Sojaveña Wilds Silver Riverside

[Chibi Pika]

The Silver River wound its way north from Frontier Town through increasingly rugged hills. In many parts of its course, the river actually lay underground, emerging only after the rare rainstorm. But there were stretches where the bedrock pushed water to the surface, and these parts were lined on both sides with dense shrubbery, cottonwood trees, and desert willow. In the desert, water was everything, and it attracted life from miles around.

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"Appreciate you folks helping out on such short notice," Gligar Xoco said, fluttering ahead of the group on the trail leading north along the river. "Doubt we'll need five of us for this, but I suppose it's better safe than sorry. 'Specially on account of your party being low on combat experience."

It was a simple job--some of the fishermon in town had reported damage to their traps upstream, and Xoco had approached the party at the Traveler's Haus to solicit volunteers to go investigate. Most likely, it was some wild 'mon breaking into them. But what kind and how strong remained to be seen.

"It should be just 'round the bend," Xoco said, landing in front of the four mon accompanying her. "I can scout ahead in case we run into trouble. Any questions?"

 

[Cresselia92]

It had been an hour or so since the team meeting ended; a reunion meant to keep everyone updated regarding the various matters of Forlas. And while it had been partially successful in bringing everyone up to speed, it also painted a picture of that world that was way more complex than any member of the team had expected.

The Covenant of Light with its human members, establishing rules for other humans and looking down on Pokémon.

The Vanguard, a group of Pokémon who rebelled against humans and who fought to preserve the ways of Pokémon.

The Shadow Pokémon, a deadly force created by an unknown third party in that infamous Terminal Two, which could be vanquished by some light force called Radiance. Oh, and apparently the Saints of that world could use that power, too.

So many things to keep track of, and it didn't seem like the team accomplished much, other than deciding a team name (as if they were some rock band!) and giving a name to their cloudy patron, Betelgeuse. Lesson learned: Three dozens of brains from drastically different people do nothing more than foster plenty of chaos and make it harder to find some agreement, especially if there are obvious fractures inside the team itself. All they got out of it was a lot of vague, scattered information and no concrete plan.

'Ugh! We're still basically on square one! Why is it so hard to work as a team? If all meetings have to end like this, with no tangible result... Tch! No wonder I always preferred to do things by myself!' Silver grumbled internally, his arms crossed and his sulking gaze pointed low. He relied on his hearing to follow Rodion and Lyle, who had suggested finding some quiet place to chill and discuss the various topics mentioned during the meeting. The now-Sneasel was grateful for that: nothing was more mind-refreshing than a gentle breeze away from the noisy city.

Then, the trio stopped in a fairly secluded area, away from any unwanted eyes or ears. That seemed the ideal spot to talk about anything, including sensitive topics. Silver gazed expectantly at his teammates. "So, huh... That meeting was quite the chaotic mess, wasn't it?"

 

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

Steven was at the training spot early. It was the polite thing to do, but it also afforded him some extra time to train on his own. After all, he'd offered these training sessions to help the others. But after the run-in with the Wolf, (and his rather pathetic showing,) and the impending conflict with Cipher, he knew he needed to hone on his own skills, too.

At the moment, Steven was practicing by levitating rocks high over the muddy bank. The water was low in this area, and dropping them from height meant they'd embed themselves deep in the mud. Once they were good and stuck, the goal was to try and wrench them free with his telekinesis.

When he'd last spoken to Koa and Ridley, both were excited to join the training session. He left a note at the Haus that anyone else interested in training today could join in as well. As he practiced on his own he listened for any sound of anyone arriving.

 

[Weazel]

As a Water Type – really, as an otter – swimming was something that was hard wired into Archie’s psyche. Strictly speaking, he could survive just fine without, he wasn’t a fish after all! But, going too long without made him irritable, short tempered, depressed, all sorts of nasty things, really. He had trouble focusing, he couldn’t sleep as well, he started feeling uncomfortable in his own skin.

So, suffice to say, Silver River was a real godsend. He tried to come out a few times a week, to a point where the water was deep and wide enough to accommodate him. He’d find a decent enough piece of driftwood to jam vertically into the soft riverbank soil, drape his hat and coat on it, and dive in. He didn’t really have a set routine. Sometimes he did laps, sometimes he dove under and worked on holding his breath, sometimes he chased fish around, and sometimes he just floated lazily on his back, holding on to a river plant to prevent the current from dragging him away.

He was doing the latter activity when a flash of metallic blue out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. He spun, untangling himself from the reeds he’d nestled into, and was able to get a good look at the color’s source. Steven, headed in the direction of Silver Ravine, by the looks of it? What was he doing going out that way? He’d never taken Steven for much of a dungeon delver. Seemed like he was in a hurry, too!

“Hey, Steven!” the Oshawott called, paddling towards shore. Actually, this was maybe a good opportunity to follow up with the Beldum on all things Shadow. He’d been mauled pretty bad by the Drapion, and even though his physical injuries appeared to have healed nicely, the mental ones were likely still fresh, especially after the back to back experiences of Seth and Powehi. How to breech the subject, though? “Is… Everything alright?”

Not the most elegant, maybe, but it got to the point.

 

[Jackie Cat]

Seth had said he'd hang around the area near the Silver Ravine rift shallows. Just enough that if the Wayfarers wanted to meet with him, he'd find them and be there. The human-turned-Lycanroc clearly had enough confidence in his recon abilities...

In the end it was Wes who found Seth first. Perhaps by chance... Perhaps because Seth took an interest in his own alternate self.

Either way, when Wes prowled his way along the Silver one evening, it wasn't long before he found he had a second shadow.

"What brings you here, knockoff?" asked the shadow, as the other Lycas stood up on his hind legs and crossed his forelimbs. "If you're here to have it out, I'll have to disappoint you – I'm in too good a mood today to spoil it throwing down."

Seth grinned, all bravado and implicit threat, but his eyes were those of a 'mon who hardly slept. At least his voice wasn't tinged with Shadow. Yet.