[PKMN FULL] The Revelations (IC)[T]

OOC STUFF

Twinleaf Town
Avant Ayers​

A gentle nibble at Avant's dangling hand awoke him from his slumber. "Oy…stop that." He mumbled, as he turned his head and looked beside the bed he was sleeping on. Saur… Root, his Bulbasaur was at it again, being his personal morning wake-up call. Avant sighed, whipping the blanket off of himself, and slowly creeping out of bed, walking into the bathroom to do his morning hygienic duties. Teeth cleaned? Check. Face washed? Check. Morning dump? Check. Clothes changed? Check. It only took him a less than half an hour, but Avant was rather pleased at how fast it took him do all his morning cleansing.

Heading downstairs to the kitchen, Avant noticed a small yellow note laying on the kitchen table, next to a bowl of oats and a cup of tea. Great, a grocery list. Low and behold, he was right. Whenever everyone was busy, the family would always give Avant the responsibility of grabbing groceries from the marketplace. "It'll give me something to do today. You're coming with me, Root." He said, sitting down and taking a spoonful of oats, as he looked down at the green Pokemon eating from a red bowl of brown mush. Avant hastily scarfed down the bowl of oats, and washed it down with the cup of cold tea. "As long as it fills me up I'm good." He said to Root, getting up from the chair and grabbing a brown burlap bag sitting on top of the counter nearby. "And you should be fine too. Hurry up, let's go. It's my day off from work, and I don't wanna spend it on grocery shopping." Root growled. He knew his Pokemon couldn't really understand him, but it made Avant rest with ease knowing he could talk out loud without sounding insane. He opened the front door letting Root out first, before stepping out of the house, closing the wooden door behind him. He shoved the grocery list into his pocket, and started to walk down the dirt path that led down the small grassy hill where his relatively small house was located. Admittedly, It wasn't the most lavishing area of town, but it was cheap, especially for a family of six.

~

The sound of people chattering filled the air, along with an old man shouting for people to look at his stocked items. "Alright, we're here." Avant took a sigh of relief and stretched out his legs from the walk. Many shop stands of the sort were located on both sides of the street, filled with things ranging from fresh-made pastries, to hot food, to knick-knacks. People were bustling about, going through their normal daily routines. Avant didn't know why, but for some reason he really liked the overall busy feel of the marketplace. Glancing around, aside from the obvious residents of Twinleaf doing their errands, Avant also noticed the presence of several men dressed in bronze armor. They weren't heavily armed, mainly carrying around either a spear or a sword. He saw one of them just walking down the street looking at the various stands as if he were on patrol. Probably just sent here from the palace. The young man quickly fixed his mind back to what he was there for. Let's get to it. First thing on the list is milk… With Root following behind, Avant walked over to a nearby stand where several milk bottles were on for display, along with a rather extravagant display of bread. Avant just stood there, taking his time looking at all the food, not noticing his Bulbasaur curiously walking away, exploring the marketplace on his own.

Nieves Johnson
Twinleaf Town

The bell on the door jingled as it was opened, and a middle aged couple walked into the cafe. It was called The Luxray's Eye Cafe, and it was situated on a small hill to the north in Twinleaf Town, close to where travelers came through from Sandgem, and as a result, it made a substantial profit. This was the cafe where Nieves Johnson had been working for the past month, in return for lodging with the woman who owned and ran it. Any tips that she gained, however, were hers, allowing Nieves to make a small profit from working here. Plus, with lodging and free meals, she was quite content to work where she was. The only downside was that, well, as she lived with the owner, whose home was attached to the back of the cafe, she got the early morning shift. And Nieves was not an early morning person.

Forcing a falsely cheerful smile upon her face, she pulled her white-blonde hair into a loose ponytail, and approached the couple who'd sat down at a small table by the window. In the distance, one could just make out the occasional splash of the brilliant blue waters of Lake Verity, mostly hidden by trees. Placing the menus in front of them, she addressed them in a warm tone,

"Good morning, Sir and Madam, welcome to the Luxray's Eye Cafe. Can I interest you in some drinks while you decide upon what you would like to order?"

Using the pad of paper that she always had to carry upon her in the Cafe, she recorded their orders, and gave them a smile, promising that she'd be back with the requested items in just a moment, and headed back into the kitchen through two swinging doors. The smell hit her as she walked in, and she breathed in heavily, taking in all the lovely scents around her. Over in the corner, the cook, Justin, stood over the stove, instructing his Vulpix to use her embers to heat it from below. The two exchanged a nod, acknowledging each others presence, before returning to the jobs at hand.

Nieves pulled out two coffee cups, and a bag containing coffee beans, which she proceeded to start grinding down. As she worked, her mind wandered. She'd been travelling for just over two years now, having turned twenty quite recently. In that time, she'd made her way through most of Western Sinnoh, having spent quite a large amount of time in the Eterna Valley, before travelling south. She'd seen the most wonderful things in her wanderings, such as the beautiful Chateau which had recently been built a little way into Eterna Forest, the mines in Oreburgh which were pulling large amounts of Ore from the mineral rich earth, and most amazingly, in her opinion, was one a hill in the Floaroma Valley. It had been completely devoid of life one day, and then the next morning, it had been covered in the most brilliant flowers. She hadn't been able to believe her eyes when that happened. Of course, Huojin, her Growlithe, had been overjoyed at the sudden abundance of butterflies and bug type Pokemon to chase. But, there were still places she had yet to see, and at this point in time she had two options - she could head to Canalave Bay, and see if she could visit the islands around that area, or she could make her way over Mount Coronet and see the Bronze Castle, and the various places to the east. It was tempting to head to the splendor of the east straight up, but with all this tension in the area, she was slightly reluctant to go. Perhaps Canalave Bay would be her best bet, once she had enough money for a boat.

"Nieves!" A yell came from outside of the kitchen, snapping her out of her musing. "There are more customers here!"

Mentally facepalming, she picked up the completed coffees and walked out to the couple, instinctively placing a false smile on her face. She really wasn't made for this kind of mundane life, just working in a cafe. She had grander goals and dreams.

Maybe Canalave.

***

Later, the cafe was a bit quieter, and Nieves was resting against a bench when Justin put his head out of the kitchen door, looking slightly sheepish. "Um, Nieves? I ah, kinda forgot to get more eggs yesterday, and we're almost out."

Turning her blue eyes on him, and gave him the kind of look which sarcastically applauded his 'brilliance'. He frowned slightly in response, then sighed and shook his head.

"Look, just duck down to the market and get some yeah? I want about... three dozen."

Nieves pulled off her apron, stuffing them behind the counter, and pulled out enough money for the eggs, while addressing Justin still. "Yeah, alright, but you'll have to do the waitress job until I get back." Anticipating this protest, she added, "Well, unless you want to ask the boss to do it?"

A most satisfying choking sound was the only response, and Nieves smirked as she walked out the door, grabbing a basket on the way out. She was greeted by a Growlithe who was sitting next to the door upon walking out, tail wagging earnestly. She glanced at Huojin, and sighed. The Puppy Pokemon seemed to sit there everyday and simply wait for her to emerge out of the cafe. His loyalty was quite pleasing to her, although she did feel slightly bad that he didn't seem to leave to go enjoy himself or anything like that. She tapped her thigh, indicating that he should follow, and the two walked into town.

The markets weren't hard to find this time of day, because there were people bustling around it, ducking in and out carrying various products, salespeople were yelling their wares out to the general masses, and, she noticed a group of armed soldiers patrolling the area. She gave those men a wide berth, and plunged herself into the chaos, Huojin happily following and keeping up with her by holding the end of her dress in his jaws. She was quite used to him doing that, and having the familiar pressure of her clothes being tugged at slightly at least let her know that he was still with her. So, she noticed instantly when he let go.

She spun around instantly, and saw him bound up to a small green dinosaur Pokemon, with crimson eyes and a dark green bulb sitting on its back. Huojin barked playfully at the Bulbasaur, and crouched, wagging his tail excitedly, while his tongue lolled out his mouth. Nieves reached forwards, trying to pull him back towards her, much to his displeasure, as he wriggled around to get free.

"Come on now Huojin, leave the Bulbasaur alone, okay?" She scolded him, ignoring the fire types attempts to sway her into letting him play using his huge brown eyes. With the Growlithe successfully contained, she glanced up, scanning the area around her, wondering if this Bulbasaur had a trainer nearby, or was wild and lost.

Twinleaf Town
Avant Ayers​

A few minutes had passed, before Avant had realized that Root had wandered off. Paying the stand owner a few coins, Avant put a loaf of bread and two bottles of milk in the brown bag, and then slinging it around his body o he wouldn't have to hold it. Where did he go…? Although he knew that Root would come back to his house after a little while, Avant had some other stuff he wanted to do, so he wanted to make sure Root was safe before leaving him on his own. Walking a little further down the bustling street, he eventually came across the notorious Bulbasaur. As he walked closer, he saw that his Bulbasaur was playfully growling at another excited Pokemon, which was being held back by a girl, who Avant assumed to be, the owner.

"Root, there you are." Avant walked up to the Bulbasaur, who growled playfully at the furry Pokemon one more time, before retreating behind Avant's leg. "Sorry, it looks like Root made your Growlithe all excited." Avant said laughing slightly, pointing at the furry, red Pokemon trying to wriggle itself free from being held by his platinum-haired owner. At that moment, Root hopped out from behind Avant, and started to jump at the Growlithe, as if he wanted to play. "I really don't know what's gotten into him. He's usually more calm and reserved." He bent down to pet the Bulbasaur and tried to get him to settle down. The only conclusion Avant could come to for the Pokemon's behavior, was if Root somehow knew the Growlithe, as he did tend to wander around town from time to time. "Hey, seriously Root. Stop it. It's annoying." He wasn't sure if the behaviour was irritating the girl, so Avant just stood back up and gave a half-hearted smile.

Twinleaf Town​

Izaak Sharpe​

Walking away from the town hall with Iron by his side. Izaak made his walk towards the market-place at a quick, brisk pace. Still noticing the group of equipped men throughout the town. I can't help but worry what's going to come out of these guys being here. Maybe I'm just paranoid, he thought to himself. Closing in on his destination, he couldn't help but notice a girl with the lightest hair he'd ever seen, holding back her rambunctious Growlithe from playing with what looked like a stray Bulbasaur. That's peculiar. I can almost bet that Bulbasaur has an owner somewhere. You never see wild ones in these parts. He looked down at Iron. Giggling he mumbled, "Why don't you go join in, buddy?" Iron looked up giving him the infamous look.

Izaak took a step inside a nearby stall. "One bag of Pokemon food, please!" he exclaimed. The worker hustled to the back bringing back a moderately large brown bag and laid it on the counter. In response, Izaak stumbled through his pockets to reveal a small leather coin purse. Digging in he pulled out a handful of coins, handing them over to the man. Immediately followed by him grabbing the sack, and tossing it over his shoulder. In his experience, it was the easiest way to carry an object as large and awkward as the bag. Iron's gaze affixed themselves to the bag, nearly drooling. "Hahaha!" Izaak chuckled. "If there's one thing you love, it's gotta be food."

Emerging from the stall, Izaak looked back towards to where he saw the girl and her Growlithe. Previously absent, now stood the Bulbasaur's owner. This time it looked like the Bulbasaur was trying to play. "Looks like you guys have your hands full!" Izaak yelled. Making a slow approach towards the group with a large grin on his face and the large bag still thrown over his shoulder.

Nieves Johnson
Twinleaf Town

Having quickly scanned the area, and seen nobody around who gave any indication that the Bulbasaur belonged to them, Nieves turned her eyes back to it, still holding the wriggling Huojin in her arms. It seemed to be friendly enough, returning her Growlithe's playful growls, in a way that almost seemed as if the two were familiar with each other. Perhaps they were - Huojin usually waited for her outside the Luxray's Eye most days, as Pokemon weren't allowed within the cafe. But, even if they did know each other, it didn't mean that she could just ask the Pokemon about it. And really, this Bulbasaur wasn't her problem at all, well, provided that Huojin didn't try and set it on fire or anything, as he sometimes had a habit of doing to various (usually important) objects.

Nieves went to stand back up, just as a voice rang out over the crowd, the words seeming slightly relevant to the situation, "Root, there you are."

She glanced up, and then promptly went on a slight internal rant at the fact that she was very vertically challenged. Running into tall men like this just made her seem even smaller than she already was. He had short black hair, with eyes nearly as dark, and was speaking in a friendly matter, while trying to calm the Bulbasaur - Root - down himself. However, it seemed as if neither owner was having much luck at all, as Huojin seemed to have become even more excited by the appearance of the tall stranger.

"Hey, seriously Root. Stop it. It's annoying." He said, seeming to give up and giving her a half-hearted smile.

She studied him for a moment, crouched where she was, before rising up and returning the smile. "Its fine, Huojin is quite young, and very excitable. He's probably caused all this." The Puppy Pokemon seemed to highlight this statement by bounding forwards, now free from the restraints of his owner's arms, and batted Root playfully with his paw.

"Looks like you guys have your hands full!" Another voice called out, this one belonging to another man, with shaggy brown hair, a lean build, and sporting a bandanna around his neck. He did have a point - Nieves had all but given up trying to control Huojin.

She smiled another meaningless smile at the other stranger, saying "It would most certainly appear that way." as she made a mental note that the people who lived in Twinleaf seemed to be very friendly compared to those who lived elsewhere. Or, at least she hoped their intentions were friendly anyway.

Twinleaf Town​

Izaak Sharpe​

"It would most certainly appear that way." was what Izaak heard from the girl as he walked to the two standing behind their playful Pokemon. Iron was close behind. As he drew closer, he began to notice more and more of the light-haired girls features. Geez, she's actually kinda cute, he thought to himself. However, the usual nervousness didn't overcome his ability to talk to her like it did with others. Izaak had finally come to a stop several feet between the two.

"You know," he started to speak. "I'd offer one more but this guys a little stubborn." He finished pointing down to his Pokemon. Iron observed the two Pokemon before turning his back. The Pokemon was not accustomed to associating itself with other Pokemon. Izaak was in a similar situation. He had not made too many friends since moving to Twinleaf Town and although peaceful, he figured this would be his chance to change that.

He looked the girl up and down, and then over to the young man. He was wearing a blue tunic. His face clean shaven with short black hair. He had seen the young man around town before but the girl was a total stranger at this point. "I haven't seen you around here before." Izaak said eagerly to the girl lifting his mouth to form another gentle grin.

Twinleaf Town
Avant Ayers​

"Its fine, Huojin is quite young, and very excitable. He's probably caused all this." The Pokemon leaped out of the girl's grip, landing onto the ground and swiping at Root with its paw. Avant just smiled, when a voice approached the two.

"Looks like you guys have your hands full!" Avant turned his attention to the side, where a young man with a bandana and brown hair, around his age, walked up to them. He was accompanied by a Pokemon as well. A small, grey-ish colored Pokemon to be exact, with tough and rugged looking skin. Similar to armor. Avant was by no means a Pokemon expert, so he failed to identify the young man's Pokemon, but he didn't let it bother him too much.

"It would most certainly appear that way." The girl spoke, smiling. Avant took a quick glance at Root and the Growlithe named Huojin, who were busy trying to swipe each other with their paws, as if they were play fighting.

"You know," the boy started to speak. "I'd offer one more but this guy's a little stubborn." He pointed at his own grey colored Pokemon, to which Avant just looked, and then smiled back a the boy. He saw the boy glancing at the girl, his pupils moving up and down, almost as if he were observing her. Is he checking her out right in front of her? Avant was puzzled as to why he would do this, but maintained composure as the young man looked at Avant, and then back at the girl. "I haven't seen you around here before." The boy gave a friendly grin. Okay...it looks like this is my time to leave the convo. Standing at a rather awkward position now in the conversation, Avant just kneeled down, petting his Bulbasaur on the head, while he continued to try and swipe at Huojin.

Grant Hawkins​

Gear:

Nieves Johnson
Twinleaf Town

Nieves's eyes flicked down for a moment as the newcomer came closer, focusing on the basket she still had. She did really need to get those eggs and get back to work, she supposed. Entertaining random strangers probably wasn't the best idea at this point in time. However, it wasn't exactly her fault that Justin was highly forgetful, plus she could easily come up with a million excuses to not hurry back. They came flooding through: Huojin ran off after a Bulbasaur, the line was so long, the guards thought I had stolen something... Let the man suffer, she thought, smirking internally. Or maybe, he'd never even notice the difference in time.

"You know," the brown haired man said, "I'd offer one more but this guys a little stubborn." He indicated to his Pokemon, with large blue eyes and what appeared to be armor covering its body, and who then turned away from the other two Pokemon. She glanced at it, slightly quizzical - she was certain she'd seen this species of Pokemon before somewhere... Oh, that was right. It was an Aron, that's what they were called. They weren't overly common in Sinnoh she'd found.

Nieves then noticed that he was looking at her in a fashion that was a bit different from the norm. She glanced down, wondering if there was flour or dirt or something on her clothes. She couldn't see any, maybe there was something on her face instead? There probably was, maybe some of the food or something. She decided that she would definitely check in a mirror before resuming work, the boss didn't like it when she was addressing the customers looking dirty.

"I haven't seen you around here before." The newcomer said, again smiling. At this, the tall one seemed to crouch down and pay more attention to his Pokemon. Huojin seemed to like this idea, trying to lick his hand.

"That's because I'm not from here." Nieves stated, "I've been wandering around this side of Mount Coronet for a couple of years now, and I only arrived in Twinleaf Town about a month ago." She paused, and it occurred to her that she hadn't introduced herself to either of these men. "I'm Nieves, by the way."

She glanced around, trying to see if she could spot the guards again. They were making her slightly uncomfortable, as they were armed with swords at the very least, while she didn't have anything. Why were they in a place like Twinleaf anyway? She hadn't expected that King Tasmus would have bothered with such a small place like this - there were far larger areas in the land that seemed to be more hostile towards him. But then again, she wasn't exactly an expert on the whole picture at the moment, so she probably shouldn't question it, and tried to ignore their presence. Although, it was a bit difficult when a group of them came marching past them.

Nieves eyed them with suspicion, only to jump back a bit as a bucket of dirty, soapy water fell out of thin air, landing on the head of a rather large solider. She covered her mouth, trying to hold back laughter - after all, it was kinda hard to feel intimidated by someone after that. Although, the solider wasn't going to be too impressed with this, she imagined, and thus kept her laughter to herself, lest he blame her for this.

Twinleaf Town
Avant Ayers​

"That's because I'm not from here." The platinum-haired girl spoke, "I've been wandering around this side of Mount Coronet for a couple of years now, and I only arrived in Twinleaf Town about a month ago." She paused. Hmmm...she's been traveling. Must be nice, to just sit back, relax, and just wander around to your heart's content. "I'm Nieves, by the way." She introduced herself. Avant continued to crouch, as he watched Huojin and Root run off a little ways away, but the sudden sound of splashing accompanied by a thud! immediately made Avant stand up. Up above, he could see a dark blur speeding off in the opposite direction, evading Avant's sight to grasp what it could have been.

"Damn it!" He heard a man yell. Avant turned his head and saw a group of soldiers, one of which was drenched, standing next to bucket dripping with water. "You! Did any of you guys see who did this?" The man pointed at the group, and spoke almost as if he were demanding something out of them. Avant stood quiet a for a few seconds. His father had told him if he had any run-ins with a soldier, he was supposed to make sure to act normal. "Well? Yes or no?" The man started to approach the group rather aggressively, with the other soldiers walking next to him.

"No we didn't." Avant quickly said, as the soldiers came to a stop. "We were just talking and heard you yell. That's all." He tried to keep it simple, and just looked at the soldier, who gave a hand signal for the other soldiers leave. They walked in the direction of the dark blur that Avant had noticed, but he doubted they would be able to find anything. "Well...that could have gone worse. I don't really know why there's a bunch of them in town though." Avant said, looking back at Nieves and the other young man. "But I'll admit, it was pretty funny." He said, giving a slight smile. "Oh yeah, I'm Avant. I've been living here my whole life pretty much." He said casually.

Twinleaf Town
Izaak Sharpe​

"That's because I'm not from here. I've been wandering around this side of Mount Coronet for a couple of years now, and I only arrived in Twinleaf Town about a month ago." The girl replied to Izaak's previous statement. She then continued, introducing herself. "I'm Nieves, by the way." Izaak opened his mouth to reply back when suddenly the girl's gaze wandered to a group of soldiers. A bucket of water had just plummeted from an unknown source onto one of the soldiers head as he quickly shouted "Damn it!" Izaak let out a loud chuckle before covering his mouth from bringing attention the group's way. He noticed Nieves quickly did the same.

The soldier's attention immediately averted to the three despite their valiant efforts in avoiding the situation. "You! Did any of you guys see who did this?" The group stood silent. Great, this is the last thing I want to get dragged into right now. The taller man, whom yet to introduce himself stood with a tremendous amount of diligence. "Well? Yes or no?" The soldier spoke up as he started to walk towards them.

"No we didn't." The main said swiftly. "We were just talking and heard you yell. That's all." The solider signaled to the rest of his group to move onward. Izaak let out a sigh of relief. Man. This guy saved the day. "Well... that could have gone worse. I don't really know why there's a bunch of them in town though." He said shortly after. Looking back at Izaak and Nieves. "But I'll admit, it was pretty funny." He gave off a quick smile. He then introduced himself similar to how the girl did, a mere moments ago. "Oh yeah, I'm Avant. I've been living here my whole life pretty much."

"Well, nice to meet both of you. I'm Izaak and this is my pal Iron. We moved here about a year ago from the Oreburgh Valley." Iron smiled and Izaak matched it. "You handled that way better than I could have. I guess you could say you saved our hides." He said, looking off on the soldiers now walking away. "So, Thanks!" He added with an even bigger smile this time.

Nieves Johnson
Twinleaf Town

The humiliated solider spun to face them, a vein bulging on the top of his forehead. "You! Did any of you guys see who did this?" He jabbed his finger accusingly towards the trio, almost as if he expected one of them to confess to being able to levitate a bucket of water. Nieves quickly placed her hands down by her sides, forcing herself to keep a straight face. If this guy so much as suspected they'd done anything at all, there would be a lot of trouble. That of course, included remaining completely silent.

Of course, upon realizing this, she quickly became aware of the quiet tension surrounding the group as nobody said anything. The solider seemed to pick up upon there silence as possible guilt, taking a step towards them and demanding to hear an answer. She tried to speak, but found that the words just weren't coming.

"No we didn't." The tall man said from someone to Nieves side. "We were just talking and heard you yell. That's all."

She half expected the solider to argue, but instead he gave them a suspicious look, before turning back to the rest of them, and pointing them off into one of the streets, as if chasing something. She frowned slightly, wondering if they'd seen something she'd missed - her eyes hadn't picked up anybody nearby who could have pulled off that stunt.

"Well...that could have gone worse. I don't really know why there's a bunch of them in town though." The tense air seemed to have disappeared as the group reengaged conversation, started by the tall man. "But I'll admit, it was pretty funny." He paused, to grin, before adding, "Oh yeah, I'm Avant. I've been living here my whole life pretty much."

Avant huh? Well, he had a point about the soldiers - Nieves didn't really understand their presence either. In some of the larger towns, or just areas with a high density of people, they did seem more justified, as they needed to be there for higher levels of crime, or, as there were more people, there were more likely to be rebellions there, rather in small places like this. So, the large guard presence really made little sense, especially if they were just here for show. Her blue eyes glanced up at the shorter of the two - he hadn't mentioned his opinion on this, if he even had one.

"Well, nice to meet both of you. I'm Izaak and this is my pal Iron. We moved here about a year ago from the Oreburgh Valley." He said with a smile that Iron shared, "You handled that way better than I could have. I guess you could say you saved our hides. So, Thanks!"

She ducked her head in quiet agreement with Izzak's statement - things probably would have gotten pretty messy if he hadn't spoken up. From below her, something bumped the basket she was carrying. Glancing down, she saw Huojin's expectant face, reminding her that she was still technically at work. She gave him a quick nod - she knew she had to move, there was just something she wanted to inquire first.

Ignoring the Growlithe who headbutted her leg, before tugging on the end of her dress with his teeth, she looked up at both of the men. "Are you two sure you don't know anything about why the soldiers are here in this number? I know you just said you didn't, Avant, but you haven't noticed anything odd? Or, Izzak, do you have an idea?"

Gear:


People met:


Friends:

Twinleaf Town
Avant, Izaak & Nieves​

((OOC: Finish up conversations, and feel free to have your character do whatever is they were finishing up such as errands and whatnot. In my next post I will time-skip to night-time/evening, so just giving you a heads up.))

"Well, nice to meet both of you. I'm Izaak and this is my pal Iron. We moved here about a year ago from the Oreburgh Valley." Iron and Izaak both gave a warm smile. "You handled that way better than I could have. I guess you could say you saved our hides. So, Thanks!" He continued to smile. Avant gave a half-hearted laugh. To him, he didn't really think he did anything worthy of actually 'saving' someone, but Izaak seemed to appreciate what Avant did.

"Are you two sure you don't know anything about why the soldiers are here in this number? I know you just said you didn't, Avant, but you haven't noticed anything odd? Or, Izzak, do you have an idea?" Nieves asked. Avant stood in silence for a bit, trying to think. He drew a blank, but quickly remembered what his father had told him about the soldiers.

"Well...I don't know much, however," He gave a pause, glancing around to see if anyone was listening nearby, more specifically, soldiers. "I'm sure you guys know the current state of Sinnoh, right? Well, my father said that people are trying to rebel against Tasmus, so I'm assuming they were stationed here just so something out of hand won't happen. I can't say if other places are like this too though." Avant looked up at the sky, placing his hand on chin, thinking about what may happen if some sort of civil war breaks out. He was suddenly interrupted by a nudging on his leg, and a growl. Saur... It was Root, and by the way he was tugging at his leg, he was anxious about something. "Oh sorry, I have to finish some errands and get home." Avant said, pointing at the bag in his hand. Root tugged at his leg some more, this time slightly more aggressively. Alright, geez. Calm down. "Hehe, he's just getting restless. It was nice talking. I'll probably see you guys around town or something." Avant said, looking at Nieves and Izaak.

Twinleaf Town
Izaak Sharpe​

Nieves nodded her head in agreement with Izaak. "Are you two sure you don't know anything about why the soldiers are here in this number? I know you just said you didn't, Avant, but you haven't noticed anything odd? Or, Izzak, do you have an idea?" She had questioned both of them. Izaak honestly didn't know much other than a few rumors here and there that held little to no significance. He stood there quietly before Avant spoke up.

"Well...I don't know much, however," he started to speak before checking his surrounds. To be sure there were no soldiers close by. "I'm sure you guys know the current state of Sinnoh, right? Well, my father said that people are trying to rebel against Tasmus, so I'm assuming they were stationed here just so something out of hand won't happen. I can't say if other places are like this too though." Avant looked up resting his hand under his chin. A civil war? The simple fact soldiers are even in this town almost give away that these rumors are true. I didn't want to believe it at first but... Damn. Avant's Bulbasaur had started tugging at his pant leg. "Oh sorry, I have to finish some errands and get home. Hehe, he's just getting restless. It was nice talking. I'll probably see you guys around town or something." he finished looking at Izaak and Nieves.

"Honestly, I had only heard rumors of the war. Now I just can't help but believe them if they're sending soldiers to a robust place like this." He started as his hand began scratching the back of his gently looking down at the ground. "I better be off as well, however, it was nice to meet both of you! I'm sure this won't be the last we see of each other." Izaak held out his hand towards Avant and Nieves.

Nieves Johnson
Twinleaf Town

Nieves watched the two muse over the the question, and listened to both in turn. While the ideas were expressed slightly differently, they essentially meant the same thing: that the high solider presence was a result of the tensions between the people, and King Tasmus, apparently. So, did that mean that a revolution was expected here, of all things? She had seen high solider presence is larger places she'd visited of course, but that had seemed expected. So, was there a deliberate reason for them being there, or had the king simply decided to send a certain amount of guards to each area? Actually, that would be highly impractical - they probably would calculate a number based upon the population of an area, or something similar. It seemed probable, but there still seemed to be more soldiers here than there should be. Or perhaps, she was just over thinking this way too much, and the entire thing was completely irrelevant. That would not have surprised her at all.

"Oh sorry, I have to finish some errands and get home." Avant said, taking notice of Root, who seemed to have followed Huojin's example, and was tugging his pants. "Hehe, he's just getting restless. It was nice talking. I'll probably see you guys around town or something."

Izzak seemed to have a similar idea, saying "I better be off as well, however, it was nice to meet both of you! I'm sure this won't be the last we see of each other."

He stretched his hand out, seemingly for a handshake. Nieves shook it quickly, then took a step back, which resulted in a shocked bark from Huojin, who seemed to have given up on tugging on her dress, and had ended up chewing on the hem. So, he wasn't overly impressed when his plaything was pulled away from him. Nieves ignored him for a moment.

"Yes, it was nice meeting you all." She said, referring to both humans and Pokemon. "Perhaps we can have another interesting conversation again if we meet again."

She ducked her head, imitating a quick curtsy, before spinning on her heel, walking in the direction of the store she usually bought the eggs from. Behind her, she heard Huojin bark a goodbye, before bounding after her, slowing to trot by her side with his tongue lolling out of his mouth. The two exchanged a look, before Nieves shook her head with a small smile. Look at all the trouble he tended to cause, but in this case, the 'trouble' had been more pleasant than anything else, she supposed. He seemed to pick up on this, allowing his brown eyes to light up, and wagged his tail.

The stall owner gave her a wave, recognizing her, and pulled out the eggs she required upon request. The money clinked together as it exchanged hands, and Nieves placed all of them safely in the basket, before hurrying back to the Luxray's Eye Cafe.

Twinleaf Town
Avant Ayers​

((OOC: After Zen posts, I will make another post that will time-skip to night-time, and that's when we will probably leave town and start the RP. Only reason I made this post is because if I kept it with the other post, it would be a giant wall of text.))



Avant gave a quick handshake to Izaak, and a wave of his hand to Nieves before turning in the opposite direction, where he originally came from. They seem like nice people. He looked down at Root who was now calm and quietly walking next to him. "I think we should pay a visit to dad. To see how's work going. Hopefully he's not too busy." Although Avant had received the day off, it was his father that picked up his original shifts. In fact, if anything, it had seemed like his father was working twice as much, whilst Avant was getting 3-4 days off per week. Root just growled a bit, as the two started to walk down the busy street of the marketplace, following a path that would eventually lead to the more rural areas of town.

~

The industrial sound of work machinery, and people yelling filled the air, as Avant had finally made it to the edge of Lake Verity. And there's the mill. He spotted the mill where Avant himself and his father work at, which was situated between mountains of logs. There were other buildings around as well, such as warehouses and such, but Avant usually spent most of his time at the mill, or outside construction work. "Hey, have you seen my father around?" Avant walked up to a familiar worker, who gave him a smile, but quickly faded to a rather confused look.

"Avant, your father hasn't come to work for a little over a week. When he does come, he only stays for an hour or two, before leaving, and saying he 'forgot' something." The man said. Avant felt like dropping the bag of groceries, as his jaw opened a little out of shock. Wait…how can that be? I mean…our shifts are different, but… Thoughts of what his father could be up to filled his head. Was he seeing someone? Is he in trouble? "Boss says he's thinking of laying you guys off. Your father never comes to work, and you only show up two or three days a week." The man frowned a bit. Rage suddenly started to shroud Avant. That idiot…he's screwing me and the family over. What the hell could he be doing?!

"Tell the boss I still want my job. I was just sick for a while, but I'm good now." Avant told a small white lie, but he needed the job. There's no way his mother's job alone could support the family, and if his father was going to be seeing someone else, then there was no place in the house for him. The man nodded in agreement, and Avant hastily turned around and headed back to his house near the outskirts of town.

~

After about twenty minutes of walking, Avant eventually came to his house in the little neighborhood in the more rural area of town. Opening the door, he noticed it was unlocked. "Oh, you're home! I'm just about to leave, but just put away the groceries." A female's voice shouted from the nearby family room. His older sister Kira walked up to him, greeting him. Sheplayed around with her straight, brown hair, as she looked at Avant. "What's with you? You look like you lost your best friend." She asked, somewhat cheerfully. Avant just nodded sideways.

"Nothing. I'm just tired from the errands." He sighed, as Kira just smiled and walked past him through the door to outside.

"Okay, rest easy. I'll be back later tonight! Also, I made extra for lunch, it's on the counter!" She yelled as she walked down the path and headed towards town. And just like that, I'm alone once again. Avant didn't really have any friends, and was beginning to regret not asking the people he met earlier if they wanted to hang out. It would at least give him something to do. "Maybe we should eat something." He looked down at Root, who walked into the kitchen, licking a red bowl on the tiled floor. Avant sighed, as he grabbed a bag of brown mush-like food on the counter, turning it sideways to pour into Root's bowl. He put the bag of food back, and saw a glass container sitting a little ways away, filled with mashed potatoes, gravy, and what seemed to be leftover Tauros meat from the other night. Without hesitation, he grabbed the container, and sat next to Root, digging into his meal.

Gear:


People met:


Friends:

Twinleaf Town
Avant Ayers​

((OOC: This is a rather long post. However, read the OOC thread for some clarifications on some things, as this post may be confusing.))


Darkness settled in the town of Twinleaf as evening approached. Avant sat on the couch in the family room with Root cuddled next to him, looking through the daily mail. "Taxes, taxes and more taxes. Yay." Avant said aloud. And of course…no money either. He threw the junk mail onto the table, and picked up another set of envelopes. He skimmed through them, until one caught his eye. It was different from the rest, colored a light blue, with a logo on it. "The Shadow?" The logo looked more like some sort of symbol, with the words "The Shadow" written in a rather organic print. "It's addressed to dad." He said quietly to himself. He knew it was wrong to snoop around other people's mail, but this seemed…odd, to say the least. Suddenly, the door opened in the family room, with the familiar voice.

"I'm home!" It was his dad. "I see you're home by yourself again. I don't know where those girls go all the time." His dad gave a slight laugh, as he walked passed Avant, and put his lunchkit down on the kitchen table. Avant didn't say anything, not even a simple 'hello'. He put the envelope down on the table and stood up.

"I wanna know where you were today." He immediately asked. His father looked at him and chuckled a bit, and just before he spoke, Avant cut him off. "I talked to one of the workers. He said you haven't been at work for over a week. I went to visit, but you weren't there." His father suddenly took a few steps back, and Avant grabbed the envelope on the table, and walked closer to his father. "Seriously, if you're cheating on mom-"

"I'm not cheating." His father quickly defended himself, and sat down on a chair next to the kitchen table. "You have to believe me Avant, I wasn't cheating…" Avant wanted to believe, but something was wrong here. He grabbed the envelope and threw it at his dad.

"This came for you in the mail today. I don't know what it is, but if it's something bad, then I don't want to know." The envelope flew around before landing near his father sideways, who gave a look of horror once glancing at it. "What? Is it bad? You didn't even open it." He said.

"Oh my…it's gonna happen." His father stood up, and started to frantically run around the kitchen opening cupboards. Avant was starting to get a little scared, hoping his dad didn't enter insanity. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. We need to go, quick! Grab whatever you can, we need to find your sisters and mom and get out of here!" His father yelled frantically, until Avant grabbed him and shook some sense into his dad. With a quick, vigorous shake, his dad stopped in his tracks, a little dazed.

"I'm not going anywhere! Tell me what's going on!" Avant yelled in his face. He was getting scared, in fear that something would happen to him or his dad. "Just calm down, and tell me." His dad sighed a few times fast, but managed to squeak in a few sentences.

"I'm so sorry…" His father started to cry, as he pointed to the envelope on the ground. "The Shadow…it's a resistance group…no, it's no longer a resistance group. The rate that it's growing, it's now a rebellion." His father sniffled. "I've been going to meetings and – " Avant let go of his dad and gave him a shove into the counter.

"You're part of a rebellion?! Do you know what you've done? We're all going to go prison now, you know that?!" Avant paced the kitchen back and forth, panicking. He felt like punching his father, but he knew that would solve nothing. Knock! Knock! Knock! Three, sudden slow knocks on the door grabbed the attention of Avant and his father. They stood there for a few seconds and looked at each other, before his father jumped at Avant and grabbed him by the arm.

"Listen to me. There's going to be a riot tonight in town, and you need to get out now! It's not going to be safe, and people will get hurt, do you understand?!" Avant looked puzzled, and was unable to talk due to the shock of the current situation. Where was he supposed to go? And what about him? His father started to open random drawers before he finally pulled out a small brown sack with a white string attached. He grabbed his son by the belt, and wrapped the bag by the string to his belt. Knock! Knock! Knock! The knocks grew more aggressive. "There's some money in there. Get out of town and head to the Commercial City north from here. " Avant gave a confused look, still unable to speak. His father pushed him in the direction of a window behind them, trying to get Avant to jump through. "Go now!" He yelled, with Avant finally listening to his father, he jumped through the back window opening. He landed with a thud few feet down on the grass that covered the hillside. He stood there a few seconds, before a nudge at his leg snapped him out of his trance. He looked down. It was Root, who was standing by him, waiting for him to flee the scene. Avant started to jog hastily with Root following closely, coming around the house to run down the pathway that led to town. As he ran for the pathway, he turned to the side to look at the front door of his house, which was broken down, and could see Bronze Soldiers grabbing his father, beating him, and trying to drag him out of the house. Avant watched in horror, until he saw that they were about to come out of the house, and in a split second he started to sprint down the pathway, using the darkness, trees and the shadows of neighbouring houses as cover.

~

"Like hell I'm gonna leave my mom and sisters!" Avant yelled at himself, as he started to approach town. He slowed down once he reached the first few houses, only to be greeted with the sight of people running through the streets. A couple of people passed Avant, bumping him on the shoulder as they ran past. It was then he saw a ball of fire heading for some shops on the side of the street, setting them ablaze. The heat was intense, and sparks of flame glittered in the air. "Root, stay close!" He commanded, as he made his way through some crowds of people. He wiped his forehead from little beads of sweat.Is this the raid dad was talking about? In the midst of the crowd he saw several Bronze Soldiers fighting men wearing light blue uniforms, finished off with some light armor on the chest and shoulders. On their back was engraved the logo Avant saw on the letter to his dad. The Shadow…so these are the guys. The Shadow Grunts had Houndours fighting alongside them, biting the Bronze soldiers, as well as firing off balls of flame at whatever they could. Avant looked to the side, and saw a small alley that led to the marketplace, and started to run for it, avoiding the battle between The Shadow Grunts and the Bronze Soldiers. "I gotta find them…anyone."