oh! it's dr monday. she's so, so happy to see her when she bounces up and monday seems excited to see her too! (no, sasky, she doesn't.)

when she walks through the portal, kirin is at her side and her big, doleful eyes shine in the full moon. she tilts her chin back and sasky follows her movements, brows furrowing, and then the dreamiest smile drifts over his face. 

"oh, monday, isn't this place so lovely? i'm so happy to see you again. you were amazing last time we were here."

Lulu Flint

30 depending on the lunar phase, your character's moods may be affected for better or for worse.

☉

she had been here before during this lunar phase. a strong feeling had told her to stay on the moon forever, because it was so, so lovely.[break][break]

gazing blissfully up at it from the cratered realm they’d stepped into, she nodded. ”how nice. it’s good to see you again, too.”[break][break]

looking over, she smiled so genuinely that anyone who knew who better might have found it downright eerie.[break][break]

”let’s get to the moon again, shall we?”[break][break]

but regardless of saskia’s answer, they would not make it far before hearing the familiar whistle of paper carving through the air. a group of kartana near the rift had already spotted them.[break][break]

”look out!”[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"]
saskia volosenkova [break]

dr monday's smile is so heartbreakingly beautiful that it manages to take sasky's breath away. her eyes smart, tears like pale opals, and she brushes them away with her jacket as she follows. the moon is their destination and it doesn't seem silly. it doesn't seem impossible. it seems right. 

their fantasy bubble bursts from the kartana's razor edges. one of them whips by her cheek; it happens so quickly, she doesn't realize the shallow cut on her cheek is blood and not from her crying. 

kirin is quick to react, but panic doesn't touch saskia. not under the light of the moon. instead, she calmly whistles and her wyrdeer hesitates. oleg appears in her arms and she whispers with a giggle what she wants. 

more cuts appear along her cheek, slicing through the protective outerwear of her standard issue ranger's uniform, but she doesn't notice. oleg swells in her arms; psychic energy warbles out from his body and all the attacking kartana simply stop, awed as their power is drawn from their bodies. 

power split and guard split bolster the alien to the point where he's too heavy to hold so he pirouettes onto the ground, beeping as he holds up his hands. the kartana sway and sasky laughs. 

"look, monday! we made them friends!"

Lulu Flint

☉

she was almost too taken by the sight of that beautiful alien moon that she didn’t notice saskia wipe her tears away. [break][break]

almost.[break][break]

”oh, don’t cry. everything’s alright.” a hand went to the ranger’s shoulder to give it a soft pat, before a gash was suddenly sliced into the back of her shirt. she gasped at the sudden coolness on her skin – but luckily, it had failed to cut her.[break][break]

a psychic attack that followed stopped the ambush short. the kartana slowed all at once, wavering through the air as though on a soft breeze before floating to the dusty ground.[break][break]

lulu was in awe at the sudden turn of events. what an impressive little elgyem.[break][break]

”wow!” friends? ”i don’t think so.” she laughed, ”but look at you, saskia, actually doing your job! that was good. i had faith in you all along.”[break][break]

her celesteela was large enough by now that it could take them to the moon. with the threat of the aggressive kartana gone, she readied for their ascent and stepped up, ushering saskia aboard.[break][break]

before they left the crater, she noticed, ”look. i guess they want to come too.”[break][break]

a weakened kartana floated after them and pasted itself against the celesteela’s hull to rest.[break][break]

38 with kartana you own or ones you've made docile temporarily, use them as a shikigami, a paper figure cut into the shape of a person or pokemon to ward off negative energy. ironically, when placed around the realm, or on the moon, the more you can sense a powerful entity's presence.

[attr="class","ooc"]
saskia volosenkova [break]

she simply preens at that. how could she not? monday cares dearly about her tears and about her new friends, even though she doesn't believe they're certainly new friends, and saskia, for a moment, even believes in herself. 

is it odd that she recognizes the celesteela beneath them? is it strange that her mouth turns so pleasantly upside down and she has the most darling desire to press a kiss, like she would a newborn, upon its brow? 

there is a cut on her hand. oleg sits like a toddler in front of her and takes it gently with his own, beeping forlornly as he applies pressure to the shallow wound. 

the ground beneath them rumbles and then there is no ground beneath them anymore. she holds on dearly, one hand clumsily going around monday's waist before the other can say no, and she dreamily watches the landscape change. 

"it's nice here. i didn't like it before, but i like it now. it's better with you."

Lulu Flint

☉

as the group ascended to the moon, she did not stop saskia’s arm from going around her waist. instead, her own handed drifted natural over to help better steady them both.[break][break]

words that normally would have made her cringe away were taken in stride with an even brigher smile. ”that’s so sweet of you to say.”[break][break]

when they arrived she hopped off the side of her celesteela, dirty boots landing in a crater and scattering moondust. she realized quickly that they were in a different place than last time. there was a distant shape she didn’t recognize, jutting out from a much more impressive crater. it had a steep and towering drop-off with shadowy depth.[break][break]

”is that… a building?” after staring curiously a moment, she began to walk towards it. ”come on. let’s check it out.”[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"]
saskia volosenkova [break]

her heart thuds loudly in her ears - BABUMP BABUMP BABUMP - and all the world is painted red with the sound of her blood. it doesn't frighten her, though. it makes her feel oddly connected to her surroundings. like if she lifted her hand just the right way, the kartana might listen to her like they do oleg.

when they touch down, she's far less graceful, too awed by the stairway to heaven before her. idly, she mourns her feet. they're going to be very unhappy with her tomorrow. the celesteela could have landed them closer.

but it couldn't, could it? there's something in the air here - thick and wanting. they have to take these steps themselves. anything else would be sacrilege. 

"it's a temple," she says, perfectly confident. oleg beeps out one long-winded tone, almost dourly, and saskia adds, "and i think it has a guardian."

moss thickens on the weathered stone steps. weeds burst through cracks. and from the flora, a shape manifests. it regards them coldly. and then it attacks.

Lulu Flint

☉

not a building, but some natural stone monument that stood high above all else, for whatever reason. pieces of a temple hid along one face, though still tall enough to feel dwarfing and divine once they had ascended the staircase.[break][break]

she wondered who had built it all. then, as her eyes scanned, they fell onto a familiar symbol: the sun Zev Harcourt had shown her.[break][break]

it must be megalopolan…[break][break]

what was the symbol on the right? it was the same as in the center, and on the floor. it looked like a moon, she realized, before her attention was pulled away.[break][break]

”what do you mean ‘you think’–?“[break][break]

before she could finish, she realized the terrain was attacking. roots that weren’t there before, cracked through stone, threatened to wind around their ankles and trip them up.[break][break]

it was a familiar attack.[break][break]

”tapu bulu.”[break][break]

she had not had good luck with the guardian deities. however, her celesteela was quick to act defensively, a flamethrower licking across crumbled stone and charring everything its path.[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"]
saskia volosenkova [break]

if it weren't for the moonlight shining down on her, reassuring her, she would be a lot more nervous about her first legendary encounter. tapu bulu strikes quickly and efficiently. she's lucky she was standing still or the vines would have absolutely tripped her. 

oleg warbles and psychic energy expands by her ankles, buying her enough time to step out of the way before they can ensnare her. fire licks at them almost immediately and she yelps, scurrying backwards, jaw dropped because she had no idea celesteela could use flamethrower!

"oleg, can you - "  but he shakes his head. he's still concentrating on keeping the kartana friendly. so she says, "okay, okay, i got this," and confidently reaches for another ball at her hip. grass is weak to ice, right? 

morena emerges from her ball and blinks like a deerling in headlights at the conundrum, fur ruffling. the flames are still going, but they've mostly eaten through the greenery, leaving morena able to pounce over the kindle and launch towards the tapu bulu with a wave of freeze dry. 

"whoa, it's so fast," she marvels as it dodges cleanly and zeroes in on the real threat - monday's celesteela.

Lulu Flint

☉

though she was ready for battle given the familiarity of their aggressor, there was a sense of thrill to it too. the lunar phase uplifted her heart in ways she hadn’t felt in a long time.[break][break]

saskia’s surprise at the celesteela’s flamethrower made her grin. ”it was a tm125,” she explained.[break][break]

and now, it was time to see what else it had up its cone.[break][break]

the celesteela molted, shedding steel and becoming lighter with autotomize, to better match the speed of the land guardian.[break][break]

tapu bulu’s grassy terrain grew, winding towards ultra space and creating lush greenery around them. the air sparkled, then, threatening an oncoming nature’s madness.[break][break]

”brace yourself, saskia!”[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"]
saskia volosenkova [break]

this verdant caregiver would be cute if it weren't intent on ending their lives. or maiming them. or whatever the heck it wanted to do to them. it seems so surreal that a pokemon with such an affinity for greenery and life would be on this distant, pale moon. 

oleg and morena become her shield, standing before her with sheer determination. oleg reaches up with a hop to hold her hand in case things get too dicey, but for now they weather whatever maddened storm is coming their way. 

vines rip their way and strike at her pokemon, but as they make contact, ice slithers back down, freezing them to the ground. morena howls as she expends so much energy at once; the snowscape drops the temperature in the air, nipping saskia's nose.

she does not stop smiling. 

Lulu Flint

☉

that any of the tapus were appearing in the wilds was strange, but this one in particular stood out among the rest. ”i wonder why it’s here of all places?”[break][break]

the moon kept her smiling too. how pleasantly strange this mystery was, despite the past she had with the guardian of land.[break][break]

but nature’s madness was not pleasant. it blew the look off her face, shifting it to shock as the attack hit. as nature continued to grow out of the lunar surface, however, it was frozen by the snowscape that followed.[break][break]

plants curled and died under the cold before their crinkly remains were frozen in place. the tapu bulu halted its attack, regarding them with its powerful gaze. then, it produced a moon flute, and set it on the temple’s stone floor before them before disappearing.[break][break]

however, when she went to pick it up, they were charged by a swarm of lunatone.[break][break]

”it’s odd to find pokemon from our own moon here... but let’s clear them out and get whatever it was that tapu bulu left behind!”[break][break]

as they attacked, her celesteela skull bashed one away.[break][break]

40 battle a shiny tapu bulu that resides in this realm naturally. upon proving your mettle, it will grant you a moon flute that plays a sweet tone filled with gratitude.

[attr="class","ooc"]
saskia volosenkova [break]

she doesn't wholly expect morena to turn the tides as she does. frost nips at her nose and gooseflesh runs down the sides of her arms. the tapu bulu regards her and the rest of her party, considering, and then it leaves them a gift. 

"i feel bad," she says as the lunatone rise. bits and pieces of one skitter over her boots as monday's celesteela sends a couple spinning away. "they're the ones who live here, you know?"

morena holds her own side at bay with icy flurries and elgyem pirouettes with psychic power. they come out of the scrape far worse than monday's celesteela, but still relatively okay. she'd been watching the impressive ultra beast so intently, she hadn't noticed oleg's antics. 

the elgyem is several yards away from them, standing atop a wounded zarude. more lunatone lay in tangled snarls of vines around them. 

"oh wow, oleg. you met another friend!" the monkey looks at her quizzically. saskia plucks her baby alien off of its back and it harumphs, following behind. "oh, er. okay. don't you live here though?"

it blinks. 

"monday, do monkeys live on the moon?" she calls over her shoulder. she knows dogs don't live on the moon. oleg squirms in her arms and reaches for a pokeball at her belt and, before she can protest, lobs it at the zarude.

Lulu Flint

sasky's third expedition - catching zarude!

☉