[closed] may quest round-up + other closed prompt(s)

[outbounds]

Who: Emmet and ... I am not listing out everyone he's questing with! and others.
What: Cry for Kelp, Scattered Bug, and the get-along sweater (may or may not feature an actual sweater. or: Oran (?) does an intervention) for now
When: May, At Some Point,
Where: Various (Coast, Northern Forest, Spire at current)
Warnings: Animal/Pokemon death, the general implications of the food chain, Teenagers™

cry for kelp (for conrad, ring-spirit, laios, shoka)

[ Tangela was said to have disappeared somewhere along the coast, so that's where they'll go. the coast, though, is ... a pretty long strip of land, all things considered.

... honestly, it's probably best if they just start at one end of the bay and work their way to the other until they pick up on Tangela's trail? ]

The coast is a lot of ground to cover. Could be anywhere along the cliffs or the beach. Or below it, even.

Think most of us can move pretty quickly if we need to though. [ it's ... probably just Conrad who wouldn't? ] Or if we can't, then we can just couple ourselves to someone who can.

[ if you're here for tangela rescue, please tag in under the subheader for it! no real enforced tag order, we'll treat it like a general mingle open for threadjacks i think, is probably the best way to do it when there's five of us and they are presumably going to tackle it in slightly separate ways up and down the beach because imagine corralling that many of us into a strict tagging order. couldn't be me. ]

scattered bug (for siffrin)

[ the northern end of the forest is the part of it that Emmet has the least amount of personal experience with, as he wasn't on any of the previous trips to explore and map it out, but he's been paying attention to the chatter over the grumpearls. ... and maybe certain other sources that might be prone to talking about it in shared public spaces, but that's neither here nor there. regardless, in the end, he suspects he knows the kind of general thing to expect.

dark, overgrown. mushrooms and strange plants everywhere. vines that will probably try to tangle you up and trap you and who knows what else. the kind of forest that will eat you, straight out of the stories and movies. agitated grass types all over, apparently, and those are definitely a type you'd have to be careful around for all the different ways to incapacitate or otherwise inflict status they have access to. an odd growth, a heart, that probably indicates the work of some sort of experienced, firmly entrenched grass type ... or just a powerful one.

(life energy into the ground, a twisted mass of bark and vines in one clearing ... an insistent sense of familiarity in another. hmm.)

all in all, a great (?) place to work out restless energy and put it towards something productive, disregarding the various tendencies of the other ends of the woods. that's what brings Emmet and Siffrin both out here after meeting at the questboard, at least. probably. ]

... Have you been through this part of the forest before?

[ they have some of dr. denne's medication for the spores, of course, but. just to make sure they're both on the same page? ]

the get-along sweater (for akechi, shoka, ingo)

[ Akechi and Shoka are fighting. or something like it, anyway. all of Oran's probably noticed by now, not just their motley group of offworlders and newbies to the guild, mostly on account of Akechi's continued and quite literal case of ruffled feathers and the fact that the space they're all sharing isn't exactly that big or that private. it's been several weeks and yet the Rookidee has not seemed to simmer down in the least. the Mimikyu doesn't always help, either, even if she honestly isn't acting that different from usual.

(mostly. a.b.a's absence ... probably weighs heavier on some of them than others, huh.)

anyway, it's well into the evening one night when two of the resident ghosts of the group receive a visitor. one bearing... a package (???) of some sort?

"Hey," says the Umbreon through a mouthful of cloth, punctuated with a yawn as they drop it. the Moonlight Pokemon's gaze is somehow no less piercing for it. "You two are some of the new arrivals, right? Or, well, not the newest batch, sure, but you all showed up in that storm a while back?" ]

I am Emmet. We did, yes?

[ the Umbreon nods, before rolling the swaddled fabric in their direction. it wiggles (wait. nope, that's definitely Struggle) as Emmet approaches it with realization dawning on him. "Right, so. Do something about them, will you?" a roll of their eyes as they jerk their head sharply to indicate the bundle, which is... now shaking indignantly? before they start to walk back off. "Before they go and get themselves hurt, or something."

congratulations, Akechi and Shoka, you have apparently discovered what baby jail looks like here. also minor congratulations to Ren for dodging it by way of not constantly riling up the other two in earshot of some of the higher ranked members of the guild. ]

Comments

this thread is a ghost type too, perfect for spooky season ooooo

[outbounds]

[ Emmet rears back a bit to his hind legs, ears flicking around as he breaks eye contact even as the Shinx whirls around. ]

There is a nightmare Pokemon... but its abilities would put you to actual sleep. Ones you might not be woken up from. This one, though. Unlikely. [ Even past the fact that they are clearly awake. ] It is a mythical for a reason.

[ So instead he continues, a little more clinically on top of his already typically even tone: ]

Waking nightmares, like you say— more likely to be psychic, ghost, or dark. Maybe even fairy. The first has abilities that affect the mind, the other two are not as direct but also can manipulate emotions to some degree. And various Pokemon are capable of illusion or tricks of the light. Though to different degrees. In some cases, if you think you saw something. It does not always have to be those types.

[ It's most common in them, sure, but things like Stantler, Ninetales— they're capable of feats like that too. ]

Usually though ... if there were any illusion on the area we both would have seen it. [ He glances back towards the Shinx after checking their surroundings. ] I am Emmet. I did not. Can I ask what you saw?

👻

[loopsiedaisy]

[Siffrin certainly doesn't relax, but the clinical tone and Emmet also focusing on their surroundings (instead of them) doesn't seem to hurt, either.]

[Maybe this has nothing to do with them, haha! Maybe it really was a Pokemon ability! They're just going to keep telling themself that.]

[And if it's really not theirs, then it shouldn't matter if they say what they saw, right?]

[Somehow it's hard to force themself to speak anyway, but:] I was in a house, and there was... there was someone important missing. And there were Pokemon, but - but I didn't see them...

[Ha. Sure sounds like absolutely nothing to freak out about when they describe it that way, huh. Emmet's still going to think they're useless, but he'd be right, so -]

me realizing that because siffrin's (lack of) memory nuked the concept of 'home' from emmet's,

[outbounds]

... but why would a Pokemon here make you see...

[ Lum Berry members live in buildings that might more resemble houses, but the ones out here? If there are structures like that out in the forest they have never seen it. ]

... Someone important's missing. [ Siffrin's said that already, earlier, but rather than shaking it off and dismissing it as the product of a distracted mind this time it seems to evoke a different sort of reaction. The edges of the blank space still feel the same, but at the center of it, the heart of it ... ] Right. That is true. That's right. How did I ...

[ At the heart of it, the shape of a home, an empty space — not the same as a blank one — a clear cutout of the shape of what's lost, drifting somewhere within the hazy white of the mist.

Even this much wants to skitter away as he tries to grasp onto it as something concrete to hold on to, which ... that is not right, is it? ]

What you say. It sounds familiar. But I do not...

[ Emmet shakes himself a little, head to tail. It doesn't do much for the rain, but, well. ]

... Let us depart. Okay? We have gotten what we came here for. We can keep talking on the way. Yes?

[ Because right now, it sounds as if it is verrrrry important to keep Siffrin talking. But that can be done while they walk. ]

: )

[loopsiedaisy]

[Siffrin shuffles in place, fur tufting out in wet spikes, and turns their head to look at Emmet again.]

[There's... that expression again...? And what he's saying - and then he's shaking himself and focusing again, and Siffrin is left wondering if they imagined it. This time, the feeling lingers, though. His expression was like... it was like... what?] Familiar...?

[...]

R-right.

[They're not sure they want to keep talking, but -]

[No. It doesn't matter what they want. None of it matters. Sure, fine, they can talk on the way back! And then Siffrin will go grab another quest, and another one, so at least they're doing something useful.]

[The route back is easy to follow, their muddy footprints filling in with water. Siffrin splashes back along them, trusting Emmet to be keeping the satchel safe. (They certainly shouldn't be trusted with anything!)]

psst to hover parts of last tag and this one for treats

[outbounds]

Familiar...? Right, a house with Pokemon in it. That is interesting, but what were we say ...

[ The route back is easy to follow, but Emmet trails off, seemingly distracted,

then almost misses another step because no. That's wrong. That does sound familiar, but not from the context of here. Which only really leaves... what? What does it leave?

Why is it so hard to think right now? The Zoroark's slowly draw back against his head as he more insistently worries at the blankness again, at a region of null that is not the same as zero. Zero is a known value, a known (lack of) quantity, ones and zeroes, on or off. The blank spaces are null, unknown, the values obscured and obfuscated even when they might, should exist,

— but the empty, person-shaped space in the middle, surrounded by the fog, is a zero that shouldn't be. It shouldn't be but it is, gaping and yearning like the husk of the original dragon from the old stories, left behind after Truth and Ideals carved their way apart from its flesh, unbalanced and eternally seeking for something to fill in its missing pieces.

Right. That emptiness is important. And it ... is both known to him and familiar, somewhere in the middle of everything else he can't quite grasp right now. He... what was he...? ]

It is strange to see something like that out of nowhere. Yup. And I am starting to think it is verrrrry important to figure out why. But... Siffrin?

What else was there? Why did it bother you so much? And do not try to tell me it was nothing, or not a big deal. If it was nothing then you would not have been so distressed by it.

treats 👀

[loopsiedaisy]

[...]

[It      ]

[      doesn't matter.]

I don't remember my home. And it felt like it was trying to convince me it was home. So it was weird.

[They expected to feel scared saying the first sentence. Or relieved? They're supposed to feel relieved admitting something aloud, right? But neither of those emotions bubbles up; they still just feel empty.]

[That isn't the least of what was actually bothering them, either. But the idea of explaining everything else is still irrationally terrifying sounds exhausting, and even if it doesn't matter they don't want to deal with it. This should be a convincing enough explanation, right? The invasiveness of it? That's fine, that's plenty.]

[This time, though, Siffrin's turning their head to watch Emmet. Again, his expression is... is that what their face looks like, when...?]

[Off to the side, there's a very soft rustle in the bushes. But the splashing of Siffrin and Emmet's footsteps in the mud disguises it. If, you know, they're not distracted enough already to not be paying attention.]

[outbounds]

... you cannot remember your home.

[ A house with Pokemon, someone important missing. If he looks at it objectively, and doesn't try to think too hard about the context that scene might exist in— well, the conclusion to make here is obvious, isn't it? Even if voicing it feels... ]

Did we ... trade? I have heard of Heart Swap, but Memory Swap— that would be something new. But if you were seeing something that should have been one of my memories.

Then is trading the reason why, when I try to think of where that home you described exists. I only can find a blankness that is hard to think about for long?

[ A pause, before, slightly softer: ]

... is that how it always is, for you?

[ That rustle is definitely not getting noticed, past the noises of the rain and wet forest, nevermind their current distraction. ]

[loopsiedaisy]

[Trade...? Is that how it works? Now that Emmet's saying it, since he did come from a place with Pokemon...]

[...heh. Hahaha! As if they needed more proof that they're, that they - just being around them made Emmet forget home!! They can't stop making things worse for everyone!!! (And how is he so calm about it??)]

[They take a shaky breath, and force a smile.] I try not to think about it!

[And look! They don't feel empty anymore, now they're back to feeling nauseous! But they need to shut up and stop paying attention to that right now, because they've got something way more important to do!!]

[Haltingly, their smile fading:] If it's your memory, I'm... do you want me to. Try to describe more of it to you?

[It's the absolute least they can do. Even if... who knows if it'll work? Or help at all? (But if it was them, they'd want someone to try.)]

[Rustling getting closer, but not louder... T minus one tag, probably,]