Paved Roads Quest Catch-all! | OTA

[dripdrive]

Who: Emporio, You and maybe even some asshole ostrich (Anasui)
What: Paved Roads quest
When: Throughout May
Where: The city streets further towards the forest.
Warnings: Anasui being Anasui.

For a while, Heliolisk has been in charge of expanding the city streets further towards the forest, making transport of goods and services easier and overall expanding Bottlecap Bay. The project had been slow going but progressing well until about two months ago, when Heliolisk noticed that some of the streets have somehow diminished in length. The reason why remains unknown. Perhaps it was a quirk of the forest that the guilds didn't understand - 'Maybe the forest doesn't want to be expanded into?' - but that didn't explain why some of the roads closer to town were also disassembled, making patches in the road. Many other Pokemon also pointed out there are a number of cobblestone towers alongside the path wherever these patches are, obviously sourced from the road itself!

The mystery of why the roads are shortening is largely left to speculation in favour of actually solving the problem. Hence why the quest has appeared on the quest board again, this time from Polteageist: they need reliable Pokemon to help clear the roads of debris, flatten the dirt where it needs to be flattened and place the cobblestone back.

There are many roads to be fixed and you'll likely find Pokemon already there, regardless if you're doing a patch job or going all the way to the forest's edge to re-expand the paths. One of those Pokemon is a large Espathra, who only casts a half-glance at you before going back to what he was doing. He seems to be placing cobblestone in a very particular way...

...and according to the Cubone rounding up as many as possible for the job, that's entirely typical. He can't be sure if it's something he specifically did in their own world, mind you, but he's pretty sure he would have if possible. Emporio notably seems more concerned with just gathering stones to be available for Anasui to place. Perhaps it's a strength thing. Perhaps not? He's absolutely doing his part, but occasionally he'll watch someone else putting their stones down and then glance in Anasui's direction before wincing. As if he knows something.

And maybe he does, because after a good bit of work with their own team, Emporio will jump.

"...Anasui's gone!"

...It's probably fine, right? Best to just focus on your own work.

Although... if you are placing cobblestone down, you may notice Anasui behind you, pulling up the stones you JUST placed and swapping their places. What is up with that???

[[OOC - To account for how many are involved in Anasui and Emporio's team for Paved Roads, and the fact that the Mods saw fit to refer to him in the quest response over all, this is a thread-jack friendly open log! Specify if you want Anasui or Emporio most of all, but otherwise, there's no holds barred here. That said, if you do not want threadjacks, please note this in your tag in. That way it doesn't get too unwieldy for you.]]

Comments

[truthdecided]

"Agreed." With a plan in motion, Akechi dives at the nearest weeds and roots, plucking them up in his talons with all the strength he can muster before tossing them aside. "I'll keep everything organized in a pile, to minimize the workload."

[arceusstansme]

[Akari watches Akechi for a few moments before leaning over to Ren and whispering.]

Looks kinda silly doesn't it? Some of that plant life is bigger than he is.

[colorsflyinghigh]

[Ren lets out a small, muffled laugh, unable to keep it to himself.]

Shhh, don't let him hear you. He's angry enough about his size-- er, well, the lack thereof as is.

[... Akechi does look sort of ridiculous like this, though. Truly a borb.]

He's really looking forward to evolving.

[truthdecided]

[Ridiculous or not, once Akechi's collected a satisfactory amount of plant matter, he swoops back into the pile, dropping the weeds and roots with a dramatic flourish.]

Do I detect a hint of gossip?

[arceusstansme]

[Akari knows exactly what to do now, the classic mean girl technique of looking at Akechi for a moment, turning her head and giggling.]

Not a hint.

[colorsflyinghigh]

[Ren himself has an impressive poker face, so despite Akari's, uh, performance, his expression remains neutral.]

Only mission talk.

[truthdecided]

...I know you two better than that. You're clearly either conspiring or something equally devious.

[But no matter! He has work to do, so he'll just... get back to gathering plant waste, fluttering gracefully into the air.]

[arceusstansme]

[Back to whispering to Ren.]

Bird Pokémon like him tend to evolve decently early. But also it's good to hold off on evolution to get more moves quicker.

[colorsflyinghigh]

Oh?

[Ren can't say he's too familiar with when or how pokemon evolve. He knows it happens through training, usually, but there are other methods, too. Still... learning more moves...]

I guess there's a benefit to staying small, then. He's been training a lot, so if he evolves early... I wonder if he's able to evolve right now.

[It's hard to say.]

How would you even know?

[arceusstansme]

I am part of the Galaxy Team back in Hisui, I am like, the best in the Survey Corps. It is my job, to, like, study Pokémon.

[colorsflyinghigh]

Oh-- I meant--

[Wait.]

I mean, that's pretty amazing though. You're the best?

... Hey, can you tell me how to know when a pokemon is ready to evolve?

[arceusstansme]

They seem to decide when they get to a certain strength. But it is possible to delay it because they don't want to evolve, or you shock them somehow into not evolving. Many pokemon go their whole lives without it.

[colorsflyinghigh]

... Huh.

[The only sense of evolution Ren has is what he's seen in Personas, and those evolved when he reached a certain milestone in his relationship with the user, or when they found their conviction... but it never seemed like a voluntary thing.]

I guess I never considered not wanting to evolve, [he hums, watching Akechi flutter about.] I guess it makes sense, though. Being stronger is nice and all, but I can imagine that being smaller is easier sometimes...

[Hmm...]

Still, I'm not going to let Akechi pull ahead of me. What kind of rival would I be if we couldn't match each other?

[arceusstansme]

Competitive makeouts.

[She said easily.]

You need to figure out if you want to win the battle or the war.

[colorsflyinghigh]

[Ren blinks. Then he blinks again.

Then, he smirks.]

Well, between the two of us, I'm the only one with lips, [he replies, just as easily,] so I believe that means I automatically win.

[truthdecided]

Competitive makeouts.

[Akechi lands, placing down the supplies and arching his brow.]

You honestly believe a lack of lips would stop me?

[arceusstansme]

Are you just going to let him shit-talk like that?

[Said to both of them. Yes, she is here to be an agent of chaos.]

Like woooow, seriously, the balls on him.

[or the ball that is him (Akechi)]

[colorsflyinghigh]

Pff, as if he could best me, [he says smugly to Akari, puffing his chest out. Then, he turns to Akechi.] I don't think it'd stop you, no. But just because you won't let it stop you doesn't mean it's any good.

[truthdecided]

You're fortunate that we have work to do, or I'd prove you wrong this instant.

[He fluffs out his chest feathers, bringing one wing over his chest.]

But later, all bets are off.

[colorsflyinghigh]

Oh, right in front of everyone?

[He waggles his eyebrows.]

Kinky. Didn't know you had it in you.

[He looks away innocently.]

Or not, I guess~! Oh well.

[arceusstansme]

Are you serious? Right in front of my rock?

[Yes, she had found a new rock to take back to her area in the Oran Berries.]

[truthdecided]

I doubt a rock will care about a little banter.

[Though he scoffs lightly at being called kinky.]

Regardless, I'm not one to back down from a challenge.

[colorsflyinghigh]

I don't think she's talking about the rock, Akechi.

[Ren chuckles, his grin widening.]

[arceusstansme]

What other rock would I be talking about?

[colorsflyinghigh]

Well-- I--

[He coughs, a little embarrassed.]

I assumed you were making a joke.