CAMP SOLHEIM MINGLE

[bloodyashes]

Who: You! And you! And possibly also you. (Anyone on Monsun)
What: The team moms have gotten the Storyteller to give you a present! It's... A giant tent. And a mana pool. Aren't you special.
When: Dec 3-4ish and on.
Where: Monsun, c3, desert side.
Warnings: It's a mingle warn yerselves.

The group at the river bend has been slowly growing over the last few days, and especially once new arrivals to the islands appear. The mana pool that's been discovered, at the far edge of the forest side of the island, is not exactly in the most helpful location. And that's putting aside the people who just won't go over to the forest at all (or really, really shouldn't, in Ardyn's case).

So, the more responsible members of the group took things into their own hands, and dumped all their favors into a pool... Quite literally.

The day after the new arrivals show up, anyone not immediately next to the fire pit will wake up under a tent that has more than enough room to sleep everyone. Colorful flaps hang from the tent ceiling, some triangular to support the poles and some square and rolled up that will give it actual walls against the elements should there be a need. Even the floor is a bit more covered with a rough red rug instead of just a dirt floor, and there are half a dozen large, worn floor pillows scattered about, none of which match.

Perhaps more relevant to some people, however, is the stone dais containing a mana pool on the far side of the fire, right up against the edge of the river.

Welcome to camp! Don't track sand on the rug.

Comments

[prettypurpleparlor]

[You know what a camp, any camp, really needs?]

[Food.]

[At least if you ask Muffet, it does. Granted, everywhere else also needs food, especially if you ask Muffet. The resident spider lady is sitting neatly by the fire, humming absently to herself as she carefully stirs a pot of something she has suspended over the flames.]

[Whatever it is smells delicious... and, somehow, kind of like cactus?]

[power_of_dominance]

[Soma peers into the pot, sniffing. Yeah that definitely smells like cactus. Which... he's not sure how he knows what cactus smells like, but he's pretty sure his nose is right.]

You're not making tequila, are you?

[Because holy hell he's still mortified at what happened with the blackberry whiskey. Magical tequila would probably be a super bad idea.]

[shineinside]

Good morning...

[Hi, Muffet. It's late morning and Yuka still looks exhausted. She's carrying a sizeable bag of something.]

I found this in my bag yesterday... I don't know what kind of cuisine you're familiar with, but if you're cooking, maybe you can use it for something...? I could probably cook it myself, if you're used to something else...

[deranged_practicality]

Good thinking.

[Because she is very sick of a scorching desert and being chased all over]

Sometime Later On

[bloodyashes]

[Everyone who cooks around the camp eventually gets a particular gift from Asch, and that gift would be At Least One Ambulatory Cabbage.

... Here he is with yours, Muffet. It is most of the way on his head and has kind of curled its roots into his hair, so please bear with him for a moment.]

[bloodyashes]

First morning

[You know what's great about this tent? Other than the shade?

Not sleeping in sand. That's really, really great.

As a result, that first morning when the tent appears, a keen eye might spy Asch rolling around the rug like a kid, all attempts at dignity temporarily abandoned. Compared to the sand and everything else he's been sleeping on lately, it's practically a real bed.]

First night, around sunset

[Asch vanishes through the mana pool an hour or two after the tent appears, but he does come back -

With his arms full of a rather large baby bird, a big black feather puff, brought back from the islets to be turned over to her proper parent. Kweh.]

Okay, now where did he get off to...

[For the record? Even putting aside Monsun being Monsun, it is impossible to not be cheerful when carrying a baby chocobo. who is this smiling human being and what has he done with Asch]

[scourgingstars]

[The chocobo—which by now had grown to roughly basketball size—was generally quite annoyed by this situation. By her estimation she had been quite impolitely kidnapped from a very comfortable nest and reasonable food reserves, and if a bird could frown then she certainly was.]

Hresvelgr-!

[Ardyn called out cheerfully and all but sprang up from where he’d been sitting near the mana pool, prompting the bird to tilt her head in confusion. Who the heck was this and what had he done with Ardyn.]

First morning

[prettypurpleparlor]

If you want, I could try weaving you a nice blanket to go with that.

[Muffet is being polite and helpful and definitely not laughing at him because she refuses to be rude, even if she can't quite stop herself from smiling at the sight of someone normally so serious playing around.]

[covertizer]

[ Oh. Oh no, Asch. That's adorable. You've absolutely been spotted though. ]

Having fun?

[ Because, fair, he did wake up on one of those floor pillows and it was an ridiculous amount better than sleeping on straight up sand and rocks. He Gets You. ]

first morning

[daydreamy]

[ Oh? Is this what we're doing?? this is what we're doing!

without any prompting whatsoever, Asch will find himself joined by another fool making exactly that of themselves by rolling around on the rug. ]

It's huuuuuuuge! Where the heck'd it even come from?

[shineinside]

[The evening before, two girls staggered into camp. Both looking dead on their feet, seemingly only staying standing by leaning on each other.

Yuka had spent the entire day wandering the desert, fighting monsters, interacting with strangers, burning out all her powers, worrying, and fatiguing herself further by healing people. She was so far beyond her limits that she didn't even stop to eat. Within seconds of arriving at anything resembling civilization she was sound asleep, wrapped in the blanket thankfully provided in her pack, head on Kyouko's shoulder.

The next morning, she awoke to a completely unfamiliar sight. Was there a tent like this before? This place really keeps you on your toes. Sore and feeling weird from waking up in the same clothes she was sweating in yesterday, she staggered out blearily into the sunlight to find breakfast and meet the rest of the camp. Kyouko is almost always there, hovering around her and generally being inseparable. She seems happy about it.

Shortly afterwards, she could be found in the middle of the camp, going through her pack to figure out what to do with its contents now that they weren't lost in the desert. Bag of rice: Obvious, share it with the group. Rubbing alcohol: Reminder to ask someone if they know what this stuff is good for, she has no clue. Notebook: It's dried out by now, but a lot of the old notes are a mess and she has nothing to write with. Smartphone: Dead. Damn, she had a lot of fun apps on there. Gnome: Hmm.

Alongside everything else, she places the gnome on the ground, and it activates immediately. She's overwhelmed with a profound sense of calm and contentment, along with everyone else in a ten-foot radius of the tiny statue.]

...Is this a magic item...? Or maybe I'm just feeling better now that I've eaten something...

[want_to_belong]

[Prompto had been at the camp early on, being someone who pretty much clung to some of the people who had asked for it. It wasn't unusual for him to go out during the day to recover what food he could from the other side of the island, including food and potential building supplies. If nothing else, he was quick on his feet, though, and he didn't need to stay out all that long to gather at least some goods.

What he gathered? Stuff he saw animals eating and wood for now. He'd bring it all back to camp and settle down to relax. After all, so long as they had the food and water they needed, they could hold out for a while. Getting some rest in the shade was important.

Naturally, other people had wandered to their camp. Several whom he didn't know. Some of whom were girls. Confident as he was feeling, he still wasn't Gladio. He was too anxious to approach, until all of a sudden he seemed to collect himself.

He stepped over to her, super casual like, and tried to start a conversation.]

Hey, what exactly is that...?

[Not a lot of lawn gnomes where he was from.]

[daydreamy]

[ It isn’t until morning comes around that anyone actually gets to be introduced to Kyouko Kougami. She comes staggering into the camp already half-asleep on Yuka’s shoulder the evening before and by the time the girls have sat down for five minutes, she’s out like a light, huddling up against Yuka and tucked in as comfortably as she can make herself.

She’s up and about the next morning though looking surprisingly energetic, considering the circumstances. She’s remarkably enthused by their new digs and spends a bit of time investigating their fancy shelter before she goes out and gets herself some food. It’s pretty transparent to anyone who spends more than five seconds paying attention that she’s all but glued to Yuka and doesn’t seem much inclined to head more than a few feet from her side for most of the day. But eventually, curiosity and restlessness gets the better of her and she gets back to investigating their camp – or more precisely, the people in it. If you look like you’re making yourself busy with much of anything, you might find Kyouko just popping up out of the blue at any given time. ]

Oh, hey! What’s going on over here? We’ve still got a lotta stuff to do to make this place really homey, huh?

[ Once she’s worked a bit of her restless energy out, Kyouko finally decides to upend her knapsack and start going through the contents. Her phone is a welcome sight but it becomes less so when she realizes it’s waterlogged beyond repair – or at least her usual method of repair (i.e, hitting it) anyway. But her charms are safe so that’s the important part.

The rest of it all looks vaguely useful but not in a way that Kyouko knows how to make use of. So eventually, she just spreads out that tarp and spreads everything out – or well, the woodsaw and the rubbing alcohol, anyway. The rock candy is staying with Kyouko, thank you very much.

If you look like you’re taking a passing interest in any of her junk, she’ll give you a wave. ]

Hey, hey, you want any of this stuff? Swapsies!

[shineinside]

[ For those who met Yuka while she was out in the desert yesterday, there was a sort of aura of quiet tension about her the whole time. With Kyouko glued to her side, though, it's all but gone. She's sore, messy, and could use another four or five hours of sleep on top of the nine she already got, but her smile is earnest and unguarded.

She's sitting next to Kyouko now, going over her inventory with her. ]

Is that candy? All I got was plain rice.

[attheclocktower]

[In the end, Xion ends up sticking around the camp on a semi-permanent basis. She'll go for forays onto the forest side of the island to look for supplies, and come back face numb and looking vaguely like she wants to be sick.

While she doesn't explain why, she suspects the reason. Everyone camping together in an open area, with people coming and going often; some keeping watch, some scouting elsewhere? It was like the hidden floor had been, right before the Tower's end. Light, she misses it. She misses everyone. It's started to sink in now, that she knows absolutely no one here, and no one here knows her. Not even Suna, or Sunny, or Thalassa, or Excalibur followed.

At least she can keep pretending to herself here, that things will be okay. Fake it till you make it, as they say.

Unfortunately, neither the activity nor the positive effects of the desert side of the island can cover everything, which is probably why, if anybody's paying close attention, they'll notice she's not sleeping much. She's used to being surrounded by a Dusk, a cat, a dream eater (who helped with the nightmares to boot), and more often than not her brother when she slept. Now there's no one, and after the first nap she woke up from with a scream, she opted to try to avoid a repeat performance.

At the very least, they can easily notice her spending most of her nights keeping watch, scouting the edges of the camp.

She'll be friendly enough though, if anyone approaches, and if someone needs help, she'll do her best to give it.]

[shineinside]

[A couple nights in, Xion has a visitor during her watch - one of those other two girls hanging around the camp. Her insomnia hasn't gone entirely unnoticed.]

You know, someone else could take care of the night watch, if you don't want to do it every night.

[want_to_belong]

[It was no great surprise to see Prompto in the camp. He'd bumped into the guys before it was made, and it only made sense that he went along with them. Particularly Ignis. Besides, having a place to sleep was pretty great, even if it still didn't compare to the places they slept back home. Once they got a steady food supply it seemed like it might be better than the islets.

Though his stomach was neither empty nor full, he could be found wandering around looking for good pictures to snap. Since the day his movements had slowed, and his actions were more to lazily alleviate boredom than anything else. Good as he felt, the boy needed a break from the harsh environment, so he stayed within the borders of the tent as he moved around.

He snapped pictures of their new accommodations and people. Why, he could very well be taking a picture of you.]

[power_of_dominance]

[Soma is huddled in one of the dimmer corners, and the flash of Prompto's camera makes his eyes reflect like a cat's. Those crimson eyes lock on to the blond, but there's nothing threatening about them aside from their odd color.]

Am I really that interesting a subject?

[scourgingstars]

[Even in the far better mood he tended towards on this side of the island, Ardyn didn't particularly like having to ask the Storyteller for anything. But...he had to admit there weren't a lot of options. Any longer and he'd have been in some serious trouble, after all.]

[So, for the first day and night or two after the camp manifested overnight, Ardyn spent most of his time by the mana pool--eventually joined by a basketball-sized bird snoozing on his lap or occasionally making a futile attempt to climb onto his shoulder.]

[Eventually, he could be found a little closer to the edges of the camp at night to keep watch. With the sun having gone down he left his coat back at the mana pool for Hresvelgr to sleep on, looking far smaller in the white shirt and vest worn underneath it. No matter how late he was awake or how many walking cacti he dispatched--with the sword that appeared in his hand and disappeared just as easily--he didn't seem remotely tired and was never seen to sleep.]

[...As the days wore on around the camp, the particularly sharp-eyed among their number might also have noticed he also didn't seem to eat anything, either.]

[That was probably fine.]

[power_of_dominance]

[Birds of a feather flocking together might be appropriate terminology for Soma approaching Ardyn, especially since his attention is initially drawn by the round black chick nesting on Ardyn's lap. The boy seems more relaxed these days, more prone to soft smiles, his eyes gray rather than red most of the time. He's smiling at Ardyn and the chocobo, lifting a hand slightly in both greeting and curiosity.]

That is one of the most adorable things I've ever seen. Is it friendly, because I really want to pet it.

[covertizer]

[ The first thing Akira had done, once he'd come across the camp he'd been directed to, was find himself a corner to tuck himself away in and doze off. It had been a long day - the change of pace, and scenery. The sudden disappearance of his friends and reappearance of an acquaintance he'd thought to be long dead. The presence of Arsene and Satanael in his mind again and the weight of summoning them in quick succession.

The, uh. Giant sand hydra.

Like blitzing through the Metaverse, it had taken a fair bit out of him, and the moment he'd seen the campfire, he'd felt tiredness seep through his body like a flood. He'd fallen asleep so quickly, then when he wakes up and finds drapings above his head and worn cushions under his body, he's... confused. In fact, while he's waking up, you're probably likely to run into him just... squinting at different parts of the tent, at the ceiling, at the floors, checking out the cushions again just to see if they're actually comfortable or whether or not his initial impressions had been coloured by the fact it just straight up wasn't sand or rocks.

Later, he's just outside the tent, sifting through the items in that monogrammed bag he'd found when he arrived, as well as checking out some of the items he'd happened to have on him when he showed up, just to see if anything is salvageable. Notably, his cell phone is out in a patch of sunlight. Apparently he's trying to dry it out. ]

[power_of_dominance]

[Oh, someone new. Soma watches the other boy curiously as he explores the tent, silvery eyes sharp and intelligent but not unkind. He doesn't greet the newcomer right away, willing to let the dark-haired teen acknowledge him first. Some people are even more introverted than Soma is, and the last thing he wants is to make anyone uncomfortable.

Well, more uncomfortable than his considerably odd presence already does.]

[raygunner]

[ He's been on this side of the island for a while, now. A couple days. He really has no desire to go to the other side, because everyone seems to be over here... and he's not exactly too keen on revealing his uglier side. It should be kept shut away, for... several reasons, not all of them entirely noble.

Seems like this side is amplifying that yearning for friendship, and his willingness to help... so all in all, he's not difficult to get along with here. He was a little surprised when Asch pointed him in the direction of camp, but Akechi's not an idiot. He knows not to squander an important opportunity when it's offered. And the camp not only offers safety, but a mana pool.

It's quite convenient. He's a little tired from using his personas, so when he first arrives, he finds a quite corner to relax and gather himself. Afterward, he sort of wanders around, and he's certainly not averse to talking to anyone. He does seem pretty pleasant, after all. ]

nobody loves the sketchy boy and that is sad

[bloodyashes]

[Hopefully he's also not adverse to meat-and-cactus skewers because he'll find Asch holding a handful of the things out to him, still warm from the fire and smelling faintly of some fruity marinade.

...Yes, they're using cactus spikes as skewers now, what of it?]

Here, eat something.

[encircling]

[ After being so helpful and making sure others are okay... well, she's still doing that. Mira needs to slow the hell down and take a breather, but even at camp, she's keeping herself busy. She does look a little tired, but it's probably okay. Regardless, she's here, and it's pretty safe. There aren't any weird jellyfish around, no storms to be seen...

She can refill her water containers, the vessels made of tightly woven leaves. Every so often, a bit of ice forms in her hand, and she places it inside. Then, she warms it up with a bit of her magic. After she does this a few times, she stands and walks around. ]

Do you need any water? I have plenty.

[ And then later on, she finally does take a break and sits. She doesn't use any of her magic this time; mostly, Mira's just... watching everyone. They look comfortable. ]

[shineinside]

Yes, please!

[ She's had enough of the bitter stuff from the river, and has honestly been watching Mira use her magic for a while. It's kind of exciting, seeing so many different powers at work. ]

That's a really handy ability you've got. In a desert, it's probably more useful than mine...

[escampist]

[This side of the island might be influencing people to be better, but it can't get rid of someone's rough edges immediately. And Max hasn't been here long yet. He might not be much of a people person - pretty much the total opposite, really - but even he has to know what's up when a bunch of people decide to all group up.

And then he sees it. The gathering. The tent. The fire.]

No.

[It's his worst nightmare, coming back to haunt him.]

Oh god, no. Anything but this!

[You goddamn maniacs.

You made A CAMP.]

[yourattention]

Bad summer camp experience? [He tries to laugh and it immediately devolves into a coughing fit - which is probably a great first impression to be giving.] Sorry, I caught something on the way over.

[Protip: self care is not sailing across a channel on a raft with only an axe and like four fish. That's how you catch pneumonia and also have to spend two days recovering from dehydration.]

[ungrieved]

[Decoupled now from the verdant spread of greenery, wrenched across the water with unwilling struggles and a constant stream of frantic denials, Gabe wanders.]

[He wanders and eventually finds himself drawn to the only patch of color on the horizon.]

[There are people here. More people than he's ever been around in his life or death, and it seems like none of them are the least bit interested in him or tied to him or - or much of anything to do with him. They're just people. They're just people, milling about, of all ages and shapes and sizes and shades, and he stands just off to the side like someone unmoored.]

[Still, the uncharacteristic silence doesn't last terribly long. Before long, Gabe has begun to wander about the camp with far more curiosity than is socially acceptable. He stares at people who he decides are interesting or familiar, or possibly even wanders over to pluck at their clothes or their hair, apropos of nothing. He hardly seems to care if he's encroaching upon one's physical space, standing mere inches away as he circles the subject of his interest - which, right now, happens to be you.]

[As the day passes on into night, he starts to grow bolder. You might find him dampening one of the floor pillows in the river, snickering softly to himself as he waits for the opportune moment to drench someone with a soaked pillow to the face.]

i'll try to be more "nice"

[yourattention]

[Connor's a lot of bit out of it because he is . . . really sick. Physically and not mentally, for once, so that's something new. At any rate, Gabe getting extremely close and personal barely registers until Gabe starts touching his hair because for someone who never brushes it and barely takes care of it, Connor really hates people touching his hair.]

Stop that. I will axe you. [It's an empty threat. He does have an axe, but he is 0% in a state to use it.] . . . As soon as I feel less like death, gently warmed.

[seesbosscrotch]

[With fresh water, a roaring fire, and supplies brought in by others to spare, a good cook can work wonders. And Mar is nothing if not a good cook.]

[Parked by the firepit for the majority of his time, and apparently unbothered by the heat despite his armor, the paladin experiments with a blend of walking cactus fillet and hydra steak. A little salt, sear the steak to seal in the juices, boil some cactus spines to soften them up. Squeeze some juice out and bake the cactus, or alternatively slice and quick-sear it.]

[Concoction after experiment flows from his hands and his makeshift utensils to nearby rocks, cleaned as best they can be to serve as plates. To those who approach, he gestures cheerfully, urging them to take and enjoy.]

2nd or 3rd day

[bloodyashes]

[Hey chef how do you feel about adding cabbage to your list of possibilities there?

Because the guy who keeps wandering off for a couple hours to get supplies on the forest side has returned, and brought you a cabbage.

... It's wriggling.]

[thesnowyowl]

[Monsun, E3. At the edge of the forest before the ground slopes down into lakeshore, a tree has been felled. An old tree, roots loosened by the rain, that had simply lost purchase and tipped over. It is here that Chris has made his temporary home.]

[It had taken about an hour, but it had been very much worth the time and effort. Now he sits beneath his makeshift roof with a handful of berries, watching the waters of the lake pitch gently in the breeze.]

[But he knew he couldn't settle in yet. He had to see what else this land had to offer. And that urge to explore and discover is what leads him to this little camp just as evening is beginning to fall over Monsun.]

[Part of him wants to turn right around and head back to his solitary paradise by the lake. Part of him wants to set fire to every humanoid-shaped living thing he encounters to ensure that all available resources are his and his alone. The majority of him knows that survival is more likely in a group and, despite his best wishes, he should cross the river and find out what was going on.]

[A little over half way across, Chris feels a startling and uncomfortable void in his chest. A sudden lack of anger towards the people in his view. It almost hurts, how suddenly and completely he's aware that his thoughts and actions mere moments ago were not the norm for him. What the...?]

[Somebody help this man, he's stumbling through the river looking like he just got hit with a shovel.]

Late to the party

[lilys_poise]

[Elise is new here and still figuring things out. Finding a camp is comforting, like an oasis in the scary desert full of sand monsters. And whoever set it up is probably really nice, since it seems like they're letting a lot of people stay here. Why not her?

Plus she's hungry and tired and still a little bewildered. So it's at least worth asking.]

Um, excuse me? Can I join you guys?

[Have a hopeful smile to go with that question.]

Re: Late to the party

[want_to_belong]

[Prompto was still up at that point, puttering around the camp while he escaped the heat and took a break from gathering resources. Maybe he should have hopped into bed to regain much needed energy, but people need to decompress sometimes, right? Besides, with his camera and now and his very own egg to mother he had enough to keep him occupied for the time being.

He wasn't doing much when the young girl just happened to walk to camp. He noticed her, but pretended he was just looking at his egg for a bit. Finally, when it sounded like she needed a place to stay, he was happy to welcome her. He couldn't let her just sit out in the dry desert heat.]

Sure! We've got some pillows and a cot.

[Just one cot, but hopefully in time Muffet would have some hammocks ready so that more people could have some form of 'bed'.

He paused. One eye flicked back over to the egg, but his attention quickly turned back to her as he semi-nervously continued.]

Are you hungry? We have food.

[His tone was warm and inviting, even if there seemed to be an air of apprehension hovering about it.]

[hyperlit]

The Drifter isn't here for long. They're only passing through. The sandy waste reminds them of the South, though drier and less populated with the skittering lizardfolk who skittered away from the sound of footsteps crunching over burgundy sand. The hot, arid gusts of wind occasionally lift the edges of their cloak as they crunch across the expanse of buff-colored dunes, and into the radius of the camp.

They don't spend very much time refilling whatever they possess in lieu of a stomach at the mana pool. Not long after, you'll find them running some long, tapering stakes through several uneven cuts of very...scaly-looking meat, in preparation to balance the skewers over the open fire.

It's time to learn if Sand Hydras are edible.

[ichininyaanshi]

He's had dreams like this before. Here, that is. Faces he recognizes as identical to his own flickering on his periphery; flashes of yellow and green and pink and red. Sometimes he's chasing them, seeking the colors he misses. More often, he's the one running away.

He's seen blue, too, blue in a face that isn't his. Blue is the color of the only brother left to him, yet Karamatsu, as dutifully as he haunts Ichimatsu in their waking world, doesn't tread his dreams. It's someone else who Drifts through.

In his head, Ichimatsu knew that they were alive. Everyone came back to life. It's what makes things pointless in an entirely different way, and maybe that's why he'd put off seeking them out for so long. It didn't matter that he left them alone to die, saved himself, did it? Even his promise to them was redundant, so he had no reason to go prove to them that he'd kept it. For all their kindness to him, all of their seeking him out and babysitting his brothers, he just never felt like returning the favor, apparently.

He was too scared.

But he sees a flash of red and blue at a mana pool, mere moments after visiting it himself. The cloth on his canteen strains between his fingers as he clenches it tight, watches them turn away. If he were dreaming, it would be so much easier. Sit down and wait. Let them chase you and catch you and startle awake to the sensation of hands dragging you down.

But he's not asleep. The island's slow ease of the ever-present tension in his middle suddenly recoils fivefold, and he swallows convulsively. He hesitates, grinding his heel into the ground, listening to the soft mewls of his shoes. Then he sucks in a breath and follows after them at a halting pace.

When he finds them preparing meat next to a fire, Ichimatsu stares.

"... hey."

[yallstupid]

[By the time the sun has sunk well past the horizon, dropping the temperatures of the dessert to near freezing, Guzma has shuffled much closer to the billowing flames of the fire bursting forth from withing the confines of the massive tent. He's laying on the carpeted floor, leaning his head against the back of his massive pokemon, Golisopod, who appears to be sleeping, but is really meditating. He's seated on the ground, still as a statue, eyes closed and listening to the hiss and crackle of the flames, antennae twitching only once or twice with a particularly violent snap of blistering wood.

Guzma, on the other hand, seems to be toying with a very peculiar device - a pokedex, though it appears to have seen better days. The shiny, red casing is covered in dents, dings, scratches, and a bit of rust at one corner, and the screen itself has a rather impressive crack going right through the middle. Guzma sighs, shutting the thing and reopening it every few minutes, frowning.]

Show data - Golisopod. [He mutters, holding the button for the audio recognition. An image of a Golduck appears on the screen, showing details information about the pokemon - height, weight, various regional 'dex entries, and even moves, abilities, and a cry if one played the audio. But GUzma huffs.] No...Golisopod.

[A Golem appears, even with the two regional variants! How handy!! But not what he wanted.] Go. Lie. So. Pod.

[Golbat. Guzma grumbles again and shuts the whole thing down, folding it up and laying the darned thing on his stomach as he tries to catch a few winks instead. Easier said than done, with the hustle and bustle of the crowd, but...hell, maybe he'll get lucky and someone won't screech over his gigantic bug who's doing literally nothing other than sit there calmly and quietly. Thank goodness he's far more patient and understanding on the desert side, but...

Well, he'll still pout about it. Just not fling the pokedex like a frisbee at the head of anyone who points a gun or sword at his docile partner. Consider yourselves very, very lucky, a pokemon trainer has a mean throwing arm.]

[demonpuppy]

[No shrieking in fear here, though after earlier Chip is more than a little worried about getting on Guzma's bad side. Golisopod, on the other hand, holds their interest in a less wary way, and they creep closer and closer with occasional glances toward his trainer.]

[Once they're close enough, they reach out to try and give one big claw a gentle pat.]