Hidden Wonder || Rosa & Winona
The most difficult part of having so many adventurous Pokemon was keeping them happy with places to explore. Scruffy and Mackie had seen almost every part of Unova in their time spent with her and tended to become rather restless at times. Try as she may to find something for them to do to let them use their boundless energy, it never seemed to work for long.
Under the pretense of continuing to help with Juniper's research, Rosa had returned to Victory Road and explored many of the tunnels off the beaten path to give Mackie her day in the spotlight and visited the Abundant Shrine to give Scruffy his. The shrine definitely seemed to be one of Scruffy's favorite places in Unova with so many hidden paths around and under the multitude of bushes. With so many new scents, he seemed to be roaming in circles initially just in trying to decide where to explore first. However, she first visited the hallowed grounds almost a year ago, and now Scruffy wasn't as impressed with it, even though he did like to check it out from time to time to see if anything was changed since his last visit. Mackie was much the same with Victory Road and the Relic Castle. The two Pokemon seemed content with the time Rosa took to allow them to roam and express themselves, but she knew they'd be happier if she could find some place new for them.
It was in consideration of this that led Rosa to plan her excursion to Hoenn. It was a win-win situation for all involved; Rosa would get to see new places and meet new people while furthering her training and assistance to Juniper, Mackie would find new tunnels to explore and make, and Scruffy new wilderness. Even Handsome and Toughie had something to gain from it, with new ladies to impress in their own special ways. With her mom's blessing and a slightly larger travel bag, Rosa boarded the ship in her old home of Castelia and set off on a new adventure.
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Fortree City was one of the most impressive places she had ever laid eyes on. It was a lot like a human version of the Abundant Shrine to her; a refuge built in harmony with nature where the people seemed to appreciate the small things instead of being caught up in the usual trifles of larger cities. The atmosphere was incredibly relaxing to Rosa and her Pokemon as well; Lovedove enjoyed the numerous perches that littered the upper levels of the City and allowed her to freely roam while being able to keep an eye on her trainer while Scruffy, as always, enjoyed dashing around through the undergrowth. Her Pokemon seemed to be uncommon to these parts, though, as the few people that were out and about seemed to stop and watch them. Rosa simply smiled and greeted them, hoping that it was the rarity of her Pokemon that caught their attention and not any commotions they might have been causing.
I might have to come here more often, she thought, her eyes shining with wonder as she looked around the city. It was a remarkable place; she couldn't mention that enough, but beyond that, she felt at home here, both in nature and in a sense of security. While at first glance, Fortree seemed like any other forest, the fact that it was inhabited really eased any tension that she felt out in the wilderness. It was peaceful, tranquil, and, above all, incredibly pretty. The huge smile on her face couldn't be contained as she did her best to stay close to Scruffy.
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The Stoutland was on cloud nine, his tongue bouncing back and forth as he trampled through the leaves to explore to his heart's content. Although all of Hoenn so far had plenty of new scents for him to grow accustomed to, he liked Fortree best of all. He caught hints of Pokemon that he hadn't ever seen before, scents of different types of flora, and more special scents that he could only assume were particular to this city. In a way it seemed like that weird smelling water that people sometimes sprayed on themselves - a gesture he never understood - but better. As he got closer to the edge of town, those scents grew distant and were replaced with the smell of decaying leaves mixed with new growth. Scruffy turned his head to make sure he knew where his trainer was before putting his nose to the ground and seeing if he couldn't find some place interesting to explore.
That was when he caught the strangest scent of all: a Pokemon AND a tree? Or was it a tree with a lot of Pokemon living in it? He had seen and smelled grass-types before, so the combination of flora and Pokemon wasn't so weird to him, but this was different, nothing even close to how Handsome smelled. It was a relatively sweet odor, too, which didn't seem to fit in with the rest of the trees nearby. His feet carried him steadily along as he followed the trail of scent to get closer to it and find an answer to this new mystery. He had forgotten almost completely about remembering where his trainer was as he approached his target, turning only to avoid trees or bushes that were too large for him to pass through.
A sudden voice in the direction he was heading caused him to raise his head up and perk his ears. A lot of people seemed to live in this forest, so he assumed it was one of the humans whose dwelling was in Fortree, but he wondered why they had come this far from the scent of home. Furthermore, what business did they have with the Pokemon-tree? Deciding that the only way to find out was to go look, Scruffy abandoned sniffing the ground and bounded off towards the voice.
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Rosa had lost sight of the canine Pokemon after only a half hour in Fortree. Stopping at what she perceived to be the edge of town, she peered off through the trees to see if she could catch any sign of him, then turned to look up at Lovedove and see if she had seen him. The Unfezant waved her head back and forth in a 'no' gesture before returning to preening her feathers and roosting on her perch. Again, the brunette turned her gaze into the thicker woods to see if she could see him, but to no avail. "Have fun out there! I'll be here when you're done exploring," she said to no one in particular with a hopeful smile and turned back to explore the city proper once more.
On the eastern side of the city, all the paths and walkways seemed to converge and more people could be seen. As whimsical as the nature it was built in, Fortree didn't seem to have the typical layout with the 'village center' being an exact term denoting the center of the city; instead, this seemed to be where people gathered, close to the largest tree in the area. As she passed through, she smiled and waved at the children out playing with each other and their Pokemon. Looks like they're having a lot of fun! she thought, making her way to the tree that seemed to serve as the focal point of Fortree. A Zigzagoon darted towards her and ran circles around her as she walked, calling to her in a friendly gesture before running back to its trainer who was playing with her friends in a big pile of leaves to the left. The air echoed with laughter and cries of joy here and really warmed Rosa's heart.
When she got close enough to the tree to make out any details, she noticed this had to be the city's gym. Indeed, this was the focal point, where all the roads led and connected to, including the upper levels of the city, with two ramps connecting to the tree higher up. Of course, it was the Pokemon League symbol delicately etched into the wood that gave away its status as the gym, but Rosa got the feeling that this building held a deeper meaning to the people of Fortree, even though she couldn't quite tell what that meaning was. She gazed up in wonder as she inspected the entire tree and was awed by the care and attention to detail that had gone into transforming it into a building worthy of being called a Pokemon gym; despite being touched by the engineering hands of humans, it still seemed to thrive, its branches decked with a healthy plumage of leaves and a distinct color to the bark that covered it like thick scales. This must be the pride of the city! she remarked to herself, before turning back to watch the people who gathered and played within sight of the majestic tree.
The Zigzagoon and its trainer were playing a new game now; two of the girls had pulled out a jump rope while the others took turns standing between them and singing songs as they jumped. The Zigzagoon would occasionally run circles around the feet of the girls who held onto the rope or weave around between them and the girl who was jumping at the time, somehow managing to stay out of the way despite its energetic dash. Rosa felt drawn to venture towards the various groups of children at play, smiling, laughing, and clapping along with them. When it noticed her presence again, the Zigzagoon dashed over to her and hopped up and down on its hind legs to get her attention, letting out a sound similar to a small bark. She knelt down to pet the friendly Pokemon on its head as she continued to watch the girl's jump rope and listened to their song. "That's really catchy!" she called to them, evoking smiles and waves from the girls who were awaiting their turns.
Before Rosa could decide to join in on the fun, however, she heard a much more familiar bark as she saw Scruffy come out of the dense woods to the north, his tongue still hanging out in excitement as if to say "I found something! I found something!" The brunette stood straight again as he bounded over to her and barked again. "Welcome back!" she said to the Stoutland. "Did ya have fun, Scruffy? Oh, I'd like to introduce you to my new friend!" She gestured to the Zigzagoon, to whom Scruffy turned his attention and sniffed a few times. He wasn't as interested in that Pokemon, however, and turned his attention back to Rosa and barked again. "What is it?" she asked as he turned tail and ran back towards the trees where he came from and looked back at her. She got the notion that he wanted her to follow him, but before she could, she saw a very elegant woman with an unknown Pokemon coming out into the clearing between the trees where Scruffy had meant to go. "Oh wow," she said, almost breathless in wonder as she looked at the serene woman. I wonder if that's the gym leader; she looks amazing!
