"Um... no... more like on a journey of...ah... how would you say... discovering the self?" Jean's Johtan was good, but not perfect. It was very different from Kalosian and his thick accent would be every present every time he spoke. "I am trying to be better. Sorry, does that make sense?"
As he was invited in and asked about Ancil he seemed to settle down quite a bit. Ancil was a topic he liked discussing more than himself. "He is an Absol. They are not common, but can be found in the mountains of Kalos. He is able to sense danger and warn people of it." He explained with a soft, shy smile. "Though, for me, he does a lot more than that as a service pokemon. I rely on him for just about everything."
He was invited have dinner with them, and before he could insist on not being a bother he was sent off to bath and get ready. Ancil snickered at him for not being able to get a word in, earning the pokemon a pout. Once they were all gathered he would stand awkwardly at the doorway to the dining room for a moment, calming himself down before clearing his throat and nodding to them politely.
"Um... I don't believe I was able to introduce myself yet. My name is Jean Beaumont. I arrived in Johto today from Kalos. It is very nice to meet you, and thank you incredibly for allowing me to stay the night in your home."
Posted: Sun Apr 23, 2023 8:07 am
HauntMyCroissant
"Pleased to meet you, Jean." The 'man of the house' replied to the trainer, giving him a small nod. "Please, sit down partner, relax." He continued, pulling out the chair next to him and patting on his seat for emphasis. Once seated the man would pat Jean on the back and then rest his hand on his shoulder. "Sounds like you got yerself a pretty useful Pokemon there, that Absol thing. Maybe it could warn me when our Tauros is in a bad mood and is gonna start acting up." The man chuckled, removing his hand from his shoulder.
"You're neat mister! You got a neat Pokemon, you talk really neat! You're neat-o!" The son spoke up, intrigued not only by the trainer's Pokemon but also his accent.
The mother laughed and shook her head. "Forgive my son, he is card." She would then raise up and walk off, returning shortly to bring plates of some sort of meat and noodle dish with a cream sauce. "Here you go! Meat and milk raised right here!" The woman declared proudly. Once she was re-seated and her son and husband began to chow down she would speak to Jean again. "A journey to discover the self, huh? I did that once, ended up finding more than myself, found my husband right here and settled down." She said, smiling at the man too busy scarfing down his food to acknowledge to sentiment, but she didn't seem to mind.
Jean stiffened for a moment, but nodded and sat at the table text to the father of the family. He chuckled at the comment from him but shook his head. "I believe it is more for natural disasters." He explained with his usual nervous smile. "Things like eh.... twisters? Or um... the... how you say... the um... big... wave...?" The Kalosian continued, then with a slightly sadder and quiet tone mentioned, "Avalanches..." But he shook it off with a sigh and forced the smile back on his face. "He is very useful. I would not be a live without Ancil. Or, if I had survived back then, I would not be able to live nearly as well."
Then his face flushed at the little boys comments of him being 'neat.' "O-oh... n-no not at all." The artists stammered. "I am... merely myself and nothing more. And I am... still learning how to live as myself too. It is I journey that is never truly complete really. But, I hope this part of it will bring my that much closer."
Then the woman chimed in, and he couldn't help but smile almost longingly at her story. "That is wonderful! I... I doubt I will be so lucky. There are not many me-" He stopped himself, clearing his throat quickly before continuing his comment. He'd heard people of Johto weren't always as accepting and open as the people of Kalos. This family seemed extremely kind and welcoming, but he didn't want to test it too much. "People... there are... not many people who would be so willing to put up with my... um... unique... personal... predicaments." Jean sighed, poking slightly at the food placed in front of him as he thought about the idea of actually finding someone he could be with one day... and how it wasn't something that was really feasible. "Besides, I would not want to put someone through that burden."
However, when he finally did take a bite of the food, his face brightened almost immediatly. One thing anyone could say about people of Kalos, they appreciated a good meal. And in Jean's case, food tended to be able to pull him out of his funks. Good thing too, since Ancil was getting ready to start his grounding techniques sensing that Jean was starting to sink into one of his self-depricative states of mind. "This is superb!" He explaimed after swallowing. "The sauce is so rich and flavorful. It compliments the meat wonderfully."
Posted: Mon Apr 24, 2023 5:22 pm
HauntMyCroissant
There would be much laughter and pleasant conversation had that night in the dining room of the Moomoo Farms family, the Johto natives enjoying the company of their Kalosian guest. After a slice of homemade cheesecake, of course made with their own Moomoo Milk, the family would turn in for the night after the wife of the house showed Jean to his room. It was a fairly modest accommodation, as one might expect of such a humble farming family, but it would suffice, much better than camping. Jean would be left to himself for the rest of the night, the glow of the glass Mareep lamp lighting up the fluffy comforter stuffed with the wool of the Pokemon said lamp is styled after. Hopefully he would have a good night's sleep.
The next morning the family would be up well before Jean, their son having already done his chores and set off for school in Olivine City, the husband cleaning the barn, and the wife cleaning up the kitchen. Jean would find the kind woman easily enough and it is there she would offer him some waffles. "They are cold by now but you're more than welcome to some." She said with a smile. She would then point pout the two bottles of Moomoo Milk on the table. "For you and your Pokemon, for your journey."
After the meal, Jean would have asked sheepishly if he could take some time to sketch the family before bed, it was one of his ways of keeping track of important things in his life after all; he would want to be sure to get a sketch of them done before he forgot them that night. It would take him only an hour to get an incredibly detailed sketch done in his sketch book. From there, he would follow the woman up to the guest room, nod his goodnight, changed to his night clothes, and start putting his notes of the day down in writing in his journal while fighting off the slight dizzy spell that he had been feeling for the past few hours.
Luckily he got it all down quickly, though with messier hand writing than usual. Just as he stood from the desk, his legs gave out and he toppled forward towards the bed, managing to fall in a way the he caught the bed on the way down. Ancil rushed over and helped him pull himself onto the bed, earning a grateful and tired pat on the head right before his trained full passed out. The bad luck Pokemon snatched the journal and sketch book from the desk and put it on the nightstand right within Jean's eyesight and reach, then hopped onto the bed himself and made himself comfortable across Jean's legs.
The following morning, Jean panicked a bit less than the morning before as he spotted the books just as he woke up. He was frightened for a moment but Ancil took his hand and put it on the Journal to get him to pick it up. The first hour of the day, as always, was spent jogging his memories of the things he head read many times over so he could understand who he was followed by reading the latest entries to understand where he was. Once he was caught up, he'd slowly make his way downstairs looking a bit rattled still. Mornings were never his favorite time of day. It always took him a while to get used to his life and realizations again.
It was nice to have a friendly face greet him in the kitchen and offer him breakfast, even if it was cold. "Th-thank you, ma'am. You are too kind, truly." He stammered meekly, helping himself to a couple waffles quickly and taking the milk for the road. He bowed his head to her, remembering that was a way to show thanks in Johtan culture. "And, thank you for your hospitality. I can not thank you enough really. I... wish I could say I will not forget you... but I think it is more accurate to say that Ancil and my notebooks won't forget. I'm sure he will remind me every morning though." He let out a nervous chuckle. "I must get back to my journey, but I hope one day I can return and give a more proper thanks."
And with that he was back on the road. Looking around, he quickly pulled the GRAY back out. "Um... pardon... could you remind me of where I am supposed to be going. Sorry, I will need this a lot... probably every morning... actually...." His voice trailed off in embarrassment and guilt as he explained himself to the AI. He hated being a burden to people. Did an AI count as people? He talked like one at least.
Posted: Tue Apr 25, 2023 5:34 pm
HauntMyCroissant
There would be an extended period of silence from the SNAG, only a few seconds however would feel like much longer as one might expect an immediate response from a computer program which solely exists to assist others. The silence would be broken by an actual sigh coming from the device, as if GRAY had lungs, the sound clearly being used just for sarcastic purposes. "It's fine. I was made aware of your situation, or at least I dug into your background and discovered it, medical records and all of that. You were a hefty baby." GRAY commented.
"Head east towards Ecruteak City. From your current position you should be on Route 38 which directly leads to Ecruteak City, the route cutting through the surrounding forest. A word of warning however, Route 38 contains a considerable amount of tall grass, thus plenty of wild Pokemon. Furthermore numerous trainers frequent this area so you may be challenged to a battle. GRAY explained, actually being helpful. Jean would learn in time that the AI just liked to give the Snagems a hard time but in the end always pulled through, his abrasive personality taking time to get used to.
And GRAY was indeed correct, it would be long before Jean would notice the path ahead would split. He could go north along the well worn path and very likely encounter some trainers, go straight ahead through the tall grass, or he could take a leap off the short cliff to the south and avoid most of the troubles ahead, provided he wasn't afraid of heights. "You could always take this opportunity to capture a new Pokemon for your team as well." GRAY suggested.
Jean nodded, not too phased by the AI's rude tone. He was still helpful, and the trainer didn't mind the snark. He wasn't easily agitated or or upset.
Looking out at the grass he debated the idea of getting new teammates. It wasn't a bad one. Looking at Ancil, he wasn't really meant for battling even though he was more than capable of it if needed. But Jean preferred keeping him by his side whenever possible. Having another member to battle instead would be beneficial. What kind of Pokemon could he find here? Before the accident, he had always wanted a Furfrou, but those weren't native to Johto so he wouldn't be finding any here.
Only one way to find out he guessed. Thanking GRAY for his assistance, hebhooked the AI back to his belt, took a deep breath, and began his way into the tall grass.
SubonicXP generated a random number between
1 and 20 ...
8!
Posted: Wed Apr 26, 2023 6:07 pm
HauntMyCroissant
The tall blades of grass would be easily pushed aside as Jean stepped through the thick grassland, the blades of grass brushing up against him and reaching just shy of his waist, tall enough to wide all sort of creatures within. While Jean might be fearful of what he couldn't see in the grass he would come to be more focused on what he could see, especially the large pink creature just yards ahead of him. There was a Miltank grazing on the grasses, completely unaware of Jean's presence, looking like it was just enjoying the warm sunny day with a healthy meal of grass.
(Rolling to see what Pokemon Jean encounters, then I'll edit for content. Note we don't do Pokemon encounters like this all the time but I figured it would be fun in this scenario.)
Jean watched the miltank for a bit, debating what to do. He wasn't she if it was a good fit for what he was trying to do... It could be useful for milk... But he didn't know enough about Pokemon to know if this one was a good choice for battling. Still, if he didn't catch it, it would at least be good practice for Ancil right?
Looking down to his service Pokemon, the absol nodded and started stalking the wild creature like prey. Slowly he remained hidden in the tall grass until he was close enough to pounce and land a shadow claw on it, followed quickly by a bite. He was trying to weaken it, but Ancil wasn't used to fighting without attempting to knock out the enemy since typically of he did battle it was to protect Jean. He very well my have gone over board. One way to find out.
Posted: Sun Apr 30, 2023 7:53 am
HauntMyCroissant
(OOC: I apologize for the extended delay in posting, if you saw the last guild announcement I have a lot of familial stuff going on.)
The Miltank would only acknowledge the Absol as it pounced on it, its Shadow Claw harmlessly passing through the Normal-type, the bovine then having enough time to take note of its would-be assailant before it had a chance to follow up with a Bite. Likely without thinking, startled and scared, the Miltank would buck and kick, making it difficult for the Absol to Bite down. The Miltank would attempt to get Absol off and if it were successful it would deliver a backwards kick with Stomp to the Dark-type. If successful in removing the threat and kicking it the Miltank would attempt to flee but there was plenty of time to stop it from escaping as the cow wasn't particularly fast.
((OOC: No problem at all. IRL always comes first. Take your time. 3nodding))
Jean would watch as Ancil got bucked off and stomped on with a gasp, before running over to make sure he was okay. The service pokemon was fine, got up quick, and seemed ready to give chase and try again but was stopped by his master with a soft and worried smile.
"Let's try to find another one so we can keep the element of suprise, yes? I don't like seeing you stompped into the ground, mon ami."
The absol looked over at the flee bovine and let out a sigh. He knew he could take it but also knew his master was a worry wort. Perhaps looking for something smaller would be easier for him to tame anyway. Jean was also a lover, not a fighter. In fact, as a kid he wanted to be a breeder or an artist who specialized in wild pokemon. Now that he had to battle to survive it was hard for him, and Ancil knew that. The pokemon gave a pout, but it was for the best to find something easier for Jean to handle anyway. Perhaps a larger pokemon like that would be good later in his journey... But if the next one was another miltank the bad luck pokemon would turn it into prime rib.
With that thought in mind, he began stalking through the grass again with Jean in tow; on the hunt for another potential teammate while making their way closer to their destination.
Posted: Sun Apr 30, 2023 12:04 pm
HauntMyCroissant
Further into the tall grass Jean and Ancil would go, the Miltank long since disappearing from sight. Eventually Jean would come to a fork in the road, one path leading straight ahead into more tall grass from what he could see and the other leading south, the grass and trees looking like they got more sparse in the distance. At the fork, as the trainer considered his option, he would spot a wild Hoothoot perched in a nearby tree, just one eye of the Owl Pokemon opening to acknowledge the presence of the human and his Pokemon companion. Whether or not Jean chose to pick a fight with the Hoothoot he would encounter another Pokemon along one path and a trainer on the other.
On the forward, more grassy path, he would come across a beautiful young woman, seeming to fret over the fact that her Hoppip had gotten dirty and was now in the process of wiping off its face with a frilly handkerchief dug out of her purse. Maybe she fancied a battle? And if so victory would net him some money.
The southern path that would lead to a dirt road would have a wild Meowth and a wild Snubbull about to clash, the natural feline and canine enemies having crossed paths in the tall grass and now neither one wanted to back down. If Jean got involved both would definitely try to flee so if he intended to catch one he would have to single that one out immediately and let the other one flee. The choice was his.
Jean followed Ancil to the fork and looked up at the hoothoot. He decided perhaps a different approach this time might work. Signalling to Ancil to stay back behind him for a moment, the trainer reached into his bag and pulled out some pokepuffs he had brought with him. Since it was only Ancil with him, he had three mocha (Ancil's favorite) and one of each of the other flavors for the off chance he wanted to switch it up. He looked to his service pokemon with a shrug and a sheepish grin. The absol sighed, understanding where this was going and nodded his approval of sharing his snacks.
The trainer walked slowly towards the tree and offered one of each puff to the hoothoot by setting them down on a hankerchief before backing up a bit and giving a soft smile.
"Hello there. I am Jean, and this is Ancil. We are trying to make some new friends for our jouney. Would you like to come down? You may have some of our treats if you would like."
Posted: Tue May 02, 2023 6:12 pm
HauntMyCroissant
"Hello there. I am Jean, and this is Ancil. We are trying to make some new friends for our jouney. Would you like to come down? You may have some of our treats if you would like."
The Hoothoot would open its other eye as Jean and Ancil approached, the owl letting out a soft hoot, quickly realizing they weren't there to pick a fight but still the bird was ready to take off it needed. The Pokepuffs it took particular interest, its stomach growling and its big eyes seeming to get even wider. The owl however was still leery and looked up from the puffs and at Jean before repeating its glance at the food and back again. Deciding that the human and the strange Pokemon weren't too much of a threat, at least not one it couldn't escape from, the Hoothoot fluttered down from the tree, landed, and began to peck away at the puffs.
"Hoot!" It declared happily after a few seconds of eating. If Jean or Ancil got closer it would look at them for a bit before going back to its food, giving off a content hoot. "Hoothoot!" It declared at a minute more, hoping on just on just one foot up to Jean and Ancil. "Hoooot!" It almost purred as it looked up at them. Looks like they made a friend.
Jean smiled softly, watching the owl pokemon eat and smiled even wider as it approached him. "I'm glad you liked them." He noted, holding his hand out for the hoothoot to sniff before gently petting it on the head. "When we get to base we'll ahve to get more treats for you guys."
Ancil sighed, but gave a smiled and approving nod to the other pokemon. He began barking calmly, having a conversation with the wild creature. Jean wouldn't know about what per say, but he hoped they got along. He thought by the way his partner glanced at him occasionally, that maybe he was explaining who he was, what they were doing, and what to expect from travelling with them. But for all he knew, they could be talking about the different types of treats Jean had given him in the past.
Either way, after a few minutes, Jean would pull out a pokeball and hold it up to the hoothoot. "We are on our way to our new home. It could be your home too, if you would like. We can work together, get stronger, learn together, and maybe help make the world better in the process. Sound good?" He held the ball out so the pokemon can put itself in it if he wanted. He left it up to the hoothoot whether or not he could join.
