[Expedition] Bumblin' About

[Zakiax]

Let's go! Expedition time!​

Players participating: @Zakiax @PeterPan_da144 @sharkberrypizza @Nym

Trainers participating: Katrina Evergrove
Pokémon participating: 60 (Dawn Rising), 144 (Aqua), 174 (Atlo), 559 (Moonbeam), 680 (Nicippe), 861 (Bubbles)

Trainers participating: Umeki Hayate
Pokémon participating:503 (Penny), 578 (Hopper), 675 (Medusa), 769 (Spinner), 834 (Jumper)

Trainers participating: Matsuda Takahiro
Pokémon participating:527 (Dottie), 534 (Atala)

Trainers participating: Serenity Kalawai'a
Pokémon participating: 575 (Teeny), 964 (Ua)

Expedition area: New Breeze Grasslands

 

[PeterPan_da144]

Hayate was already excited to be on Nauwill. They couldn't wait to see what the new region had in store for everyone to experience. But being away from home had made it harder to do many of their hobbies, so they had started to roam. Doing so allowed them to find out how to go out on Expeditions, and after corralling a few cute Poke'mon from the day care - before Sleepy cleared quarantine - they were finally looking to set out and experience Nauwill. Sleepy was, as usual, sleeping in the dorm, preferring to stay outside of their ball. Hayate had no issue with this.

Today was the first day they would be going on an expedition, and surprisingly, they had managed to group up with some very interesting characters! Serenity Kalawai'a was a well known streamer who sought out Nauwill for similar reasons. Katrina Evergrove, a name Hayate knew from their home region contest circuit. Matsuda Takahiro... Well, while they didn't know much about Takahiro in particular, it seemed they had very similar tastes and vibes. Hayate was excited for that. Finally, they would meet some like minded people, make some friends (hopefully), and find something to occupy themself with.

Already at the meeting point just on the edge of town, Hayate had their small corral of Poke'mon gathered. Spinner on their shoulder, Penny and Medusa playing in the grass, Jumper and Hopper cuddled at their feet. They were taking pictures on their Rotom Phone. Who could pass up such cute little friends?!

 

[Nym]

"Ugh." ​

​

Serenity's views hadn't dropped, but they weren't where she wanted them to be. She had thought they'd spike upon her trip to Nauwill, and for a time they had, but now they had remained at her consistent, stable level. She didn't want that-- if she had, she would have stayed back in Alola, where she was already succeeding. No, she wanted more. More fame, more views, more money. Something tangible to prove she was going further and further, proof that yesterday's Serenity was different from today's. Her viewers had gotten used to her weekly uploads showing the development of Nauwill, and now she was left without much room to grow. If she wanted more, she had to give more, which meant...​

​

An expedition, clearly. It was the one thing Serenity had held off on while settling into the new, barely charted land. She knew to pace herself, leave herself room and backup to pull new views if things grew too quiet. That, and truthfully, Serenity hadn't been ready to explore on her own. Nauwill was wild, untamed by the regularity of normal everyday life and lacking any norm that the other regions have developed. Anything could happen out there, and Serenity had needed time to prepare herself for it. She hadn't been afraid, no, but she wasn't going to risk herself and lose a limb in the process, either. The viewer count remaining in place had been a push forward, but the final nudge had been when she spotted a group forming. Good, she wouldn't be alone! Perfect!​

​

"You two can't come," Serenity murmured under her breath as she recalled Aqua and Lapis and placed their balls onto her nightstand. Teeny squeaked from on top of her bed, uncoiling itself from a lounged, lazy Ua, who had draped an arm over the small poliwag. "Alright, up we go!" Serenity gestured to the two cuddled 'mons, reaching out to pat her disgruntled totodile. ​

​

It took a few minutes to corral the two, but obediently they went, Teeny held in her arms and Ua trailing after her with half-lidded, sleepy eyes. Serenity paused long enough to set her rotom phone up to stream a brief intro before waving a hand for it to trail after her and continue recording. She hadn't planned to be the first one there, nor was she, but she was surprised to realize she was the second one to arrive. ​

​

"Hey!" She greeted the brightly colored trainer, flashing her best smile. Her rotom phone swiveled around her and inserted itself above the two. "It's not live, but it'll be recording the adventure, if that's okay with you?" Serenity was fairly sure she had mentioned that prior to agreeing to the adventure, but just to be sure. "You're Umeki Hayate, right? Your hair is so cool!" ​

 

[sharkberrypizza]

"So hey, you're my group, right!?"

Takahiro shouted enthusiastically from a short distance away, waving one arm in the air as the other stretched toward their rotom-inhabited device hovering only a short distance ahead, a large, slowly blinking arrow where their digital face normally lit the device. That pokémon had saved their ass so many times before; from directions, transcribed messages, and reminders, to just simple wake up alarms for things they didn't even know were scheduled. Its owner was probably a nightmare to keep up with, but they seemed to take it in stride. Maybe the little tech-ghost even enjoyed the companionship - and wasn't that the best thing about life, anyway?

Today though, it was just a simple bit of help finding the people they'd agreed to go beyond the still-blossoming city with. It was so easy to get lost in streets that looked the same. In land that looked the same, but at the same time no, it wasn't really concern that had the reformed team member pairing up with others. It was just so lonely being out there solo sometimes. There had been plenty of time for that solitude before, for several years in fact. It was so much better it was a choice now, and it was one that just didn't sound good.

"Oh hey! You're you! Wait ... wait ... did I need to dress up?"

Breathless laughter trailed the query, obviously a joke, as Takahiro slowed their pace. Finally they joined up with the pair talking between themselves, and in the same motion planted their hands firmly on their knees as if catching themselves.

"Huh? No ... I'm fine ... ran across half the city ... cause I forgot where we were meetin!" they continued, grinning widely - seeming totally unashamed by the confession. It wasn't the first time, and it sure wouldn't be the last. "But seriously, I always wear tank tops? Hate feeling like I can't move around! Pants are okay! How do you stand trapping your arms like that? Never understood it, but I spent a lot of time on boats, so maybe that's why? Haa you're both so cute though! It takes a lot of time to look li---"

Takahiro glanced upward, words trailing off as they finally spotted Serenity's phone hovering only a short distance away.

"Oh hey, right, you're a streamer! Are we live right now?"

Without waiting for an answer they pulled two small spheres off the side of their backpack, and a moment later had their arms full of two pokémon. The cubone was clearly a fusion of some sort, and was only too happy to be hoisted into the air, while the aron seemed to take a mild offence to the gesture, hunkering down a bit and making themselves heavier than they already were.

"Oi everyone! I'm Takahiro! This little guy's Atala, and this - oof - brat's Dottie! Hah - she's a bit stubborn and doesn't like to be picked up much. Guess it makes sense, right?"

 

[PeterPan_da144]

A voice brought their attention back up, meeting with Serenity's. Smiling, Hayate dipped their head in greeting. "That's fine with me," they chuckled, offering a hand. "Umeki Hayate. You can call me Hayate, or Haya. Whichever is easier for you." If she took their hand, they would shake it gently. If not, they would just put it back on their phone, snapping another picture of their Poke'mon before whistling softly. They corraled at their feet.

"Thank you," they tilted their head, braids rustling. "It's quite a bit of upkeep, but really, it is a lot of fun." Their natural hair was short, the braids mostly made of fake festival hair to give length, volume, and color.

Another voice rang out, dragging Hayate's eyes back up and past Serenity. "That must be Takahiro," they mused, tilting their head towards the newcomer. Hayate's own Poke'mon - the two little Poliwag specifically - seemed a slight bit spooked by the absolute radiant energy Takahiro exuded. Sensing this, Hayate recalled them to their balls, for now, and settled for their Nidoran, Nauwillian Wurmple, and Tangel being the only ones out. Spinner was still draped around their shoulder lightly, with Penny sitting at their feet. Medusa waggled their hair, asking to be picked up, so Hayate did. Cuddling the Tangel gently.

Before Hayate could ask if the other was okay, Takahiro seemed to sense their query and answered. Slowly, Hayate's lip began to quiver as the other babbled on. A soft snort at being called cute, followed by a half strangled sound as a hand went to cover their mouth, Hayate watched the other summon two Poke'mon and start off some sort of intro to Serenity's Rotom Phone.

"They might have enough energy for all of us," Hayate snickered playfully to Serenity. "Nice to finally meet you in person, Takahiro, Serenity. I've been looking forward to our expedition."

 

[Zakiax]

She had gotten up early to get ready, last night she had posted on the group finder app looking for people to join her on an expedition into the grasslands. Since arriving to Nauwill she had yet to find her courage to make her way into the unknown and figured it was high time to do so, the pokemon she had she either brought with her or had adopted from the center. It was time for her to actually maybe catch something of her own.

Katrina had been running a few mintues behind the starting time she had placed for the meeting of this group, unable to find something last minute in her room. Which internally she was beating herself up about. She hated others being late and her being the late one was just the worst.

Leaving her dorm room scooping up the poppleen with in her arm she began to fast walk towards the meeting spot. Dawn Rising was keept pace beside. "I appologize, we are a tad late" She spoke as they arrived, seeing the rest of the group already waiting for her at the meeting spot.

She wore a floral patterned shirt that was tied at the bottom, along with a black skirt and black flats, an outfit that would be easy to move in through the grasslands then her normal over the top style she seemed to have daily.

"I am Katrina Evergrove, and this is Dawn Rising," She started her introduction, motioning to the delcatty at her side which had a purple bow around its neck the same color as the purple accents the shiny carried, "And this is Atlo," She introduced the poppleen which just seemed to happily hang content with in her arms.

 

[Nym]

There it was! The energy, the pizazz, the oomph— Takahiro was just the perfect face for the day, exuding more confidence than she had felt from anyone else on the island in the short months she had been there. Where had they been this entire time? She had met Takahiro’s arrival by swiveling on her heels and greeting the trainer with a raised hand, but by the time they had finished their whirlwind of chatter she had broke into a wide, mostly genuine smile. She couldn’t drop the presentation, of course.​

​

“Not live live,” Serenity answered, already moving to Takahiro’s side. “It’s filming, and if you give permission- well, let’s skip that-“ Clearly Takahiro was primed and ready, and Serenity was much more eager to get into it and start performing. ​

​

“Say hiiii, everyone~ ☆ You’ve met Takahiro by now— aren’t they a cutie? Look at their ‘mon! — but we also have with us Haya! And- ah, there’s our last party member.” Her attention flicked to the arriving Katrina, her voice raising enough for the trainer to get the gist of what was going down. If that wasn’t enough then the tilt of her head to the rotom phone swiveling around her should be, she hoped.​

​

“Aaaaa, they’re so cute!” Serenity broke the distance to bend closer towards Dawn Rising, clutching Teeny a little tighter in her arms while admiring the ribbon that nicely accented the delcatty’s already existing shades of purple. “Good taste,” she praised Katrina. Ah, right, she hadn’t introduced her mons, either.​

​

“I’m Serenity, and the little ‘dile over here,” she motioned behind her, where her totodile had already dozed off. “Is Ua. And the poliwag is Teeny~ They’re my newest addition to the team, and a little shy, too, so they’re going to stay wrapped up safely until it’s go time!”​

​

She stood, winked towards her rotom phone as she held Teeny just a little higher against her chest, before turning back to her group. “That’s everyone right? Have any of you gone expediting before? This is our first time; I meant to go earlier, but it took awhile to set everything up. Lots of rules on what I can’t film, what I can, how to film— ‘y’know. Mysterious legal stuff. Anyway! I’m super excited!~ ☆“​

 

[sharkberrypizza]

"Hey! I think we talked on the phone a little while everything was getting set up. Dawn's a really pretty name ..."

Though their attention had been both friendly and toward greeting the last of their group, it wasn't long before the outspoken trainer had taken to distantly fawning over everyone's pokémon in turn - from the tiny little aptly-named (at least, in Takahiro's opinion) Teeny, to the, well ...

"but, uh, there could be some dangerous stuff out there. Everyone's ready for that - right? I've only been out a couple of times but deeeeefinitely expect to come back needing a bath, and to bathe your friends too."

They flicked the very top of Atala's bone-clad skull as added punctuation, grinning widely as the little cubone positively pouted in response, clutching bone to chest tighter as they nonetheless continued perching on their trainer's arm.

"Took this little guy like a whole week to get all the mud out of his, you ... you know, skull? Helmet? Okay gotta admit, no idea what to call that."

 

[Zakiax]

Katrina gave a small wave and a smile as she was introduced to the camera. "I'm glad you like it" she replied to Serenity. "Dawn Rising and I really like to dress up"

Katrina made note of all the trainers names, knowing well she would probabally forget the pokemons unless she started to phsycially interact with them later.

"Today will be my first, and I'm not sure what to expect." She responded. "Since arrving we really havn't had a chance to get out yet. I couldn't go anywhere with out Dawn Rising, so I had to wait till she was out of quarentine. I've only adopted a couple of friends so I'm hoping today that I'll be able to catch a new one."

 

[Nym]

“Yeah, I read the papers,” Serenity answered. She understood fully that reading a pamphlet and guide was far different than the actual thing, especially from her own days traveling Poni Island back home, but Serenity had already hoped for a little something engaging. For her videos, of course, but more for herself, too. She found herself already missing the crashing of waves and thick, dense forests that had covered selected areas where tourists weren’t welcomed on Alola. Nauwill reminded her of home, sometimes, if she squinted hard enough.​

​

“It’s my first too.” She raised her arms above her head and threaded her fingers together, stretching until she felt a pop in her spine. “But I promise I’ll do my part. I’m pretty good with maps, too, if we want to chart our path so we can get home easier.” ​

​

Her eyes dragged to Takahiro’s cubone, fondly scrunching her nose towards the small ‘mon. “I bet that was a wrestle. Ua here fights me tooth and nail anytime I try.”​