya off to the side. HIS PERCH. ]

iii;

[earthpulse]

[ In her opinion, the junkyard is horrible. Awful. It has so much trash and metal everywhere. When trawling a place like this, it amazes her how much people waste.

But it's a necessary evil to come here, to try to get rid of this creepy mask that's been plaguing her for the past few days. One look at it is enough to make her want to shove it away into a container to make it never return, which is why she's in the junkyard in the first place: to get rid of it. Maybe she'll find a rusty old fridge or car to trap it in, and this place seems far enough from their apartment that she hopes it won't follow her back.

Still, Edna wasn't expecting to run into Aron and Aggron here (although in hindsight it seems obvious). Quietly, she approaches them, and gently tosses in Aron's direction a chunk of iron ore that was lying nearby. The Pokemon seemed to be snacking(???) on it, so...it apparently counts as nutrition for them. Huh.

She always liked creatures more than humans. Creatures like Pokemon don't judge. They actually have a survival instinct that allows them to run away from giant swooping dragons. They can actually sense or even see the seraphim, making them feel like a part of their world, while humans can't. (...The latter of which she is banking on to not be noticed by any humans lurking around. Namely, their trainer.) ]

/2

[geophile]

[ excuse you edna, the junkyard is awesome. evidently one man's trash is another pokémon's treasure, because aron and aggron are being treated to a veritable buffet.

while aron hasn't met edna yet, she's quite thankful at being thrown a delicious-looking ore piece! she'll tackle it almost immediately, nibbling on it with absolute glee. yum, minerals. ]

[geophile]

[ and aggron, on the other hand, does know her. he had shown off his skills with the earth to her - she said her name was "ed"... something, right?

well, whatever her name is, aggron will be approaching her. with a flick of his tail he leans down to get closer to her level, but he doesn't get closer than that. he remembers how she didn't seem too fond of his nuzzles, so this is his version of giving her a heads up, just like she asked!

c'mon, edna. pet him. he loves pets. he's like a gigantic steel dinosaur puppy. ]

[earthpulse]

Is that your way of asking me to pet you?

[ Aggron isn't even that cute (to her) but again, she's always been fonder of creatures, especially non-malicious ones who are making a visible effort to try to reach out to her. Call it a kind of quiet longing after a few centuries of relative isolation. ]

Ugh...fine. But don't let anyone else know about this.

[ Edna reaches on her tippy-toes to gently pat the steel with her gloved hand, cool to the touch, its sturdiness somewhat comforting.

With her other hand, she points her parasol at Aron. ]

And don't let Steven know I was here. Either of you.

[ She knows he's probably lurking somewhere nearby, and the way that Aggron is acting thanks to her response is...probably a dead giveaway anyway. Oh well. As long as she can bribe Aron to keep quiet. ]

ii

[corona]

[ --damn. They are tentacles.

Rapunzel, believe it or not, has run into something vaguely tentacle-like on nearly each and every outing she's had in this city - including the more mundane trips. It doesn't seem to bother her any that this one (she set it up as a midday exploratory stroll away from campus during a time when most of her friends have class and, owing to her overstuffed schedule, she was actually on break) is no different. ]

Hold it right there. [ Her response is a step faster than automatic as she plants her feet wide in the ground and settles into a combative stance, hair held loosely in her palms like twin whips. When she speaks, though, her voice is soft and coaxing. ] I didn't wake you up, did I, big guy? Heh. Of course I did. I'm usually pretty good with plants, but...

[geophile]

[ oh? that kind of stance makes cradily tilt her head curiously. she's still a little drowsy from being woken up so suddenly, but that human... is she trying to use her hair as a weapon?

if she could laugh, she probably would - instead, it comes out as more of a short hiss. c'mon. can your hair secrete digestive acids? no. it's laughable enough to pacify her though, letting her dismiss rapunzel as a threat. her tentacles relax and her neck retracts from its elongated state, making her look just a bit less aggressive. ]

[corona]

[ This is a changed that Rapunzel mirrors, settling back onto her haunches as her shoulders come down into a relaxed position. Her eyes narrow suspiciously, and she's still alert, but for the most part she's just working on controlling her breathing and CHILLING OUT. ]

--H-Heh. Whew! Yeah! See, you're not going to hurt me, right? I knew it.

....

What are you?

IV

[heartsandcrafts]

[Hajime was pretty happily minding her own business as she went about the shopping district, a little skip in her step and humming some made-up tune, but she's surprised by the clanging, overturned garbage can that almost runs into her. A look of interest on her face, she titls her head as she listens to those distressed chirps]

Oh? Oh, oh, oh? Is someone in there?

[Or is it a chirping garbage can?]

[geophile]

[ yes, someone is definitely in there! while the chirps pause for a moment as beldum listens to hajime's words, they increase tenfold once it realizes that this is its chance at getting out of here. please help, passerby! it doesn't want to be trapped in the dark forever!

pls :( ]

[heartsandcrafts]

[That chirping sounds pretty distressed so... either someone is trapped under there, or the garbage can is having an existential crisis! She'll apologize if it's the latter, because she immediately goes to pick the can up and lift it up off whatever poor thing is inside]

Here we go...!

Oh, you're pretty cute, aren't you?

IV!

[moribound]

[Minato does happen to hear the distressed sounds underneath the trash can and he wastes little time rushing over to turn it over, feeling just the slightest pang of sympathy for whatever was trapped inside before this as he's only quite recently been in that position.]

Eh? [Said creature stares at him as soon as it's free, floating up so that it can get a closer look. Minato's not quite sure what it's supposed to be though- definitely not a Cybuddy or one of the droids as it lacks a CERES logo, which meant that it had to belong to someone within the city. He stares back for a bit before tilting his head, as if inviting the lost Beldum to come with him.] You look lost...want to come with me?

[geophile]

[ oh, thank arceus someone noticed it! while beldum is normally pretty timid around humans that it doesn't know, this boy was nice enough to help it out... so maybe it can at least trust him a little. at the very least, it wouldn't mind some company until it can find steven - going out like this alone was a bad idea. bad, bad, bad.

it's trembling a little when minato is closer to it, but it eventually finds the courage to nod. ]

[moribound]

[Minato's still a little concerned for the tiny creature, but he smiles reassuringly to comfort the Beldum.]

Don't worry, I won't hurt you. Your owner must be close by if you're out here on your own, do you remember where you came from? [It looks rather like a baby to him, and given its antics it had likely strayed for only a bit.

At least he hopes so.]