dun dun dun da-na dun dun dun

[thunderwave]

Who: Lance [thunderwave] and YOU!
What: An open log for October!
Where: All over the World!
When: October!
Content Warnings: None yet!

(A) training day!

[ somewhere on one of the ledges of mt. silver, lance has set up a rusted cans on a rock ledge. inside the cans are cooked up pieces of fish. in his right hand, he has a piece of wood that's about the length of a baseball bat. dragonite is snuffling at the cans, but as lance swings the stick with a grin, the dragon-type straightens to attention. ]

Ready?

[ and dragonite huffs, spreading his wings, his eyes laser-focused on the can before lance curls his fingers around the piece of wood, swinging the stick. it hits the can with a crack, sending it flying off the cliff-face, and with a burst of speed, dragonite takes off after it, dipping down sharply to twist onto his back, catching the can in his mouth, crunching down on it with satisfaction to get the piece of fish out of it.

you might be below the ledge, seeing dragonite catch the can out of seemingly nowhere, or you might be wandering along mt. silver to see lance playing tee-ball with his big orange best friend, but either way, feel free to join in on the fun! but if you are near lance, he's readying for another swing, commenting: ]

Normally, training looks a little different . . . [ he says as he sends another can flying off the ledge, so dragonite can catch it. ] But he needs exercise just like everyone else, right?

[ and lance flips the stick over in his hand, to offer it to you with a grin, amused. ]

Do you want to try?

(B) galleria del funghi

[ the garden area by the museum is wonderfully peaceful, and lance has decided this may be his new favorite spot in this world. it also helps that there are an overabundance of mushrooms which are (1) edible and (2) delicious. so lance can be found hanging out near the bridge on some days, letting dragonite nose around in the river to swim in it and explore a bit.

it looks a little silly, a big land dragon swimming around, but if you pause near the bridge, lance will say: ]

They're born in the water, when in their pre-evolution stage.

[ warmly enough, before lance turns his attention to you, inclining his head back toward the galleria. ]

Did you find the artwork to your liking?

[ save your dick jokes for someone who will find them funny!! ]

(C) wildcard!

[ feel free to come up with a prompt of your own or hit me up for ideas! ]

Comments

B

[forceofnature]

Oh. My. Gosh.

[She would say 'god,' but that seemed self-referential.]

What is that? It's so cute. It's the best thing I've seen in this hellhole. I want one. No -- I need one! My skin is clear, my crops are thriving, and my depression is cured.

[She had been taking a constitutional in the garden beside a rose bush, because where else would she want to spend her time, but the splashing had disturbed her from staring at the ceiling doing nothing.]

[thunderwave]

[ oh, someone he hasn't met yet. the exuberance is a little . . . well, it's a lot, but it's directed toward his pokemon partner, which is obviously the 100% correct decision. ]

Ah -- Dragonite?

[ just to clarify, and the dragon-type lifts his head at the sound of his name before shifting his attention toward viridi, a little puzzled. ]

I'm afraid there aren't any others like him around here for you to catch on your own. [ and you cannot have his, tyvm. but! ] But he is friendly.

[ clearly, as dragonite lifts himself up out of the water with a flap of his wings to wave at viridi, clearly pleased with her adoration. ]

I take it you don't have Pokemon, where you come from.

[ lance has been through this explanation a lot, since arriving here. ]

[forceofnature]

I wish to hug you immediately.

[Viridi would normally just hug it without permission, but she's having a hard time being as ambulatory as she used to be. For one thing, she can't fly. She settles for sticking out both arms and psychically compelling Dragonite to come to her instead.

When she addresses Lance, she doesn't take her eyes off the prize.]

I've never heard of whatever it is you just said non-canonical party fighting games aside but I'm populating the next world I make solely with Dragonite.

[thunderwave]

[ at i wish to hug you immediately, dragonite huffs to himself and gets out of the river, to stretch out his arms to offer viridi the hug she so politely requested.

lance, in the meantime, is . . . well: ]

A world full of Dragonite would be an amazing world.

[ first and foremost, because sign him up for that vacation. but then: ]

But what do you mean by the next world that you make?

[ explain pls ]

[forceofnature]

[sorry she's busy hugging a dragon
please hold

...
...
...
...

ok partial detachment]

Sooooooooooooooo cuddly. Ahhhhhhh ~ Wait just stay there a little while longer.

It's pretty self-explanatory, isn't it? I made a world. I'll probably make another someday. I'm getting great ideas.

a

[forethinking]

(With his side leaning on a tree, Ren watches the routine. Ren himself has spent a while training like this back home, so he confidently nods when the stick is presented.

He just takes a second to get used to the weight and size of it, throwing it in the air and catching just to increase familiarity.)

How is it, usually?

[thunderwave]

What, training?

[ as he steps back to let ren have his swing, casting a glance toward dragonite, who is hovering mid-air, enjoying his fish. ]

I usually challenge the other members of the Elite Four, to train with Pokemon battles . . . or we travel, to experience new climates, new Pokemon. But Dragonite is lacking some of his power, now, so this is really the only way to get exercise.

[ poor thing. ]

[forethinking]

... What do you mean?

(As much as Ren knows about Pokémon about this point, he has never been briefed on their skills and abilities, so he just frowns at Lance before he redirects his gaze to Dragonite.)

Can he breathe fire?

(He is a dragon.)

[thunderwave]

Oh, Dragonite? Of course.

[ said easily, like he's talking about the weather! ]

This particular Dragonite of mine specializes in fire attacks. My other two prefer electric or ice, respectively.

[ training different attack styles was a lot more exciting than just focusing on the most powerful three times over. ]

But he isn't capable of breathing fire right now.

[forethinking]

(So far it makes sense. It's a dragon, dragons breathe fire, it's logical and he isn't sure why he as--

Excuse him?)

... He breathes lightning?

a

[activatingcombatmode]

[Zack is wandering around Mount Silver when he happens by the pair. Watching some guy with a giant cuddly-looking dragon is kind of a sight to see. He can't help stopping to watch the display and even lets out a low impressed whistle when the dragon-friend speeds around to catch that can and claim his fish.

He saunters over with a grin.]

Sure, I'll give it a go. And where can I get myself a dragon like that?

[thunderwave]

[ lance offers the makeshift baseball bat to zack without hesitation, stepping back to cross his arms. dragonite is hovering mid-air, tearing open the can fairly easily to get at the fish, though his attention is now on zack and lance, ready for hit number two. ]

Ah, I'm afraid he's one of a kind.

[ warmly, as he watches dragonite munch on his snack. ]

He is a Pokemon, and a rare one, at that. Few people have the ability to raise Dragonite.

[ lance happens to be one of them, and he has two other ones, but this particular one is definitely one of a kind. ]

But I'm more than happy to share; he's more popular than I am.

[ at least lance is honest. ]

[activatingcombatmode]

[Zack grins. He waves it off quickly knowing that he was mostly just joking about adopting a dragon.]

Another pokemon, it's like a bunch of you have those things around, huh?

[They are pretty awesome. The Dragonite is impressive. So, Zack taps the makeshift bat on his toe and then prepares to hit the next can much like he's about to hit an actual baseball.]

Let's see how far and how fast he can really go?

[thunderwave]

There are a few trainers here, yes.

[ so zack has met the others, then, which is good . . . probably. hopefully they left good impressions. but what zack says next piques lance's interest, because a challenge.

so he turns his attention to dragonite, who has finished his piece of fish with a happy crunch, and whistles sharply. the dragon-type immediately looks up at lance's signal, and lance signals with a wave of his hand. at his command, dragonite spreads his wings wide to dart closer to the cliff, eyes fixated on zack and the makeshift baseball bat. ]

Go ahead.

[ to zack, tossing him a slight grin, eyes bright. ]

He will catch it.

A.

[king_in_dreams]

[Noct is decidedly jealous of those who came here with a companion, and he stops on his way by to watch what they're doing. When Lance turns to him, he blinks at him a little - and then shrugs.]

Sure? If it's alright.

[He takes a moment to line it up, not wanting to miss - and then hauls back and sends the next can sailing off the ledge, watching Dragonite dive for it before he returns the stick to Lance.]

How do you normally train him?

[thunderwave]

[ ah, a good arm. and he takes the stick back with a grin as he watches dragonite dive for the second can, flipping neatly to catch it in his mouth. ]

He usually has different abilities, but for some reason, he hasn't been able to use them to his fullest extent since we've arrived here.

[ as lance balances another can on the ledge, lazily swinging the stick with his other hand. ]

I often train him by battling against other Pokemon, but there aren't very many others here that can really put up a fight without their abilities.

[ poor pikachu and eevee would probably die, whoops. ]

So for now, cliff baseball will have to suffice.

[king_in_dreams]

[Honestly the odds were just as high that Noct would throw the bat off the ledge instead of hitting the can, but, well. So far so good.]

Yeah, there's a lot of that going on. My magic hasn't been working either.

[So it's not just Dragonite, if that makes Lance feel better. He may already know that, though.]

He seems like he's enjoying it?

[thunderwave]

[ ah, interesting. lance has learned that many people here seem to have abilities . . . lance is just a regular old human being. it's dragonite that has the special talents. interesting to know that this young man seems to have magical abilities. ]

He is definitely enjoying it.

[ with half a laugh, as he shifts his gaze back to dragonite. ]

May I ask your name? I don't believe we've met before.

B!!

[starshower]

[Lucky for Lance, Tifa doesn't find dick jokes funny either. It's a win-win!

On her way out of the galleria, Tifa skips up beside him the moment he acknowledges her, happy to see a couple of familiar faces. With her having spent so much time down in Wall Market lately, she hasn't seen much of the people, so it's always a pleasant surprise when she happens to bump into anyone who hasn't had the chance to journey down into the caverns of Mount Silver yet.

She greets both Lance and Dragonite with a warm smile.]

Most of it, yeah! Never been to an art gallery like that before. Wasn't... quite what I was expecting.

[thunderwave]

I would be surprised if it wasn't half-eaten in a week.

[ the wildlife here seems to be equal opportunity, and most of the artwork seems to be . . . well, edible. dragonite lifts his head from the river to wave a set of claws toward tifa in greeting, and lance glances towards tifa, amused. ]

You mean you don't enjoy statues build entirely out of mushrooms?

[ with weird little mushroom dicks?? ]

I think I'm in agreement that I prefer them made out of stone.

[starshower]

Not sure how I feel about it yet... but at least the wildlife here's creative?

[In an odd sort of way. That large one on the statue, though... That one is hardly creative, if not just immature. She's still convinced that someone planted it there, but who is the big mystery.]

If we ever run out of food, we know where we can find more.

[Even if the mushrooms stopped growing around the world as violently as they have been, they can come here and pick some straight out of the paintings and they'd have enough to feed everyone in the Void for a week, maybe longer...]

Have you had the chance to eat any of them yet?

[thunderwave]

None of the ones in here, no, though I think Dragonite might have nibbled on one of the exhibits.

[ lance doesn't sound too bothered by that, as dragonite stretches his wings at the sound of his name. ]

I have eaten other species . . . if they are different species, anyway. They taste relatively normal, and I haven't gotten sick, yet.

[ so, clearly, everything's going great so far! but lance turns his attention back to tifa, with a slightly amused look. ]

How has the bar been? I know Blue has taken to spending a lot of time there.

[ read: is he behaving himself?? ]

B

[anciently]

I see. [ Aerith approaches with a small smile, nodding as he explains about Dragonite's swimming. ] It's interesting that they evolve to such a different form, but...I guess that's just how it is with a lot of creatures, isn't it?

[ She doesn't know anything about Pokemon, but they have their share of animals and monsters on Gaia. ]

The gallery was...interesting! [ Aerith replies, laughing lightly. ] It's nice to have something new around. I wonder how big this place will be, when it finally stops growing?

[thunderwave]

Good question.

[ thoughtfully, as his gaze shifts back to dragonite, his brow furrowing slightly. this "world," whatever it is, definitely seems to be growing. getting bigger, changing . . . what that means, lance has no real idea. ]

It's almost as if this place is changing because of the people in it. Some of these things are familiar to some of us . . . I still wonder why we're all here to begin with, let alone why it's changing the way that it is.

[anciently]

I'm not sure anybody has an idea of why we're here... [ She muses, watching Dragonite with a thoughtful expression. ] But, I think it'd be hard to deny that we're having an impact on things around us. Whether it's more of a...natural process, and our memories are just somehow able to shape this place, or...someone can access those thoughts, and they're intentionally changing things? I don't know. Not yet, anyway.

[ It's hard to find any answers here, but fortunately, it's not quite urgent yet. There's no immediate threat, after all, and she doesn't get the sense that they're going to be able to easily walk out of here.

...Not that that's ever stopped her, or her friends, before! ]