World Tree MUSH

     It's a cool night in the Alola region, with a breeze blowing off the ocean and across the mostly empty black sand beach on Ula'Ula Island, empty apart from the region's resident songstress Primarina. The mermaid/sea lion-like Pokemon is lounging in the shallows while she sings a song about longing to explore the ocean, and to revel in its secrets and treasures. Though for Miwa, it was also a metaphor as she also longed to travel to new worlds in the multiverse across this tree, see some incredible places and make some new friends. Though maybe if she's lucky, a friend will come to her instead.

    The sound of sand crunching underfoot is one that's really hard to mask. Particularly when it's under the feet of a big fella. And as it just so happens, there's a heavily-built, dark-skinned man with longish black hair pulled back into a ponytail walking along the beach.

    He's wearing clothing that might be considered archaic -- a shirt, doublet, pants, and riding boots that look like they could fit a fantasy movie! And there's a large case of some kind on his back. Given that he's looking cautiously and curiously in the direction that the singing is coming from, he's probably here to investigate.

     Miwa might have missed the crunching of the sand amid the sound of her own singing, at least for a bit longer, if the man approaching was small enough to be quieter, but she does turn to look at him, her long aqua ponytail blowing a little in the breeze as her deep blue eyes gaze upon the man who was obviously not from around here just by how he's dressed. He might notice a small smile as she continues to sing and also starts to put a bit more into the performance. Drawing from the water around her, she easily creates dozens of spheres of water in all colors of the rainbow. As she sings they rise up into the sky and begin to dance around her, and she begins to sort of dance a little water ballet herself as she moves into slightly deeper water.

    It might be Miwa's charm ability, but the man approaches and takes a seat nearby as she starts to bring the water up into colors for her performance. He'll be trying to stay out of her way of course.

    Though he'll also bring that case on his back forward and open it. What's inside? A guitar, from the looks of it. One that he'll put on his lap to play. After listening to her for a bit longer, he'll start trying to play a countermelody to what she's singing -- mostly just chords; he's not trying to overwhelm her song, just to support it.

     Miwa continues her performance, dancing among her water balloons. There is a decidedly more obvious smile as she notices the guitar. It was common for her solos to draw some attention from people in the area, but rarely has someone come to add to her music. A few wild Chinchou and a Lanturn show up, investigating the music as well, and adding their illumination to the moonlight as they swim around the Miwa. A Clefairy also comes over the sand dunes to watch and listen, though the pink fairy type keeps its distance.

    Miwa's unexpected accompaniment does startle a bit at the arriving 'companions' -- that's definitely the reaction of someone unused to seeing Pokemon in the wild. But he'll collect himself fairly quickly, with minimal wild twangs of the guitar strings (minimal, yes; it's not easy to maintain a melody, even just chords, when being startled by wildlife).

     Miwa keeps it going for a little while longer, but decides maybe she should wrap up her song before she attracts too much attention. However, she still does a flashy ending all the same. With her voice rising toward the climax of the song, the water balloons move more rapidly, and a pinkish-white orb of light forms above her snout before shooting upward once it's about the size of a beach ball. It explodes, along with the water balloons, creating a swirling rainbow of mist. Miwa follows it up with an Icy Wind attack, freezing the mist into snow, which sparkles in the moonlight as it falls toward the beach and ocean, melting as each snowflake lands. With her performance finished, Miwa smiles and waves to the Pokemon who had come to be a part of her performance and swims to the shore, walking out onto the beach as she makes her way over to where Duncan is sitting with his guitar. "Alola! Welcome to Ula'Ula Island, I'm Miwa. Was fun having someone play along with my song, doesn't happen very often, unfortunately. Am I correct to assume you're from another world?"

    Duncan chuckles and applauds as Miwa finishes her performance. "That was spectacular," he offers. He has a rather deep speaking voice. Her question is given a nod, and he offers, "I am, yes." He stands, putting the guitar back in its case. "My name is Duncan Ritter," he introduces, bowing politely. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

     Miwa smiles and returns the bow. "Always nice to see someone new around here. As much as I like traveling to new places, I can't deny that living in a tropical paradise is pretty great and I am happy to share it with a visitor anytime. Quite an elegant outfit you've got there. You look like you'd be right at home in some fancy movie from Kalos. But um, feel free to fire away if you have any questions about myself or this world."

    And once more, Duncan chuckles. "This is only traveling clothes," he notes. "I have very few actual 'fancy' clothes." Though her offer of questions draws a tilt of his head. "I have seen Pokemon before... but I don't believe I've ever seen one who could speak an understandable language. How is that possible?"

     Miwa nods. "Oh, I see. Well I'm not exactly an expert on clothes. I've seen what people wear around here and across other regions of this world, as well as others, but never really stopped to think about what different clothes were for. I've worn costumes for certain performances but otherwise I keep it minimal, makes swimming a lot easier." She comments, then chuckles a bit, as Duncan's question was often the first question she got asked and so she expected it. She doesn't seem to mind answering it though despite having done so many times before. "Well, as a Primarina, a species of Pokemon known for having a beautiful singing voice, I probably had an easier time learning, but I think most Pokemon could learn, they just don't find it important enough. It did take a lot of time, and some help from my trainer as well as others, and lots of determination, for me to learn. But even before I was fully evolved into a Primarina, I dreamed of being able to sing with words, to fully express myself."

    Duncan nods. "That is understandable, swimming with a great deal of clothing on is difficult," he agrees. Her answer to the question of her speaking gets a tilt of his head. "I see... that does make sense. There are other types of Pokemon who use singing too, if I'm not mistaken... what do you think makes them not want to learn?"

     Miwa ponders that for a moment. It was a good question, she must admit. "There are, yes, and there are certainly other Primarina who don't speak. As far as I know, I'm the only one. I guess without a really compelling reason, or inspiration, they just don't feel it's important. Wild Pokemon would of course have little use for speaking, and most Pokemon that are intelligent enough that they'd likely be able to learn to speak, can at least understand some of what their trainers are telling them, and make their responses through more general expressions. I was raised from an egg, around a musical theater group, my trainer being the owner. So that's where my inspiration came from."

    Duncan listens thoughtfully. "That seems reasonable... wild Pokemon would have no need," he agrees. "But I would think more Pokemon with trainers would wish to learn. That said, perhaps there's a stigma amongst other Pokemon for learning it?"

     Miwa nods in agreement. "I'm honestly surprised more don't learn as well. I haven't noticed myself any stigma against me for knowing how to speak, but it's possible I just didn't realize it or associated it with something else. There definitely is a stigma against trainer Pokemon among some wild Pokemon. They would want nothing to do with me, and would avoid me just as much as they would a human."

    "That also makes sense," Duncan replies. "I'm sure some wild Pokemon would see a Pokemon with a trainer as being... weak somehow, perhaps? For depending on a human instead of making their own way in the wild?"

     Miwa nods again. "Not just relying on a human, but helping them and following their commands, and in many cases, giving up a lot of their freedom. I was never wild, but now that I've been given the chance to live independent of my trainer, I can very much relate to not wanting to give that up. Of course, most trainers treat their Pokemon as beloved companions, and while they may get injured in battle, they also get the best medical treatment around, and probably live a lot longer than wild Pokemon. A few are terrible people who treat their Pokemon like objects. Those sorts of people should be banned from being trainers in my opinion."

    "That also brings to mind another question... is there a difference between 'wild' and 'domestic' Pokemon?" Duncan inquires. "The animals in my world... well, some are very definitely not designed to be kept as pets. One wouldn't expect a wild dog, to behave the way a domestic dog would. Domestic dogs have been bred to be domestic, wild dogs were not."

    He does frown when Miwa mentions abusive trainers. "Banned, yes... but people who would harm these creatures are likely to be the type not to listen to a ban of law anyway," he points out.

     "Well, not really. There are Pokemon who are easier to catch and train, which is usually what a younger and less experienced trainer would be restricted to going after. But even the most aggressive and dangerous Pokemon, with perhaps the notable exception of Mewtwo, and maybe other extremely powerful Pokemon, can be caught and trained by an experienced Pokemon trainer to the point where they only attack when commanded and don't run amok through town destroying everything." She pauses as she considers his response about banning bad trainers, and frowns. "Sad to admit you're probably right on the second point."

    Duncan nods. "That seems a bit strange to me," he admits. "That said, mine is a perspective of someone from another world. So perhaps it's unsurprising that I would find a different viewpoint strange."

     Miwa nods. "The various worlds here can be incredibly different, that's for sure. Maybe things used to be different a long time ago, and Pokemon and Humans had a very different relationship. But as far as I'm aware, this is how things have been for quite a long time. Though there have been wars in the past where Pokemon were used as weapons. I'm glad I didn't live during those times."

    "That does seem unpleasant," Duncan replies. "Abilities like yours, when turned to destruction, can be very dangerous. I'm certain you know that, of course. To think that whole armies of people did this, is a frightenin thought."

     Miwa nods. "I listened to a thing about it once, only a little. I didn't want to hear the rest... It was as awful as you think it would be. Countless Pokemon and Humans died, and there was unthinkable destruction."

    Duncan offers a quiet sound, somewhere between comfort and disgust. "Someone clearly felt it was necessary, even if that person was wrong," he notes. "I pray that no one in your world ever thinks that it is necessary again."