Indomitus, as it is known among the pokémon population, was just like any other region generations ago. Humans were relatively new to the region, but they quickly began to colonize the region in partnership with their pokémon. But suddenly, just as soon as the humans arrived, they vanished. Having left few clues among their deserted homes and empty towns, it left the wild pokémon population wondering what could have caused the humans to flee so suddenly and silently. Many years later, rumors have begun to circulate about the return of the humans. Mysterious humanoid figures has been spotted wandering the Indomitus wilderness, emitting a dark aura and attacking pokémon on sight with their ghostly powers. Did the humans really leave, or is there a darker force at play?
Low waves rolled back and forth, stretching up the sandy bank before receding into the ocean. The water broke around long, thin legs that stood in their path, but the waves refused to stop their constant ebb and flow.
He could not recall how long he had been standing there, staring out at the ocean as the sun descended toward the horizon. The blue water slowly took on orange and red hues, and he could hear the call of Wingull in the distance over the sound of the waves. He refused to move from his position, as if he was simply watching the sunset.
In truth, he was thinking. Normally it was done with a quill in hand and a paper to scribble on, but he was trying a different tactic this time. His satchel with supplies were left on a boulder farther up the coast where the tide could not reach, and, in turn, making sure he could not do the same.
This wasn't something that needed to be written down, anyway.
... His legs were starting to fall asleep. Maybe this wasn't the best idea.
The sand-colored eevee almost blended in with the beach as she walked along, leaving pawprints behind her. She'd been visiting the Caelum Province because she'd heard the Celestial Savannah was great for stargazing, and then she heard about the beach up north and had to come up for a beach trip. Normally, she'd be nervous to be so far out in the open, but the prospect of a nice walk along the beach as the sun went down sounded fun enough to beat out her unease, so here she was.
As she came round a small corner and past a small pile of rocks filled with holes from the sea, she noticed another pokemon up ahead. A gardevoir, standing and staring out across the ocean, seemingly thinking. "I wonder what they're doing?" She muttered to herself, tilting her head slightly in confusion. As she drew closer she spotted a satchel higher up, presumably belonging to the gardevoir and further making her wonder what they were doing. Well, she may as well ask, since she was passing by anyway, so as soon as she was close enough she called out a friendly, "Hey."
Red eyes blinked, breaking away from the setting sun upon the horizon as a voice called out, presumably to him. Slowly, his head turned toward the source, and his gaze sought out a sandy colored Eevee walking along the beach. Oh dear, he must have been spacing out for too long. This nook of the beach had been completely deserted when he had arrived. How long had he been there already?
Pale lips moved, hesitant at first, before a small smile curled onto his soft features. "Hello," he gave in response along with a small nod. He might have made the effort to turn around completely, but he did not trust his legs at the moment. That, and he did not know if this Eevee was just passing through or not.
With that in mind, his attention turned back to the horizon.
Tess grinned when her greeting was answered, prompting her to keep from continuing on her way just yet. Not really one for small talk, she jumped straight to the reason she'd stopped to talk to the Gardevoir in the first place. "So, may I ask what are you doing, exactly?" she asked, tilting her head slightly to the other side, her long ears almost comically folded over to the side with the movement.
When the much, much larger pokemon turned his gaze back towards the horizon, Tess followed it, scanning the horizon herself and trying to see what had captured his attention, like a boat or a sea-faring pokemon of some kind. After no such luck, she eventually concluded that he was simply watching the sunset. "Maybe you're watching the sunset?" she asked as much, more thinking aloud to herself than anything as she sat down on the still-warm sand. After a pause, a sudden realization hit: she hadn't introduced herself yet. Neither had the Gardevoir, but he wasn't the one to initiate the conversation, so... she looked up at the other pokemon and spoke, "Also, before I forget, my name's Tesseris. But you can call me Rhyme if you'd like."
He might have been inclined to ask if he was in the Eevee's way, but that certainly was not the case. The beach was vast, and the Gardevoir stood where the tide could lap at his feet while the Eevee remained on the dry sand farther up. The question died before it could lift to his lips, and it was quickly dismissed before he could forget about what he was thinking about.
Alas, the Eevee asked too many questions, and it was only natural that his mind would have to stray from focus. Thinking was no longer a valid answer, but at least the newcomer could answer for him with the second option. The obvious answer.
Frustrated by his derailed train of thought, the Gardevoir stretched his arms overhead and stretched, only to let the drop loosely by his sides once more. "Tesseris... Rhyme..." He tested the names as they were presented to him, though a frown formed on his lips. Hidden behind green bangs furrowed his brow with confusion. The Gardevoir turned his attention toward the Eevee once more. "The two hold no correlation, so Rhyme must be an alias rather than a nickname. Which do you prefer?"
His body turned slightly, and he nearly took a step before he remembered the fuzzy feeling in his legs from standing still too long. If he needed to actually move, maybe he should just teleport. Instead, he stilled once more, and his frown was dismissed from his face. "I'm Prudence."
The brief silence before getting an answer started making her feel like she was overstepping boundaries with the Gardevoir; maybe she'd been too eager in attempting to start a conversation with a stranger? He didn't seem annoyed, she wasn't sure, but she definitely felt a little awkward now, slight embarrassment making her feel uncomfortably warm.
It didn't help with the embarrassment, but the Gardevoir's question about her nickname at least distracted her from it. "Oh, it's a nickname," she replied, turning to face the other pokemon. "It's a weird nickname, I know, my brother gave it to me. I don't really have a preference, though." Technically, she preferred Rhyme because it was special, but she didn't really mind what others decided to go with. "You can call me Tess or Rhyme, or Tesseris, whichever you prefer, I don't mind."
Halfway through her explanation, she'd turned her attention back to the sea, trying to relax and stop feeling so embarrassed/awkward by a simple conversation. She was trying to act like she wasn't feeling awkward and borderline-shy all of a sudden, but she didn't know how well she was doing with that. Again, the Gardevoir distracted her from her inner social struggles when he shared his name. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Prudence," she said, turning back to face Prudence, subconsciously rubbing one foreleg against the other as she added, "I, uh, this is probably a bit late to say but, I hope I'm not bothering you."
