Evie McAdams
Chapter 2-1: Passageway of the Sea God
They made it back into Kalay right on time, well, mostly. They'd missed most of the Indian man's speech but Evie didn't really mind that at all. Many of the other contestants had mounts, giving Evie a pang of jealousy. To her dismay she noticed that Robbie, that rude boy who'd sneered at her for being a cowboy, was there too with his Ponyta. Evie took some satisfaction in seeing how clumsily the boy mounted it though, she saw the Ponyta stepping restlessly under its rider and knew it wasn't comfortable with the boy.
"Let the race… begin!" The Indian shouted and in a flurry of hooves a lot of the riders were gone, the rest, Evie included, ran forward on foot. She's called Boris back into his apricorn ball, mostly because he was rather slow, but Makin was still with her and ran next to her excitedly. She felt too bad about him having been stuck in his apricorn for so long to make him go back in there.
"Come on Makin, let's see show them how fast we can run!" She encouraged him and hiked her skirts up to her knees. She got some frowns and stares for doing so from the few other ranchers (and quite avoided look at the ones who
weren't ranchers but she just stuck out her tongue and marveled at the thrill that gave her. Screw lady-like behaviour she was going to win this thing! She ran until she got to the bridge, and then she stopped.
"Woah," she outed. She'd never seen this before and it looked beautiful. There were plants all over the surface of the rocks with one opening from which a waterfall thundered violently. It looked surreal.
There was someone else there who wasn't quite enjoying the view though.
In front of the bridge and unfortunate rider and his Ponyta were having trouble. The rider coaxed the horse Pokémon onwards but it simply refused to take one step on the wooden bridge that stretched across a long drop to a wild river below. Evie looked for a second, trying to identify the rider (or, more honestly, trying to see if it were Robbie) but it wasn't anyone she knew.
"You look like you could use some help," She said, causing the rider to startle and therefore his Ponyta as well. The Pokémon jumped sideways in a start, almost throwing off its trainer.
"A bit!" he yelled over, trying to steer his Ponyta back towards the bridge but it just took several steps back, distancing itself from it. "The name's James, you?"
"Evie, I'm assuming you're also competing in the race?"
He nodded. "You too huh? Should have guessed from the Jolteon next to you."
"How long have you had that Ponyta?" Evie asked, stepping closer to the Pokémon, letting it sniff her palm. Makin, meanwhile stayed a few meters away, wary of the horse.
"Today," James admitted with a sheepish grin. "I got her from my brother for the race, her breeds them."
"I had a feeling you didn't have her for long, she's not very comfortable with you, which is probably because you're not really comfortable with her. They can feel that you know, especially the mounts because they have such direct contact with you," Evie explained, petting the Ponyta's neck now, calming her down. "I'm willing to bet that you're the one who's nervous about the bridge, not her."
James laughed nervously. "Bullseye, it's not that bad walking but from the saddle it just feels like it'd be so easy to take a dive."
"So why don't you get off? Take the bridge on foot and lead her?" She suggested.
"Right, that'd be the thing to do wouldn't it?" Another sheepish laugh as he got down from the saddle. He tugged the reins, trying to coax the still reluctant Ponyta towards the bridge. Evie clucked her tongue and gave the mount a little tug on the tack attached to her head and she took a few steps forward.
The two trainers walked together over the bridge, Evie keeping a grip on the bridle to give a tug whenever the Ponyta hesitated.
When they got to the other side the boy hoisted himself back into the saddle. "I've got to go now," he said apologetically. "It's a race, and all, but thanks for helping me!"
"Oh it's quite alright, but do keep in mind that you need to trust her as much as she needs to trust you," Evie advised before the Ponyta and her trainer both rode away through the cave that lay in front of her.
She was quite nervous about it, if she were honest with herself. She was a girl of the open skies, not one of the enclosed ones. She really didn't like the claustrophobic feeling of the walls all around her and the constant dripping sound was starting to drive her nuts from the moment she heard it. She had to admit that it was beautiful though. All around her were deep pool where she could see fish poking about, and some other Pokémon watching her warily from the cracks and nooks of the cavern. She'd had to return Makin to his apricorn as his static energy was bouncing around the water in the cavern. As much as she'd like to have stayed to check out the wildlife all she really wanted was to get out of there. That was, until she saw
it.
It was the most gorgeous thing Evie had ever seen.
It rose up from the water of one of the pools, magnificent in its beauty. It was made of liquid with only the faintest hint of colour, most of it coming from a faintly purple aurora moving on its own behind its head. It looked liked nothing Evie had ever seen and it regarded her almost with bemusement. There was a voice, a quiet voice yet one she would never have missed. "Beware," was all it said. Then
it disappeared, as if all the water it was made up of crashed to the ground in one go and Evie would swear she saw something move away deeper into the cavern.
She sat down quickly on a rock, getting her late uncle's book from where it was attached to her belt and opening it on an empty page. The cover was almost pouch-like and leather with a clasp to keep it secure and on the inside were several sticks of charcoal to write with. She used one of these to quickly sketch what she had thought she'd seen. She wasn't very good at drawing but she got the point across, making notes on the side about its liquid form, faint colours and way of disappearing. Lastly she made a small note about thinking she heard a voice, but smudged it soon after. That must have been imagined, right? It couldn't be any different, and if it were the reader would just assume she was crazy. She didn't even know if she wasn't herself, who hears voices in their heads?
"You!" came a voice suddenly as Evie had just put away the notebook. "Get out!"
Towards her came a strangely clad man in blue, and Evie recognized him as one of the lighter sort of Indians that roamed the land. She immediately backed up as he approached calling out Boris in between them. "Stay away from me!" She shouted, not being able to keep a tremor from her voice. "I'll attack you!"
The man just laughed. "I can take anything you scum throw at me. Get out now, you are not welcome here!"The man drew his own apriball and released and tough-looking Wartortle. "Kani, use bite!" He ordered.
"Boris, use vine whip to grab him," Evie instructed just as quickly. "And it's you who's the scum," she said angrily. "Your sort are savages, and thieving savages at that!" Boris avoided the Wartortle that was charging towards him and wrapped both of his vines around the shield. He then swung it around and released it, leaving it to fly off into the cavern. Unfortunately for them though it landed in a pool of water.
"You are the deluded ones," the man countered."Thinking you can right the world, that the world is yours for the taking! Well, we're not going to stand for that, Kani use rapid spin!" The Wartortle span out of pool it was hiding in straight towards Boris and struck him dead on. Boris was propelled away but thankfully, due to how heavy he was, he didn't get very far.
"Boris counter with Petal Dance!" Evie ordered. It was a move they'd only just discovered he possesses, it had been labeled in the book as a special move and Evie had been quite proud her Ivysaur had it and had been dying to show it off. Now seemed to be the time, to teach the rude savage a lesson. Pink petals came out of Boris' flower and spiraled into the air before they launched at the Wartortle. The native did call out for his Pokémon to use withdraw but it was too late and the Wartortle got hit full-on with the attack. Evie could see, with satisfaction, that it took a great toll on him. She was getting the hang of this battling thing!
"Use rapid spin again Kani," the Indian ordered and Wartortle rose up again, spinning rapidly.
'Counter it with vine whip," Evie ordered. The vines shot from Boris' flower again and wrapped around Wartortle. The momentum almost swept Boris off his feet but again his heaviness saved him and he was able to propel the Wartortle to the ground, using its own movement to guide it. The water Pokémon didn't get up after that.
The man called his Pokémon back into its apricorn and approached Evie, who quickly stepped back. "I'm sorry, seeing your battling has made me realize that I wrongly accused you."
"Wrongly accused me of what?" Evie demanded, thinking he had simply been prejudiced against her.
"There's this tribe that came here earlier, the Zettai-Tekina tribe, whose ideals far from match with ours, I mistook you for one of them. It was my mistake, can I make it up to you by escorting you to the city?" he offered.
"No thank you," Evie quickly declined. "I'll be on my way now." She rudely pushed past him (with a generous amount of space in-between) and kept Boris out of his ball just in case. You never knew what those people might do with your back turned.
They made it back into Kalay right on time, well, mostly. They'd missed most of the Indian man's speech but Evie didn't really mind that at all. Many of the other contestants had mounts, giving Evie a pang of jealousy. To her dismay she noticed that Robbie, that rude boy who'd sneered at her for being a cowboy, was there too with his Ponyta. Evie took some satisfaction in seeing how clumsily the boy mounted it though, she saw the Ponyta stepping restlessly under its rider and knew it wasn't comfortable with the boy.
"Let the race… begin!" The Indian shouted and in a flurry of hooves a lot of the riders were gone, the rest, Evie included, ran forward on foot. She's called Boris back into his apricorn ball, mostly because he was rather slow, but Makin was still with her and ran next to her excitedly. She felt too bad about him having been stuck in his apricorn for so long to make him go back in there.
"Come on Makin, let's see show them how fast we can run!" She encouraged him and hiked her skirts up to her knees. She got some frowns and stares for doing so from the few other ranchers (and quite avoided look at the ones who
weren't ranchers but she just stuck out her tongue and marveled at the thrill that gave her. Screw lady-like behaviour she was going to win this thing! She ran until she got to the bridge, and then she stopped.
"Woah," she outed. She'd never seen this before and it looked beautiful. There were plants all over the surface of the rocks with one opening from which a waterfall thundered violently. It looked surreal.
There was someone else there who wasn't quite enjoying the view though.
In front of the bridge and unfortunate rider and his Ponyta were having trouble. The rider coaxed the horse Pokémon onwards but it simply refused to take one step on the wooden bridge that stretched across a long drop to a wild river below. Evie looked for a second, trying to identify the rider (or, more honestly, trying to see if it were Robbie) but it wasn't anyone she knew.
"You look like you could use some help," She said, causing the rider to startle and therefore his Ponyta as well. The Pokémon jumped sideways in a start, almost throwing off its trainer.
"A bit!" he yelled over, trying to steer his Ponyta back towards the bridge but it just took several steps back, distancing itself from it. "The name's James, you?"
"Evie, I'm assuming you're also competing in the race?"
He nodded. "You too huh? Should have guessed from the Jolteon next to you."
"How long have you had that Ponyta?" Evie asked, stepping closer to the Pokémon, letting it sniff her palm. Makin, meanwhile stayed a few meters away, wary of the horse.
"Today," James admitted with a sheepish grin. "I got her from my brother for the race, her breeds them."
"I had a feeling you didn't have her for long, she's not very comfortable with you, which is probably because you're not really comfortable with her. They can feel that you know, especially the mounts because they have such direct contact with you," Evie explained, petting the Ponyta's neck now, calming her down. "I'm willing to bet that you're the one who's nervous about the bridge, not her."
James laughed nervously. "Bullseye, it's not that bad walking but from the saddle it just feels like it'd be so easy to take a dive."
"So why don't you get off? Take the bridge on foot and lead her?" She suggested.
"Right, that'd be the thing to do wouldn't it?" Another sheepish laugh as he got down from the saddle. He tugged the reins, trying to coax the still reluctant Ponyta towards the bridge. Evie clucked her tongue and gave the mount a little tug on the tack attached to her head and she took a few steps forward.
The two trainers walked together over the bridge, Evie keeping a grip on the bridle to give a tug whenever the Ponyta hesitated.
When they got to the other side the boy hoisted himself back into the saddle. "I've got to go now," he said apologetically. "It's a race, and all, but thanks for helping me!"
"Oh it's quite alright, but do keep in mind that you need to trust her as much as she needs to trust you," Evie advised before the Ponyta and her trainer both rode away through the cave that lay in front of her.
She was quite nervous about it, if she were honest with herself. She was a girl of the open skies, not one of the enclosed ones. She really didn't like the claustrophobic feeling of the walls all around her and the constant dripping sound was starting to drive her nuts from the moment she heard it. She had to admit that it was beautiful though. All around her were deep pool where she could see fish poking about, and some other Pokémon watching her warily from the cracks and nooks of the cavern. She'd had to return Makin to his apricorn as his static energy was bouncing around the water in the cavern. As much as she'd like to have stayed to check out the wildlife all she really wanted was to get out of there. That was, until she saw
it.
It was the most gorgeous thing Evie had ever seen.
It rose up from the water of one of the pools, magnificent in its beauty. It was made of liquid with only the faintest hint of colour, most of it coming from a faintly purple aurora moving on its own behind its head. It looked liked nothing Evie had ever seen and it regarded her almost with bemusement. There was a voice, a quiet voice yet one she would never have missed. "Beware," was all it said. Then
it disappeared, as if all the water it was made up of crashed to the ground in one go and Evie would swear she saw something move away deeper into the cavern.
She sat down quickly on a rock, getting her late uncle's book from where it was attached to her belt and opening it on an empty page. The cover was almost pouch-like and leather with a clasp to keep it secure and on the inside were several sticks of charcoal to write with. She used one of these to quickly sketch what she had thought she'd seen. She wasn't very good at drawing but she got the point across, making notes on the side about its liquid form, faint colours and way of disappearing. Lastly she made a small note about thinking she heard a voice, but smudged it soon after. That must have been imagined, right? It couldn't be any different, and if it were the reader would just assume she was crazy. She didn't even know if she wasn't herself, who hears voices in their heads?
"You!" came a voice suddenly as Evie had just put away the notebook. "Get out!"
Towards her came a strangely clad man in blue, and Evie recognized him as one of the lighter sort of Indians that roamed the land. She immediately backed up as he approached calling out Boris in between them. "Stay away from me!" She shouted, not being able to keep a tremor from her voice. "I'll attack you!"
The man just laughed. "I can take anything you scum throw at me. Get out now, you are not welcome here!"The man drew his own apriball and released and tough-looking Wartortle. "Kani, use bite!" He ordered.
"Boris, use vine whip to grab him," Evie instructed just as quickly. "And it's you who's the scum," she said angrily. "Your sort are savages, and thieving savages at that!" Boris avoided the Wartortle that was charging towards him and wrapped both of his vines around the shield. He then swung it around and released it, leaving it to fly off into the cavern. Unfortunately for them though it landed in a pool of water.
"You are the deluded ones," the man countered."Thinking you can right the world, that the world is yours for the taking! Well, we're not going to stand for that, Kani use rapid spin!" The Wartortle span out of pool it was hiding in straight towards Boris and struck him dead on. Boris was propelled away but thankfully, due to how heavy he was, he didn't get very far.
"Boris counter with Petal Dance!" Evie ordered. It was a move they'd only just discovered he possesses, it had been labeled in the book as a special move and Evie had been quite proud her Ivysaur had it and had been dying to show it off. Now seemed to be the time, to teach the rude savage a lesson. Pink petals came out of Boris' flower and spiraled into the air before they launched at the Wartortle. The native did call out for his Pokémon to use withdraw but it was too late and the Wartortle got hit full-on with the attack. Evie could see, with satisfaction, that it took a great toll on him. She was getting the hang of this battling thing!
"Use rapid spin again Kani," the Indian ordered and Wartortle rose up again, spinning rapidly.
'Counter it with vine whip," Evie ordered. The vines shot from Boris' flower again and wrapped around Wartortle. The momentum almost swept Boris off his feet but again his heaviness saved him and he was able to propel the Wartortle to the ground, using its own movement to guide it. The water Pokémon didn't get up after that.
The man called his Pokémon back into its apricorn and approached Evie, who quickly stepped back. "I'm sorry, seeing your battling has made me realize that I wrongly accused you."
"Wrongly accused me of what?" Evie demanded, thinking he had simply been prejudiced against her.
"There's this tribe that came here earlier, the Zettai-Tekina tribe, whose ideals far from match with ours, I mistook you for one of them. It was my mistake, can I make it up to you by escorting you to the city?" he offered.
"No thank you," Evie quickly declined. "I'll be on my way now." She rudely pushed past him (with a generous amount of space in-between) and kept Boris out of his ball just in case. You never knew what those people might do with your back turned.
((I'm sorry, this is far from the quality I want my posts to be, but it's the best I can do at the moment.))
