She could swear she'd passed the same exact tree about a dozen times now.[break][break]

Navigating this world was more difficult than it had any right to be, really. It was disconcerting seeing how everyone looked identical, running around and combating various creatures as they made their way through.[break][break]

All the more concerning was the way her own Avatar powers had failed her the instant she'd tried to summon them, rendering her utterly powerless.[break][break]

She was all about ready to give up when one of the faceless blobs approached her, talking to her as if offering aid. Suspiciously, she turned to them, unsure of how to take the offer.[break][break]

"I was planning to," she said a bit snippily, "but I can't find them. It's as if I keep walking the same path over and over. I'm not sure how anyone knows how to get anywhere in a place like this."[break][break]

She hadn't discovered how to configure a map view on. It hadn't occurred to her she'd have a map at all.

[attr="class","ooc"] kyle lopez[break][break]

[attr="class","pkmn"]

It hadn't occurred to her she could freely ignore other players in this place. The distinctions of gaming etiquette, and lack thereof, were fully lost on her.[break][break]

"It's a very strange game," she mumbled with distaste, her jealousy at the ease other people seemed to have at achieving it made fully audible in the way she sulked. His questions did nothing to alleviate that insecurity, and she rubbed the back of her neck, realizing she was attempting to fiddle with a strand of hair that wasn't there.[break][break]

She cleared her throat and looked away.[break][break]

"My ability? Uh, that is..." Arceus, she hoped her face remained as nondescript as his. "...Um. What's a status screen?"[break][break]

This was utterly humiliating.

[attr="class","ooc"] kyle lopez[break][break]

[attr="class","pkmn"]

Hesitantly she gave him a slow nod, watching him with the questioning look of someone who felt like she was about fail a terrible test after failing to study.[break][break]

"...Alright," she said cautiously, raising a hand to touch... the air? Was that what she was supposed to do? Hm. No, something was supposed to be here, first.[break][break]

She blinked, opening her eyes to see nothing new, then closed her eyes for longer, determined to this time succeed. Enough concentration provided the result she wanted, and when she glanced up, her expression of triumph seemed almost childlike.[break][break]

"Oh! Here it is. Let's see..."[break][break]

[attr="class","rbynote"]

DANDELION WHISPERS[break][break]
nickname: the_florist[break][break]
Ability to speak to flora and plantlife. However, given the nature of conversation, the plants will only comment on what they themselves find interesting. They also have their own personalities and moods, and might not be interested in talking.

[newclass=.rbynote]border-width: 9px 9px 9px 9px;border-style:solid;border-image: url('https://i.imgur.com/UUqNs3l.png') 9 9 9 9 repeat repeat;padding:6px 8px;color:#232323;text-align:justify;font:11px Calibri;letter-spacing:1px; margin-top:20px;background:#aaa;background-clip: padding-box;[/newclass]

[break][break]She read it aloud with a look of incredulity that became all the more confused and mortified with each word she spoke. When finished, she just stared at the screen blankly, unsure how to take this.[break][break]

"How... helpful."

[attr="class","ooc"] kyle lopez[break][break]

[attr="class","pkmn"]

"You think so?" she said dubiously, looking around herself for an ideal target. Once more she looked at the tree she'd stumbled into so many times, and heaving a tiny sigh, she walked over to it.[break][break]

How did someone start a conversation with a tree, exactly?[break][break]

"Well. Ahem. Hello..."[break][break]

Her hands knotted together, uncomfortable as she attempted to talk to something without a face. She stared at the trunk long enough that the whorls in the bark started to look something like eyes.[break][break]

"Would you, ah, happen to have any information about the woods nearby?"[break][break]

This felt incredibly ridiculous.[break][break]

All of a sudden, a new screen popped up above the tree, visible to both her and her newfound companion. A cute 'Ya-ha-ha!' chiming sound rang out, startling Elisabeth visibly.[break][break]

[attr="class","rbynote"]

"You ignored me like, a dozen times!! What's wrong with me as a tree, huh? Why do you need the OTHER trees in that OTHER forest? Don't you know I have feelings? Whatever! Just stay lost! I-it's not like I care about you or anything!"

[newclass=.rbynote]border-width: 9px 9px 9px 9px;border-style:solid;border-image: url('https://i.imgur.com/UUqNs3l.png') 9 9 9 9 repeat repeat;padding:6px 8px;color:#232323;text-align:justify;font:11px Calibri;letter-spacing:1px; margin-top:20px;background:#aaa;background-clip: padding-box;[/newclass]

[break][break]She could swear its boughs shifted to look like arms crossing in a visible pout.

[attr="class","ooc"] kyle lopez[break][break]

[attr="class","pkmn"]

Well, it seemed like as good advice as anything else.[break][break]

Cautiously she began to walk away from the tree, following the other individual who exuded a confidence she didn't feel. One second passed. Two. Three. And then...[break][break]

[attr="class","rbynote"]

"W-wait! Don't leave me! I can help you... Look, um, if you want to go into the forest you should consider this... Just stay longer, okay?"

[newclass=.rbynote]border-width: 9px 9px 9px 9px;border-style:solid;border-image: url('https://i.imgur.com/UUqNs3l.png') 9 9 9 9 repeat repeat;padding:6px 8px;color:#232323;text-align:justify;font:11px Calibri;letter-spacing:1px; margin-top:20px;background:#aaa;background-clip: padding-box;[/newclass]

[break][break]Against all odds, the tree appeared to be capable of offering useful advice.[break][break]

Though perhaps it made more sense to someone with game savvy like kyle lopez. To Elisabeth, it sounded like nonsense.

[attr="class","ooc"] kyle lopez[break][break]

[attr="class","pkmn"]

"I'm good at gardening," she started to say, before amending, "or, I used to be." She took the seeds uncertainly, but when she knelt on the ground, a funny thing happened.[break][break]

Each blade of grass seemed to possess a smiley face, beaming up at her as they started to chatter with speech bubbles as she drew near.[break][break]

[attr="class","rbynote"]

"No, not here! There! Yes, yes, plant them there! Good job!!"

[newclass=.rbynote]border-width: 9px 9px 9px 9px;border-style:solid;border-image: url('https://i.imgur.com/UUqNs3l.png') 9 9 9 9 repeat repeat;padding:6px 8px;color:#232323;text-align:justify;font:11px Calibri;letter-spacing:1px; margin-top:20px;background:#aaa;background-clip: padding-box;[/newclass]

[break][break]Little exclamation points popped up indicating the desired plots for planting, the blades of grass shaking vigorously in disagreement if she got near the wrong spot.[break][break]

When they were planted, inexplicably, all the seeds bloomed at once in a cute semicircle of bright daisies around the tree, chiming out in chorus at it:[break][break]

[attr="class","rbynote"]

"Hello, new best friend!"

[newclass=.rbynote]border-width: 9px 9px 9px 9px;border-style:solid;border-image: url('https://i.imgur.com/UUqNs3l.png') 9 9 9 9 repeat repeat;padding:6px 8px;color:#232323;text-align:justify;font:11px Calibri;letter-spacing:1px; margin-top:20px;background:#aaa;background-clip: padding-box;[/newclass][break][break]

Sap began to weep from the joyful tree. Was it... was it crying?! Alarmed, Elisabeth moved to comfort it, before realizing she had no idea whatsoever how to comfort a tree.[break][break]

"Is this normal?" she whispered to Kyle, concerned.

[attr="class","ooc"] kyle lopez[break][break]

[attr="class","pkmn"]

Elisabeth was about to congratulate herself for her short-earned, if bizarre, victory. Alas, not much time elapsed between then and the attack of the SHADOW GRANBULL, which tackled the Champion immediately. His Avatar faded out, a ghost to the digital realm, awaiting respawn.[break][break]

Oh, no. This was how she'd died the previous night, wasn't it?[break][break]

She took a cautious step back, only for the Granbull's menacing expression to darken. Only then did she hear an unexpected sound behind her, like an agitated rustling.[break][break]

[attr="class","rbynote"]

"LEAVE OUR NEW FRIEND ALONE!"

[newclass=.rbynote]border-width: 9px 9px 9px 9px;border-style:solid;border-image: url('https://i.imgur.com/UUqNs3l.png') 9 9 9 9 repeat repeat;padding:6px 8px;color:#232323;text-align:justify;font:11px Calibri;letter-spacing:1px; margin-top:20px;background:#aaa;background-clip: padding-box;[/newclass]

[break][break]Womp! The boughs shook and trembled with the tree's rage, felling the Shadowmon with a kick of it backwards. Elisabeth's hand flew to her mouth in surprise, only for another shadowy figure to emerge in her peripheral vision.[break][break]

She squinted, confused, before she asked timidly, "Prim? Is that you?"[break][break]

Ever since the Ruinous Beast had claimed her, she'd avoided time with her most-cherished, sentimental Pokemon: Primrose, her Roselia, and the only gift from her late husband she'd cared to keep. Given her current anathema to flowers, she'd feared it might fare similar to that of jayden cross's, when her hand had touched it and caused that poor Pokemon to wither and rot.[break][break]

An ominous SHADOW MIST spilled forth from the Pokemon, bringing a palpable sense of distrust and malice to the surrounding forest. Elisabeth's eyes widened, only for a thought to come to mind: Is this how others felt, when I changed from who I used to be?[break][break]

Without a means to properly defend herself, she braced herself for her fate to be the same as before. Until the mist faded out somewhat, and a new bubble entered her screen:[break][break]

[attr="class","rbynote"]

"...Elisa?"

[newclass=.rbynote]border-width: 9px 9px 9px 9px;border-style:solid;border-image: url('https://i.imgur.com/UUqNs3l.png') 9 9 9 9 repeat repeat;padding:6px 8px;color:#232323;text-align:justify;font:11px Calibri;letter-spacing:1px; margin-top:20px;background:#aaa;background-clip: padding-box;[/newclass][break][break]

Was the Roselia talking to her?[break][break]

"It's me, Prim," Elisabeth said softly, and the previous antagonistic Pokemon softened, her black-and-red petals no longer dancing about in a stormy haze.[break][break]

[attr="class","rbynote"]

"I... I missed you!"

[newclass=.rbynote]border-width: 9px 9px 9px 9px;border-style:solid;border-image: url('https://i.imgur.com/UUqNs3l.png') 9 9 9 9 repeat repeat;padding:6px 8px;color:#232323;text-align:justify;font:11px Calibri;letter-spacing:1px; margin-top:20px;background:#aaa;background-clip: padding-box;[/newclass][break][break]

The Shadow Roselia flung herself into Elisabeth's arms, and she blinked rapidly, before cautiously giving into the embrace.

[attr="class","ooc"] kyle lopez[break][break]

[attr="class","pkmn"]