[Route 29] Voicemail/IC contact

[dreamsofahero]

This is Sion Astal. I'm unable to speak with you at the moment, however, if you wish to leave a message, I will respond as soon as I have the opportunity.

Comments

[Video call, November 28]

[tearsofademon]

[Ryner is... well, to say that he's not panicked would be a lie. From the looks of it, he's in a Pokemon Center somewhere.]

Sion, where are you?

Re: [Video call, November 28]

[dreamsofahero]

Ryner!

*...the sheer relief in his expression is probably evidence enough of how panicked Sion was*

I'm in Azalea Town, where are you?

*because he just checked the pokemon center here and you sure WEREN'T there...*

Re: [Video call, November 28]

[tearsofademon]

[The relief in his expression when he gets a response is... more pronounced than he'd usually like to allow, let's leave it at that.]

Blackthorn City. Aaah, this sucks! How the hell are we where we are?

Re: [Video call, November 28]

[dreamsofahero]

If I knew that, I doubt we'd be in this situation.

Re: [Video call, November 28]

[tearsofademon]

Argh... This really sucks...

...So? Where do you want to meet up?

[October 11, Text]

[tearsofademon]

[Ryner's texting you some pictures tonight.

Have some photos (taken with a steady hand but without bothering with any sort of attempt at artistic framing) of Mt. Moon. The exterior, and some of the immediate interior too.

...What? Fuji taught him how to use a camera years ago.]

We figured we'd take a detour past Mt. Moon tonight.

[October 22, Delivery]

[tearsofademon]

[Special delivery, Sion.

Gail's swooping in with a hoot. He's not staying long, but he's got a delivery of Pokepuffs for you. Assorted flavors, straight from the bakeries of Viridian City.

Also a few pages of scribbled Rolandian detailing a few minor research findings from spending a day wandering the Viridian library, most notably a single mention of a rumor of a sighting of a mutated Carbink somewhere in the Kalos region. Nothing substantial about it, though.

The rest is mostly summaries of interviews of a few people who got lost in the mountains and claim to have been led home by a blue bird, but those aren't a thing that haven't been seen before. A couple copies of new artists' renderings of the Legendary Gerbils, a copy of a recipe some crack-pot came up with for a cure-all that supposedly uses a ground-up Silver Wing ("don't try this, it sounds fake" is written to the side), and somebody's research about what happens when Ditto uses Hidden Power, with some failed attempts at trying to figure out what the Ditto's natural Hidden Power would be un-transformed.

It ends with a page or two of complaints about Rose pushing him to go through Mt. Moon instead of just flying past and how he'd forgotten how much of a pain traversing caves was, but, well, it wouldn't be a report from Ryner if it didn't include that type of thing, now would it.]

[October 30, Text]

[tearsofademon]

I'll be in Goldenrod tomorrow. Figured keeping a bunch of bothersome street kids from messing up the place was worth a break from running around. Even if I'd have rathered spend more time looking around in the Seafoam Islands.

I've seen worse Octobers around here, but it's still a pain.

[Yup, even in text messages he's eternally in a complaining mood.]

text.

[torsion]

Hello, Sion. This is Jill Valentine.

Sorry for the abrupt change of plans, but I'm going to have to backtrack. If you're able to get that egg to Azalea within the next few hours, I'll be here. Otherwise Violet City would be ideal. If it's too much of a hassle, please don't worry about it!

delivery; february 14

[placide]

[ If he's out traveling, then it might be a while before he happens upon this package. However, if he's at his home... then he'll receive this delivery on time. There isn't much to it, just some baked chocolate and cookies along with a very cheesy Pokemon card. It's light hearted, okay? Surely he won't take it to mean anything romantic.

There's more than enough for two people. Seems she kept his friend in mind as well. Happy Valentine's, Sion. No romo. ]

[video]

[purramedic]

[Sion's been here the longest out of anyone Anders has spoken to. So he must know a lot about Pokemon, right? Boy, howdy, does he hope so. A tiny little Pokemon life may depend on it!]

Pardon me... May I trouble you for some insight on a Pokemon-related matter?

Re: [video]

[dreamsofahero]

I can certainly do my best. What would you like to know about?

[purramedic]

Over the past week I've heard of many eggs people received after the prom hatching. I've raised one egg before now, and it only took a week. Now it's been over two, and this still hasn't hatched, though I've treated it the same.

[He fixes the camera on his egg, nestled comfortably in its own soft bag.] Am I doing something wrong? Could it be sick?

[dreamsofahero]

There are some that can take as long as three weeks to hatch, actually. The dragon types especially are prone to having long hatching times.

[Text] - August 6th (In which he writes this like a letter)

[findingbeasts]

Greetings, Mr. Astral.

This is Newt Scamander. We spoke on the network when I first arrived and a few times since. I've found myself in Ecruteak finally and was wondering if it would be alright for me to stop by the gym you mentioned and pay a visit to the library. If there's anything I can do to help with the library itself or any other odd job you may have, I'll happily do what I can in exchange for time in the library.

Sincerely,
Newt Scamander

Text - don't worry Sion's the same, the dork XD (did you want to have a log for gym things?)

[dreamsofahero]

It's good to hear from you, Mr. Scamander. As the gym is open to the public, you may of course feel free to stop in at any time during its regular hours, but if you let me know when you intend to come by, Ryner and I can try to be available. As for the library, that too is available for public use, but if you'd like to help, we can certainly discuss that.

- Sion

Text - If you're up for it, I would love one!

[findingbeasts]

Would tomorrow be alright? I want to get cleaned up from my travels and my Pokemon companions seem keen on getting some rest as well. I could come by with them sometime after breakfast if that works alright for you.

-Newt

I can see about tossing something up when I get home later, or you can feel free to start one :|b

[dreamsofahero]

That would certainly be fine. If you don't immediately see myself or Ryner when you arrive, feel free to ask after us.

Though usually Ryner can be found in the library if he doesn't have other duties to attend to.

[a bunch of texts during the raid on the Aether Foundation, Halloween-ish 2019]

[tearsofademon]

[Hi Sion.

Up to this point in the day, you'll have probably received a few texts from Ryner. Normal stuff. Landed on the island, oh look there's a crowd of people who are also here, these grunts are such a pain, you know, the usual. But then the labs are open for exploring, and, well...

Have a deluge of text messages that just contain photos upon photos of the contents of three Aether labs. This is probably the most meticulous set of documentation photos you will ever see out of him (although given his drive for research when he finds a topic he cares about, it's perhaps not as surprising as it could be). Every page of logs. Every piece of machinery. Every photo. Every post it. RIP Geoff's patience indeed.

...Really this tag is just for documentation purposes, but. It's. A lot of photos.]

[indigo_league]

Surprise! A courier Dragonite with an official-looking messenger bag has landed nearby. It seems to be a little tired, but as it approaches it manages to pull together an air of professional composure. The letter it presents you with has the official Pokémon League mark on it, and you might catch a split-second glimpse of several similar letters in its bag before it tips its tiny delivery hat and takes off again.

The letter itself reads:

Greetings, Aurora League Champion Sion.

Your presence is requested immediately at the Indigo Plateau to discuss a matter of deepest urgency. Please find enclosed your new personal Champion's Key, which will allow you access directly to the Indigo Plateau from any warp pad in Johto or Kanto.

Regards,
Indigo League Champion Lance

Sure enough, contained in the envelope along with the letter is a golden keycard. It looks like Lance wants to be very sure you can get there without delay.

[Goodness, what has Lance in such a hurry? Be on the lookout for an OOC post in the coming days!]

Text so Sion can respond at his leisure

[schachmeister]

Sion, I hope I am not catching you at a bad time.

I was wondering if I could ask you some questions about running an Aurora League gym. I'm familiar with the application process and getting the construction started (my own application was recently accepted) but I was wondering if you have any advice for a gym leader to be? Things you may have underestimated when you started off yourself, or things to keep in mind. Anything would be appreciated.

Yours in gratitude,
Armin

A very prompt text response because Sion is a dork :D

[dreamsofahero]

There is no need to worry about catching me at a 'bad time', Armin, as in the worst case scenario I can simply make Ryner deal with whatever's come up. As it is, however, there's nothing wrong with your timing at all, and I would most certainly be happy to help if I can. Would you like to continue speaking over the Pokégear, or would you prefer to meet and talk in person somewhere? Ryner is more than capable of covering the gym by himself for a while, or if you'd like to speak with him as well we could arrange something outside of scheduled gym hours.

armin appreciates all his aurora league bros

[schachmeister]

The gear would be easiest for me right now. They want me to stay close by while they start construction on my gym. Plus, this way I'll always be able to reread these conversations. I have a feeling I'm going to need it.

It's really sort of daunting, isn't it? Opening a gym.

Sion is in his element when he's helping people in meaningful ways, Armin can always come to him <3

[dreamsofahero]

I imagine you may be rereading it less than you expect, as I've no doubt you'll make note of the important parts from the start.

Daunting? Well, trying to ensure that everything works out as planned, I suppose, though I must confess that I don't find it nearly as much work as managing the Roland Empire. However, you have had relatively limited experience in being in a position of leadership, if I recall? Perhaps you should try to focus on the sort of image as a gym leader you wish to present, and then simply take the steps necessary to achieve that. No two gyms are alike, nor are their leaders, and a gym leader acting according to his convictions is never truly acting 'wrong' in that role, so to speak. Whether it's ruling the gym with an iron fist, or being enigmatic and aloof, or helping and tutoring all comers, in all cases each gym leader provides a unique experience for challengers to overcome.

But to return to your original question, as ours was the first Aurora League gym, I admit that Ryner and I weren't entirely certain what to expect to begin with. As a result, we tried to plan for a scenario of dealing with as much traffic as we've see at peak times in Indigo League gyms, in the event ours should be similar. However as it happened, the newness of the league meant we probably had a bit of a slower start than those gyms that came later, so I'm afraid on that point I don't have much to offer. Except perhaps to mention that you shouldn't hesitate to make use of the generous funds the League provides to establish and run the gym. If you find yourself in need of more help for any reason, then simply hire someone as needed. The funding exists to ensure that the gyms operate smoothly, it isn't wasteful to use it to that purpose.

[schachmeister]

[This is slightly backdated, but somewhere around the fifth/sixth of January, every Aurora League member is going to get one of these. It's a hand-written letter with a Pelagic gym letterhead leaving no doubts as to the sender.

It reads:]


I hope this letter will not be seen as me overstepping my bounds but --

I think the Aurora League should meet.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who has noticed that strange things are happening -- first the wild rumours about pokemon losing control, then the incident at the Safari zone, and now the message that was visible in the sky during the New Year.

Perhaps I'm worrying too much, but it is starting to feel like what happened a year ago when that creature managed to find its way into this world. That didn't come out of nowhere either; there were several smaller events that preceded it though we didn't see the connection at the time. I'm not necessarily saying that this is because of that same creature (though 'He will be back' could certainly be a reference to it) but something certainly seems to be going on. And perhaps this time, if we act early enough, we can put a stop to things before it gets that bad.

I know the Pokemon League is undoubtedly monitoring this situation too, but there is no reason why we of the Aurora League couldn't look into things as well. Or at the very least share our thoughts. Several of us are gym leaders and come into contact with a lot of trainers. Someone may have heard or seen something that, on its own, isn't particularly troubling, but if put together with other, similar accounts, could indicate something brewing.

Plus, even if there is nothing to share of that sort, I think it would be good to get to know each other a bit better. Several new members have joined us since that November. Who knows, we might need to depend on each other again in battle, and wouldn't knowing more about each other and how we fight help if it ever comes to that again? It's easier to trust someone at your back if you know what kind of person they are.


I know all of us are pretty busy, but I'm hoping you could all make time to meet on the 27th of January. That is still nearly three weeks from now, which should give those of us with gym schedules and other jobs enough time to arrange for some time off. I've even found a good place to meet at, where we can both talk and even battle if people would like. I've enclosed the address on a separate card in this envelope.


I hope to see you all there, though please let me know if you cannot make it.

Yours truly,

Armin Arlert


PS. Please do not worry about the costs involved. When I asked Lance for suggestions on where to meet, he told me the Pokemon League has a discretionary fund for these kinds of things.


[As mentioned, there is a card inside the envelope with the address of a battle club in Viridian City.]