OOC: Pardon probably mangled French: It's supposed to be something to the line of 'The Untitled Adventure' - because I couldn't think of a name for this RP and this merde is the best I could come up with. You brought this on yourselves by not having suggestions, damnit.
In an ancient language, largely dead outside the proceedings of scientists, the word ‘Kalos’ meant ‘Beauty’. In that sense, the Kalos region certainly lived up to its name. There was no denying it: Kalos was pretty. Too pretty, almost - like it was trying to compensate for something.
It made an interesting change from Unova, for sure. Not that Unova was not pretty – far from it – but there seemed to be something fundamentally different about the essence of the region. In Unova, everyone always seemed to be in such a rush - always buying something or selling something or eating something or suing something in pursuit of fame and fortune, dashing from point A to point B without giving much thought to the path in between or other people in the way. Kalos was different – more about the journey than the destination, for sure. It was a laid-back region, far more interested in the pursuit of beauty, fashion and the good life than in the consumption of bite-sized pieces of information force-fed via ubiquitous screens and news tickers and all the mucking-about with truths and ideals that Unova was almost infamous for.
Kalos certainly felt less… bipolar - or at least, that’s the first impression Gad got from it. He’s only been living in this region for a few months, after a number of years in Unova where his father – a leading authority on Bug-type Pokémon biology - researched the Joltik and Galvantula populations of Chargestone Cave. It was just another routine move for him; Between his father’s attitude about being at the forefront of research and his mother’s eternal wanderlust - not quelled even by her retirement from the lifestyle of a traveling trainer and taking on a more ‘sedentary’ career as an writer - the Van Lierres were always in motion, generally only staying in one region for a few years, until one project ended and another started.
And so, when a new research project surrounding the pattern variations on the Kalos region’s endemic butterfly Pokémon presented itself, his parents bought an old, quaint farmhouse nestled in the vast, verdant expanses surrounding the route that the locals called Fourrage Road and the official maps called Route 12 and restored it, transforming it into the typical hybrid of house and laboratory that the Van Lierres have been calling ‘home’ in every region they arrived in since Gad could remember himself. It was an ideal location, really: a green, rural area with a beautiful ocean view, close enough to the neighboring port city of Coumarine to have a convenient supply line for the scientific apparatus his father dealt with, but far enough to allow quiet admiration of the region’s inspirational beauty – a feature that his mother rather appreciated as a writer.
It also meant that technically their nearest neighbors were goats – but after years of living in close proximity to Driftveil City, the goats made infinitely better company.
Currently, though, the merits of goats as neighbors were the last thing on Gad’s mind – he was far too busy packing. In the eighteen years of his life, he has already seen more of the world than a large number of people have in a lifetime – and yet, he has never actually gone out there on his own. Now, with a whole new region to explore, he decided that the time has come to break out of the metaphorical chrysalis, spread his equally metaphorical wings and complete his metamorphosis into an adult form – or at least, do a proper trainer journey. He’d leave the whole business of fluttering around, feeding on nectar and burninating the countrysides to his partner.
The partner in question was currently perched on his bed, head mildly tilted sideways and regarding him with a look of mild bemusement through piercing blue eyes as he ran through a checklist of all the things he would need to take on his journey, marking down things he has already packed and searching around his room for things he hasn’t yet. Zorya was like that – calm, serene and with a pervading aura of inner strength, but not without her quirks.
He recognized that particular quirk. It’s not that the Larvesta was confused about his packing – the decision to go on a journey was one they made together. After all, without his only Pokémon he would be going nowhere fast – and Zorya was as excited about the prospect of exploring the outside world as he was. No, It was merely that she was confused about why he was packing now rather than doing something productive like, say, petting her. Gad rolled his eyes in mock-frustration, emitting a sigh and sitting down on the bed, lightly stroking the Torch Pokémon’s white fur, occasionally scritching at the bases of the horn-like projections emerging from her head. The Larvesta, in response, emitted a rapid sequence of high pitched clicks, eyes glazing over in contentment.
For a creature that would one day evolve into a majestic primordial solar moth, Zorya certainly reminded him of a cat at times.
“You know, Zorya, you’re adorable, but I seriously need to finish packing.” He said, eventually standing up again “Kalos is a pretty big region. We wouldn’t want to forget anything we’d regret getting caught in the middle of nowhere without, you know. “
The Larvesta, in return, regarded him with a slightly disappointed look of acceptance – she saw the merit in his words. After all, tomorrow they were leaving the nest into a new, wild world – it never hurt to be prepared as much as one possibly can be.
The sun was rising.
When the alarm clock roused Gad from his slumber, his first instinct was to slam the snooze button with a light karate chop and resume his forays into dreamland for at least a few more hours – a sensation that fizzled away as he remembered the reason he set that alarm to begin with. There was a great deal of merit in utilizing as many of the daylight hours as possible to travel.
“There’s gotta be a better way to start the day than waking up in the morning.” He murmured as he vaguely pulled himself out of bed, put his glasses on and stretched thoroughly, attempting to shake the last vestiges of sleep from his body. Gad Van Lierre was a lot of things, but he was not a morning person.
A quick shower and a brush of the teeth later, he changed into one of his favorite outfits – dark blue jeans, a black T-shirt (with the words ‘Don’t Panic’ written on it in large, friendly letters), a forest-green jacket with interweaving double-helix ivy patterns running along its sleeves, a black bandanna featuring similar designs and a pair of black fingerless gloves. Gad surveyed himself in the mirror briefly, content with his appearance for the day. He had packed enough changes of clothes to give himself more options for the next few days – and with Pokémon Center rooms having machines that automatically washed, dried and folded clothing anyway, he figured he would be set for this journey as far as outfits go.
Just a few more things left to get from his room and he would be technically ready to go. The first was his partner’s Pokéball – an off-white ball with a red rim, an orange button and a dark red Volcarona-inspired tribal-esque design drawn on its top half. The design was his own – he had it printed onto the surface of a more standard Pokéball using a small, specialized printer that attached to his drawing tablet. The printer and the tablet were among the things he had packed, stowed safely within his backpack – a black and grey one that had a plated, biomechanical look of sorts. He slung the thing over one of his shoulders, marveling at its lightness. Thank deities for Item Balls.
And speaking of deities, there was one last thing he wanted to grab - a green stone and grey metal pendant he has purchased shortly after he arrived in the region and particularly liked. It was styled after one of the local legendary Pokémon of the Kalos region – a creature said to resemble a serpent with incredibly alien qualities, dwell deep underground and watch the Kalos region’s ecosystem, guarding it from threats. Sometimes he wondered what it would be like to encounter such a mythical creature, although he would have hoped to be a far more experienced trainer before the opportunity presented itself.
It would be a terrible shame to encounter a living legend only to get casually vaporized, after all.
Breakfast was a mushroom omelet along with some freshly baked breads and cheeses and a blended berry juice. Family breakfasts with good food and lively conversation were not an uncommon event for the Van Lierres, but this one was special, nonetheless - after all, it was the last one they would have as a family for a while.
Conversation spanned around various aspects of trainer journeys (with his mother dispensing bits and pieces of wisdom from her own trainer days) and some current events (with his father chiming in about an alleged sighting of a Vivillon with a Pokéball-like pattern and how unlikely it seemed to him). As a going-away present his parents surprised him with a new mobile communications device based on holographic technology – a nice upgrade, he had to admit, from the old Poké Gear he’s been carrying with him for a while. After taking a short while to transfer his contacts and information from the old device to the new one – he was finally ready to say his goodbyes and finally set out. Between his own research and some last-moment input from his parents, Gad established the path that he would begin his journey with in his mind – he would set off eastwards to Coumarine City, then south along Route 13 to Lumiose City,, at the very heart of the Kalos Region. One could get virtually anywhere from there – and what’s more, the city housed the research lab of the region’s leading Pokémon Professor, Augustine Sycamore. He hasn’t heard much of that particular professor’s work – but he was supposedly the man to see when it came to beginning a proper Pokémon journey in this region, so it only made sense that he’d be based in an easily accessible central location.
He’d figure out where to go next when he gets there.
In an ancient language, largely dead outside the proceedings of scientists, the word ‘Kalos’ meant ‘Beauty’. In that sense, the Kalos region certainly lived up to its name. There was no denying it: Kalos was pretty. Too pretty, almost - like it was trying to compensate for something.
It made an interesting change from Unova, for sure. Not that Unova was not pretty – far from it – but there seemed to be something fundamentally different about the essence of the region. In Unova, everyone always seemed to be in such a rush - always buying something or selling something or eating something or suing something in pursuit of fame and fortune, dashing from point A to point B without giving much thought to the path in between or other people in the way. Kalos was different – more about the journey than the destination, for sure. It was a laid-back region, far more interested in the pursuit of beauty, fashion and the good life than in the consumption of bite-sized pieces of information force-fed via ubiquitous screens and news tickers and all the mucking-about with truths and ideals that Unova was almost infamous for.
Kalos certainly felt less… bipolar - or at least, that’s the first impression Gad got from it. He’s only been living in this region for a few months, after a number of years in Unova where his father – a leading authority on Bug-type Pokémon biology - researched the Joltik and Galvantula populations of Chargestone Cave. It was just another routine move for him; Between his father’s attitude about being at the forefront of research and his mother’s eternal wanderlust - not quelled even by her retirement from the lifestyle of a traveling trainer and taking on a more ‘sedentary’ career as an writer - the Van Lierres were always in motion, generally only staying in one region for a few years, until one project ended and another started.
And so, when a new research project surrounding the pattern variations on the Kalos region’s endemic butterfly Pokémon presented itself, his parents bought an old, quaint farmhouse nestled in the vast, verdant expanses surrounding the route that the locals called Fourrage Road and the official maps called Route 12 and restored it, transforming it into the typical hybrid of house and laboratory that the Van Lierres have been calling ‘home’ in every region they arrived in since Gad could remember himself. It was an ideal location, really: a green, rural area with a beautiful ocean view, close enough to the neighboring port city of Coumarine to have a convenient supply line for the scientific apparatus his father dealt with, but far enough to allow quiet admiration of the region’s inspirational beauty – a feature that his mother rather appreciated as a writer.
It also meant that technically their nearest neighbors were goats – but after years of living in close proximity to Driftveil City, the goats made infinitely better company.
Currently, though, the merits of goats as neighbors were the last thing on Gad’s mind – he was far too busy packing. In the eighteen years of his life, he has already seen more of the world than a large number of people have in a lifetime – and yet, he has never actually gone out there on his own. Now, with a whole new region to explore, he decided that the time has come to break out of the metaphorical chrysalis, spread his equally metaphorical wings and complete his metamorphosis into an adult form – or at least, do a proper trainer journey. He’d leave the whole business of fluttering around, feeding on nectar and burninating the countrysides to his partner.
The partner in question was currently perched on his bed, head mildly tilted sideways and regarding him with a look of mild bemusement through piercing blue eyes as he ran through a checklist of all the things he would need to take on his journey, marking down things he has already packed and searching around his room for things he hasn’t yet. Zorya was like that – calm, serene and with a pervading aura of inner strength, but not without her quirks.
He recognized that particular quirk. It’s not that the Larvesta was confused about his packing – the decision to go on a journey was one they made together. After all, without his only Pokémon he would be going nowhere fast – and Zorya was as excited about the prospect of exploring the outside world as he was. No, It was merely that she was confused about why he was packing now rather than doing something productive like, say, petting her. Gad rolled his eyes in mock-frustration, emitting a sigh and sitting down on the bed, lightly stroking the Torch Pokémon’s white fur, occasionally scritching at the bases of the horn-like projections emerging from her head. The Larvesta, in response, emitted a rapid sequence of high pitched clicks, eyes glazing over in contentment.
For a creature that would one day evolve into a majestic primordial solar moth, Zorya certainly reminded him of a cat at times.
“You know, Zorya, you’re adorable, but I seriously need to finish packing.” He said, eventually standing up again “Kalos is a pretty big region. We wouldn’t want to forget anything we’d regret getting caught in the middle of nowhere without, you know. “
The Larvesta, in return, regarded him with a slightly disappointed look of acceptance – she saw the merit in his words. After all, tomorrow they were leaving the nest into a new, wild world – it never hurt to be prepared as much as one possibly can be.
~*~
The sun was rising.
When the alarm clock roused Gad from his slumber, his first instinct was to slam the snooze button with a light karate chop and resume his forays into dreamland for at least a few more hours – a sensation that fizzled away as he remembered the reason he set that alarm to begin with. There was a great deal of merit in utilizing as many of the daylight hours as possible to travel.
“There’s gotta be a better way to start the day than waking up in the morning.” He murmured as he vaguely pulled himself out of bed, put his glasses on and stretched thoroughly, attempting to shake the last vestiges of sleep from his body. Gad Van Lierre was a lot of things, but he was not a morning person.
A quick shower and a brush of the teeth later, he changed into one of his favorite outfits – dark blue jeans, a black T-shirt (with the words ‘Don’t Panic’ written on it in large, friendly letters), a forest-green jacket with interweaving double-helix ivy patterns running along its sleeves, a black bandanna featuring similar designs and a pair of black fingerless gloves. Gad surveyed himself in the mirror briefly, content with his appearance for the day. He had packed enough changes of clothes to give himself more options for the next few days – and with Pokémon Center rooms having machines that automatically washed, dried and folded clothing anyway, he figured he would be set for this journey as far as outfits go.
Just a few more things left to get from his room and he would be technically ready to go. The first was his partner’s Pokéball – an off-white ball with a red rim, an orange button and a dark red Volcarona-inspired tribal-esque design drawn on its top half. The design was his own – he had it printed onto the surface of a more standard Pokéball using a small, specialized printer that attached to his drawing tablet. The printer and the tablet were among the things he had packed, stowed safely within his backpack – a black and grey one that had a plated, biomechanical look of sorts. He slung the thing over one of his shoulders, marveling at its lightness. Thank deities for Item Balls.
And speaking of deities, there was one last thing he wanted to grab - a green stone and grey metal pendant he has purchased shortly after he arrived in the region and particularly liked. It was styled after one of the local legendary Pokémon of the Kalos region – a creature said to resemble a serpent with incredibly alien qualities, dwell deep underground and watch the Kalos region’s ecosystem, guarding it from threats. Sometimes he wondered what it would be like to encounter such a mythical creature, although he would have hoped to be a far more experienced trainer before the opportunity presented itself.
It would be a terrible shame to encounter a living legend only to get casually vaporized, after all.
~*~
Breakfast was a mushroom omelet along with some freshly baked breads and cheeses and a blended berry juice. Family breakfasts with good food and lively conversation were not an uncommon event for the Van Lierres, but this one was special, nonetheless - after all, it was the last one they would have as a family for a while.
Conversation spanned around various aspects of trainer journeys (with his mother dispensing bits and pieces of wisdom from her own trainer days) and some current events (with his father chiming in about an alleged sighting of a Vivillon with a Pokéball-like pattern and how unlikely it seemed to him). As a going-away present his parents surprised him with a new mobile communications device based on holographic technology – a nice upgrade, he had to admit, from the old Poké Gear he’s been carrying with him for a while. After taking a short while to transfer his contacts and information from the old device to the new one – he was finally ready to say his goodbyes and finally set out. Between his own research and some last-moment input from his parents, Gad established the path that he would begin his journey with in his mind – he would set off eastwards to Coumarine City, then south along Route 13 to Lumiose City,, at the very heart of the Kalos Region. One could get virtually anywhere from there – and what’s more, the city housed the research lab of the region’s leading Pokémon Professor, Augustine Sycamore. He hasn’t heard much of that particular professor’s work – but he was supposedly the man to see when it came to beginning a proper Pokémon journey in this region, so it only made sense that he’d be based in an easily accessible central location.
He’d figure out where to go next when he gets there.
