lake acuity

[the_very_best]

The other two lakes supposedly harboring legendaries didn't pan out. If this one doesn't either, Bella's going to have to befriend someone who's got a Pokémon that knows Dive so she can check out the lake bottom, or pick a new lead. Zag can happily swim her around all day long, but he can't get them under the water.

...Huh. She didn't know there was somebody living here. But that's definitely a building. She can only see it because she's high above the ground, riding Rachis, but yes, in the dense forest around Lake Acuity is a lone structure, definitely artificial.

She steers Rachis, and the Pidgeot obeys.

They land neatly outside the tower, and she turns the handle on the front door curiously.

Comments

[poeticterms]

The handle resists at first, but then the door swings open of its own accord.

[toblameforit]

Inside is a great big pile of angular blue-and-pink pokemon, with a boy about her age somewhere in the middle.

"You guys are pointy!" he protests, reaching out to gather them into his arms. "I love you, but I would rather love you one at a time."

"Poryporypory," they chorus, and he gives up with a laugh and hugs them some more. He hasn't noticed Bella yet.

[the_very_best]

"Hi!" says Bella. "...How in the world do you have so many Porygon? Both in the sense of where did they come from and in the sense of why aren't they feral?"

Bella's approximately the sort of person you expect to invite herself into your house: obviously a trainer (five full, one empty Pokéballs on her belt; practical outfit decorated with designs of same; backpack; half a dozen gym badges pinned to one strap and her Ace Trainer guild pin attached to the other) but a cut above the usual hiker or backpacker who'd be likely to come through this area in a typical day. Her Pidgeot, sometime denizen of the empty Pokéball, is standing outside the door, looking very regal.

[toblameforit]

"Hi yourself!" he says, looking up in surprise. "Uh, I'm Tony. Tony Stark."

"Porporpory," say the Porygon, and he absently pats one on the head. It snuggles into his hand.

[the_very_best]

"Pidge," says Rachis, outside, peering through the door at the smaller Pokémon.

"Bella Swanna," says Bella, peering curiously at the flock of Porygon.

[toblameforit]

"My dad invented them," he explains. "I guess you could say they're friends of the family."

[the_very_best]

"...Ohhh, and I bet they're safe feral because as long as you're designing from scratch might as well put that in," nods Bella. She returns her Pidgeot to her Pokéball in a casual over-the-shoulder move. "Makes sense. How come you're all the way out here? I wasn't expecting habitation for miles around."

[toblameforit]

He shrugs. "Lived here all my life. Guys, could you let me up?"

"Poryporypory!"

Tony sighs. "Guys."

The Porygon reluctantly unpile from him. Two of them scoot over to investigate Bella, bumping their angular noses lightly against her shins. The rest disperse as Tony gets to his feet and dusts himself off.

[the_very_best]

"You busy? I expect to be around the lake for a few days - I'll camp, I'm not asking for a place to crash, but if you've been here that long anything you can tell me to supplement my map could be handy."

[toblameforit]

"I am... basically unbusy," says Tony. "What do you wanna know?"

He shoos three Porygon out from under a desk; they retreat with a chorus of "Gongongon..."

[the_very_best]

"Geographical pitfalls, what I should expect from the weather, any neat little hiding spots I might find Pokémon lurking in that would be easy to miss." Pause. "Also, if you are particularly unbusy and you've got anything that knows Dive, I'd like to peek at the bottom of the lake if my check of the surroundings doesn't turn up what I'm looking for, but that could easily be a bit much to ask and I can just poll the guild about a double-up if the answer's no."

[toblameforit]

Tony shakes his head. "Sorry, I don't think we've got anybody. Geography, though, that I can do."

He sits down at the de-Porygon'd desk and does something that calls up a three-dimensional holographic map of the lake area. It fills most of the large empty space in the middle of the room.

[the_very_best]

"Nice tech," approves Bella, peering at it and comparing against the map on her Pokétch. She swipes between the map and a notetaking application to take down the features that catch her eye.

[toblameforit]

An additional few keystrokes bring up a dotting of symbols across the map and a small legend explaining what sorts of notable features they mark.

[the_very_best]

"Thanks! Ooh, that looks like a good camping spot there."

[toblameforit]

"Hey, no problem," he says cheerfully.

[the_very_best]

"D'you just collect feral Porygon or do you train too?" asks Bella.

[toblameforit]

"Little bit," he says. "Nowhere near as hardcore as you."

[the_very_best]

"So you don't wanna have a little match, then? I'll pretend I'm not carrying half the team if it helps," Ace says.

[toblameforit]

He snorts. "Try upstairs," he suggests cryptically. "Half your team could probably still wipe the floor with me."

[the_very_best]

"Upstairs?" Bella asks. "Who's upstairs?"

[toblameforit]

"Some...one who might take you up on a match?" he says hopefully.

[the_very_best]

"Half my team or the whole thing?" she asks with interest.

Some random kiddy trainers will battle her (truncated team list) just to see how an ace handles her Pokémon, but she can usually only pull out the stops against one of the Gym Leaders - there's two she hasn't gotten to yet - or other guild members. Sooner or later she'll sweep the Elite Four, but only when she's come up empty on all the leads in Sinnoh and wants internationally-recognized cred. (You beat anybody's Champ, you are good to go, here there anywhere.)

[toblameforit]

"Only one way to find out," he says, pointing at the stairs.

[the_very_best]

Bella laughs and ascends, tracing the outline of Zag's Pokéball's button.