it's times like these that julian wishes they had a pokemon to ride. they'll have to go on foot, which is a major pain in the ass. they follow silverio for now, because he seems to remember where there's a cafe on the outskirts of the city. julian's still a little winded from earlier, but they try not to show it even as they pick up the pace a bit so they might get there before the porygon do.

as they approach the internet cafe, julian remembers something. "right!" she turns to silverio, her homemade mask leering at him. "i'm supposed to be livestreaming right now, and when we get to the cafe i'll have internet again... do you mind if i film this? it'll be such a cool catch!" her viewers would go wild for this shit. heidi hemlock saves the day! maybe she'll get a badge of honor or something. that is... assuming everything goes according to plan.

[ silverio delfino ]

PURCHASING/REDEEMING

welcome to the poké mart!

1X type 2 evolution (pawmi --> pawmo) (50 PD)

HARVESTING

be sure to visit the pretty petal flower shop near rustboro!

3X salac berry (finally) (all go to maki)

TOTAL

do come again!

50 PD

she can only hope that building is safer than being out here. who knows what else is taking shelter from the lightning out here? still, they have nowhere else to go, so they'll just have to brave it, with julian trailing after anton, complaining that he's going too fast and her short legs can't keep up.

when they arrive, though, she seems less concerned with the fact that she's entering behind him. if something's going to jump out, better him than her, she figures. at least there's no electricity... something has to have built this place, though. that's what concerns julian most of all. so far this land has seemed impossibly alien, but here there's signs there once was life here.

something hits the ground with a 'clunk' off in the distance. julian jumps, squeaking. "w-w-was that her!?"

[ Anton Belov ]

the sun starts going down. julian turns, intending to find her way back to the path. it's getting harder to see, and she squints through the dusk, scanning for any recognizable landmarks.

her foot catches on something. julian and their pawmi topple forward, and julian lands on their hands and knees, the grass tickling their neck. "OW! what the hell!?" they sit up and scoot around so they can get a better look at what tripped them... it's a big red and white spherical object that almost resembles a pokeball, if not for the eyes glaring back at them with murderous intent.

a voltorb. oh no.

julian scrambles back to her feet and backpedals furiously, waving her hands around. "it was an accident! i swear! i'm sorry! please--"

the voltorb starts to glow.

she shrieks as she turns and runs as fast as she can. there's a massive explosion behind her, and the shockwave pushes her off her feet once more so she lands face-down in the ground. still, at least she's alive. she picks herself up once more, hesitates, and then goes back for the voltorb. it's fainted, not moving, having expended all its strength.

julian sighs. "whatever. i'll take it." they tap it with a pokeball.

[ catching voltorb! ]

more complaints pass through julian's lips as she wades through the grass once more. then, without warning, the area fills with mist. julian stops, perplexed. she can't deny it feels pretty good, though, the tiny water droplets hitting her and cooling her off. she looks around for the culprit... there, in the water nearby, is a blue snout. a pair of adorable eyes meet her own, and julian blinks.

finizen are known for helping trainers out... a little weird to see it in this area, but it doesn't seem to be in distress. "thanks, i think?" julian calls out to it. the pokemon responds by diving back into the water, and the mist fades away.

it's going to get dark soon. they should head home, but they'll stay out just a bit longer...

[ passing on finizen! ]

"not if i eat you first," julian grumbles. she, too, remains silent until they've moved on, and anton is calling his dog once more. julian plays with her twintails, trying to avoid the random bouts of lightning that hit close to them. libra walks alongside them, not nearly as bothered by the environment. why are we even looking for his stupid mightyena? julian wonders. i guess we're more likely to get out of here alive if we stick together, but...

oh, hell. "wh-where does she usually hide when she's, uh, scared like this...?" they ask. their surroundings are so painfully alien, but maybe they can track her down if they try to think like her. where would julian go if she wanted to hide from a storm...? somewhere closer to the ground, probably. or indoors... "m-maybe she went into one of those power plants...?" they point across the horizon, at a decrepit building that looks like it's long been abandoned. it's worth a shot, right?

[ Anton Belov ]

she's getting a little excited now. "porygon are digital pokemon," julian-- heidi-- explains. she reaches down offer a hand for his lycanroc to sniff before proceeding with careful pets, trying to avoid the rockier bits of the pokemon. "they don't need to eat, sleep, or more importantly-- breathe. that's why we can't catch them. they'll outrun us every time." true, she'd chased after the one porygon, but that was more out of anger than anything else.

now that they're thinking clearly, julian has a plan. "they can move freely through cyberspace. out here they're probably lost and confused. if we can lure them into a place with high internet traffic, they'll probably go right to it." under the mask, they purse their lips, thinking. "of course, the main issue is how we get the internet back up... there might be an internet cafe with functioning wi-fi on the outskirts of the city that we can use as a trap." if they get far enough from the epicenter, they might be able to find a connection.

[ silverio delfino ]

their drinks arrive, and julian nurses hers, sipping through a straw. at the mention of her jacket, she looks down. "my jacket...? o-oh, right." she fiddles with the sleeves, rubbing them between thumb and forefinger. so far thea has been very nice... almost suspiciously nice. but julian is trying to be nice too, even if it goes against her every instinct, because the other girl is a fan. even if she doesn't know her idol is sitting right across from her, doing a bad job at acting natural.

"i... made it myself. um." she takes another sip, staring at the table. "i d-did a lot of, er... behind the scenes theatre stuff in... h-high school." props, costumes, backdrops... she did a bit of it all. and of course everyone took her for granted, and some of them made fun of her for her various eccentricities and her reclusive nature, which caused her to retreat even further into her shell. even theatre kids can be bullies, apparently.

[ Thea Naito ]

the tall grass rustles, and something small and cute emerges from it. julian immediately goes down into a crouch, hoping not to scare the plusle, but to its credit the electric type is quite bold. it comes right up to her, sniffing her. "hi there 'lil guy," julian coos. it's not exactly what she's looking for, but she offers it some sunflower seeds from her pocket anyway.

lyra scampers off julian's shoulder and plays with the plusle for a bit, chasing after it. then the plusle seems to wave goodbye, and it disappears back into the wild. "good luck," julian calls after it. standing up again, they only hope the plusle remains safe out here. it's a fairly peaceful area, judging by how easily it came up to them, so... probably?

[ passing on plusle! ]