Day 191 | A boy, a dog, and a goat walk into a...

[chosenbylife]

Who: Calem and YOU!
Open: Like a BOOK
When: Day 191!
Where: Near the entrance to Bastion
Format: Initial post is prose but if you'd prefer brackets I'll follow format!
What: After making his way to Bastion from the Skyway, Calem and his Pokemon try and make sense of things

Calem had NO idea what was going on. Waking up in some strange place with no memory of how he got there... well it wasn't what one would call normal by any means. Especially when said strange place seemed to involve a whole lot of small islands irrationally floating about.  His first concern was his pokemon however, and he immediately let his Lucario out of his ball. Much to his relief his trusted friend was alright and seemed to confirm that there was nothing wrong with his other pokemon's auras either. There was a light in the distance, though it wasn't TOO far. Without any better ideas he decided to make his way there in hopes it was some kind of civilization.

So some time later a tall young man rides through the entrance of Bastion on what appears to be a very large leafy goat, with a bipedal blue dog sitting behind him.   Because Calem COULD have walked yes but all those floating islands just seamed really unsafe.  The smart choice was to let his Gogoat take the lead.  He was already skilled at traversing dangerous terrain, hopping from rock to rock, AND getting over those small ledges that were the bane of every trainer.  It was really much safer this way.  Plus even in circumstances like this he liked arriving to new places in style.  And riding in atop a freshly pruned Gogoat with a colorful brand new saddle was just about as classy as you could get.

Though there WERE other concerning things to think about of course.  He caught glimpses of unfamiliar creatures on his way here and was busy looking through his pokedex as Gogoat plodded onward.  He couldn't find any entries that looked like what he'd seen though.  With a sigh he closed the holographic device and scanned the area for someone with some answers.

"Pardon me!" he called out to someone passing by, sliding off his mount in the process (it was only polite), though Lucario remained seated up there, "Could you tell me where the nearest pokemon center is? Or... at least where I am?"

Honestly Calem was hoping for 'Dream'.  Floating Islands couldn't be normal... as fascinating as they were.

Later on in the day he might be found wandering around Bastion, trying to get a feel of the lay of the town and come to terms with things, his Lucario marching loyally beside him.  The observant might even notice the unusual looking key ring that was hooked onto Calem's bag.  A key ring that seemed to have a mind of her own as she jingled energetically any anyone who passed by.

Comments

[dragonform]

He turns to Gogoat and Lucario offering them both a polite greeting. While they may have looked like animals to most people, Ryu knew that Pokemon were at least as intelligent as most people, if not more so. With that done, he returns his attention to Calem. "I'm Ryu, by the way. So do you know Hilda or AZ?" He asks, curious to find out about the newcomer.

Of course, just because someone is a Pokemon trainer doesn't mean they know all Pokemon trainers, but the boy's a little inept like that sometimes.

[chosenbylife]

They both clearly got his meaning, Gogoat stomping his front hooves a bit and Lucario nodded solemnly in return.

"Pleasure to meet you Ryu, my name is Calem," he replied, laughing a little at the question. He traveled abroad quite a bit so he was used to hearing ones like that. If he came from Kalos then clearly he knew who this random friend of theirs was!

"Actually I do know AZ. I met him several times on my journey... he's definitely an interesting person..." a mysterious one too, "And by Hilda do you mean the tiny young lady with the amazing hair? I only just met her briefly."

[dragonform]

He nods at his description of the two. AZ certainly was interesting. He carried himself much like another friend he once knew. A man with a lot of blood on his hands, and the guilt to match. "I do. Though I don't know much about hair being amazing." He answered with a shy smile.

It's pretty clear about Ryu's state of dress that the boy doesn't really know the first thing about fashion, especially since it looks like his coat and pants have had some light patching done on them here and there. "So you've traveled a lot as well?" He asks with a bit of curiosity. Well, at least they have that in common!

[chosenbylife]

Yes... yes... Calem has been putting up an absolutely heroic effort not to mention the truly deplorable state of that... ensemble Ryu's got for himself there. It's incredibly hard but he's noticed that most of the people around here did not respond so well to his... opinions.

"I have yes! When I was younger I traveled all over the world with my mother! She's a famous Ryhorn racer," he smiles fondly. He was very proud of his mother, and that fact was fairly obvious, "Now that I'm a trainer I've only really journeyed around my own home region of Kalos by myself, but I'd love to visit other regions as well."

[dragonform]

It's not as though Ryu would take any particular offense to Calem's opinions on his attire. After all, he would be mostly right. Ryu definitely looks like someone who dresses for utility and function in mind, not so much any sort of style. "I've been all over my world as well. Helping friends and a few personal reasons aside." He answers, feeling a slight pang on hearing about his mother, but it fades quickly. As far as Ryu is concerned, Rei and Teepo are his family, and they're all the family he would ever need.

"Well, there will be plenty to explore here, and I'm sure the other Pokemon that are already here will be happy to have more of their own kind." He explains. The sheer variety of Pokemon out there is a little lost on him, but he figures they may still have some common ground! "Do all trainers end up traveling as you have?"

[chosenbylife]

"All? No, not quite," he shakes his head, "Being a trainer is about the journey! And most trainers do travel at least a little. But traveling can be hard and dangerous. It takes a strong will and lots of determination to keep going sometimes. Not everyone is up to that challenge, or some are prevented somehow."

Not all trainers were as lucky as he was, and had such a strong group of people supporting him. Sometimes he wondered that if he was all by himself if ever would have gotten as far as he did.

"Oh would you do me a favor and just... sit down for a moment?" He gestured towards a random bench/rock/stump/something of a convenient height to sit upon, "Just for a minute or two."

Lucario seemed to know what Calem is thinking and just shook his head.

[dragonform]

"Huh? Uh... Sure." He responds, heeding Calem's request. There was a nearby stump that seemed flat and comfortable enough to take a seat on. "I know that feeling. If it wasn't for my friends, I probably would have been lost, or worse." His answer comes after he turns his attention back to Calem.

It's certainly true, for all the power he has as a member of the Brood, that power would mean nothing if his friends didn't show him the way. Heck, he would have never come to use it unless Nina was in danger. Ryu is drawn out of his reflection by Lucario's reaction. Now he's a little curious as to just why Calem asked him to sit.

[chosenbylife]

"My friends are my backbone too. Both my human ones AND my pokemon ones," he smiled as he walked behind him, fishing around in his bag for something, "Sometimes I wonder how they put up with me!"

Even he knew he occasionally had a difficult to get along with personality. Like his frequent comments in regards to clothing or his attempts to fix hair if it bugs him too much. Speaking of which... he found what he was looking for.

"Now hold still, this won't take long..." he warned as he put his brush to Ryu's blue head. Shonen spikes are the worst.

[dragonform]

Try as you might Calem, his hair is ridiculously resilient. In fact he had one monster of a cow lick when he was a child. It wasn't until he grew a little older that he finally got his shonen spikes, and he found he liked his hair a bit more like this. There was nothing to do for the color, though. Even back in his world, he got some strange looks now and again for the color of his hair.

"You can try, but even Nina couldn't get my hair to settle down once it grew out like this. Besides... Are you sure now is the wisest time to do something like this?" He asks, not that he necessarily minds. His observance of social customs and personal space is a little skewed, while he lets in more people than a regular person might, he tends to be a bit more cautious about offending other people in any capacity.

[chosenbylife]

Calem doesn't bat an eye at the color. Unnatural hair color is like a thing where he's from. No his issue was with that other thing. Hair color you can not help, shonen spike messes can be dealt with... usually.

"Something must be done though! The angles of your hair threaten anyone whose eyes are an inch or two above the level of your own!" he exclaimed.

Though... Ryu was correct in that his hair was quite... stuck in it's ways. It was a marvel. Calem couldn't detect a hint of product in it and yet there those spikes were... standing tall and defiant, like an Onix refusing to budge before the winds of a hurricane. It would be inspiring if it wasn't so frustrating.

"And I am not a wise person- stop nodding Lucario! You shouldn't agree with that!" he caught his pokemon in the corner of his eye who then sheepishly looked away. He just sighed afterwards and dropped his arm, "But maybe you're right... It's just I've been thinking about how to fix all THIS... this mess of things and I can't think of anything and I suppose I just saw your hair as something I COULD fix. So I must apologize for attempting to use your head as a form of stress relief."

[dragonform]

Calem's comments earn a small laugh out of Ryu. Given how short he is, that's a pretty high number of people his spiky hair could be a threat to. Good thing there aren't any certain blue robots wandering around the Bastion, right? "It's alright. People cope with stress in different ways, especially something as jarring as the Calamity." Though in hindight, jarring would be the understatement of the century as to what's described as the end of all worlds.

"Actually, being able to fix hair is something that we could definitely use. I don't think anyone else knows how to do that, and I think it would bring at least some comfort to have a normal activity like this be available for them." While Ryu's hair has changed very little since he first arrived, aside from being a little longer, there were those who were here longer still. It's those people he thinks could benefit most from Calem's talents.

"You're not alone in your thoughts, though. I don't think there's a day that goes by that I wish my power could be used to reverse what's happened here."