Beginner RP: K'sariya Yeboah (K'sariya)

Beginner RP — K'sariya Yeboah — Non-Battle Post #17

Machop's simplistic, almost child-like mental processes warmed up slowly as he came fully awake, but he was dimly aware that the heavy bulk of Invictus's head would not allow him to stand given his weakened state. Instead, he stared back at his supposed saviour, sizing the odd creature up properly now.

Never before had such a strange Pokémon as his enigmatic benefactor been seen in this place: its muscles were weaker by far than Machop's own; it had thin pink skin and was mostly covered in some kind of rustling leafy carapace. It seemed ill-suited for the cold. Yet still it survived here. It had allies, strong allies, who were willing to do as it said. And it spoke in such a wide assortment of sounds, as though its voice were desgned for variety.

Words were not comprehensible to Machop, of course... But that didn't matter. The stranger's terse response gave the clear impression of a kindred spirit: one who wasted nothing— not even syllables— surely knew what it was to live with the bare minimum. Instinctively, Machop knew that a weak creature like K'sariya was resourceful to survive where Machop himself had failed. If he had not at first believed that here was one of the Pokémon he owed his life to, he was convinced of such now: in the simple, straightforward mind of Machop, that was all he needed to know, and he wasted no more of his limited capacities of thought on the matter.

One hand extends in K'sariya's direction, the simplistic— almost child-like— gesture serving as a universal 'come here,' complete with pantomimed grabbing motion. His intention was simple, and needed no words; but in words it would be something like: he was going to join this team that his saviours made up, and repay a hundredfold the debt he owed.

But for now... He needed to sleep...

Zzz...

Current Encounter: Machop

Machop: 6.39% [SLP]
Invictus: 100% [SLP][/SPOILER]

~~Park Run Statistics~~

• Trainer Name: K'sariya Yeboah
  
  
• Location: Enigma Ruins | "Mt. Oktori"
  
  
• Remaining Encounters: 1
  
  
• Characters Written by Trainer (counting towards present encounter): 33,580
  
  
• Active Effects: None
  
  
• Pokémon Stats:
  Invictus the Lairon — Currently Out of Poké Ball
  HP: 100% [SLP]
  Gender: Female
  Ability: Rock Head
  Nature: Brave
  TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: TM26 Earthquake, BM Head Smash
  
  Raigho the Zweilous — Currently Out of Poké Ball
  HP: 54.59% [SLP]
  Gender: Male
  Ability: Hustle
  Nature: Hasty
  TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: TM100 Flamethrower, TM31 Dark Pulse
  
  
• Total Items:
  Park Ball x3
  
  
• Total Captured Pokémon:
  None yet!

 

She is beckoned and her eyes grow a bit wider. Hands gently slide beneath Raigho's draconian skulls and lowers them softly to the floor. She scoots a bit closer. Slender arm extends and she takes the clenching hand. His flesh is cool, but not freezing, and that makes all the difference to the woman. K'sariya isn't necessarily surprised by the depth of emotion swirling enigmatically in amber orbs but is still entranced by it. The Machop falls back to sleep even as she feels the leathery skin of his palm.

Crested head slumping back against iron hide rouses Invictus. Iron skull raises slowly and swings from side to side. Bright blue eyes take in the sleeping form and linked hands. K'sariya lets go. Lips purse with thought but she remains silent.

She follows the Lairon's gaze once it rests somewhere in particular. Small smile that threatens to surface is stifled as he looks on Tella. Hardship was... binding, to say at the least, and the lengths that the younger one had gone to in an attempt to watch after her in the Park drew her in. It'd been years since she'd felt like someone had cared enough. She rationalizes it with it being the Ranger's job--K'sariya was a liability, perhaps Tella's liability in the corporate eye. And it was likely she'd never see the Ranger again.

So her mission becomes to make it through. K'sariya heaves herself to her feet. Stiff muscles protest the motion, perturbed at her night spent with tailbone resting against the stone floor. She approaches Tella's Pokemon, looking to those who are awake and giving her an inquiring nod, unsure of if she should wake her.​

 

Beginner RP — K'sariya Yeboah — Non-Battle Post #18

None of Tella's Pokémon move to impede K'sariya, or even to indicate any mistrust. Whether this is because they trust Tella's judgment in deciding that K'sariya was not a threat, or because they trust Tella to be able to defend herself in the event of a misunderstanding, none but they could say; regardless, it is clear that Tella's Pokémon trust their Trainer explicitly.

Ranger's tired eyes open; twin orbs, their irises now faded from dull blue to almost grey, seem somehow empty. A toll has been taken on the will behind those eyes, a toll that only time would restore. Movement towards her triggers a survival instinct: Tella grabs for the closest object— seeking comfort? Or a weapon?— and her hand closes on a fistful of her Blaziken's feathers.

"Blaaaze," the Fire-type crows with a certain degree of sleepy crossness, before rolling over to face away from Tella and appearing to resume his slumber.

Tella's darting eyes calm somewhat at the reminder that her partners are here, that she is safe. Head turns, bringing washed-out grey-blue gaze to bear on K'sariya. "...Thank you," she says simply, as though the words alone could encompass her appreciation for K'sariya's handling of the situation when Tella's own strength gave out. She had known what it meant when she embarked on this mission, and as much as she had chosen to protect K'sariya, she had placed her own safety in the older woman's hands— and unlike others in Tella's past, K'sariya had not let her down.

With difficulty, the young Ranger rises and makes her way over to the unconscious Machop with steps that are steady and slow— it is all she can do to avoid stumbling. She kneels next to the sleeping Pokémon, and places a gentle hand on his forehead. With a facial expression that encompassed the tenderness that she feels toward all Pokémon but that no human has ever earned from her, she expends what little power she has left at this moment to tap into the first technique she ever learned: to sense a person or Pokémon's aura, and thereby determine its health and mood.

After three long seconds of kneeling there, Tella stands, again with a strained quality to her motions that betrays her bone-deep exhaustion. "K'sariya. This Machop... I don't know how you got through to him so quickly, but you've earned his undying loyalty. He'll follow you to the ends of the earth if you ask him."

She treads slowy back over to Blaze, and sits down next to him in the bubble of warmth that surrounds the Blaziken. "He'll need proper medical care, though. His blood vessels are damaged by frostbite; he only survived because he's hardier than even most Machop. He can't be moved in the ordinary way, but..."

Tiredly but with a hint of approval underpinning her voice, the Ranger gestures at the sleeping Machop. "Go ahead. You've earned his respect, not by battling but by going through hell to save his life. This is how the Park works: somehow I doubt he'll object to a Poké ball."

Current Encounter: Machop

Machop: 6.39% [SLP]
Invictus: 100%[/SPOILER]

~~Park Run Statistics~~

• Trainer Name: K'sariya Yeboah
  
  
• Location: Enigma Ruins | "Mt. Oktori"
  
  
• Remaining Encounters: 1
  
  
• Characters Written by Trainer (counting towards present encounter): 33,580
  
  
• Active Effects: None
  
  
• Pokémon Stats:
  Invictus the Lairon — Currently Out of Poké Ball
  HP: 100%
  Gender: Female
  Ability: Rock Head
  Nature: Brave
  TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: TM26 Earthquake, BM Head Smash
  
  Raigho the Zweilous — Currently Out of Poké Ball
  HP: 54.59% [SLP]
  Gender: Male
  Ability: Hustle
  Nature: Hasty
  TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: TM100 Flamethrower, TM31 Dark Pulse
  
  
• Total Items:
  Park Ball x3
  
  
• Total Captured Pokémon:
  None yet!

 

K'sariya jumps at the way Tella's hand flies defensively for what she can only assume is a weapon, though she flinches not out of inherent fear but for her own means of defending herself. Hand rests on her belt instinctively, forgetting in that moment of impulse that they already rest behind her. The only weapon the Ranger finds, however, is a sleepy Blaziken, who rolls over with a sleepy drawl. K'sariya cannot suppress the slightest of smirks that twitches at the corner of her lips at the sight.

The depth of the Ranger's "thank you" is the only thing that takes her by surprise. Rarely had she ever seen such genuine appreciation in the features of another before. It twists her heart to travel back to the last moment she'd received such a gift. Expression falters, though not unkindly, and there is a flash of sadness in her eyes before she reigns visage back under her control. The Trainer gives a curt, detached nod, reminding herself of where she was and of the fact that she would never return after today.

She watches the woman slowly rise and finds it amazing that she can even stand at all. Arms fold and she turns to watch as the other makes her way difficultly over to the Machop. K'sariya shakes her head with puzzlement as the other kneels beside the pale-skinned creature. Tella's strength is other-worldly in a way that she cannot begin to fathom. But some things in this world are simply strange. The streets have taught her that much. There are miracles and spectacular feats of strength every day, independent of what any philosophy theorized caused them. The Ranger was one of those feats.

Brow raises as the Ranger turns back to her. Hell, K'sariya isn't even sure how. But such is the way of things, of life. Eyes quietly follow Tella as she returns to her Pokemon. Dark-skinned femme takes in the meaning of her words. Countenance furrows with indecision as she looks over at the sleeping creature.

Her living situation was... bleak. Her life in general was not the brightest by any means. She remembers the way Raigho and Invictus had cherished the sun earlier, before they'd entered the ruins, and worries that this one will only end up the same. But she thinks of the way that Tella had phrased it. He would follow you to the ends of the earth. And K'sariya decides that that kind of loyalty is not something that she will take for granted.

Hesitation fades and gives way to a firm nod. Hand slips down to reach into her bag and she pulls the Park Ball from its depths. She takes a deep breath before clicking the button, and with a gentle, under handed toss, casts it the Machop's way.​

 

Beginner RP — K'sariya Yeboah — Non-Battle Post #19

Mottled Park Ball bounces harmlessly off of crested head, not even waking Machop from deep recuperative slumber. Red light emerges to cover grey body, then disappears into the capsule along with the wild Pokémon. There is no twitching of the ball, no iconic sign of the struggle to escape that many Trainers are so familiar with. A quiet click is heard, barely audible over the distant roar of the wind; and then nothing further.



Encounter over! Machop: Caught!

The Pokémon and humans present do not have time to react to the successful capture, however, as a section of the ceiling and most of the ice wall of the igloo suddenly explodes inward, raining small blocky pieces everywhere. The elements begin to roar into the igloo, hail pelting everyone within. Raigho, scrambling to his feet in response to the loud noise, is abruptly buried beneath an avalanche of freezing cold debris. Amidst the sudden invasion of the storm and wind, and the flying pieces of the wall, a two-foot-tall Pokémon shaped ridiculously like a soft-serve ice cream swirl on top of a cone is dancing around.

"Va-niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiill!!" bellows the invading Vanillite, its voice impossibly, comically deep.

For some reason, K'sariya, despite the sudden renewal of the previous day's crisis situation unfolding around her, is instantly struck by a highly specific craving for sugary, colourful beverages.

Current Encounter: Vanillite

Vanillite: 100% (Used Avalanche)
Invictus: 100%


~~Park Run Statistics~~

• Trainer Name: K'sariya Yeboah
  
  
• Location: Enigma Ruins | "Mt. Oktori"
  
  
• Remaining Encounters: 0
  
  
• Characters Written by Trainer (since last encounter): 0
  
  
• Active Effects: None
  
  
• Pokémon Stats:
  Invictus the Lairon — Currently Out of Poké Ball
  HP: 100%
  Gender: Female
  Ability: Rock Head
  Nature: Brave
  TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: TM26 Earthquake, BM Head Smash
  
  Raigho the Zweilous — Currently Out of Poké Ball
  HP: 54.59% [FRZ]
  Gender: Male
  Ability: Hustle
  Nature: Hasty
  TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: TM100 Flamethrower, TM31 Dark Pulse
  
  
• Total Items:
  Park Ball x2
  
  
• Total Captured Pokémon:
  Machop (Male, Serious nature)

 

Ball arcs through the air, propelled by the gentle but precise underhand toss. It taps against set of rising crests and rebounds, falling open and hovering as a flash of red light bursts from within. The glow washes over, quickly cocooning the Machop's form. It falls to the earth and K'sariya holds her breath. But there is no struggle. It clicks and she lets out a sigh.

The world explodes.

Blocks of ice are sent flying into their safe haven. K'sariya flinches and ducks, frigid chunks flying narrowly past her. The mother nature that they had fought so hard to escape from suddenly screams its way into their shelter, ripping it asunder and showering them with hail. She gives a cry of pained surprise at the first hit but is quickly stumbling back into the rest of the arcing wall that still holds, taking shelter beneath the remnants of its shallow curve.

"Raigho!" comes her frantic shout as she looks up just in time to see the storm of white consume him whole. Fists ball with fury and dark eyes search for the source of this unprecedented disaster. And just like what seems to be the rest of the Pokemon on those god-forsaken mountain, it turns out to look ridiculous.

Lip draws back in a snarl of disgust at the puffy curl at the top of the Pokemon's head, eyes drawing down to blue eyes and cylindrical body. It's cute, and makes her crave treats, and that's what's most repulsing about it.

Her attention is drawn by the sound of ice clinking repeatedly, almost melodically. Invictus stands unyielding in the hail, cold blue eyes glaring daggers at the frozen antagonist. The Lairon stomps the earth in her fury, having seen her lifelong companion go underneath the snow. Steam shoots clouds into the cold as oxygen erupts from between pronged plates. A shudder ripples down her body, sections pulling more tightly together and metallic toes spreading its weight more easily across the earth. Suddenly, the metallic rings attached to stony limbs crack in half. Like chains, they fall away to the snow.

K'sariya recognizes the move instantly, and remembers the exact moment that Invictus had learned it. "Let's do this, then!" Invigorated by her companion's display, she scrambles to her feet, leaning against the remnants of the igloo's far wall for shelter still. Invictus would never back down--and neither would K'sariya. She presses fingertips into her ears as she commands: "Charge it with Iron! Try to disorient it on the way with Metal Sound!"

Freed from some of her weight, the Autotomize quickens Invictus' step. The usually weight-laden behemoth charges forward with surprising nimbleness, her footsteps thudding notably lighter on the snow. Short limbs churn like a well-oiled machine. Thundering speed causes the fierce, wintry winds to whistle screamingly through the pits lining Invictus' plated spine, joining the accelerated sound of hail ringing against her pelt to create a particularly grating, metallic cacophony.

Mid-charge, she lowers great head, a powerful yellow glow sweeping over chiseled surface as it attempts to charge the Vanillish, backed by only her Trainer's faith, and yet feeling stronger than ever.​

 

Beginner RP — K'sariya Yeboah — Battle Post #5

The mocking dance of the small creature gathers a spiral of hail-laden wind around it in the same swirling shape as Vanillite's body. The spiral of freezing air and moisture gives birth to a flurry of sharp icicles that whirl out of the blizzard and shatter against steel armour and dig furrows along rocky skin's surface.

Retaliation is swift and more nimble than any present except K'sariya and Invictus herself could have expected. Yellow gleam covers wide metal crest; screeching metal on metal sends shivers and minor cracks through icy body, and then head smashes hard into floating foe, sending it tumbling away into the ice-storm.

There's a pause, during which time Tella's Pokémon begin endeavouring unsuccessfully to unearth themselves from where the wreckage has fallen on them. A piteous cry of desperation comes from under a particularly large slab of igloo ice, where Blaze the Blaziken is trapped with Tella underneath him. The Fire-type is struggling to maintain a push-up position, supporting the slab with trembling, taut muscles; Blaze is unable to use raw firepower to melt the metre-thick slab of ice, because to do so would be to immolate his beloved Trainer.

Invictus and K'sariya are the only ones who were close enough to the centre of the igloo to avoid its collapse. It's up to them to eliminate the obliviously dancing cause of all of this misfortune, as the Vanillite emerges from the mist of powdered snow that fills the air, the entirety of its body covered in a protective sheen of melted and re-frozen ice, and the cracks in its body from the Metal Sound attack already repairing themselves with the ambient moisture and cold. The damage from Invictus's Iron Head attack remains, though: the tiny Ice-type's entire face is now concave.

Current Encounter: Vanillite

Vanillite: 51.44% [DEF+1][SP.DEF-2] (Used Icicle Spear, Harden)
Invictus: 94.44% [SPD+2] (Used Autotomize, Iron Head, Metal Sound)


~~Park Run Statistics~~

• Trainer Name: K'sariya Yeboah
  
  
• Location: Enigma Ruins | "Mt. Oktori"
  
  
• Remaining Encounters: 0
  
  
• Characters Written by Trainer (since last encounter): 3,155
  
  
• Active Effects: None
  
  
• Pokémon Stats:
  Invictus the Lairon — Currently Out of Poké Ball
  HP: 94.44%
  Gender: Female
  Ability: Rock Head
  Nature: Brave
  TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: TM26 Earthquake, BM Head Smash
  
  Raigho the Zweilous — Currently Out of Poké Ball
  HP: 54.59% [FRZ]
  Gender: Male
  Ability: Hustle
  Nature: Hasty
  TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: TM100 Flamethrower, TM31 Dark Pulse
  
  
• Total Items:
  Park Ball x2
  
  
• Total Captured Pokémon:
  Machop (Male, Serious nature)

 

Whirlwind of sharp icicles swirl around the mocking creature's body. K'sariya's lips curl back--if there was one thing she would never allow, it would be for her and Invictus to be made fools of. Fists clench, unkempt nails biting harshly into the dry, calloused skin of her palms. Teeth grind. She feels empowered by the way the shards bounce almost harmlessly against her Steel companion's hide, harming only where it burrows into the cracks on her skin.

Sunlight glow crashes into frigid enemy, exacerbating sound-inflicted cracks, sending it rocketing back into the blinding flurries. She hears a distressed keen rise over the roar, coupled with the sight of suddenly-shifting ice. Snow falls away from the slab of cerulean and begins to shake. Eyes spot the fiery form of Tella's Blaziken hunched weakly over the Ranger's vulnerable figure. A gasp jumps from her throat as she realizes that she's being timed--by her guide's life.

Swirled silhouette appears between the sheets of hail. The Vanillite comes into focus. Innocent smile proves to have been violently pounded in by steel skull. The assault's destruction leaves an incredibly disturbing countenance, crooked mouth and shattered blue cheeks cast in ominous shadow, the darkness revolving across concave features as it dances frivolously still.

K'sariya suppresses the shudder that threatens to course down her spine. The chill instead settles to run a hair-raising race across her arms. She forces her attention away from the pressure of the situation and the horrific face of her adversary. As much as she wants to help the Ranger now, it will leave them all vulnerable to attack.

"Head Smash it into the wreckage!" comes her command, her anger searing like fire through her tone. Her Lairon gives another bellow as it charges, another glow washing over crested battering ram of a snow as it makes an attempt to crush the Vanillite into the mess it has created.​

 

Beginner RP — K'sariya Yeboah — Battle Post #6

Short legs churn and bellow of fury rises briefly above the scream of icy wind as the considerable mass of Invictus's body accelerates to full speed in mere seconds. The Vanillite has time for a single confident chirp before Invictus slams into it, the rocky spikes on her jaw making first contact and driving themselves in the Ice-type's brittle body. Now fixed to Invictus's face and unable to dodge, the invader's cries turn to a shriek of panic before it is bodily smashed into what little remains of the base of the igloo's wall.

The wall's base splinters with a spiderweb of cracks, as does a sizeable portion of the Vanillite's icy body. Invictus takes several steps back, leaving the Pokémon embedded in an impact crater amidst the ice, entirely unconscious. At some point, perhaps when it was struck, the soft snow making up the top half of its body puffed outwards to restore its face to some semblance of cuteness; clearly that entire part of its body is pliable and doesn't really suffer from being deformed. Its button eyes have rolled up in its unconsciousness, presenting an eerie effect that evokes the eye-circles a child might draw on the surface of a snowman in black marker.

The hail pelts down, striking K'sariya and Invictus alike, as they realize it's done: the little creature isn't going to bother them any more.

Encounter Over!

Vanillite: 0%
Invictus: 88.27% [SPD+2] (Used Head Smash)


There's an unhealthy creaking noise from the far corner of the igloo, where perhaps a quarter of the wall— height-wise and circumference-wise— has survived. There, Blaze is being slowly but surely borne to the ground by the weight of ice, with only his exhausted and trembling muscles keeping him and his Trainer inches from a crushing disaster...

~~Park Run Statistics~~

• Trainer Name: K'sariya Yeboah
  
  
• Location: Enigma Ruins | "Mt. Oktori"
  
  
• Remaining Encounters: 0
  
  
• Characters Written by Trainer (since last encounter): 0
  
  
• Active Effects: Hail
  
  
• Pokémon Stats:
  Invictus the Lairon — Currently Out of Poké Ball
  HP: 88.27%
  Gender: Female
  Ability: Rock Head
  Nature: Brave
  TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: TM26 Earthquake, BM Head Smash
  
  Raigho the Zweilous — Currently Out of Poké Ball
  HP: 54.59% [FRZ]
  Gender: Male
  Ability: Hustle
  Nature: Hasty
  TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: TM100 Flamethrower, TM31 Dark Pulse
  
  
• Total Items:
  Park Ball x2
  
  
• Total Captured Pokémon:
  Machop (Male, Serious nature)

 

K'sariya watches her companion tensely as it charges. She spies Invictus' skull make contact and that's all she needs to see--if it isn't fainted, it's distracted for just long enough to save her. The woman scrambles from her shelter and sprints to the quivering mass of ice that threatens to crush her only way out of the park. Arm rises to defend her face from the hail.

Dark-skinned femme descends rapidly upon one of the larger blocks of ice. She kicks it to prop it onto one of its corners so she can gain a grip on it. Both hands lock a solid grip onto either side and with a grunt, K'sariya lifts it only a couple of inches to the ground. However, she is too weak--her arms shake violently and she's forced to drop it.

"Invictus, help!" she shouts desperately at the Steel behemoth, who still lingers near the crumpled Vanillite, ensuring its temporary demise. The loyal creature doesn't even look to see what is wrong first--within a moment, she whirls and charges to her Trainer's aid. Hurriedly, the Lairon nudges K'sariya out of the way. The girl stumbles back and runs over to where Tella's Blaziken struggles, crouching down.

"Hang in there!" She begins to haul snow and ice from beside the crumpled wall, making room for their only way to save them. The shards slice deeply into her palms and soon, the snow becomes splattered with crimson. She does not stop.

Great metal jaws part to grab the ice in a sturdy grip. With great strength, she raises the block and shuffles quickly to K'sariya's side. He wedges the end of the block beneath the ruins, propping them up to take the load from the Blaziken's back. As soon as it is in place, she scurries to the other side, and supports the other end with her own skull.

K'sariya does what she can, halting her digging as soon as it's in place, and reaches to help prop up the rest with bleeding fingers. "Get out of there!" comes her fierce command, strained with effort and pain.​

 

Beginner RP — K'sariya Yeboah — Non-Battle Post #20

Gratefulness appears in Blaze's eyes as the weight is lifted from his back by Invictus's efforts; one talon scrabbles at Tella, and with the last of his strength he does two things: presses the button on his own empty Poké Ball on her belt with his fingerlike wingtip; then lifts her bodily by the backpack on her back, its taut straps holding her just off the ground, andtosses her out of harm's way, through the clear space K'sariya has created. As he does so, the red beam from the Poké Ball strikes him and he begins to dissolve into red light, the power of the Poké Ball extricating his injured leg— pinned under the ice— and getting him out of the way just as the ice slab slips out of Invictus's grasp and crashes down.

Tella's eyes are open, but she can't seem to move, her lips blue and the spots of blood soaking through the bandage on her shoulder rimmed with bright red frost. "...K'sariya," she says through chattering teeth, "Help... Help my... my friends... Please..."

Around them, Tella's Pokémon are only now beginning to struggle free of the ice: Champ bursts free of a pile of heavy frozen debris with a roar, but then falls flat on her face as she tries to leap away from the spot where her foot is still encased in ice. Venn the Venomoth crawls unsteadily out of a snowbank, then turns and tries vainly to use tiny arms to dig out Wrath the Poliwrath, who is still buried, having sustained the brunt of the injuries defending the fragile bug. Lae and Raigho are nowhere to be seen: presumably under two more of the increasingly high piles of snow...

Then the whole scene wavers, the air in all directions warping and swirlign, as though reality itself were a liquid being pulled down the drain. The sense of balance of all present goes haywire for a second, sending Champ tumbling to the ground again as she tries to get up into a kneeling position, and nearly causing Invictus to topple over entirely. Light fades from the surroundings, as does the floor, and as does gravity: all of it disappearing to leave K'sariya, Invictus, and all the rest— Raigho, Lae, and Wrath clearly unconscious— floating in a black expanse of nothingness. And right in the centre of the rough circle formed by the two humans and their Pokémon floats a lone Park Ball.

K'sariya has no sooner taken all of this in than a glowing, featureless white rectangle appears floating next to the Park Ball— a rectangle that is approximately the size and shape of a door, from the limited amount of perspective that K'sariya can gain from the Pokémon hovering nearest it. She finds herself, and everyone else, floating towards it, helpless to even do anything— there's nothing to push off of, nothing to swim through— as the mysterious forces of the Enigma Ruins draw her towards what can only be an exit. One thing she can do, though, is grab the Ball on the way out...

~~~~~~~~~~

Warm sunlight shines down on the top of the grassy hill where K'sariya and Tella first met. K'sariya doesn't remember "landing," really: one moment she was passing through that glowing white portal, and the next she was just... standing here. Standing next to her is Tella, unsteady but at least able to stay on her feet. All seven Pokémon— Tella's and K'sariya's— are surrounding them; Raigho, Wrath, and Lae are still unconscious. The two Trainers return their unconscious Pokémon to their Poké Balls as a matter of course: they would benefit from the stasis of the Poké Balls until they could receive medical attention.

There's a period of silence after that, as the two women try to process everything that's happened since they walked through that door. The Enigma Ruins made no sense: had they been teleported to that place, and then brought back by the same strange property of the Ruins? Or just entered some kind of simulation where actual, living Pokémon were trapped in a false landscape, never knowing that their world was a fabrication? Or is some other, less comprehensible explanation the real answer? No one still living knows, as far as the Park's administrators can tell; and Tella is beginning to suspect that despite all their theories and models to attempt to predict the Ruins, they'll never find out, either.

"K'sariya... I'm sorry. I was meant to keep you safe," Tella says, absently reaching into a side pocket of her small, compact backpack while she speaks. "Instead, you saved me. I... I can tell that you live a hard life. There's little I can do, but if you ever wish to escape that life for a time, perhaps visit somewhere nicer... like the Botanical Gardens... Well, what I mean is... Uhh... Here."

She holds out a folded, palm-sized piece of stiff paper with writing on it. It looks worn and creased, as though it's lain forgotten at the bottom of that compartment of her pack for some time, but the writing on it indicates that it's a voucher: it allows '...Friends and family of Park Rangers to attend the Park once, for free, subject to certain terms and conditions...' that are too small to read from K'sariya's vantage point.

"...I get one of these a year, but... Nobody to give it to," Tella mutters self-consciously. "This one's been sitting in my pack since my first day on the job. Do you... Do you want it?"


~~Park Run Statistics~~

• Trainer Name: K'sariya Yeboah
  
  
• Location: Enigma Ruins | "Mt. Oktori"
  
  
• Remaining Encounters: 0
  
  
• Characters Written by Trainer (since last encounter): 1,944
  
  
• Active Effects: None
  
  
• Pokémon Stats:
  Invictus the Lairon — Currently Out of Poké Ball
  HP: 88.27%
  Gender: Female
  Ability: Rock Head
  Nature: Brave
  TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: TM26 Earthquake, BM Head Smash
  
  Raigho the Zweilous
  HP: 0.00% [FNT]
  Gender: Male
  Ability: Hustle
  Nature: Hasty
  TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: TM100 Flamethrower, TM31 Dark Pulse
  
  
• Total Items:
  Park Ball x2
  
  
• Total Captured Pokémon:
  Machop (Male, Serious nature)

 

They've saved them. She can hardly believe it. But there are still the rest. She rushes to Tella as soon as she sees that the Blaziken is safe. Distress riddles her features in that moment as she takes in the blue lips and the chattering teeth. The woman worries that she's too late, that her guide will fade away at any moment, now. But the other musters the energy to speak and she stumbles back and away, rising up to turn and look back at the pile, also remembering Raigho.

But the second she whirls, reality shimmers. The world seems to heave and she is sent flying onto her rear with a hoarse, startled shout. Invictus nearly topples with her, but he drops her belly low to the warping earth. K'sariya clutches the behemoth's plates and pulls herself against the Lairon's side. Arms latch onto ridges and she holds on like her life depends on it. Eyes clamp shut as she tries to block out the universe as it spins, but even the space behind her eyes seems to swirl with white.

Something, however, pulls lids open.

Nothing exists but the box and the ball. They all drift, slowly, with a peace that can only be a mockery of they hell they have just slaved through. Hand reaches out shakily to the sphere that holds the Machop snugly within. She swallows, hard, as digits clasp gently around it.

And then it is warm, and they are safe.

When her senses have returned, she is standing on uneasy legs in a sickeningly familiar meadow, Machop's ball secure at her belt. Bile threatens to rise from her throat but she fights it down with a strangled noise, bending over to rest one hand on Invictus, the other clamped over her mouth. Invictus, despite her own disorientation with the way things have shifted so suddenly, gives a comforting croon.

The nausea passes. She gasps for breath and swallows hard, her arm swiping up to hurriedly clear the moisture that had risen to the corners of her eyes with the force of her restraint. The woman sees Raigho and the way he lies, crumpled, and fumbles for the open ball hooked onto her belt. He returns safely in a flash of crimson. K'sariya notices that the cuts on her hands have closed into scabs--a parting gift from the ruins, and a bitter one at that.

Her labored breaths fill the silence as she tries to gather her scattered bearings. Through all of the hardships, through all of her experiences on Earth, she'd never come so close to giving up so many times. It takes everything to keep herself from crumpling against Invictus again.

Tella speaks but head still hangs heavy. Earthen orbs stare with wide pupils down at the scores on the Lairon's hide as the words nearly pass into one ear and out the other. She processes them only through the footprints they leave behind.

She is offered something. She looks up. The paper is weathered, much like the voucher she'd had before. Her expression is empty. She stares blankly at it as Tella continues, the Ranger ending with an inquiry. For several more seconds, she simply peers at the slip of paper. And then the rage comes.

The Trainer straightens and snatches the voucher from the other's hand, crumpling it violently in between her fingers. A snarl thunders across K'sariya's scarred features. Dark eyes bore coldly into the other, the anger and anxiety and stress of it all suddenly reaching a breaking point.

"Never. Fucking. Again," she hisses icily. She pauses to bore eyes, unforgiving, into the other for but a minuscule moment longer before she brushes furiously past. Ball clicks as its vibrancy returns Invictus back to safety. The woman storms away, putting as much distance between them as quickly as possible.

On the shuttle, she looks back down at the crumpled coupon in her hand, reflecting with particular disgust in herself for not having thrown it back in the Ranger's face. Hurriedly, she shoves it into her pouch, making a mental note to trash it at her first chance.

And there it stays.​

 

~~Park Run Complete!~~