Private/Closed Open Day

[Teapot]

OOC: This RP is based on the timeline introduced in Dawn of a Sky Trainer, and is designed as a world- and character-building exercise. We hope you enjoy reading!

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Kalos in September was a beautiful place. In Dendemille Town, the ground was starting to glisten with fallen leaves, and the windmill spun quietly in the distance. A river ran gently past the Kalos Academy of Flight, a grand old stone building, cutting through the large grounds behind it.

The Academy was home to a hundred aspiring Sky Trainers, each at varying points of their education. Alyssa had been there for a couple of years now and had begun to spend more time outside the academy doing field work than she spent inside it. This suited her perfectly – she was always happiest out and doing things. Today, however, she had been drafted in to help with the academy’s open day.

This is why the normally-empty green was teeming with people and noise – stalls were set up around the edges, and countless 17-year-olds and their parents stood around, chatting to students and instructors and being given a demonstration of some of the fancy equipment Sky Trainers used to do their job. Alyssa was standing near a food stall which wafted the smell of barbequed meats across the grounds, and was just about to tuck into a burger when a pale, lanky-looking 17-year-old boy sauntered over, flanked on both sides by his parents. Barely waiting for them to ask their question, Alyssa launched into her speech, which she had down pat after giving it to eight previous families in the last 15 minutes:

“So, the Kalos Academy of Flight is the only academy in Kalos that specifically trains Sky Trainers, who are qualified Pokémon trainers who specialise in Pokémon capable of flight and are skilled in the art of Sky Battles. We’re particularly different to the Pokémon League because our goals aren’t to attain pure strength. We focus on the bond between ourselves and our Pokémon first and foremost, developing us as a highly skilled team capable of dealing with any situation – whether it be helping save lives after natural disasters, or assisting Pokémon Rangers and the police in dealing with Pokémon-related crimes. And yes, sometimes we save Espurr from trees.”

Alyssa didn’t mention the part where said Espurr had panicked and unloaded its full psychic force directly on her and had given her nightmares for a week. The family collectively nodded, asked a few mundane questions about housing, food, and pay, to which the answers were respectively “we get dorms,” “the caféteria is great,” and “not enough to feed your son’s Musharna fumes habit,” and left – presumably to make a complaint about that joke. Alyssa took a large bite out of her burger and wandered away from the crowds to watch the river flowing by.

The wind was gentle today, which boded well for the demonstration later. She’d been asked to take part by the faculty – her protests at having to pretend to be a model student were quickly silenced when she found out what the demonstration involved: apparently, a gym leader from a far-away region known as Miato was coming to take part. Her curiosity flared even brighter when she discovered that he was part of a mountain search-and-rescue team in Miato, which was similar to some of the work she did as a rookie Sky Trainer.

She heard a soft thump and a gentle chirping noise next to her, as a large black and purple bat landed from its flight and stuck its head under her arm in an affectionate greeting.

“Hello, Ivy,” Alyssa said, and the Noivern chirruped cheerfully and pushed into her side. Alyssa responded by giving him what he wanted: half of her burger. He immediately grabbed it from her hand, and she scratched him gently behind the crest on his head as he sat down and chewed noisily.

Alyssa decided to join him sitting down, and gazed out across the river. The carefully-trimmed line of trees in the distance rippled gently, and the cacophony behind her seemed to die down for a bit as she tuned the world out. The demonstration wasn’t for a while yet, after all, and she had a little time to relax.

 

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

There was a certain stereotype about pilots - particularly military and ex-military pilots - and the way they were expected to dress and act by people who did not know them. When most people imagine a pilot, they'd picture some kind of Top Gun Hotshot - a tall, well-built individual at a peak of physical fitness (or very close to such), wearing a leather jacket - most likely trimmed with wool, probably with some unit patches or medals hanging from it - as well as a pair of sunglasses and an overconfident grin, and stinking of smug self-importance like a cheap cologne. The universal look of a person who thinks they are better than everyone else - and the behaviour to match.

Most actual pilots found individuals like that rather embarrassing - But even they had to begrudgingly admit they liked the jackets.

Ken was particularly fond of his - The dark leather complemented the unit patch on his sleeve very well, and the Blizargali-wool lining possessed strange electrophysical qualities that changed the density of its packing and thus its capacity for insulation and warmth depending on electricity funneled through it - thus rendering it incredibly effective at keeping away the cold of the Obsidian Ridge's high altitudes, but still light enough to not feel like a burden in somewhat warmer climes. This part of Kalos was certainly nice and chilly in September - but he has flown through much worse at times. Barely even needed to charge the thing.

He certainly had the physique as well - in his mid-thirties, tall, silver-haired, and steel-blue eyed, clad in combat boots, military-green cargo pants and his jacket - which was, at the moment zipped up. He wore a small pin on his chest that featured what could be loosely described as an avian form in silver and glossy black - his gym's badge, the Wing Badge of Obsidian City. He had the sunglasses too, but mostly due to sun glare - he was, at the moment, in flight at a reasonably low altitude - enough to enjoy a breathtaking panorama of the area below him but high enough up to still keep his parameters optimal. It wasn't going to be a particularly long flight - he recently arrived in the Kalos Region via a more standard airplane to Lumiose City, the regional capital, and after getting a feel for the region's geography through maps, he set off to Dendemille Town - home to the Kalos Academy of Flight, his destination - the only way a Gym Leader of his particular specialty could. His flying mount of choice, so to speak, was his Skarmory - the female Armor Bird Pokémon was one of his closest allies, and one of his signature Pokémon back in his Gym. He felt it would probably be prudent to arrive on the back of a creature that was familiar, if uncommon, to the people of this region - and thus avoid drawing too much attention to himself too early. He'd have plenty of time to let his more exotic companions stretch their wings later.

One thing was for certain - when he finally made landfall, he would take these sunglasses off and put them in his pocket. Not only he did not wish to create an air of distance from the people he was to talk to - he wanted to get a good, unfiltered look around. In his line of work, one rarely had the time to travel far from home base - and Kalos was quite far indeed. He was hardly there on vacation, though - no, what brought Ken to Kalos was an investigation of new possibilities.

His home base, Obsidian City, was a somewhat terraced-looking city climbing steadily onto the great Obsidian Ridge of southern Miato - home to the region's tallest peaks and a haven for winter sports aficionados and mountaineers seeking their next challenge great challenge. Wherever folk ventured into the mountains, though, some would inevitably be lost there - whether due to sudden injuries and accidents or due to ill-preparedness in setting off. Ken has made it his life's mission to ensure that someone will always be there to lend a hand - and with the help of his considerable experience in flying search-and-rescue missions as a former military helicopter pilot, he established a civilian search-and-rescue unit specializing in mountain operations - engaging both professionally trained teams and skilled volunteers - for this purpose. It was the emblem of this unit that was emblazoned upon the unit patch sewn to his sleeve, just below his right shoulder - set against the background of a blue sky, streaked with falling snow, and dark snow-capped mountains, was the light-blue silhouette of a graceful, long tailed bird - a stylized approximation of the legendary bird Pokémon that was said to appear before people lost in snowy mountains in the folklore of several regions. He first read the story via his GPDS Pokédex when he was a young trainer and it left a great impact on him - and thus, the myth imparted upon both name and purpose upon what came to be known the Articuno Rescue Force. It has been operating for several years now, and was very good at what it did.

His involvement with the unit and his duties as Obsidian City's Gym Leader, specializing in the Flying-type, consumed much of his time - but he has come to hear about the Sky Trainers operating in Kalos, and found the personal flight suits they appeared to wear to be a fascinating concept - and, perhaps, even one that could find possible implementation in his unit. It was very fortunate, then, that the Kalos Academy of Flight was having an open day - and that they certainly appeared to be interested in a possible visit from a Gym Leader of his specialization, especially one coming from that far away. A win-win for everyone, involved, really.

Sure enough, it was not too long before Ken could finally see Dendemille Town - a relatively small, rural town with an unmistakable windmill - and lightly pet the Skarmory's neck. The avian turned her head lightly to her trainer, yellow eye gazing backward in question, and the trainer nodded. The Armor-Bird emitted a silent cry and turned her eyes - and her head, downwards, biometallic plumes and plates glistening in the sunlight in steel-blue and red as she went into a slow, spiraling descent. His landing site of choice was not too far from what he identified as the Academy building - near a small river, and clear enough of people to make a decent spot to land.

The Steel/Flying type swooped down into a graceful descent, making landfall not too far - but still within a reasonable distance - from the area's sole other occupants - a girl and what he could only assume was her Pokémon - a large black-and purple bat-like creature with teal wing membranes and a prominent red v-shaped protrusion on its nose. The Skarmory's clawed feet hit the ground softly - it always amused him how better avian Pokémon legs seemed to absorb the shock of landing compared to the landing gears of aircraft - as the Skarmory perched, sitting down to allow her trainer to step off from her back. The Gym Leader nodded gratefully, petting the Skarmory's neck and eliciting a soft metallic squawk from the avian creature's fanged beak, her yellow eyes closing contently.

"Well, we're here." he said, his voice deep and bearing the distinctive accent of his region "And fairly early, to boot. Might as well - gives me more time to look around. You probably need to rest your wings for a bit, right?"
the Skarmory screeched softly - nodding gratefully as her form was drawn into a red beam of energy and into a Pokéball in two shades of metallic blue. Ken smiled to himself, brushing a fingertip against the top of the Pokéball before shrinking it and placing it back on his belt. Might as well look around for a while...

After removing those thrice-blasted sunglasses, that is. Whatever will the locals think?

 

[Teapot]

Alyssa’s daydreaming was cut short by the fluttering of wings, the thump of footsteps, and the sound of a deep, unfamiliar voice. She was on her feet in a flash and found herself watching a tall man patting a Skarmory, then a flash of red light as the Skarmory returned to a strangely-coloured Pokéball.

The minor surge of adrenaline subsided almost immediately, as she realised who she was looking at: Ken, leader of the Obsidian Gym, and today’s guest of honour.

“Oh, hello,” Alyssa said as she approached him, flicking her hair back over her shoulder and smiling. “Nice to meet you. I assume it’s Ken?”

She stuck her hand out in greeting, and looked him up and down. She was immediately impressed by just how fit this man was – he was obviously well-suited to his work. Alyssa immediately decided she could learn a lot from this man.

 

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

Not even a few minutes passed since his landing - and the young woman he noticed as he landed already approached and greeted him. Part of him as surprised that the girl knew who he was - but as he knew he was expected at the Academy, he figured at least the staff and maybe some of the students would be informed. Most likely, this girl was one or the other - though he did not want to assume.

"That's me, yes." the Gym Leader smiled, shaking the girl's hand in greeting. "A pleasure to meet you, miss..."

He paused there, waiting for the girl to introduce herself.

 

[Teapot]

“Alyssa Reinhardt. Just call me Alyssa. Welcome to the Kalos Academy of Flight. I’m one of the second-year students, and I’ve been asked to be your guide today, Later, we’ll be taking part in the Sky Battle demonstration together, Oh, and, before I forget, this is Ivy, my Noivern partner.” She patted Ivy on the head, and the Noivern made a clucking noise as it blinked, before moving towards Ken and carefully sniffing his jacket.

Alyssa watched Ivy carefully. “Feel free to give him a quick tap if he tries to nibble you. He’s always hungry... and he has a strange idea of what constitutes food.” She satisfied herself that Ivy was not trying to eat the jacket before continuing.

“So, I'm curious: have you ever used a flightsuit before?”

 

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

"A Noivern, huh?" Ken smiled and nodded at the bat-like Pokémon in greeting "A pleasure to meet you too, Ivy. We don't get your kind back home."

The Noivern seemed to occupy itself with sniffing his jacket. "Inquisitive fellow, aren't you... Dragon/Flying, I assume?" he chuckled, turning his eyes to the trainer "Certainly has a draconic presence to him."

“Feel free to give him a quick tap if he tries to nibble you. He’s always hungry... and he has a strange idea of what constitutes food.”

Or hungry. Or both, really - Some Pokémon had the highest concentration of touch receptors in their lips and he somehow had a feeling that might have been the case for a species with forearms that evolved into wings. The creature, however, seemed to be convinced that his jacket was not food and that was good enough for him.

“So, I'm curious: have you ever used a flightsuit before?”

"Can't say I've had the pleasure." the gym leader tilted his head to the side "I've done my fair bit of parachuting and skydiving over the years, though - and from what I've read about your flightsuits, they sound like they've got a bit in common with skydiving suits... Except for the sustained flight capability of course. How do they manage that, by the way?"

 

[Teapot]

OOC: This post has some gentle autoing to get the story moving, with permission from @StellarWind. Also, holy gravedigging Batman!

Alyssa shrugged. “I think it’s something called an antigravity drive, which is modelled loosely on how some Steel-type Pokémon fly. It’s apparently strongly inspired by the way Magnezone stay in the air, but I don’t really know how it works. We won’t learn about that for a year or so yet, I’m afraid.” After a short pause, her face suddenly brightened and she gestured towards the academy.

“Want to go try a flightsuit on? We’ve got a while until the demonstration, so it’d be great to get you used to it.”

Barely waiting for an answer, Alyssa bounded off towards the academy building, stopping only to ensure that Ken was keeping up and not getting caught in the crowd.

Within a few minutes, she was inside, and made her way through the old, well-worn corridors. The antiquated light fixtures betrayed the advanced age of the academy, despite the fresh white paint – Alyssa had once been told that the Academy was decades old, far preceding the wingsuits it was now known for. The walls were mostly bare, and the threadbare carpet did little to muffle Alyssa and Ken’s footsteps, which echoed around noisily. Every now and again, they’d pass an old window, and catch glimpses of the scene outside – at one point, Alyssa spotted a battle going on In the distance. A Charizard soared through the air, spitting flames at a circling Braviary. Alyssa couldn’t see any Sky Trainers alongside them – It looked more like a traditional Pokémon battle than a Sky Battle, which meant it wasn’t a demonstration.

This happened surprisingly often at the Academy – while officially it wasn’t allowed to battle or even use Pokémon moves outside of classes, it was a rule that was hard to enforce - having a naturally hot-blooded student base, and occasionally even more hot-blooded Pokémon beside them, meant that sometimes the only realistic thing was to ensure the battles only went on outside, away from people or property that could be damaged.

Alyssa only paused for a few moments to observe the scene outside – she had work to do, and she was having trouble hiding her excitement over the possibility of getting to spar with an actual, real-life gym leader. Without realising, she stepped up her pace even further, practically jogging towards the flight gym.

When the two finally emerged into the gym, it was already set up waiting for them. When Alyssa first entered this room, her first impression was of a huge scale – the room was several storeys tall, and almost entirely unadorned. The floor and walls were covered from top to bottom with thick crash mats, strong enough to cushion an unwitting Sky Trainer flying into them at full speed, and the ceiling was dotted with strip lights, bathing the room in a clinical white light.

Alyssa had spent hundreds of hours in this room – she had learned to pilot a wingsuit here, as well as Sky Trainer-specific skills such as synchronised flying, landing safely in tight areas and at speed, and aerial hand-to-hand combat. The room could be reconfigured for each, but today it stood unadorned.

“Here we are,” Alyssa said. “Let me go and find you your wingsuit – we got a new one especially, so it should work perfectly.” She walked off into an adjoining office, and returned moments later with a brand new wingsuit in hand. She handed it to Ken, then pointed him to a changing room nearby.

“I’ve got my wingsuit on underneath my uniform, so I’ll be ready to go whenever you are.” Alyssa pulled at her shirt collar, and revealed the neck of her black wingsuit. “And can I just say.” she added, “I’m so excited to work with you. I think I’m going to learn so much today!”

 

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

So Alyssa didn't know the exact technicalities, but what she did know was rather interesting to him - a portable, personal, self-contained artificial Magnet Rise core? I'll need to have a word with their technical division later.

Soon enough he found himself following the girl to the academy itself - she had suggested that he tried on one of the wingsuits before the demonstration, which was certainly a sensible idea. If he were to fly alongside his companions, it would be prudent to have at least some understanding of how the suits worked so he could at least provide a dignified demonstration. He couldn't help but notice that Alyssa seemed pretty excited - there was a certain spring in her step as she led him through the academy's corridors and into a very large room indeed - with padded walls, presumably to catch crashing would-be fliers - and presented him with a wingsuit that was prepared for him for the sake of the demonstration.

“I’ve got my wingsuit on underneath my uniform, so I’ll be ready to go whenever you are. And can I just say. I’m so excited to work with you. I think I’m going to learn so much today!”

"Thank you." the gym leader nodded, accepting the suit with a smile "Though I have a feeling this is going to be a learning experience for both of us. Back in a bit."

~*~

He emerged from the changing room shortly after, properly suited up. The design definitely reminded him of a skydiving suit, down to the materials it was made of - but there were some differences, the most major of which being the module attached at the back of the suit which he could only assume was the unit that allowed the suit to sustain powered flight. He was pleasantly surprised by how light the module in question was - and by how intuitive the suit was to wear. It was a perfect fit - and he couldn't help but admit that the blue and silver highlights on the mostly-black design were also a nice touch. Whoever it was in the academy that had this suit ordered for him clearly knew what they were doing.

"Well, then." the gym leader grinned, stretching slightly "All set to conquer the heights, I hope. Now, if you may - how does one go about flying this thing?"