It's a picturesque mountainside, actually! Lots of beautiful mountains with people climbing them and creeks and even a river, visible from a cliff with a view reaching on for miles! Well, that's until the sound of a rockslide and people running in terror start filling the air...

Well, the mountains are a nice view, at least, but the screaming immediately gets her attention. Nira immediately starts running in the direction of the screams as fast as she can, stumbling slightly as Aria follows after. She's already doing her best to extend her senses, trying to tell how much momentum the rockslide has gathered and if she can halt it.

Running towards the sounds shows a group of hikers there on the mountainside, trying to somehow escape the incoming rockslide. The rocks have luckily only just started moving; there isn't much momentum behind them, although her powers also let her know that the rockslide has only begun, and far more will start rolling soon.

Alright, this doesn't need a sword. She plants her walking stick against the ground, staring right at the rocks and willing them to stop. Aria crouches by her, the Absol extending her own disaster sense to try and tell if any stray rocks are going to come rolling out of nowhere, or if this is the prelude to some other disaster.

Beyond the slowly growing mass of stones, there are no other disasters that the Absol can feel within the vicinity. The terrified hikers look around and at each other in confusion, wanting to know why the sounds of the rock slide have stopped.

"Keep running!" calls Nira. "I can't hold them back forever!" She's already tapping deeper in, trying to sense the mountain itself and preparing to reshape new grooves into it if necessary. Either that, or if they get away fast enough she can probably bring the rocks down at a slower, safer pace.

The confused hikers start running again, quickly heading off towards a creek near the bottom of the mountain. They herd themselves away from the rocks; they should safely be able to roll down, away from where the hikers are running.

Once the hikers are enough out of the way, Nira slowly starts easing up her hold on the rocks, letting them slide down at a slower pace to collect at the foot of the mountain, in a hopefully more stable formation. She shapes them a little as they land, allowing them to form a steadier formation and lock together, so that the new pile hopefully won't be disturbed as easily.

A few of the hikers turn their eyes to Nira. "Lady, who are you? Where did you appear from?" It's a group consisting of both adults and a fair few children, dressed in fancy and colorful jackets and thick pants.

She manages a smile, now that the crisis is over. "Nira Tyr," she says. "And this is Aria." Now that the crisis is over, Aria has relaxed slightly, moving to lean lightly against Nira's leg. "And, well, I was training in my yard when this weird gold ring appeared under me and I fell here. I heard giggling, but it wasn't like any Pokemon I'd heard before."

"Pokemon? What's that? Is that thing leaning on you one of those?" A few of the adults are walking off, with the rest of them starting to surround Nira, curious to find out where she came from and who she is.

"You...don't know what Pokemon are?" Nira blinks, looking extremely confused. For that matter, she now notices that none of these people have Pokemon with them, or even Pokeballs. "Aria's an Absol, to be precise, one of the many species of Pokemon. They're...pretty much everywhere, in the wild and among humans, depending on their choice."

"Everywhere? I haven't seen a single one of them!" A bitter wind begins blowing. The hikers seem to be completely unfazed. "It'll take a while before the cars arrive to drive us home. Do you want to rest here in the meantime?"

Nira frowns. "There's no way there'd be a place like this without Pokemon that's not also hostile to human life. And it's not possible that you've never seen a Pokemon. Unless...they really don't exist here." She feels a slight shudder run down her spine, but she keeps it hidden.

She blinks. "I'd be fine with waiting, since I didn't bring supplies for staying out in the wilderness," she says. "But I can stand." She's definitely using the walking stick to stay balanced, though. Aria lets out a soft "sol..." but doesn't object yet.

"Well, we were worried that maybe you might be getting cold. But anyway, we'll find someplace to sit down and wait. Is there some kind of music you particularly enjoy?"

"I don't get cold easily, and I can keep myself warm if the wait gets long. As for music...something energetic, like you'd hear at a party." She'll head wherever they're going, since they know the area best. Well, if everyone's going to sit down she'll probably do so, just so it isn't as awkward.

They walk up a fairly steep path, finally ending up at a gravel road by a clearing. They place down some sitting mats, sitting or lying down against the soft grass. One of the adults starts to play a fun electronica song on his phone's speakers, letting everyone enjoy it. Everyone decides to lie down as they wait for the cars to come back. One of the children start talking.

"Your pet looks cool. Where do they come from?"

If there isn't any spare space on a mat, Nira will lean against a tree, but if there's space she'll sit down once most of the other people have sat. She bobs her head a bit to the music, before the kid speaks up.

"Well, she was a gift from my parents. They wanted a Pokemon who could look out for me when I was exploring the mountains, and Absol are very good at sensing potential disasters and danger. So she's been with me most of my life. And if you want to go earlier...I believe she was bred on a ranch...Palmer Breeders, I think it's called? They're one of the more famous Pokemon breeding ranches around."

There unfortunately isn't any space on any of the mats for Nira, although the music is excellent. One of the adults replies to Nira. "I'd know of someplace called Palmer Breeders. I'm quite convinced you have the only pokemon in the world! But if they can sense disasters, that's fantastic. You could save a lot of lives, you know."

Some 20 minutes pass before a trio of cars arrive, there to shuttle Nira and everyone else back. The cars are almost like a hybrid of minivan and bus, flat on the front and with 3 extremely roomy rows of seats. Everyone streams into them, leaving the back row of one car for Nira and Aria.

"We'll drive you to Leakey; we'd have to find a way to repay you, after all."

"The only Pokemon in the world, huh..." Nira reaches out to stroke Aria's back, thoughtfully. "She can't sense disasters that are too far away, unless they're on a large enough scale to cause ripples even from that sort of distance. But I guess I wouldn't object to traveling more to keep people safe, if they need it."

She blinks at how roomy the seats are, but slides into the back easily enough. "What sort of place is that?" she asks, Aria curling up next to her. "And-wow, you don't have Pokemon Centers either, do you? Where do passing Train-travelers usually stay?"

"Well, your power could really help save many lives! We'd hope that you'd use it for helping lots of people, wouldn't we?"

"Leakey is a resort town, mostly. It has a beach where a bunch of fossils used to be found, but now it's just a place for people to enjoy the water. Or the nature areas not too far away from it. It's a bit cold for bathing right now, though."

"We don't know what a train-traveler is? People hiking or camping just use tents, but it sounds like a train-traveler is something different."

"Of course! I'll want to try and contact my family, but while I'm here I can definitely help out!" Aria lifts her head, her brow slightly furrowed, but she doesn't object for now.

"Fossils, huh? You know, there are some Pokemon that have only been found as fossils. Maybe I could take a look to see if any are familiar."

She looks a bit embarrassed. "Ah, I was going to say 'Trainer' at first. It's a term for anyone who trains Pokemon, and they travel a lot. But since you don't have Pokemon, I guess 'traveler' would be the better way to put it. Does the town sell tents, then?"

"I think that'd be unlikely, miss! And all the fossils there are in museums, now. Wouldn't want them hurt by people playing on the beach."

"Well, yeah. It's a normal thing they have at travel-focused tailors."

Eventually, Nira can see a city made of white skyscrapers, seemingly cut from slabs of marble, in the distance.

Well, that's not too strange to her, although she's not sure if it's meant to be thematic considering they don't have Pokemon or Gyms here.

"Still, I'd be interested in taking a look, just to see what sort of fossils you do have. And I'd like to pick up a tent-" She pauses. "Huh. My money is no good here, am I right?" Not that she has much cash on her when she's training, anyways.

"Feel free to look at the fossils. I think they have a free museum now?"

"Oh, and we're quite convinced that your money isn't any good here. Unless you sell it to some coin collectors, of course. But don't worry; we'll take good care of you. You're saving people's lives, of course you shouldn't somehow not have the money you need. And we'll put you on the basic income plan, anyway."