World Tree MUSH

    Welcome to the world of Pokemon! Or /a/ world of Pokemon. Specifically, Luke's world of Pokemon.

    And Iron Lotus is having a pretty rough time of it.

    Imagine if the rest of my circle could see me now, she thinks, as she walks past a Pokemon Centre. It's a perfectly sunny afternoon and the atmosphere is more than a little warm, so all sorts of people are out in shorts and walking their Pokemon. For someone like Lotus she couldn't be more uncomfortable.

    She's already walked through the local Route to get here and subsequently seen wild Pokemon about everywhere, and she just doesn't know what to make of all this at all. Her shoulders are bunched up, her arms are close to her sides and all in all she looks like she might jump out of her skin the first time a Pokemon goes over to sniff at her. 

    Someone save the poor girl... again...

    Walks out of the pokemon center, flanked by a couple of small creatures! One is a small panda walking on two legs... is it wearing a Jiangshi costume?. The small critter alternates between short steps and floating around Luke and around the other bear, babbling excitedly in its own way, so basically, mix of 'pangshi' and portions of that.

    A little behind, said 'other bear is a massive, orange red and cream bear, who keeps following the small panda with what seems to be an amused expression, growling cutely now and then, one big paw raising to try to poke at the eager small pokemon or snag it with a slow, casual motion of a foreleg. 

    Luke just laughs, "Hey, calm down Pangshi, you will get the treats once we get to camp." he calls outloud. There is a moment where it seems like the big bear manages to land that ponderous paw on the small panda, but it... goes through, phasing through the excited critter, who keeps moving in circles. It is that small critter that spots the freaked out Iron, and of course... rushes ahead to check on her, followed by Luke.

What even is a Jiangshi? Lotus might have read about one! In a book about Creation! Once! She's having problems remembering right now! Wait, does she know this one from somewhere else? /And/ a bear... good grief that's a big bear. How... why... how is something like that /tame/? Even though she's capable of recognizing fauna that big Lotus knows that by all rights something that big should not be so sedate...

    This is another person, but thankfully Lotus recognizes this one! "Oh, thank goodness, it's you. How unlikely is it that I run into you again when I'm doing things like... wait, does this mean this is your homeworld?"

    She knows Luke Gray as being one of the people who helped rescue her during her not-so-fortunate introduction to the multiverse of the tree, and as amazing as it seems to her she's managed to encounter him again. The odds must be astronomical. Or maybe not... she's entirely unsure what to do to deal with the panda and so kind of just freezes up a little, occasionally flinching backwards because /is it a ghost as well/?

    Wah.

    Said ghost panda floats near Iron, noticing the distress, and simply curious about it, waving one foreleg and 'talking' to Lotus, tilting its head to one side, before returning to Luke's side as the trainer makes his way there. "Hello." he offers, needing a moment to recognize the person standing in front of him, while the Panda clings to one of his arms, "Are... are you ok?" he asks, confused about the flinching.

    The grizzly bear sized Agni casually ambles closer, sniffing the air, and offering a nod of greeting, intrigued about this visitor as well, yawning widely... that's a lot of teeth!... and was that a small burst of smoke?.

    Luke belatedly realizes he was asked a question, "Right!, yes this is my homeworld, and these are my pokemon... I don't think i got to introduce myself, or them, properly to you." he says softly, pointing to the larger one, "This one is Agni.", and this... he waves the arm the ghost was holding onto, "Is Pangshi."

    "I'm just not... used to... whatever that is," Lotus replies. Looks like you've seen a ghost? More like looks like you've never seen a ghost before! There weren't even any of those on the trail!

    "Sorry," she says, trying to clear the air. "I've just never been to a world like this before and I'm sort of in the middle of," pause to think, "Culture shock." That may have been an entirely different Autochthonian world which just got an approximate translation there.

    She continues to share unabashedly at Luke's Pokemon. Thank goodness she's not surprised by the smoke from Agni, at least that's something Lotus can deal with. Smoke, metal, oil... yes, these things are fine for her.

    She bows a little, politely, to each of them. "It's... nice to meet you. Are there always so many of these things around people? Before I got here I saw almost a dozen of them, just walking around in the wild... rats and... big rats, and rats with short tails and insects..."

    Luke shakes his head nad pets the ghost panda, "It's perfectly fine, I know pokemon are weird to people from outside this world." he replies softly, "Don't worry, he is friendly, same with Agni." he says. "If you want we can talk outside the city in a small clearing." he offers, "Less people around?". He can tell she seems a bit overwhelmed. 

    The mention of 'many creatures running around' gets a nod, "Yeah, people here love pokemon, and the pokemon love to be with the people too." he explains, "They even help us with tasks and jobs." he replies, "Or just like being around as friends.". The comment on wild ones gets a tilt of his head, "Ah, right, yeah they also like to try to get into a battle, if they think you are a trainer, but otherwise, the worst they tend to do is try to steal some food, or even just get close to inspec."

How do you pet the panda without your hand going right through it? There's gotta... gotta be a trick to it... Lotus tries as well but her hand just goes through it...

    "It's not so much the people, as it is the animals," Lotus replies, giving up on the idea of petting Pangshi for now. "I'm used to being around lots of people. But where I come from it's only usually Champions who are issued a Familiar, and even then they're few and far between. I'm guessing this is a world where the rulings on that sort of thing are a lot more lax? I mean, especially if they're manufactured so much that they just wander around in the wild..."
R    ++

A short explanation of Pokemon sinks in very quickly for her. Ordinarily she wouldn't let as much of her Autochthonian views on things filter into her conversation so much, but Lotus is still a bit crowd-shy and seemingly can't help herself. "It seems as if they are an integral part of your society."

    Luke blinks a bit, "Pangshi, stop being mean and let her pet you." he says, coaxing a chuckle from the small ghost panda, who floats closer, "Sorry, he is learning how to that at will and has been a bit naughty abusing the ability." he explains, "Pangshi can be solid or not, mostly under his control." he says. The mention of the animals being an issue gets a nod, "Understandable, I mean...." he begins, "Well, most trainers and people like to fond close bonds with our pokemon, so we try to socialize with them often, and train them a lot." he replies.

    There is a pause at hte mention of 'manufactured', a blink from Luke, followed by his pokemon reacting similarly, "Oh!, they are living... well, I mean Pangshi is a ghost type but I mean... most pokemon are natural creaures... I think there is just one or two that were man made." he says softly, smiling and guiding Lotus to the nearby wilderness, getting some nice space, not even the wild pokemon approached, for now. "Yes... I mean we always had pokemon, as far as I recall the story at least."

    "...ah?"

    Lotus is actually really surprised, "So all of these different species are naturally occuring? I... I think I might need to sit down..."

    She goes with Luke over to a nearby bench and sits, holding onto her knees for a moment.

    "...sorry, Luke. I get the feeling that I've gotta be the most culture shocked person in the multiverse. It doesn't help that ... all of my memories, since you rescued me..."

    She shakes her head. "Ugh! Stupid! Maybe it doesn't matter..."

    Luke is a patient person, or at least, he is, when he sees the one in front of him is in distress, so he just nods, "It's fine. Trust me, it's confusing even for people in here." he says with a grin. The small Ghost panda sits and 'pats' the side of the girl, feels solid enough. "Please, don't apologize for being surprised at something different." he repeats.

    Lotus smiles. "Thank you."

    "Hey, Luke... do you think there's any chance I might be able to find a Pokemon made of metal around here? I think I'd love to meet one like that around here, even if it belongs to someone else. I saw Agni breathe smoke, but I'm guessing it's not a Smoke elemental... the five elements I'm most familiar with are metal, smoke, oil, crystal and lightning."

    Luke smiles, "Agni is a fire type." he explains, "He produces heat and fire." he explains, while the bear repeats that yawn, this time a small flame appearing inside that big maw. "As for metal pokemon, there are actually several, steel type pokemon." he says, "As for lighting... I have an electric type, that might be familiar too.". He shows Iron his pokedex and the image of an Aaron, and a Steelix, as random steel types. "I think there are some Aaron in that area." he says, pointing to a nearby mount, "They are in the caves, there are also a lot of bats in there."

    Lotus scooches in and looks at the pictures on Luke's Pokedex. "Ooh, that's so useful~"

    She takes a few minutes to look at every steel-type and electric-type Pokemon she can find, and gives her opinion on each of them. She does particularly seem to like Skarmory and Magnemite.

    "Would you be willing to take me around the caves just as a tag-along?" she asks eventually, and will be happy to accompany Luke just to take a look in the cave. She does refrain from swatting at the bats, though, because she doesn't know her own strength and those things are squishy-looking. Don't accidentally swat one.

    "I wonder what I'd have to do to keep one... I was never allowed to have a familiar before..."

Luke smiles, "Well, I figure it depends on what your plans are about it, just want to keep it as a friend or want to use it for combat?, keep it at home or take it with you?" he asks, tilting his head, "I'd love to take you to that place of course." he guides her to that location i nthe pokedex, and makes sure to keep his pokemon around to handle the wild ones!. He tries to explain a bit, seems easy enough to get one as a pet, "I mean for now, you can look at them if you want." he says, and letting her take some time poking at the small (and heavy) steel types.

    "I'm not sure... I think I'd need some time to decide before I commit to taking care of something else anyway," Lotus says.

    "But it's nice to know that even outside of my homeworld, there are some things that I can feel familiar with."