Pokémon Legends: Liberation (Open)

[Avalite]

Driftveil Entrance: Azucena

Team Plasma were going to kill her. The amount of Duckletts being grilled today alone would put a target on her head if they found out. Azucena hadn't realized how much they'd gone through until this thought occurred.

Luckily before she could feel any sort of fear, Moze arrived. "I have no idea." She turned to face him, looking both happy and tired. Customer service got harder the more you did it. She kept trying to avoid using the same phrases over and over again as they started to sound fake, but it didn't help. It was hard to let someone know you were happy they were giving you money when you spent the day being handed money, saying thank you over and over again.

"Maybe Azucena's Outdoor Grill?" She looked over at K-Rok who gave her the thumbs down.

"Right. Then I have no idea."  

[Jump Einatz]

"No idea, huh?" Moze rubbed his chin. "That's cool," he reassured her. "Can't rush these things, you've gotta stick to the beat."

Moze to See-Sal

Moze: found grill n tunes at the bridge
Moze: hungry yet?

One quick text later and he found himself waiting again. It wasn't a problem, as Moze wasn't an impatient man. He founds way to pass the time. Like small talk with strangers. "What's an Azucena?"  

[Klarp Glornharm]

Bacon's nose took them on a pretty weird route, that eventually wound up on Route 6. The pokemon led the way up it, with wild adventures and battles unfolding, often with other Pokemon while Bacon held the scent. These, of course, were nowhere near as crazy as Sal's, but the remains of her travels were to be seen.

Fortunately, he didn't have to travel the whole route before Robby spotted Salieri floating back along the route, following the river's current on some kinda raft. The obese lad paused a moment, very specifically remembering seeing rocks, and briefly let the question come to mind of how good Sal was at rafting.

The thought was ignored, and Robby turned, following at about the same speed the raft traveled, and called to it. "Hey Sally! Y'ain't doin' anythin' crazy, are ya?"  

[Jump Einatz]

The raft was coasting up to the point where Route 6 merged with the northern entrance to Driftveil. In theory, Salieri could keep riding it and get ejected out into the ocean. It was a theory she didn't want to test.

"Oh, hey Robby." Salieri returned the rest of her pokemon to her pokeballs, preparing to disembark. The last she'd seen of Robby was at the debacle with N. The obese lad had been firmly on the "do not beat up friends" side of the argument, but he hadn't tried scolding her. In Sal's book, Robby was still in her good graces, even if she didn't agree with him.

Crazy? She wondered if Robby was alluding to Henrietta's mention of her "episodes". One might consider planning to confront the pirate captain who tried to kidnap her brother earlier after the racist mayor banned her from fighting somewhat crazy.

"I don't know." Sal teetered to the edge of the raft, ready to jump onto Robby's side of the bank when she got close enough. "Define crazy."  

[Avalite]

"I'm Azucena." She walked over to where Moze had seated himself and made a gesture toward her stock. "Can I get you anything while you're waiting, sir?"  

[Klarp Glornharm]

That was a good question. Sal didn't seem angry with him, which was good. It meant they could still work properly as a team. More or less. As long as Henrietta wasn't around...

Crap.

"Crazy... I dunno. Y'ain't takin' on an army? Or, like, thirty ninjas, or sixty-four pirates or somethin' by yourself, right? Or the government, y'ain't about to do somethin' that might piss them off, are ya? Cause that might bite us all in the a**."

It was hard to define crazy properly. But for them? That sounded about right.  

[Jump Einatz]

Driftveil Entrance: Moze

"Ah, sorry." Compared to some other names he had heard, Azucena wasn't that farfetched. Moze looked to where Azucena pointed. It wasn't a wide selection, and his vegetarianism limited him even more. But he'd still stick around to eat what she was cooking.

"May I please have some water?" Starting dinner now would mean less room in his stomach for when Salieri arrived. "...do you have vegetarian options?"

Route 6: Salieri

"Um..." Technically, she only planned on confronting one pirate, even if he did have a small army of pirates at his disposal. And technically, she'd really be pissing off Clay and not the government at large. It was her battle, not something that she'd involve the rest of the Legends Crew with. The last thing she needed was for someone to berate her for going gung-ho. "...no?"

Sal took one big step to get onto dry land. The raft kept going downstream, and would eventually fall apart when it hit enough rocks and rapids. She dusted off her pants and looked up to Robby.

"Why? You think I'm about to do something crazy, don't you?" she asked with a slightly accusing tone. "Because I'm the loose cannon. Of course. Everybody thinks I'm addicted to fighting or something. I do other things too."

She huffed in annoyance, thinking back to Henrietta's rant. Her eyes wandered down to the books tucked under her arm, and she tacked on, "And I didn't steal these, either."  

[Klarp Glornharm]

"I didn't think you were. Until now." Robby replied, shaking his head as he moved along. He didn't know if he should mention that he also now thought that she had stolen those books. She'd get mad if he did, probably.

"Y'ain't gonna do somethin' stupid alone. Y'don't wanna get Henrietta? Fine. Tell me what you're gonna do so I know if we need anyone else." He hoped his tone made it clear that he was coming along, even if she somehow managed to toss him all the way to Kanto.

Bacon followed behind, dealing with whatever wild pokemon sprang up.  

[Jump Einatz]

Now Sal wished she hadn't jumped off that raft. If she had gone farther downstream, she could have gotten to the harbor and made her way all around to the Basculin Bowl without being spotted by anybody she knew.

Wow girl, that's a little extreme. Salieri didn't feel like anyone would understand her plight. The familiar feeling of persecution and exclusion because of something about herself she couldn't control, it was true that it drove her. But there was something else to it, something more personal.

She sighed and furrowed her brow at Robby. There was no use lying to him. The boy was like an empath sometimes. Maybe it was because of his mastery when it came to understanding flavors. Or something like that. C'mon Sal, quit thinking like Moze.

"It's not stupid," Sal told him as they kept walking, getting closer to town. Fortunately, there was no gate at the north end of Driftveil, which meant no long check-in. "Just a little revenge. That's something I've got to do myself. So 'we' don't need to worry about anything, alright?"  

[Avalite]

"Right away." Azucena took a peek at her stock when she got the water. No vegetarian options. She switched to a bigger glass of water and made her way over to Moze.

"I will be right back."  

[Klarp Glornharm]

Robby frowned. Revenge didn't seem like something worth it. Especially considering it could possibly get her killed, if it was one of those things where you challenge someone. Which seemed like the sort of thing Sal might do.

"Sounds stupid to me." The lad replied simply, deciding to be straightforward with how he felt about revenge. Even "a little." "I mean, 'snot like I gotta do anythin' else. Unless WL's doin' somethin' stupid too. If ya really wanna do it all yourself, I c'n just stay to make sure you don't get yourself killed."

But he was going along. That much was pretty much certain in his mind. After all, someone had to make sure people were responsible. And that hopefully meant he wouldn't have to be checking on TK, Henrietta, or Wayne at that exact moment.  

[Jump Einatz]

Driftveil Entrance: Moze

"Thank you." A twinkle appeared in his eye when he spotted Ervin with his banjo.

"Would your Maractus mind if I jam with him?" Moze asked Azucena. As if he wasn't clear enough, he pointed to the violin case slung on his shoulder with a sheepish grin.

Route 6: Salieri

Salieri stopped in her tracks in order to glare into Robby's eyes, testing his mettle. Even if he didn't seem like it, Robby Tobb was handy in a fight. If push came to shove, which Salieri intended to avoid due to the threat of Clay looming over her head, there was no doubting that she'd rather have Robby around than not.

But he wasn't motivated to help her, or at least not her cause. Which meant he could swing the other way at any moment. There'd be major interference if he tattled on her. And he had no idea what she was trying to do.

"If you want to watch my back, tag along. If you tell anybody else where we're going or why, I'll make you eat your own foot."

It wasn't stated in a threatening way, more as a matter-of-fact. Salieri shrugged, as if to say "Deal with it", and continued walking. "It's on the other end of town."  

[Klarp Glornharm]

Robby stared normally back into Sal's eyes when she glared at him. He wasn't exactly aware that she was testing his mettle, but it seemed like the right thing to do when she glared.

"Alright, I won't tell anyone." He said after a moment of what would look like considering the offer, and then would proceed to follow Sally to her destination. "Just don't start killin' people."  

[Jump Einatz]

Salieri rolled her eyes. Why did everyone keep saying that? Do they actually think I'm gonna kill somebody? "Shut up," she replied curtly, marching along towards the Basculin Bowl.

There was no denying that Salieri enjoyed delivering pain to people she felt deserved it. But taking a life, that wasn't how to do it. Only cowards take the lives of others when they're not laid out on the table. She felt that if you really wanted to deliver pain, you'd let her victim live with it. Revenge wasn't worth the dishonor of killing a man. Besides-

"I'm not looking for a fight, not yet...the Mayor's got his eyes on me. He says if I step out of line, there'll be hell to pay." She cracked her neck. "I'm just looking for a chat."  

[Avalite]

"Yeah, go for it," Azucena said as she hurried off.