a delightful picnic day.

[thunderwave]

Who: Everyone!
What: PokeBalls are now functional, and there are a lot more friends in Tabula Rasa.
Where: Outside of Heavenly Blanc! It's a picnic, baby.
When: You know, now-ish.
Content Warnings: Cute. Dragons. Birbs.

It seemingly happens at random, for the trainers of the creatures they call Pokemon. Sudden bursts of light, and out emerge quite a few new friends. Pokemon of different Types, shapes, and sizes are now wandering around . . . sticking close to their trainers, probably.

There's a small gathering outside of the Heavenly Blanc, with various snacks and food set out on tables outside. Feel free to come by, play with Pokemon, and have a bite to eat! It's a random assortment of food and drink, all "foraged" and/or made by the Pokemon crew in order to celebrate their partners being released and to also introduce them to their friends they've made in Tabula Rasa!

Be careful of the rumbling storm nearby, though . . . but on the bright side, at least your phones seem to be working, if you have any? Time to take selfies with your new friends, or maybe a TikTok that just stays on your phone forever.

(Trainers will have top levels, if they want, so if you want to interact with a specific trainer, you can wait for their level! Otherwise, have fun at the picnic.)

Comments

[rotomphone]

[ hello! Rotom doesn't have hands to wave back at them with, but it does hover around them, circling them as if trying to understand what Legion is. they definitely aren't a Pokemon based on the Pokedex data it has in its memory, but maybe not human, either... how peculiar! it's going to take a bit of video in case Raihan wants to look at the footage later. ]

Well, only five of them here are mine. [ he slings an arm around Legion to get their perspectives lined up, pointing out each of his team members entertaining themselves around the area. his mind momentarily drifts to Gigalith and Sandaconda - they aren't here with him, so he can only hope his Gym Trainers are keeping an eye on them back in the real Hammerlocke... but that's a train of thought best saved for another time. ] But it looks like they're getting along just fine with Blue and Lance's teams, so I can't complain. I'm just glad they can finally see this place for themselves.

[forwearemany]

(They don't mind having photos or videos taken of them, as Geth don't have much of a concept of privacy. They're very lively, lots of shifting and twitching, moving their eye around as they focus on things, rippling and occasionally scratching at their headflaps.

Right now they're pretty interested in Raihan. They look at him when he slings his arm around them, and then follow as he points out the members of his team. He might actually be able to hear their eye focusing on each pokemon in turn--it sounds a bit like a camera.)

Affirmative.

[rotomphone]

[ Raihan takes note of the sounds, only helping to maintain his smile. though Legion can't (or chooses not to) emote, it's clear from the busy activity of their sensors that they're interested... he thinks! it's not like he knows much about alien robots, but he's going to assume that's what's happening.

"affirmative" isn't much of an answer, so he wants to pry a little more into what they think. he turns his head, cocking an eyebrow in questioning. ]

Any questions, comments, concerns? I'm an open book!

[forwearemany]

(They think back to the recent usage of "Poke Balls" they've witnessed.)

How are pokemon acquired?

(Is it supposed to be capturing them outright, like they've seen with others. Are they supposed to get the Pokemon's consent first? What's the best way to keep one from breaking out?)

[rotomphone]

Caught in the wild, usually! When you're roaming around outside of a city, you're almost guaranteed to get attacked by a Pokémon. If it wants to battle you, that means it wants to test your mettle as a potential Trainer.

[ he takes out the Ultra Ball that he keeps Duraludon in, clicking the button in the middle to expand it from its ping pong ball-shaped portable form to the full, baseball-sized shape that fits in his hand. he shows it to Legion, his grip loose enough that they can take hold of it to examine if they want to. ]

There's no guarantee it'll obey you off the bat once you've caught it, but that's the start of your partnership.

[forwearemany]

They test potential trainers in battle?

(They take the Pokeball and examine it.

It's good to know, at least, that Pokemon who are caught likely actually want trainers. They wonder if it is the same for the hostile fauna of this world?)

[rotomphone]

Yup! A wild Pokémon can just run away if it doesn't want to battle - they're the ones that challenge us. Once you've shown each other your potential, you can start growing and helping each other get stronger.

[ it's a mutual exchange, with unshakeable bonds of strength and friendship working in tandem. even Trainers that decide not to go pro usually end up spending most of their lives with their partners as companions. ]

That's the relationship that us humans have with Pokémon. There's no way any of us Trainers would be where we are today if our teams didn't help us along the way... I don't think I could picture my life any differently than this.

[forwearemany]

...Acknowledged. Others do not seek to capture unwilling creatures or exploit these bonds?

(Legion, if Raihan hasn't noticed, can be suspicious and cynical at times.

They can believe that most trainers aren't jerks, but they can't believe that there aren't at least some assholes out there.)

[rotomphone]

Of course they do. You'll always get selfish people no matter where you go - there's plenty of instances where people will try to use Pokémon for their own personal gain.

[ there's always a story every few years that pops up somewhere in the world, with some sort of criminal group trying to abuse a Pokémon's power to get what they want. hell, he's been witness to it himself, with Galar's very own Chairman Rose being in over his head about using Eternatus to solve the region's apparently-incoming energy crisis. it was pretty disheartening to think about, but an unfortunate reality of the world. ]

Thankfully, there are plenty of people out there that won't stand for that sort of rubbish - myself included. [ he smirks. ] Protecting people and Pokémon is part of my job as a Gym Leader.

[forwearemany]

(They are relieved. Not by the existence of evil, but Raihan's willingness to acknowledge it.

In their universe, too many would not.)

Acknowledged.

(They chatter.)

Do pokemon attempt to cause similar harm?

[rotomphone]

Mm... Not usually? It's not common for troublesome wild Pokémon to wander into cities, but it happens from time to time - like I mentioned, us Gym Leaders are usually called on when that happens. Apart from that, they usually stay away from human settlements.

[ Hammerlocke's large walls make it especially uncommon, but there's been a few times where Flying Pokémon have had squabbles over territory near the castle towers. other leaders like Milo have to keep a closer eye out for trouble, thanks to their cities being wide open. ]

But if it's the other way around and you're out on their turf without a way to protect yourself, that's just asking for trouble.

[forwearemany]

Acknowledged. Common means of protection?

(They're curious about how the Pokemon people's world works.)

[rotomphone]

A Pokémon of your own, of course! That's the only way to do it - if you're a rookie Trainer, you'll have at least one partner to call on. If you don't have one, you're better off taking a train or calling a flying taxi to get where you need to go.

[ thankfully, Galar's public transit system is sprawling and convenient! even Raihan himself likes taking the flying taxi every so often - Flygon can get the job done, but there's a certain luxury of letting a cabbie and their Corviknight do the driving. ]

[forwearemany]

If a pokemon must be acquired before entering their territory, how is this possible?

(Are pokemon given to prospective trainers? Do they acquire pokemon from those who enter human territory? Some other method?

At least now they're asking more practicality related questions instead of horribly cynical ones.)