Individual RP: Prince Vultan (Meteor Valley)

@Prince Vultan;
NBP #1

[Welcome to the National Park! I hope you have a good time here I loved your character description, very unusual to have anybody that age or so 'hardened', so to speak. Anyways, I'll be using Ranger Jackie Steele, the southern lady. Enjoy Meteor Valley!]

It was such a nice day out. It was around 10:00 AM, the weather was pleasantly warm and breezy, and me and my Luxray, Taro, were resting our eyes a bit as we leaned up against a tree near the Ranger Outpost. I was waiting on my Trainer, an experienced man around 35-36 years old. It wasn't very often we encountered someone over 30, so this was going to be an interesting run. I wondered if this guy would be all right with a young Ranger, but it wasn't like there were a lot of Rangers that were over 30 either. Active Pokemon trainers were usually younger, especially when traveling. Older trainers had already accumulated the Pokemon they wanted, bonded with them, and honed their skills enough to either become quiet legends or to settle down in a Gym somewhere. Loraj, my trainer, was an intimidating, tall man, and had a look of ferocity about him. I hoped he wasn't going to go too gung-ho and wreck the Park.

I sensed someone coming up the path, so I sat a little straighter and opened my eyes. Taro had perked up, as well, his natural x-ray vision staring right through the trees and thicket of the pathway. Our trainer had arrived, it seemed. I got up and dusted off my khaki Ranger shorts, flipped my braid behind me, and got ready to greet him.

His pictures hadn't lied; he was indeed as intimidating and tall as they'd depicted. I blinked in surprise but quickly gave my best welcoming smile, sticking my hand out for a shake.

"Hey there!" I greeted. It was always nice to be friendly to newbies in the Park, so of course I had a polite tone. "Glad ye' could make it to th' Park, Mr. Seye. Ah'm Jackie Steele, 'r jus' Jackie. This here's mah partner fer the day, Taro." I looked down and was surprised to see that my Luxray was standing back, hackles raised slightly. Taro wasn't easily intimidated by anything, especially a human. This man must have had something about him that set Taro off. I frowned a bit but didn't push my Pokemon to greet Loraj, and instead turned my attention back to the man. "Ah'll be takin' ya through Meteor Valley. 'S a nice place t' start, got nice fields an' miles o' forest an' caves in the hills," I informed him with a smile. "Welp, you ready t' go, then?" I asked, giving a nod.

Trainer Stats

Spoiler

Items: 4x Park Balls, 2x Super Balls, 1x Soothing Fragrance Plus
Encounters Remaining: 15
Pokemon Encountered: n/a
Pokemon Captured: n/a
MCR: 0/000

Battle Stats

Spoiler

N/A

Pokemon Stats

Spoiler

Scolipede [SCOLIPEDE] | Male | Serious | Poison Point | EMs: Earthquake, Rock Slide, Swords Dance, Substitute | 100%
Crawdaunt [CRAWDAUNT] | Male | Hardy | Shell Armor | EMs: [TM] Surf | 100%

 

Wind. It was still a strange sensation to me. In the thick jungles of my homeland the air remained still, warm and moist, here there was none of that. The trees were thick, but the leaves were different to those that were familiar to me. There was none of the claustrophobic containment like that of my origin, here there was space, and the sky was clearly visible. The air was thinner than I was used to, a likely side effect of the lower humidity in the valley, it made breathing feel easier, almost too easy. The strange grass scratched against my bare shins as I forged my own path through towards the figure ahead. It appeared to be a girl.

She was tall for a female, but naturally smaller than myself, and appeared to be accompanied by a Luxray. The Lionesque Pokemon was standing behind her, cautious, likely a result of my presence. Good. It was a beast, and beasts should be subservient to their superiors. Getting nearer, more of her features became apparent, her blonde hair was covered by an old Cowboy hat, she was well built also, possibly an indication that she had worked for a living. That was something I could respect, better to be a worker than getting by on the work of others and taking the plaudits for the sweat & blood soaked hardships they had gone through. Finally, I stood only feet away, towering over her, studying her posture and her demeanour.

She greeted me with a friendly tone, attempting to be polite, perhaps she too was intimidated. Her accent was hard to work out and I stood silently, arms crossed over my chest, allowing the words to process through my brain. After a moment, I gave a curt reply.

"My name is Loraj Seyè," my deep heavy accent echoed through the valley, a tree shuddered as something in the leaves escaped, "In the language of my people, it means Thunder Lord. I am ready to enter this park, one can always use more tools."

I looked down her body and saw her hands were rough, they were well worked, this coupled with the shape of her suggested manual labour.

"Your hands, they are calloused. Your arms are thick like the branches of the Mangrove. I take it you have worked hard for a living?" I enquired.

 

@Prince Vultan;
NBP #2

It was a little unnerving, the way this guy stared at me. Like he was... sizing me up, or gauging me. His eyes flicked to Taro for a brief moment, but he seemed to dismiss the Luxray; it must have been because the Electric lion was standing back a bit behind me, carefully watching the huge man. He was, indeed, really tall, and I had to crane my neck a bit to look him in the eye. And I was no short gal, either. His voice was even intimidating as he spoke of entering the Park. I frowned at the end of his sentence. Tools... he didn't mean...

I didn't really get time to work out exactly what that meant when he commented on my hands and my arms. I blinked at the compliment (I think it was a compliment).

"Uhh, well," I felt my face heat up a little. I didn't want to sound like I was bragging or anything by answering his question; yeah, I worked on the farm a lot, and had been a Ranger for a long time, but to talk about my own accomplishments just made me feel uncomfortable. "Ah reckon so. Was a farm girl fer most of my childhood, then I up an' decided to become a Ranger. Help keep the wild critters safe from bein' over-hunted or captured an' all that." I gave him a smile. "You ain't no small fry yerself, hun. Ya look like you could toss me like a javelin," I teased, giving him a light punch on the shoulder. I winked and walked a bit past him on the path. "C'mon, then. Let's get to mah Jeep so we kin get goin' in Meteor Valley."

He got into the tall all-terrain vehicle with relative ease, though his size made my little Wrangler lean heavily. It wasn't a big deal, though; my old beater took it just fine as we traveled a ways on the dirt road. Taro sat in the back, open to the wind and enjoying the wind ruffling through his mane. About ten minutes later we all clambered out and got to the gates, where I took my ID out and slid it in the card reader. The door's light indicator glowed green, and with a click we were through the electronic gates.

An expanse of tall grass was laid out before us, miles and miles of it. This gate was on the West side of the Valley, lined by a thin forest of trees on our left. The hills sloped quickly upwards into near-mountainlike tallness, and to our right was a flattened dirt path. I could see piles of rocks at random intervals, and somewhere ahead in the hillsides, there were a few dens and natural caverns that made homes for a lot of the wild Pokemon. Loraj and I made our way through the wilds in relative quiet. I kept my ears and eyes out, and soon enough, my vigilance paid off. I touched his wrist lightly and nodded ahead of me, where an odd Pokemon stared upwards into the sky. It was a dull brown color save for a set of wine-red eyes--eyes that circled all around its head, though it seemed it only used some of them at one time. It looked like a clay, carved sculpture made by humans.

"Hmm. Claydol," I pointed out to Loraj. "You wanna try an' catch it?"

Trainer Stats

Spoiler

Items: 4x Park Balls, 2x Super Balls, 1x Soothing Fragrance Plus
Encounters Remaining: 14
Pokemon Encountered: Claydol
Pokemon Captured: n/a
MCR: 2,157/25,000

Battle Stats

Spoiler

N/A

Pokemon Stats

Spoiler

Scolipede [SCOLIPEDE] | Male | Serious | Poison Point | EMs: Earthquake, Rock Slide, Swords Dance, Substitute | 100%
Crawdaunt [CRAWDAUNT] | Male | Hardy | Shell Armor | EMs: [TM] Surf | 100%

 

The girl punched me lightly in the shoulder and grinned. Was this supposed to be a term of endearment in this region? A very strange custom nonetheless. She mentioned my physique in a way that suggested I could throw her like a spear, which I suppose was plausible, it may be difficult to get the spin required for a greater distance however.

She had told me of her upbringing, she was indeed a hard worker from childhood onwards, now we were heading in a cramped four wheel drive vehicle deep into the valley. The off roader was well used, but properly maintained, I would have to look into purchasing one for my village, for the right kickbacks of course. The dirt road passed quickly, I barely had chance to view any of the other scenery.

After passing through a large gate, we stopped and left the vehicle. Meteor Valley. The home of many powerful Pokemon. We walked through the valley for a reasonable distance in peace, the only sounds being the crunch of dirt beneath our feet and the noises of rustling pokemon in the grasses and trees. She stopped after a while and touched my wrist, what was it with her and physical contact?

She pointed at a levitating shape ahead, the pale brown statue was a Claydol. She asked whether I was interested in capturing it. I paused for a moment and went down on one knee, head bowed in silent prayer. I scooped a small amount of dirt into my left hand, rubbing it between my thumb and index finger, before throwing it upwards to judge the wind. The decision was made.

“Claydol is a truly formidable opponent,” I calmly spoke, “with the right trainer. But, it does not fit my battle style. I have no use for such a Pokemon. I am certain that Crawdaunt has the abilities to defeat it in combat, but that would be a waste of energy and time. Time is precious, you can never get it back. It would be prudent to move on to another area and leave it for another trainer.”