Deep in the forest between Celadon and Saffron City, a large tree grows before a small clearing still sheltered by the canopy. A small stream burbles nearby. Arezu has chosen this location to make her secret base, a treehouse.
With the aid of her pokemon, she created a simple treehouse with a small loft inside. The inside is stuffed with items purchased at nearby cities. Outside is a small porch, with a short bridge connecting to a large, flat platform where pokemon can land or lay on.
Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2018 7:05 pm
Aʀᴇᴢᴜ L. K ᴀ ᴛ ᴢ tttcciiiiicc
Arezu then spent the next ten minutes with Hakuren figuring out what a "good tree" in a "good spot" meant. Some of the points were obvious: be in a location well off the beaten path, have a water source nearby, to name a few. As they kept going, they realized that the layout of the branches would be important too- there had to be enough support, but also enough room for the base itself.
At one point they thought they'd found a good tree, but then when Arezu let Celebi out to see she declared the tree unsafe. "This tree is old," she said sadly, stroking the brittle bark, "Making something here would surely be harmful."
From that point on Celebi joined their search, darting from tree to tree and giggling. Hakuren seemed to be more interested in chasing her through the forest than looking for a spot, leaving Arezu to have to reign them in and focus. "I bet this is how Suicune feels," she mumbled to herself.
When they eventually found a spot that the three of them agreed on, Arezu let out all of her pokemon. They were all either okay with the decision or didn't really care one way or the other, and most of them began exploring the site while Arezu figured out what she needed from them.
Suicune wandered over to where Arezu sat leaned against a tree with Ai curled at her side. "I can't say this is what I expected," he commented, looking at the chosen tree. Arezu glanced up from the notebook where she was making crude sketches. "What, not enough rainbows?" He eased down nearby, idly eyeing the notebook. "I'm just surprised you're doing this at all." Any response she may have given died out when he slowly closed his eyes, and though he responded to Chifaera's climbing into his lap by moving a hand, she knew she wouldn't be getting a response out of him. a*****e was totally trying to get out of helping.
Though the form of the base itself was still in the works, it was clear they would need materials to make it happen. "Ai, could you relay a message? Ask everyone to look for wood we could use? Have them make sure it's actually dead, like fallen trees." The espeon nodded and did as asked. Shiisa took off first, bounding into the trees. Some others followed, or chose to meander about.
"Um, Zuzu?" Celebi floated forward, twining her fingers together. "I was thinking, if you want, I might be able to help the tree grow into the right shape. I still don't... I still feel weak, but I can do it." She revealed a small acorn in her hands that she had brought over to demonstrate. As Arezu watched, the acorn cracked open and sprouted, twisting into the a latticed teardrop shape.
"Celebi, that's amazing!" Hakuren had butted in, staring wide-eyed at the little marvel. Celebi blushed, though it was hardly visible on her pink cheeks, and handed it to Arezu. "It's nothing special, I just helped it along, that's all." The little seedling seemed so delicate in Arezu's hands. She held it up between her and the tree, thinking.
"Is the tree too big a scale for this?" she asked. Celebi nodded. "I can get branches to move a little, but I think...mmm, I think I could help seeds grow to make supports, and meld into the tree." She spoke a little more on how she thought she might help while Arezu turned the seedling in her hands.
"That could be good..." Possibilities were bubbling up and rattling around in her head. Arezu thanked Celebi and dismissed her, returning to her sketches before she got too distracted. So far her best idea was to have one large platform for the base, and one smaller one connected by a ladder to act as a loft. The base would be relatively easy, so she was trying to figure out walls. Little doodles sprouted up in the margins, ideas of what to do with Celebi's offered skills.
Shoot, what about a bathroom? The thought stumped her. None of her pokemon would mind, and she was certainly fine with going in the woods, but it would be a pain to have to go down to the ground every time she needed to go. Plus if she stayed here for any length of time she'd need to somehow dispose of it properly.
"Hey Celebi?" she called out, motioning the pixie closer. "Do you think there might be a way to make some kind of hole that goes down through the tree?" When that explanation clearly didn't translate, Arezu snuck a glance, saw Suicune was still asleep, and added, "You know, like a....a poop tube?" She grinned when she heard the small snort from the supposedly "asleep" Suicune.
Hakuren was not so subtle. "A what!?" He cracked up, flopping on his side. "A poop tube!" he howled, legs flailing in the air. Celebi floated above him, clearly not understanding why it was so funny. In fact, she kind of thought Hakuren might be laughing at the thought that she would be able to do it. It sounded difficult enough to give her pause, but now she wanted to prove to Hakuren that she could. "Of course I can make a... a poop tube!"
This of course sent Hakuren spiraling deeper into laughter.
Around the time Hakuren finally got control of himself, Suicune had pity and informed Arezu that he was capable of doing a relatively permanent purification to a small body of water. In other words, if she filled the bottom of the hole with water, removal wouldn't be too much of an issue. "Between Celebi and I, I'm sure your...needs with be taken care off." It was the closest he had even come to breaking out in a genuine smile and laughter. "Oh shut up," Arezu groaned.
It was at that moment that Shiisa arrived dragging a huge tree trunk behind her. She wore a harness made from the ropes Arezu had bought, tied together by Hikaru who was pushing from the rear. Raphael could be seen floating around the path and setting back to normal any damage done. Celebi went to help him.
"Great job guys," Arezu said, standing and walking over. She gave Shiisa's head a good scratching then helped to untie the ropes. "Okay...now we somehow need to turn this into a bunch of planks." She was a bit lost, but Hikaru stepped to her side. "How long?" The simple question gave Arezu something to think about. She glanced at the dead tree to the living one.
Before she could say anything Celebi called out, "I'll get it!" She zipped up to the tree, floating around the chosen space and estimating. She came back down and discussed with Arezu. They figured out that the support would be better if it was offset from the trunk instead of centered on it, and about the lengths and numbers they'd need for a basic platform.
Arezu knew they would need to worry about struts, supports, cross-beams... and other sorts of things, but she needed to take this one step at a time. While she'd been figuring this out, Enki and Hikaru had taken it upon themselves to shear off the tree's bark. Enki used water shurikens and Hikaru had her hands encased in sharp rocks for slicing. When Arezu gave them the number and dimensions for the planks they got to work slicing the trunk into a rectangular prism and then into boards. Ai helped by moving scraps and finished pieces out of the way.
It was a learning experience. They barely got half of the wood into usable and relatively straight pieces, and only managed that by cutting large and shaving off until even. Arezu had busied herself stamping out a staging ground that mirrored the space they'd be filling up in the tree. They filled it in with the pieces they had and then went off to find more wood. Arezu added sandpaper to her list of things to buy in the city.
By the time the second tree was chopped up it was getting late. Arezu called off the search and everyone gathered around the fire she had going to rest. Those who hadn't helped with the hauling and logging brought water from the nearby stream for drinking and washing off. Arezu revealed a treat she'd brought along for everyone, pouring a mix into some of the water to make lemonade. They settled in for the night, sleeping in a circle around the fire, some of them staying up to keep watch while the others rested.
In the morning Arezu woke up, took one look at the half-finished platform in the grass, and groaned. This was going to be a lot harder than she thought. She roused everyone from sleep and they got to work, taking turns to rest and play so they didn't get burnt out. By late morning they had the first platform laid out along with crossbeams. Arezu pulled from their scrap pile to make brackets.
With everything in place, it was Celebi's turn. She placed a hand on the wood and concentrated, willing the pieces to recognize each other as one. It was easy where they had come from the same tree, and difficult where they had not. The fibers of the wood weaved together where faces met, and though the end result still looked like a gathering of boards from the outside, they were stuck as if glued together. Celebi fell back when she was down, and Arezu caught her.
Ai lifted the platform into the air and flipped it right side up. With Raphael and Hikaru's help they placed it up in the branches. While Ai held it in place they added bits of wood for supports, and Celebi went to each one, willing the wood to connect to the tree on one end and the platform on the other. She and Raphael backed away, and then the purple aura of Ai's psychic faded as she let go. When the platform stayed where it was in the tree some forty feet off the ground everyone cheered.
"Come on!" Celebi called out. She lifted Arezu and Hakuren with psychic and flew them up, then set them down on the platform. They both kicked and jumped and found the whole thing undeniably sturdy. Only then did Arezu sit with her legs dangling over the ledge, sighing with content. "It's coming along, huh? Our new home." Hakuren 'mm-hmm'd', leaning into her side as they looked off into the trees.
After a few minutes Celebi lowered the two to the ground and then everyone took turns being lifted up to see. It would be cramped if they all tried at once, especially after they got some walls up, but it was a good size.
"It's getting late. I think class starts soon." The work on the base had left Hakuren feeling good, but he scowled now. "Seriously, you're still going on about that?" Arezu scowled right back. "Yes. I am. You're welcome to wait here if you want."
She rode Tanjoubi in to the city, wanting to give Shiiisa a rest. He let her off outside the dojo, and she headed inside to the bathroom to change into her uniform, using the sink to wipe off any obvious dirt. The class was about the same as yesterday's, though it felt different wearing a proper uniform this time and it was more difficult due to the aches and pain from yesterday's class. She and Hikaru stayed afterwards to train with the dojo's pokemon, and then Arezu went to the pokemon center for a hot shower and late lunch.
Afterwards she found a hardware store and bought a massive roll of sandpaper. She didn't have the money to buy proper windows, but she did leave gingerly carrying a thrice-wrapped bag of glass shards that were basically scrap. Thankfully Tanjoubi was able to carry the bag in one tassel on their way back to base.
The glass they wouldn't be needing for a while, so Arezu set that off to the side. The sandpaper, however, she pulled out and handed off to a few of her pokemon. Raphael was instrumental in sanding the tough to reach spots that really should have been done before they attached the platform to the tree. He was able to float within reach, and blew away the sawdust when he was done. Suicune helped, summoning a wind that carried it away from the clearing below.
In the meantime the little lumber factory went back to work, this time putting out long planks to use as walls. This time, as planks were finished they were brought up and attached to the base of the platform. A few boards here and there were cut short to leave space for windows.
With everyone's help, they made surprisingly quick progress on the walls. There was one awkward instance where Arezu realized they'd forgotten a door and had to pry off some boards to make room, but it was coming together. The sun was beginning to set by the time Arezu hefted the bag of glass up to the base, along with a handful of seeds. On the floor of the roofless room she spread them out, carefully arranging the glass pieces into mosaic arches. She then placed seeds between the gaps, which Celebi grew into thin branches that wrapped around and held them in place. Each window got fitted into a space in the wall, and did a satisfying job of letting light in, though they couldn't be opened to air the space out.
It was near-dark at that point, and Arezu and Celebi went down in the twilight to join the others around the fire. They were both exhausted, and Arezu let out a muffled moan as she lowered herself into Shiisa's furry side. Her muscles and back ached from being used in ways she never had before at classes and being hunched over working on the base all day.
When she woke in the morning, she swore she could hear her stiff bones creaking. Through force of will she got herself up and doing stretches, then set off on a walk that quickly turned into a jog joined by Sham of all pokemon.
After they got back everyone worked for a few hours in the early morning chill. As it began to get warmer Arezu declared a break time. Everyone peeled off to nap in patches of sunlight or go down to the stream to play. Arezu herself was trying to figure out how to get a loft to work, how to get a roof up, and how to add on some kind of balcony that she belatedly realized she wanted. She also drew up plans to make a second large platform connected to the first mainly as a landing pad for Kouvu or possibly herself.
There were a few things added to her list to buy in the city because she just couldn't figure a way to do without. Hinges and screws, more rope, empty jugs to hold water so she didn't have to go to the stream every time she was thirsty. Some PVC pipes to experiment with for her...bathroom. She picked these things up on her trip to the city for class, and used some wood scraps to put together a chest to hold it all. She was still sleeping on the forest floor instead of inside.
In the end, adding on a porch and loft was easy. The roof was the pain in the a**. It took three tries, and longer than the rest of the tree house combined. The landing platform got made simply because everyone needed breaks from the repeated failures and tedious work. In the meantime Arezu continued to go into the city every day for classes, and was slowly finding that the deep ache in her muscles was fading.
The days had become a blur, and it was a mystery how long it had been when Arezu finally stood in the doorway and realized it was finished. At least, finished enough that it was time to finally spend the money she'd saved up buying things to fill the place. It smelled like sawdust and sunlight.
Hakuren dashed up the stairs to the loft, his high voice shouting, "Dibs!" Arezu smiled and eased herself to the ground, draping an arm over her knee. She felt good.
It took many trips to the city to get everything she needed. Cushions and a mattress, blankets and bedding, brackets for shelves and air-tight containers to hold food. Toiletries, batteries, a supply of honest-to-goodness toilet paper. She didn't really know what to do about actually decorating the space, and chuckled ruefully to think that she'd probably never actually done it before.
She may not have running water, or proper plumbing, or electricity, but that was fine. She got a small gas stove for easy cooking, and set up a water dispenser that wasn't too difficult to re-fill with her pokemon's help. Problems got figured out as they arose, or she adapted.
Celadon's gym leader used grass type pokemon. An easy type to get an advantage over, but also one that had the most tricks up their sleeves. Grass pokemon were versatile in a way that a lot of others weren't. She'd keep her guard up, but Arezu felt confident she could get a win without having to use her the over-leveled half of her team. To prepare for the battle, Arezu had Raphael running drills with Sham and Kouvu.
[ Ha! Catch up, slowpokes~! ] Raphael called, floating -just- high enough that Sham's teeth snap shut on thin air. The whimsicott cackled gayly as Sham fell back to the ground with a thud.
There was no time to rest however, as Kouvu heaved his bulk into the air, snapping his wings with enough lift to send him shooting towards his opponent.
Raphael whooped, creating a small updraft underneath that sent him spiraling away. Sparkling specks were left floating in his wake, and flowed into Kouvu's nose as he sailed through the spot Raphael had just been.
The dragon spasmed in the air, trying and failing to use his wings to twist around, muscles contracting as the powder did its work. His momentum sent him into a tree and then crashing to the ground.
The maneuver had Hakuren cheering from the sidelines, cackling in a very unsportsmanlike manner. Arezu had a mind to ask him to leave, but wanted to see if Sham could tune out the crowd and focus. The lunine had snarled earlier, but now was watching Raphael with a single-minded focus. Sham dashed after Raphael, who was floating in a lazy circle thirty feet up. He pushed off the ground, once again leaping for his foe.
Raphael spun out of the way, again leaving a trail of spores. He giggled again, spinning with glee, and so didn't notice that when Sham hit the tree in his path he hit with his paws instead of his face. The lunine had hit the tree and twisted, then sprung again at Raphael. Raphael's retreat was hasty, a blunt wind pushing him directly away with none of his earlier whimsy.
Sham seemed to hang in the air, his forward motion countering the power of Raphael's gale. Yet when he reached the apex of his jump, his body continued forward, pushing closer. His teeth closed around Raphael's fluff and he began his descent. His scaled paws touched the ground lightly.
"No fair, ribbon-boy! You did not have such flair a moment ago!" Raphael huffed, small limbs flailing. Sham spat him out, making gagging noises after having that cotton stuffed in his mouth. [ Used a wind to keep the powder off me. Oh and.. you didn't know I could fly? ] His vulpine grin spoke to the fact that he'd discovered this recently and kept it hidden just so he could land the surprise.
Sure enough Arezu approached, and while Hakuren split off to help Raphael fix his "hair" and get out the dog spit, the human was more interested in Sham. "So. When were you going to mention you could, what, levitate? Fly?" She crossed her arms with a frustrated smirk.
Sham tilted his head back and forth, as if that answered her question. Even if he could speak to her, he probably wouldn't answer. The habit was familiar. "You really were raised by Suicune." Of course the "changeling" pokemon had picked up on that stupid dog's annoying traits.
"You should practice more, get used to it. Mobility is a huge advantage in a fight." Arezu was just stating it as a fact, but Sham was preening under the comparison he made in his head between him and Flurry. There was still an edge to his brotherly rivalry that had developed after Flurry evolved, even though they had walloped the issues out on the beach.
That day and the others following it flowed from one to the next, punctuated most strongly by visits to the dojo in Saffron. Hikaru had slowly become more comfortable with taking on the occasional mentorship role with the other pokemon there. She had also learned considerable techniques for punching, kicking, and using her momentum efficiently in a way only a hitmonlee, hitmonchan, and hitmontop could. She learned control when sparring with Arezu at the treehouse, needing to be doubly careful to not hurt her trainer.
Arezu flopped back into the giant mushy bean bag chair she'd dragged in all the way from Celadon. "Hhuf~" Her shoes were already on the other side of the treehouse. One of them might have ended up fifty feet down on the ground, actually. She didn't really care right now, tired and just wanting to rest after spending so long at the Halloween fair. There were just... so many people there.
Ai padded over and hopped on, curling up against Arezu's side. The girl rubbed the velvet fur on her head, drifting off to sleep. There would be time to figure things out later, and figure out how and when to contact Jay. She hadn't asked where he had come to the fair from, so she wasn't sure how much of a trip it would be.
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