World Tree MUSH

     It's later in the afternoon, with a mostly clear sky and otherwise comfortable weather as a cool breeze off the water cuts the warmth of the bright tropical sun. Miwa had been relaxing in the sand after a bit of swimming around, a collection of sea glass and pearls next to the indent in the sand where she was laying. But a couple of young trainers that looked to be about ten had noticed her and of course guessed who she was. So after a little singing and a few photos, they challenged her to a Pokemon Battle. Not wanting to disappoint a couple of young fans she accepted, and since they were pretty new trainers she offered to let them battle her two on one with a Pokemon each. 

     One trainer, a little girl, sends out a Petilil, a small green Pokemon with three thin leaves extending from its head, her friend sends out a Togedemaru, a cute round Pokemon that looks sort of like a cartoon hedgehog with a flat tip to its long tail. They attack Miwa with Magical Leaf and Spark respectively, the Petilil sending a stream of toughened and sharp leaves that seem to hone in on their target, while the Togedemaru spins in place for a moment, charging up it's electricity before suddenly shooting toward the Primarina in a shocking tackle. Miwa fights back with pound first, smacking the Togedemaru back with a kick of her tail, then Sparkling Aria, creating a few small water balloons as she sings, and with a sudden rise in pitch they are sent shooting toward the Petilil.

Diving up from the ocean and flying over the pokemon battle is a mechanical entity. About four feet long, the synthetic being is roughly shaped like a mermaid, except for the large membranes along her forearms and the propeller attached to the end of the tail which seems to provide most of the thrust for both flying and swimming.

"Oh, hi again!" Bryllu's voice rings out from above as she makes a barrel roll in mid air as a substitute. After she lands back into the water she pops up with just the upper half of her current body and settles in to watch the battle.

    Out from a nearby Vine rides a skinny young woman on a bicycle; she has short brown hair, glasses, and wears a pale blue bike helmet, a black sweatshirt, and shorts. Riding on her shoulder is a small pink-haired doll-like fairy in a red dress with large black eyes, looking more-or-less like a hologram that glows with a silvery light.

    Gail takes one look at the fight going on, and stares like her eyes are about to become as wide as the fairy's. "Whoa, what?" she says, in a somewhat squeaky voice. She then realizes that she's riding her bicycle on a beach, glances down, and promptly loses her balance and falls over with a particularly boyish-sounding squawk.

    Sheen Jewel shoots straight upward, looking alarmed. "Gail!" she exclaims. "You okay?"

>> SUMMARY[Gail Bunker] >> Getting the first impressions out right away.

     When Miwa more or less shrugs off the two super-effective attacks, the two young trainers realize they probably don't have to worry about hurting the Alolan Idol too much, and why she agreed to take them both on at once. Petilil takes the sting of the exploding water balloons with what appears to be just a little discomfort, while Togedemaru is sent flying by Miwa's tail and lands in the remains of an old sandcastle, but is back on its feet a moment later. Another wave of leaves comes from the Petilil, while the Togedemaru turns to a stronger attack, Discharge, sending several blue and yellow bolts of electrical energy toward Miwa. She blasts away the Magical Leaf attack with half-power Hydro Pump, with the resulting blast of water pushing through to hit Petilil, pushing it back and doing a bit more damage than the last attack. She does wince in pain though when those bolts of electricity strike her. 

     Then there is a strange mechanical mermaid flying through the air, which manages to draw the attention of Miwa, the two young trainers she's battling, and a few other people who happen to be hanging around the beach this afternoon. "Uh, hi! I didn't know you could do that! That's... kinda awesome!" She exclaims as she still recognizes Bryllu from the other day. She then hears a crash and calls over to Gail in shared concern. "Yeah, are you ok? That was a nasty spill, at least sand is probably one of the more forgiving things to fall onto." The two young trainers don't seem interested in continuing the battle now, as they recall their Pokemon and rush to the edge of the beach, looking out at Bryllu. "Wow, so pretty!" The girl says before they both look back toward Miwa a moment. "Is this some new kind of steel-type Pokemon?" Miwa laughs and shakes her head, looking back at the kids. "No, she's from another world, I met her pretty recently." The kids look no less awed as they continue to gawk.

Bryllu notices the fall too, but isn't currently really set up to be on land, so she regrettably has to keep her distance, "Are you ok?" She calls out too, before waving to the kids. "Hi! I'm Bryllu Zibhu MLDVII. I can remake my body to fit my needs, and I wanted to go for a swim today." She explains, "Are you these 'Pokemon Trainers' I've heard about?"

    Gail grumbles and extricates herself from her fallen bike. "Right," she says, her voice sounding slightly more androgynous than it did a moment ago, as she brushes the sand off herself. "I'm ... I'm fine, I ..." She blinks a few times as she realizes that one of the people expressing concern for her is the mermaid ... creature who was fighting the two kids' monsters a moment ago. "... Okay I guess I'm in a better situation than I thought I was. Uhh ..."

    She takes off her sweatshirt, revealing a tank top underneath. And a couple of mild scrapes, but nothing major; sand is one of the better things to fall on. "I'm Gail," she says awkwardly. "This is ... this is Sheen Jewel."

    The fairy takes a bow. "Hi!" She transmits a greeting to Bryllu in a dense machine-to-machine language, identifying herself as Sheen Jewel 44247101, and herself and Gail Bunker as just biking around the World Tree for the first time.

    Gail glances between Miwa, then Brillu, then the two kids. "... and I confess that I ... really dunno what's going on here, ahaha ..."

     "Hi, yes we are Pokemon Trainers, I'm Sarai!" Greets the girl. "I'm Kimo. We're ten and a half, so we've been trainers for six whole months!" Greets the boy. "We've never met someone from one of the other worlds! So you can change your shape whenever you want? That's so cool!" They both say in near unison. Miwa giggles a little as she watches the interaction. She turns back to Gail and smiles. "I'm Miwa, this is Ula'Ula Island in the Alola region, and we were just having a friendly little Pokemon Battle." She explains before continuing in a slightly lowered voice so the kids won't hear. "I usually only agree to them with friends or fans that are about their age, where their Pokemon are not likely to be strong enough that I'll need a trip to a Pokemon Center afterward." Then, turned to bring Bryllu back into the conversation. "Welcome to the island I call home, I love having visitors, so I hope you enjoy yourselves, Are you two just looking to relax at the beach, get some nice local food, or something else?"

"Not whenever I want, I need to go back home to change." Bryllu explains, she responds to Sheen Jewel to identify herself as a digitized human specialized in resource collection, and the 10110110001th member of the Bryllu Zibhu lineage. "I'm just exploring and deciding I wanted to go for a swim." She answers Gail and Miwa. "I've never swum before, it's lovely."

    Gail laughs nervously. "Well for my part, I was just sort of ..." She glances at Sheen Jewel, then slightly more slowly and carefully, "I was ... biking aimlessly through the World Tree."

    She grins at Bryllu. "You're lucky you can change shape at all," she says dryly, before turning back to Miwa. "So, uh ... you're ... a 'pokemon'?"

    Sheen Jewel looks around for a moment, then floats over a little ways towards the nearby Pokemon Center, projecting an even-less-substantial hologram of a wifi icon above her head which currently has no bars of signal.

    One of the nearby beach-goers shifts where they relax on a reclining chair mostly hidden by a low-height broad parasol. Despite having shade cast over their form, fingers reach up to lift a pair of sunglasses while peering out at the sudden arrival of visitors. "Keep up the good work, children. You'll give Miwa a run for her money one day." Not uncommon to have adults cheering on the young trainers after watching practice matches, though, considering the location. 

    "Picked a great spot to visit. It's almost as beautiful as Zoness used to be, so I guess it takes the lead now." A hand reaches out from the umbrage to grab a bottled drink tucked into the sand before withdrawing, but that hand was anything but human. Delicious fruit bubbly.

     "Oh... Still pretty neat!" Sarai agrees with Gail. Kimo then looks at the time and realizes they should both get going. "Hey Sarai, if we're going to catch some new Pokemon before dinner, we should get going." Sarai's eyes widen as she realizes she forgot about that plan with everything else that just happened, but nods and waves to everyone. "It was nice meeting you all, and thank you for battling with us Miwa, you're the best!" Kimo nods in agreement and waves as well, then the two kids turn and start heading up the beach toward a path leading north. 

     Miwa gives Bryllu a big smile and nods. "It's pretty great isn't it? I love the feeling of gliding through the water, exploring what can be found on the seafloor, hanging out with my fellow water-type Pokemon, and also zooming up to the surface and leaping into the air, almost feels like I'm flying." She says before looking back to Gail a bit as she further elaborates about her being a Pokemon. "Specifically I'm a Primarina, a water and fairy type Pokemon known for their prowess in singing and being able to control water balloons in mid-air with their voice. Do you like swimming Gail?" She asks with a hopeful tone of curiosity, only for her gaze to drift for a moment toward that figure under the parasol and the hand she caught a glimpse of. Could it be? It's been forever since she's seen Wolf here.

"My ancestors definitely made the right choice when they abandoned organic existence." Bryllu agrees when it comes to her ability to alter her form. "It's pretty great." She dives down into the water and back out, "But I'm used to flying, so feeling like I am flying isn't really what I'm looking for."

    Gail glances over towards Wolf. "Definitely a nice place!" she says. "Very different from where I'm from. Or at least ... the city in particular." Her reserved behavior and worries about falling is giving way to curiosity and interest, and her voice is back to the previous kind of squeaky.

    She nods along with the explanation. "This is a bunch to take in," she says. "But, uh. I guess that's the World Tree for you. My world just, uh ... 'Bloomed'?"

    "Blossomed," says Sheen Jewel, floating back over.

    "Right, that," says Gail. She grins at Bryllu, simply nods once ...

    ... and then her expression sours when she's asked if she likes to swim. "Uh, I ... used to. But. I ..." She glances back down at herself, then changes whatever she'd been about to say to, "... don't want to get salt into my scrapes."

    No more words come from the umbrella-hidden beach-lounger. Not immediately. Eventually, that fuzzy hand places the bottle back into the sand with a slight twist to secure it into place, nails clicking against glass. Most of the liquid inside is gone now. Still, the sound made by the chair suggests that whomever it is has sat up. Feet become partially visible, bare and equally clawed, while any silhouette reveals that the figure has to stoop forward to avoid hitting his head on the overhead solar protection. Some people don't like to sunbathe and tan.

     "Oh right, I remember you flying around putting the forest fire out, I guess I could ask you if swimming really is kind of like flying since I've never really flown besides being a passenger in a big plane, which I imagine isn't at all the same as soaring around like a bird. But... that's not what you like about swimming, what is it?" She asks curiously while starting to walk on her flippers toward that parasol. Along the way she also speaks to Gail. "Hmm, yeah, saltwater would make them heal faster, but it wouldn't be pleasant. We can probably get you a first aid kit from the nearby Pokemon Center if you need it. But um, your world just blossomed? Oh wow, that's very exciting. I still remember when my world first blossomed. It was a very exciting time, sometimes a little scary, but thankfully the connection between my world and the rest of the tree has been mostly positive." Soon she reaches that beach chair and looks to see who's sitting in it, and grins. "Wolf? Hey, I haven't seen you in ages. How are you?"

"It's got some similarities and some differences." Bryllu answers Miwa, "Flying and swimming are definitely closer than walking, riding or digging." The synthetic lifeform explains, "I guess the closest thing would actually be deep space flight, but without the vast stretches of nothing whatsoever." She curiously glances to the umbrella stranger, "Friend of yours?" She asks Miwa. Gail's awkward dodge gets her to tilt her head, but no comments.

    Gail chuckles, walking her bike along after Miwa. "Shapeshifting and flight," she says. "Those are my two dream superpowers."

    Sheen Jewel peers at her, but also doesn't comment.

    "Yeah, we're still learning about 'this big new World Tree thing'," she says. "Some people from the World Tree actually showed up to help fight off a monster in our world a few days ago. Sheen 'n' me ... we just decided we'd poke our heads out, take a look around. Wasn't expecting this much excitement right away, though ..." One hand briefly lets go of her bike and lands on her heart.

    "Your heart's fine," Sheen Jewel says automatically, as if Gail's habit was a well-worn annoyance.

    Gail laughs nervously. "Right, right ..." She shakes her head. "I mean ... I wouldn't mind first aid. But this was not my first tumble off my bike."

    Miwa earns a grunt for her curiosity and greeting from the figure in the chair. Leaning forward to place weight on his feet, a hand grips the pole of the parasol and lifts even as the tall individual stands. Tipped forward and obscuring his image from the world visitors, the other hand reaches in to grip the base of the folding spokes. With a whoomf of fabric, the large umbrella closes to reveal the beachgoer in totality. 

    Called a wolf, that seems to be precisely what he is, although bipedal, tall, and muscularly broad. This person could be a bouncer for a club. Though, wearing only long shorts, the reality of that comparison might be closer to the truth than imagination might create: scars are visible over face, ears, chest, and back. These marrings are blending through from the gray and white fur, but they are notable nonetheless. Most don't see scars beyond his basic profile, such as the large scar over his left eye covered with a simple patch. 

    "Clearly you haven't been looking hard enough. Probably distracted by your teaching children to command and strategize." The umbrella pole is shoved into the sand firmly in one smooth motion before a hand reaches up to pull those sunglasses back down into place. They aren't traditional sunglasses. The shape of the arms are designed for a grip on such a differently-shaped head. 

    Behind that darkened lens an eye moves from Bryllu to Gail to Sheen Jewel and to Miwa in turn. "Welcome to the party. Or the Tree. Nothing's gonna be the same, kitten. Make some friends and keep 'em close, hm?"

     "Well, there are only a couple of Pokemon that would, at least according to legend, know what it's like to travel through space, and their power is on another level from mine. But I'll take your word for it." Miwa replies to Bryllu, and then nods at the question of wolf being a friend, even if that might be a bit of a stretch considering you could probably count the times they've met over the past few years on one hand. "Seems like a lifetime ago when we last had a day at the beach with Luke and Fionn and..." She frowns as she remembers the final person of the gathering who is no longer around. 

    "Anyway, nice to see you again, hope we didn't disturb your relaxing moment in the shade." She offers kindly before looking back to Bryllu and Gail, her eyes lingering on Sheen Jewel for a moment as the reassuring comment about Gail's heart is said. "Pokemon change shape as they evolve some quite dramatically, but apart from mega evolution, which hasn't been discovered for Primarina... yet, it is permanent. Not that I'd really want to go back to being a Brionne or a Popplio. But um, shall we go take a little trip to the Pokemon Center to get Gail patched up? It's not far, just off the edge of the beach." Miwa asks as she begins moving to lead the way unless someone objects.

Bryllu nods, "It took my ancestors some time to figure out space travel, and it's not like most people do it in my day. It takes a certain kind of person to make a life out of spending ... I think you call it centuries alone out in the void to collect the last remaining resources in the galaxy to fuel our society for just a little longer." The space miner explains, "But it was the closest thing I could be to an explorer, so I went for it anyway."

At the suggestion to head to the pokemon center, she hops back out of the water and into the sky, flying in tight circles above the others. Rather than ask Gail, Bryllu contacts Sheen in machine-to-machine interface to ask whether Sheen is monitoring Gail's vitals. "You're not human are you, mister?" She asks Wolf.

    With Wolf making himself abundantly clear, Gail's nervousness returns in full force. She doesn't quite step back, but ... he's quite an imposing figure, and Gail is easily intimidated.

    Sheen Jewel, on the other hand, simply peers at Wolf curiously for a moment. Then she leans over to Gail and says, "What did he say?"

    "Uhh ..." Gail shakes her head as if to clear it. She hesitates a moment, then says, "'Welcome to World Tree', 'Blossoming changes everything', 'cautiously make alliances.'"

    Sheen considers this, then nods, and curtsies to Wolf. "Doing that!"

    Gail laughs nervously. "Oh right, Sheen, you were at the Static Anomaly," she says. "Sorry, uh, D-Fairies ... the Digital Fairies have a language designed for machine-to-machine communication, they have trouble with ... with 'organic' languages."

    At the suggestion to head to the Pokemon Center, Gail nods. "Okay, uh, sure!" she says. Then she hesitates. "... Hang on, I have an artificial heart, so ... if ..."

    "Your heart's fine," says Sheen. "It's just scrapes."

    "Okaaaaay," says Gail, shifting the direction of her bike and wincing slightly. She looks up at Bryllu, and frowns, but ... she really isn't sure what to say to that. "Wow," she says. "That's ... very different from where I'm from." She shrugs. "I ... guess you're exploring now, at least!"

    "Definitely not human," replies Wolf. The conversational details regarding space travel do not go unnoticed by the large battle-worn lupine, yet nothing is said about it yet. Turning and leaning at the waist, the wolf leans over to pick up the bottle one more time, drains the remainder in one go, then begins to slowly wander along with the growing social current. "Gives me a chance to get a new drink anyway, Miwa." Strangely, the path walked doesn't fully walk along with the direction of the group. Rather, the tough guy seems to br drifting closer to where Gail walks her bike. 

    A large rough sharp-clawed hand is outheld, palm up, and in a one-on-one conversational tone an introduction is offered. "Lord O'Donnell. Call me Wolf. Let me get that for you." Shades may obscure the direction of that one eye's direction, but the bob of the guy's snout seems to refer to the bicycle. He's offering to take care of it during the walk. He has a slight smile, but it's subtle. A broad grin would only look threatening on a face like that.

     Miwa nods to Bryllu. "Some humans on my world, and from what I've heard some others as well, have gone to space in rocket-powered ships, but like many Earth-like worlds, we didn't have the technology to travel to other planets before the vines opened us to other worlds. I do like exploring too, and am very happy for the vines to allow that opportunity to travel beyond my world." She offers what she knows before switching gears to try and reassure Gail. "It's ok, Wolf won't hurt you..." She begins to say, and then smiles as Wolf goes over and offers to help with walking the bike along the way to the Pokemon Center. At all the talk about whether Gail's heart is OK, Miwa also adds. "Pokemon Center, as the name implies, specializes in the treatment of Pokemon, but trainers get injured too so they can handle scrapes, burns and sprains. For anything more serious there is a hospital in Malie City."

"Organic languages are kind of weird and inefficient." Bryllu argues in response to Gail's assertion, "Much like organic bodies, really. You probably shouldn't bother, but then it seems people find the idea of proper star management weird and I can't wrap my head around not wanting to make sure your stars are where you want them to be, make sure they last as long as possible, and avoid radiating all that valuable energy into deep space." She shakes her head like people are so silly for those notions, "Like I get being unable to. That makes sense." She swoops down to the ground when they make it close to the pokemon center, and kind of wobbles on her tailfins and arms, "I did not plan to land on the ground today. A pleasure, Wolf O'Donnell. I am Bryllu Zibhu MLDVII."

    Gail once again looks a bit intimidated by Wolf, but then his intentions become clear. "Oh!" she says, holding her bike out to him. "Sure. Thanks. Gail Bunker, here, and this is Sheen Jewel ..."

    "Sheen Jewel 44247101," says Sheen.

    Gail nods to Miwa. "Well, it just seems to be scrapes in my case," she says dryly. "My heart's old news." Beat. "... I'll need Sheen to help me convince my mom that this isn't gonna happen every time I go through a Vine. I mean ... it took me a few jumps before I ... came across you getting into a scrap, Miwa."

    She looks up at Bryllu. "... On the timescale we live on," she says dryly, "stars are just not an issue. They just aren't. I dunno what else to tell you."

    An arm extends, reaching out to grab the center of the bike's yoke between the handlebars, before gripping it tightly and swinging it around to rest against his back in an over-the-shoulder hold as the group walks along. Passing a convenient recycling bin, O'Donnell drops his bottle into it. "Scrapes happen. Judging by how old you look, I'd say I had about four major scars at that point." Wolf's other arm twists about to tap a nail at a prominent scar along his lower back, to the side, which looks dangerously close to where a kidney might be. "Every scrape and cut and bruise hurts. But, eventually, you can learn to ignore them." 

    It's honestly hard to tell if the islanders in general would find the half-dressed shorts-wearing Wolf more intimidating than if he were wearing his usual attire. Wearing a style that says 'don't mess with me' is very different from seeing a tapestry of violent life history on display. "Nothing wrong with getting them sanitized, at least. Some planets are known for having microorganisms as common residents of sand. This place seems safe enough, though, and you'll like the staff at the Centers. If some young'un asks to battle your partner, take it as a compliment." 

    Still on, the conversational discussion of stellar-power goes ignored by O'Donnell. "You're doing a decent job of it, even like that. Careful, you'll have even more kids trying to look you up around here. Thankfully, I've never had that issue, One Four Five Seven. Or is it Fourteen Fifty-Seventh? Brill for short?" There's enough playful mischievousness there to make it apparent that Wolf is just trying to joke, even if it almost seems a little forced from its general subtlety. At the least, the corners of his muzzle upturn a bit. "Don't go with Fifty-seven. I've visited a universe where they use that as a name of a sauce for food." Wolf cants his head lightly to one side as he regards Bryllu's appearance's functionality, although those sunglasses hide any thought shining behind his right eye.

     Miwa grins a bit at Bryllu's comments. She likes her body the way it is, but being able to live for a really long time like Bryllu might be nice... or might be really awful if it means you just get to outlive all your friends. She looks back at Gail as she worries about her mother being protective about her being hurt, and mentions coming across Miwa getting into a scrap. "Oh! Was it the battle that startled you and made you fall? I'm sorry. There was really nothing to worry about, those kids' Pokemon were fairly fresh first stage evolutions, only just starting to get some of their stronger attacks. I wouldn't be in any real danger from them unless I just stood there and let them attack me over and over for a while, which is why I let them battle me two on one... but I guess you had no way of knowing that the battle was just a friendly and harmless spar of sorts." 

     At this point Miwa reaches the Pokemon Center and holds the door open for the others, she then heads inside herself and explains the situation to Nurse Joy. "Ok Miwa, we can take care of that." The young woman with pink hair tied into a sort of hoop-shaped ponytail says with a smile, then calls for her assistant Blissey. Moments later a large pink and white egg-shaped Pokemon about five feet tall comes out with a small bag. She heads over to Gail and greets her with "Blissey." then pulls out a spray antiseptic, uses it to clean the scrapes, then treats them with an ointment that will help them heal faster, and finally gently wraps them up in a bandage. "Blissey!" She says happily, as she is done, puts the supplies away, and heads off to the next place she's needed around the Pokemon Center. Miwa smiles and waves a flipper. "Thanks, Blissey!" Then turns to Gail. "Better?"

Bryllu shrugs somewhat to Gail's response. "If you say so." She doesn't sound convinced by that logic at all. She watches the pokemon get to work helping Gail, "There can be some real danger out in the tree." She states, "I've seen more violence in the past few solar cycles than I'd seen in my entire life before that." She answers Wolf, "Fourteen Fifty-Seventh, my parent is Fourteen Fifty-Sixth and my grandparent was Fourteen-Fifty-Fifth and so on. Not that I ever met my grandparent, in my family it's the norm not to produce offspring until you begin preparing to pass on. I don't know how much longer my parent was planning to go for, though..."

    Gail watches as Wolf O'Donnel simply ... lifts up her bike and holds it over his shoulder. She smirks faintly. "I was afraid you were gonna do that," she says dryly. But it looks like the ice has officially broken. "... Heh, you've certainly lived an interesting life," she says. "Worst I've had to deal with is an accident." She taps her chest right over her heart. "Heh, yeah, no, Sheen can't fight." (This seems to surprise and slightly alarm the D-Fairy.) "But ... I'll keep that in mind."

    She nods to Miwa. "Yeah," she says. "It's like. There's so much different context in different worlds. I heard a rumor that the place me and Sheen came from is the only world that has what we call Spectral Energy. Which is ... sort of like magic except it follows scientific principles."

    Sheen Jewel lets out a humorless laugh. It seems she's had that description explained to her before, and she recognized enough of the words.

    She frowns at Bryllu. "Yeah," she says. "I ... guess that can be a big surprise. We have to worry about Static Anomaly attacks, so ... I'm used to surprises, I guess. I've been lucky enough that I've never gotten caught up in 'em at least." She ... clearly isn't sure how to parse Bryllu's age.

    Gail meets a Blissey for the first time! She nods, letting Nurse Joy and the pokemon treat her; they really are minor scrapes, and one bruise from her bike landing on her, but definitely not the kind of thing sand should be getting into. "Oh yeah," she says, smiling at Miwa. "Definitely better."

    "I'll wait out here," O'Donnell states as they reach the Pokemon Center electing to stay outside with the bicycle and out of the way of general foot traffic. While the tour guide and the battle-wounded see to some treatment, Wolf takes the time to track down a nearby vending machine for another drink. Free hand reaching across his form to dig into the opposite shorts pocket a bit awkwardly, payment is produced and tended. Lounging nearby, free shoulder against a tree while leaning back, the lupine fellow watches the public go about their lives. 

    Deep in thought, the fuzzy offworlder silently loses track of the time while zoning out. Childish laughter here, conversations about shopping there, discussions of pokemon from passersby mixes with the rest of what people here consider so mundane and comfortably normal. It's a far cry from solar harnessing. The main star power these people care about is the celebrity in the Pokemon Center.

     Miwa nods in agreement with Bryllu. "Yeah, there certainly can be, but I will happily brave those dangers for the reward of adventure and friendship." She replies before turning back to Gail smiling as she confirms she's feeling better after Blissey's treatment. Moments later Nurse Joy comes out with a pinap and pecha berry smoothie, which she offers to Gail, and Miwa grins. "Oooh, that looks delicious, I think I'll order one myself. Does anyone else want anything?" She offers as she heads over to the little snack and drink stand set up on one side of the lobby.

"I can't process food and drink, so I'll pass, but thank you." Bryllu isn't bothering to say how old she is either. "Back where I'm from, we respect the laws of physics. So no magic for us." She jokes, joining Miwa in the lobby. "Should we tell Wolf O'Donnell we're not coming straight back out?"

    Gail accepts the drink. "Oh, thanks!" she says, smiling. She takes a hesitant sip, then nods. "It is delicious!" she says. She grins at Miwa. "Friendship and adventure sounds good," she says. "It's just ... I don't have any particular way of dealing with the 'danger' part."

    She shakes her head at Bryllu. "It's not magic!" she protests. "It definitely follows the laws of physics as we understand it. At least ... the physics our world. But Sheen still works properly."

    "I'm working fine!" says Sheen cheerfully. She pauses, looks between Bryllu and Miwa for a moment, then says, "I can't eat."

    When Bryllu raises the question of Wolf, however, Sheen flies off without a word.

    Gail blinks. "... Oh, I guess she's getting Wolf." She shrugs. "She does that sometimes."

    Sheen makes her way out of the Pokemon Center, and then makes a beeline for Wolf. "Lord O'Donnell!" the D-Fairy calls out. "Getting snacks." She then hesitates, trying to figure out how to convey or ask ask anything useful with her limited ability to speak properly.

    If it weren't for the sunglasses hiding both eye and patch, the lupine's thousand-yard stare might be a lot more obvious. A few seconds, long and stretched out, pass after Sheen Jewel makes an approach and calls out. All alone like that, Sheen is likely to draw much more attention than by Gail's side. O'Donnell's breathing is very slow, deep, and mostly quiet save for the soft rush of each exhalation through his broad nose. 

    Wolf turns his head suddenly, snapping back to the present, allowing his unique gaze to coalesce onto the form of the D-Fairy. "Huh?" comes the eloquent response just before he lifts the hand holding the new bottled drink. "I'm keeping hydrated. Leaves more sugar for the kiddos." 

    Stare faltering and falling away, taking stock of his current position, the wolf grunts and lowers the bike from its hold over his shoulder and carefully puts it down, rests it against the same tree, and adjusts the angle of the front wheel enough so that it rests in a stable way. Placing his back against the tree once more, O'Donnell then sinks down until he's in a squat-sit...even if it leaves some shed fur behind on the surface of the plant's trunk. "But, I appreciate the news. They don't need an old biological tough guy following them around. It's creepy. Heh!" 

    There is a clearing of the throat that follows before more of the cold beverage is consumed.

     Miwa grins as Gail confirms her appraisal of the smoothie to be accurate. "I know, they're my favorite." She says before ordering one for herself as no one else seemed able to eat, which makes her idly wonder what keeps all these inorganic life forms going. She turns back to Gail and laughs a little at the protesting about magic. "I guess some Pokemon attacks might look a lot like magic to someone who doesn't know what they are, but I'm pretty sure they can all be explained through the science of this world, especially if you ask Professor Kukui, he's a Pokemon Professor who studies Pokemon Attacks and abilities." Miwa explains, then as Gail has been treated, and Wolf is still outside and apparently not interested in coming in, she has a thought, and orders another smoothie for Wolf, figuring if he turns it down she'll just drink it as well. "Shall we go back to rejoin Wolf? Can someone carry these smoothies for me?" She asks kindly as she starts making her way toward the exit.

"But you said it was like magic." Bryllu hops her way back outside at Miwa's suggestion. "I know a very long time ago there was a saying about sufficiently advanced science being indistinguishable from magic, but we figured out science a very long time ago." Her current from is not great for land so she needs her hands to move around.

    Sheen Jewel looks as though she doesn't quite understand everything Wolf is saying, but she seems to get the general gist. She simply nods. "I'm younger than Gail," she says, and then just ... turns around and flies back inside.

    Gail shrugs. "I'm not sure I can carry three smoothies," she says uncertainly as she picks up Miwa's smoothie. "Oh! Sheen! Uhh ... can you pick this up ...?"

    Sheen has a hesitant frown for a moment, then gingerly picks up the third one. Despite the fact that it's as big as she is, she manages to hold it in her lap without spilling anything.

    Gail shrugs as they head out. "All I know, Bryllu," she says, "is that I have an artificial heart which works better than anything that was available twenty years ago, my surgery didn't leave much of a scar, Sheen Jewel here's body is a hologram which can carry a smoothie, and Sheen herself is probably smarter than I am." She shrugs. "If it works, it works."