World Tree MUSH

    To most newcomers, Quartz town does not seem anything special, it certainly seems clean, lots of plants, including trees, shrubs and flowers, and there seems to be a lack of motor vehicles around. A closer look might show the presence of the usual pokemon creatures that seem to be just about anywhere in this world, most of them simply urban things, cats, some purple rats, some people with various dog like creatures, and small birds fluttering around. 

    Still mostly normal, beyond what seems to be a fight happening at the edge of town, an oversized green caterpillar seemingly fighting one of those purple rats. The most unusual part might be that there are a pair of young kids seemingly giving orders to the fighting creatures, who are (for the most part) obeying!. Luke is standign at one side of the confrontation, watching curiously, perhaps as a judge of some kind.

Ace actually reasonably blends in. She's human, that jacket is definitely something a trainer would wear, and while she's bareheaded...not to mention a grownup...she isn't going to immediately be identified as an offworlder. Seeing the monster fight, she approaches curiously. Two kids, and their...hrm. Her first thought is cockfighting, of course, but there's something about their body language that isn't, quite, right for bloodsports.

    It is a bit hard to judge exactly how 'serious' the fight is, there is no actual blood being shed, even if the two creatures seem to be trying to slam into eachother, bite, in the case of the rat, or spray silk on their opponent, in case of hte green catterpillar. Still, eventually, the purple rat seems to get too worn out and collapses, seeming to faint. 

    Luke raises one hand, "Rattata can't continue fighting, the winner is Caterpie!." he says loudly, pointing to the boy that kept giving orders to the worm, who runs and picks up the rather large worm thing in his arms, "We won!, we won!", the worm thing seems rather... happy? it's odd but one can almost see it smile. 

     Then the worm starts to glow brightly, seeming to grow in size and change shapes, turning into some kind of green chrysalis and letting out a deep, "Metapod."... that is weird. The boy is quite excited about it, adn quickly runs away towards a large building simply named 'pokemon lab', apparently wanting to share the news. As for hte person in charge of the rat, the boy quickly rushes to check on it, and sprays it with a small bottle of medicine he got from Alden, which seems to 'heal' all the visible scrapes on the purple rodent who wakes up and shakes a bit, "Rattata!" it exclaims, seeming a bit dissapointed, before hte kid also picks it up, and praises it for a good fight. All in all, everyoen involved seemed quite sporting about it, and happy with the results for the most part!.

Okay, so...more like monster UFC than an actual bloodsport. Ace isn't getting the feeling that the creatures are intended to be in any danger. Ace studies the scene for a moment, and then heads over towards Luke. He looks like a likely person to explain what's actually happening here.

Luke Gray makes sure to check the purple rat, and give some advice to the boy, before pointing him to go to the lab, as well as giving him another bit of medicine and a piece of candy. It's then when he realizes someone was approaching him, finally turning to greet the visitor and smiles brightly, "Hey!, you were at the festival teh other day, I am sorry I had to leave so soon." he says, rubbing the back of his head before offering a hand to Ace.

"I was at the big party yes." A broad grin from the young woman. "So..." She flicks a finger towards where the fight took place. "I take it that's normal?"

Luke Gray seems a bit surprised by the question, before he realizes that likely Ace was someone from another world, nodding a few times. "Oh, a pokemon battle!, yeah those are really routine around here." he says softly. "Pokemon actually enjoy the fights, and well, they like having a trainer to help them get stronger." he begins, "Some of us do it... as a living in a sense, I'm an official pokemon trainer, for instance."

"I thought it looked more like an intense spar than a blood sport," Ace says, thoughtfully. "I suppose that it's display behavior, at heart."

Luke Gray smiles, "Well, I guess for the most part... you can still run into people being more... violent, but I figure that happens everywhere, same with pokemon." he says, "But as far as I know, most wild pokemon don't go that far, unless actually threatened."

Ace nods. "I suppose there are *some* trainers who, well." Like racehorse trainers. Like *any* thing like this.

Luke Gray lets out a sigh, "It's mostly people that try to abuse their pokemon to do.. things like robbing others and such that are a problem." he says softly.

Ace nods. "Yeah. I mean, I bumped into the one which wasn't entirely corporeal. A thief could really make use of that."