Victoria - Adventure Thread (Johto)

Nap time! Insert soft Pokemon Center healing music here.

Victoria awakens some time later, feeling much better. Aima is either still asleep or sitting quietly someplace.

Aima (and her Pokemon) appear to be meditating/praying before an altar to Celebi. Chimecho chimes softly in greeting.

Aima looks up and smiles softly. "Thank you, but I am alright now. The forest provides all I need in terms of sustenance, and meditation helps keep my mind clear. I wish you well on your journey, and once again pray that my sister is safe out there."

"You don't need to do that for me, Miss Victoria. You have already done more than enough, and even agreed to track down my sister for me when you don't owe me anything. There is truly no need to trouble yourself." Aima replies.

Aima hums thoughtfully as she rises from her kneeling position, dusting off her lower robe. "Then I suspect you will be backtracking quite often in order to speak to me in person. I am sure you've noticed by now that we have next to no technology here in the shrine. There was no need for it, after all. We never expected to need to interact with the outside world. Barring intervention from Celebi herself, or one of the Divines (ex: The Creation Trio), there is no other way to enter this place that I know of." She pauses for a moment, her eyes slightly glazed as she loses herself briefly in thought. "However, if the purpose in your coming here was to cleanse this place of corruption as you suggested, I wonder if you would even be able to return again without the aid of myself or my sister? Your appointed task would be finished, so there would technically be no more need for you to access this location again." Despite speaking directly to you, Aima still seems to have this habit of hiding the majority of her face behind her sleeve for some reason. One may wonder why, but in the end it's a harmless little habit.

Aima shrugs noncommittally. "I do not know. We have no real way of knowing until you depart or I receive some new instructions suggesting that I am not required to remain here any longer."

Aima's eyes sparkle in that special way they do when she's smiling. "Of course. I would never assume you forgot about me so easily. Even if only because of my request." She bows deeply. "May the blessings of the Forest Protector (Celebi, if it wasn't obvious) be upon you, Miss Victoria."

The trek out of the forest towards Goldenrod is quiet. No hostile Pokemon jump out at Victoria, no creepy tree auras appear from nowhere. It's...calm. Peaceful, even. It's barely noticeable at first, but the closer she draws to the Goldenrod exit, the more Victoria notices it. The color is starting to leech back into the scenery around her. Things are getting brighter. It's oddly comforting. It makes it seem like her actions in the "Ilex Dungeon/Mirror Dimension" have actually had an effect on the world around her. Somehow she knows that she is still in said Mirror Dimension, but it's far less dark and gloomy than it was prior to her defeat of the Evil Tree. There is still that underlying sense of danger, but it seems that whatever riled up the Wild Pokemon in the area was related to that Tree.

Once across the threshold of Ilex Forest and onto Route 34 proper, Victoria feels a sense of finality. Looking back, all she sees is the gatehouse that leads back into Regular Ilex Forest (strangely, there is no Gatehouse in Mirror Ilex). Victoria feels like perhaps Aima's hypothesis was correct: she accomplished her "goal" within the Mirror Dimension and there is now no longer a reason for her to return to it. Except there is. A personal one, but a reason nonetheless. A quick check confirms, however, that the Mirror Dimension's "entrance" still exists for her. It is merely...locked. Like it needs a key of some sort. Whether that key is physical or metaphysical is unclear. What this does mean though, is that there's no returning without the aid of a third party; whether that be Miyako or a Legendary Pokemon or something else entirely.

The Game Corner is exactly as one would expect for a place of gambling. It's all bright lights and flashing signs. It's naturally quite noisy inside, between the dull roar of scattered conversation and the loud chiming and pinging of the slot machines.