Welcome to Gaia! ::

Clare nodded to Tsuki's assessment of Kitakami as the two traveled west, speaking up at the mention of unknown evolutions. "Not to mention that Pokemon from different regions seem to learn different moves even when they're the same species. I can only imagine some Pokemon experience the same genetic diversity as people." They decided. "Not that I know much about that, really."

"I can't imagine there would be a lot of options in a single orchard?" They noted, also curious. "Don't they usually grow all the same kinds of apples in an orchard like this?" They asked, looking around for any kind of markings that might indicate different types of apple trees.

Darts glances over at Sub, who was hanging off his shoulders still with the lingering bit of a smirk hovering under his crest as the old man ran off to get away from the blatant display of homosexuality. "Great. Now not only will they find out I'm a harbinger of destruction, but a fruity one at that." He laughs, somewhat tongue in cheek as they watch the old man run off to repress his inner urges. "How disappointed are the rest of the village going to be when he runs off and claims there's going to be a set of gay acrobats only to find nothing of the sort is scheduled?"

Now that they were alone, and Darts had gotten through his morning workout routine, he untangles himself from their slender leader and wipes his crest, the perspiration sticking to it like droplets on a cold bottle of Moo Moo Milk left outside on a hot summer day. He supposed the solid gold headpiece had pores to make it sweat the way it still did, but he wasn't going to investigate too much. "So... what happened, they run out of free apples in the lodge or what?"

"Truth be told it needs a lot more than a shot of tourism, for the exact reason you just said; it's just so remote." Perrin responded to Freth, agreeing with the hybrid's own assessment of Kitakami. When Tristen spoke she would turn her attention back to him and smile. "Actually, yes, I have! It's so nice to see such an inquisitive kid though, you must take your schoolwork seriously. Good." She said, pleased to see Tristen was inquiring about the festival for a school assignment.

"The story I got is fairly similar to the leaflets you probably saw, that is the Loyal Three protected the town from an evil ogre that came down from the mountain to attack the village folk. The three Pokemon had fallen in battle against the ogre but not before driving it back. In commemoration of the Loyal Three's heroism a shrine was erected and a festival celebrated every year in their honor. Now for the part you probably don't see in the leaflets; local folklore says the ogre still lives, its home somewhere up in the aptly named Oni Mountain, oni being another word for demon or ogre. Because of that some believe the ogre could return one day to attack the village with the yearly festival scaring it away each year with the faces of the heroes that defeated it so long ago, the masks people wear." Perrin explained to Tristen, what bits she learned while here.

"Here, check this out." She said, turning her camera around so that Tristen could see the screen on the other side, showing him a picture of a large waterfall, the picture taken from near its base. One could see a large ledge that jut out from the waterfall and just beyond the ledge a cave entrance. Nothing else could really be seen though. "I was warned away from going so far up Oni Mountain but one local says it's that cave where the ogre lives. No one is brave enough to go inside with said person saying a number of years ago one person ventured in and never came out. Who knows if it's true...I wasn't brave enough to go any further." Perrin said with a nervous laugh.

Tristen and Freth listened intently as Perrin talked on about the history of the festival, but what actually had them more intrigued that the ogre was potentially still alive. Tristen and Freth would give a brief glimpse at each other, then looked back at Perrin. Tristen would take a look at the picture Perrin had of the cavern where the ogre allegedly lived. Tristen tried to think for a moment; tempted to go up the mountain himself to investigate. But it’d probably take him all day to scale the mountain and investigate. Even if he had Dragonite help him scale the mountain, there was a lot of mountain to cover, let alone the natural caverns within, all of which if he had to guess were completely unknown to effectively everyone, even the people here in Kitakami more than likely. He’d needed longer than what he had.

“Has…this ogre actually been seen nowadays? Or some sort of sign that something has been around?” Freth then asked curiously.

“And how did you find this out?” Tristen then asked. “Maybe it can give me some sort of idea as to what put in my report. Also is there anyway I can get a copy of that picture you took? Or tell me what way you went so I could get one myself?”

The woman would c**k her eyebrow at Leslie for a second only to quickly realize the problem and laughed at herself. She failed to realize in that moment that she worded things strange. "No no, I didn't mean to say I was assuming you two were on the same Pokemon, just that if you were then what is it or would you two be participating separately because then it's assumed you two have separate Pokemon. Sorry for the confusion my dear."

"I couldn't tell you. We haven't seen anything of it yet. Keiko couldn't get comfortable enough to get any sleep on the bus, so she got all her sleep here. She woke up about half an hour ago, so we haven't had a chance to see anything yet," I explained, patting Keiko's shoulder when those pangs of guilt resurfaced. She'd done nothing wrong and I wasn't going to let her feel like she had.

"We came out here to ask someone for directions," she explained, doing her best to not let her guilt get to her thanks to my non-verbal reassurance. "I've heard some crazy stuff about this place, but I've never actually been here before," she added.

The Giratina hybrid gestures for the two of them to start walking by way of an answer as they head towards the main part of town. "Yeah, I don't think it's heat related, only exertion related... only seems to happen when I'm fighting or working out or something where I'm putting my body through its paces. Like a natural coolant system, but a little bit different than a... human body." They wander the small streets of the town for a little bit as they walk through, and even as someone a bit more used to bigger cities Darts had to admit the place had a bit of charm to it. Kids played in the streets, laughing and giggling as they ran around in the middle of the paved roads, heedless of the threat of any potential cars. It looked like vehicle traffic was a rarity, so they had taken to any and everywhere as their playground. No school today of course fired them and set them out amongst the world without a care. Old dottering missus said their morning 'hello' to anyone they met on their way to getting their washing done, buff-looking gentlemen with crates and baskets made their way towards what Darts presumed was the apple orchards, preparing for a rare half day of work before they got to settle in for the festival.

Speaking of the festival, there were little signs that it was gearing up for full swing here soon. Posters, plastered all over bulletin boards or on the side of the traditional-looking houses heralded its coming 'today, today, today' all of the signs screamed. In between the workers, elderly, and kids, you'd catch sight of someone scrambling off with a sign in their hands or carrying bags of ice, paper lanterns, or some other obviously party-related paraphernalia as they headed off to the area where the festival was to be held later that night. For a moment, Darts gets caught up in the atmosphere of a small town on the precipice of a once-a-year special event. Everyone knew it was coming, but it wasn't time yet so you HAD to act like it was just a normal day. Pretend, even just for a little bit so you could make time pass until the evening.

"I think it's.... charming, in its own way." He answers Sub, as they round the corner, Darts stepping back politely to let a grumpy-looking man hauling two clear sacks of rice noodles towards the festival grounds. "It reminds me a lot of Mymay Village - they would often do festivals and things like this, rooted in tradition. Despite being right next to the seat of the Dragon Clan, or maybe because of that, the people there very much stick to the old ways. They don't get caught up in flash or theatrics until a day like today comes along." The pair of them were now in front of the shop near the Community Center, Peachy's, with goods stocking the shelves full to the brim in expectation of extra business. Darts moves out of the way of a middle-aged man in a suit, who gives him a polite nod, his eyes roving his face and jacket but saying nothing as he bustles off with the morning paper. No intention of buying anything, he still browses the shelves with a curious air as though he might, his red eyes reflecting off the sliding doors of the freezer full of ice cream treats. Something catches his attention, a dusty looking plush sitting on a red cushion. It was mostly spherical, with a point at the top, and two small little nubs on the bottom. It looked all the world like a purple Team Aqua symbol and had clearly been here a while.

"Hey, Sub, you ever seen anything like this before?" He asks, prodding it with an extended golden finger. It squishes gently, meeting his expectations in terms of texture and give.




Darts looks back as Keiko and Ter approach the pair, forgetting all about the plush for a moment to wave to the two Snagems now accompanying them to the convenience stand. "Directions is probably a good idea." He confirms with a laugh. "I have no idea where anything is out here either, I'm just wandering about, as I do." He hears Sub's comment about a honeymoon trip and can't help but comment: "Isn't a honeymoon supposed to involve more.... indoor activities?"