[center][h3]The Dawn of the Second Day[/h3]
[b]Location:[/b] Peach's Castle, Out Front
[@DracoLunaris][@Gentlemanvaultboy][@thedman][@Stern Algorithm][/center]

A couple of the up-and-coming adventurers turned out to be interested in Steven's offer. Linkle, 6, Din, and Bowser Jr all stepped up, several of them requesting all three of the pokeballs in the young man's possession. “Er...” Stalling for a moment, he glanced between the bunch of them. He didn't exactly have a bottomless satchel of these things; in fact, only eleven lined his bag. The little dragon creature seemed impertinent and demanding, liable to throw a fit and get his big dad involved if he didn't get his way, but didn't mean he deserved them. Steven held up a placating hand. “Hold on a moment. Sorry, but I didn't expect so much interest. For the sake of fairness, I'll give all of you two. Just throw it at Pokemon to catch it.” With a practiced hand, he dished out the amended portion of balls to each. The rest he kept, meant for whoever else evidenced a desire for training. The rough-looking, suspicious-smelling one asked about the heracross that lurked nearby, and Steven proved happy enough to share what he knew. “That's a heracross. Bug-fighting type. Single Horn Pokemon, high physical attack and special defense, ability...Guts, I think. Or Swarm. When he's under duress, he'll either get stronger or enjoy more powerful bug-type moves.” Clearly Steven knew his stuff, but he thought nothing of it. Instead, considerations about these new trainers occupied his mind. If these folks held such eagerness for Pokemon without even really knowing what one was, he'd need to get busy. Making more currently lay beyond his means, but perhaps he could acquire some in other ways...

Momentarily engrossed in thought, he almost missed Din's question. When he did notice her, his eyes went wide for a moment, and he reddened in embarrassment. “Beg pardon,” he said. “It's absolutely possible to ride a Pokemon, though size and temperament may make things more or less difficult, and safety equipment is recommended. Not that I have any.” He considered the garden the young woman mentioned, which -due to its share of Pokemon- he'd visited earlier in the morning. “That said, I don't know where you'd find large enough for riding. Perhaps a...Linoone...?”

“Poppi does!” came a bright if somewhat monotonous voice, its owner's manner of speech giving away her identity instantly. The artificial blade stood close by. “Little field just east of scrapyard side where Tora not go. Saw last night during break. Very interesting creatures!” Stone-faced, she extended a hand toward Steven, who seemed somewhat taken aback. After a moment, he handed her a ball, which seemed to be what she wanted. With a smile Poppi turned to Din, and fired up her thrusters to loft a couple feet into the air. Her free hand went down for Din to grab. “Here, friend dancer. Poppi fly to location of Pokeypon, be back with time to spare.” 

A few moments later, Poppi cut her boosters to land at the edge of a grassy expanse, just over a hill of junk littered with robot husks from yesterday's firefight. It appeared to stretch back through 1-1, connecting to rabbid territory, though the undergrowth grew thicker the farther south it went. More importantly, the lack of Megadragonbowser-mandated warfare since yesterday allowed some of the region's inhabitants to return. Many small things skittered among the grass, but more prominently the two would-be trainers could see [url=https://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/thumb/c/cf/529Drilbur.png/1200px-529Drilbur.png]drilbur[/url], [url=https://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/thumb/a/a7/427Buneary.png/1200px-427Buneary.png]buneary[/url], [url=https://assets.pokemon.com/assets/cms2/img/pokedex/full/660.png]diggersby[/url], [url=https://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/thumb/9/98/192Sunflora.png/250px-192Sunflora.png]sunflora[/url], and [url=https://static.pokemonpets.com/images/monsters-images-300-300/111-Rhyhorn.png]rhyhorn[/url]. Near an apple tree -the only one in sight- grazed a small flock of [url=https://img.pokemondb.net/artwork/skiddo.jpg]skiddo[/url], and under that tree dozed their guardian, a huge, majestic [url=https://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/thumb/3/3e/508Stoutland.png/1200px-508Stoutland.png]stoutland[/url].

Poppi watched them for a few moments, content to observe for a little while despite her allies' imminent departure. She remained engrossed until something bumped into her foot, and when she looked down in alarm she found a plate-sized [url=https://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/thumb/7/75/167Spinarak.png/1200px-167Spinarak.png]spider[/url] not even an inch away. Her eyebrows shot up, and while she said nothing, she lifted up her foot and stomped it in a panic, instantly killing it. Only when its spirit floated up from beneath her heel did she realize her potential error. “Oh.” Glancing at Din, she said in a matter-of-fact tone. “Where Poppi from, wildlife attack all the time.” Gingerly she took the spirit and slipped it into her pocket. Not seeming terribly bothered by the encounter, she cast her gaze about once again, walking away from Din as she did. After a little while, she chanced upon a little [url=https://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/thumb/f/fa/453Croagunk.png/250px-453Croagunk.png]croagunk[/url] leaning against a stone. It seemed unbothered by the artificial blade, keeping casual until she got too close, at which point it jumped up and released a cloud of poison gas in her face. Frowning, Poppi waved it away. “That not nice.” Baffled as to why the human-looking intruder wouldn't be affected by poison, the croagunk didn't move in time to avoid her pokeball, which snapped it up in a flash of light. Curious, Poppi watched the ball wiggle back and forth three times before it emitting a popping noise and fell still. 

After staring a moment longer, Poppi let out a thoughtful noise and tapped her chin with a finger. “Hmm. Poppi wanted a pet, but not really know what to do with one. Maybe should ask Tora.” She grabbed the ball and turned her attention to Din.

[center][b]Word Count:[/b] 804
[b]Level 3 Poppi[/b] - (9/30) EXP

[h3]Tora & Peach[/h3]
[b]Level 4 Tora[/b] - (18/40) EXP
[b]Location:[/b] Out Front
[b]Word Count:[/b] 423
[@Gentlemanvaultboy] [@Archmage MC][/center]

Peach, meanwhile, enjoyed her own share of company. After a few words with others, she let Franklin know that he could take the strange pistol, then found herself faced with Linkle. The girl seemed eager to get her hands on the ordinary-looking milk jar that flew from the box she opened, even going so far as to suggest a trade. When Linkle offered her a blaster, which she actually recognized, Peach shook her head. “Oh no, please go on and take it. As for me, I'm already armed.” So saying, the princess reached down and promptly pulled a [url=https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/9161439/MRKB_Posing_P_E3_170612_215pm_1497264703.png]shotgun[/url] from hammerspace. While cartoony in design, the Barracuda packed a fiery wallop thanks to the burn core in its top. With this bizarrely kid-friendly take on a shotgun in hand, Peach meant business.

Tora, who'd finished his demonstration and begun wandering around to say hello to everyone, had found his way over to the remaining loot items just as Peach manifested her weapon of choice. The Barracuda took him aback -never would he have expected such a brutal instrument of war in such dainty hands- but intrigued him as well; now that Poppi could by modified through Poppiswap, he could change her elemental core if he got his hands on the right materials. Ether crystals, the principle component of Poppi upgrades, would be hard to come by, but he'd already been keeping an eye out for substitutes. The rabbid-made cores in their weapons could be just the thing, though he wanted better-quality ones for Poppi. “Meh meh!” he piped up. “If Peachypon have big boomy gun, will be very strong in close quarters. Am looking forward to work with you!” He gave Linkle a smile and a wave before moving on.

Next, he waddled up to his friend Blazermate, still bearing her modifications from her fusion with the Engineer spirit. For his part, Tora didn't know what to think of the whole process, but as worrying as nigh-random alteration of one's self was, it presented a great many interesting possibilities. The sound of breathing coming from a robot, of course, hinted at just how extreme the changes could be; some part of the Medabot, now, appeared to be truly alive. He resolved to only fuse with spirits that either resembled him already, or bore such a weak or generic character that it couldn't possibly misaffect him. Putting those thoughts aside, he greeted her. “Hello, friend! Blaze-Blaze looking very quaint this morning. Did finish project with weird cat man that Tora definitely not forget about?”

[center][h3]Sky Near the Castle[/h3]
[@DracoLunaris][/center]

When Kamek looked eastward from high above Peach's Castle, he could see a road stretching out for quite a way. The terrain, a mix of badlands and grass known to some as chaparral, forced the highway to wind to and fro around little valleys and infrequent miniature mountains of earth and reddish stone. A few clumps of trees scattered the landscape, but more interesting were the roving gangs of dangerous-looking [url=http://4playerpodcast.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/rage-hd-car-combat-1280x800.jpg]cars[/url] frequenting the whole area. Beyond that stretch of land, the road forked. The north way led to a shadowy city, referred to on the map Kamek saw as the Dead Zone, while southward the country grew progressively more colorful and cheerful—no doubt the Land of Adventure. At the fork, however, there appeared to be a couple buildings, which given his origins and the obscuring distance the Magikoopa couldn't possibly recognize as a gas station and diner.