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Description
"Where exactly are we going?" Migi insisted, leaning forward toward Mia with his hands clasped behind his back as he followed her up the steep hillside. Instead of answering him with words, though, she simply turned her head to glance back over her shoulder and pressed a finger against her lips, as if to remind him that their destination was a secret, then laughed quietly to herself and picked up the pace a bit. He sighed, "I should have asked somebody else for help finding this coin, shouldn't I?"

But as they neared the top of the hill, he spotted the top of the unmistakable red wood structure that had become so familiar to him from his time in Kanto-- a torii, the gate of a shinto shrine, where it was customary for one to pray for wishes, and pay respects to the dead. "Y'know, I'd heard that Ilex had a shrine," he uttered, fascinated, "just like the Ilex Forest Shrine I've been to in Johto, but I thought that was just a rumor..." He burst into a jog, spurting ahead of her and racing to the top of the hill to get a better look.

Mia's tail swished behind her, giggling, "It's our secret, alright? Well, ours and the rest of Ilex's." When she reached the top of the trail behind him, she found a glorious purple sky unfolding across the horizon, the meadows and beach glowing orange in the light of the setting sun. Seemingly unaware of the beauty around him, however, Migi was rifling through his shorts pocket for something, so she tilted her head curiously until his hand whipped back out, holding up a couple of 5 cent coins victoriously above his head for a moment. "What've you got there...?"

"My offering~" he responded without bothering to look back at her, his gaze fixated on the shrine. Stepping up to the side of the gate, he traced the characters carved into the side of the wood with his fingertip, reading aloud, " 'Kangei minasama, Ubame Jinjya' -- 'Welcome everyone, Ilex Shrine..." as his gaze wandered up to the bell, his voice slowly trailed off. Cautiously, he stepped up to the offering box, handing one of his coins to Mia, and she looked up at him with a confused smile.

"What do I do with this?"

  "Follow my instructions, okay?" Migi gave a reassuring nod. "Give the offering to that box there, like this," he slipped his coin into the box, then stepped in front of it, up to the rope that hung from around a large bronze bell. Mia followed suit, scurrying up at his right. "Now you ring the bell." Carefully, she gave the rope a little tug, the sound of the bell ringing for a moment until Migi stepped up and gave it a much more firm pull, and its sound echoed down the valley and through the meadow. "Now clap twice, and then you pray."

  Mia's voice came nearly whisper quiet, "...for what, Taku?"

  "For your future wishes. To the gods, for everything they've given you. But most importantly... I like to give thanks and well wishes to those whose souls have passed on-- the people who touched my life while they were alive, and continue to do so even now that they're gone, in a way that's so special to me, that I feel like I owe them thanks. Because I know that..." he stopped to try to swallow the knot that was forming in his throat, "...that they deserve it, but that since my soul will never be able to depart, that I'll never see them again, and have the chance to tell them myself. So this way, maybe Steevi, Sundae, and Mori, and all the others will be able to hear me, y'know? ...That's what I pray for." So with tears in his eyes, but a warm smile on his face, he gave two loud, distinct claps, closed his eyes, and bowed his head.

  One of Mia's hands drifted up to cover her mouth, and muffle her own sniffling, while the other found its way over to Migi's arm, barely grazing the side of his sleeve with her fingertips. 'You forgot about the coin,' she wanted to say, but she figured he'd realize this eventually-- now that he was standing under the bell, it was in somewhat plain sight, after all. So instead, she said simply, "I think... I'll pray for that too," closed her eyes, and clapped twice.
---

This one only took two different concepts/drafts, but I got kind of far into each of them before I decided which one was going to actually make more sense for this specific trait + challenge combination.

I took a lot of creative liberty on the appearance of this rumored "Ilex Shrine" (which is literally a rumor both in character, to Migi, and to me because I've only ever seen Ilex roleplayed by its leader as an office-like building? but others say it's a shrine, so I'm quite confused), because there aren't really any drawings or even written descriptions of any of the gyms aside from Rocket. So you'll have to forgive me if I've gone against any headcanons any of you may have, I guess. When I asked around, most people just kinda said 'shrug emoji', so I styled it into a basic torii of a shinto shrine, minus an actual visible shrine or offering box, for aesthetic sake.

today's trait of the day is Empathy, Migi's highest trait in the Social category~

oh! and since this is the final piece of this Round 2 series, I really want to thank glutinousRice and Delliria-Gruesome for having to deal with my constant barrage of WIPs and bouncing ideas off of them for the past week-- they were great sports, and really helpful with offering their opinions on my ideas!!

(actually, double thanks to because Miallow Constella belongs to her)

Description
"Where exactly are we going?" Migi insisted, leaning forward toward Mia with his hands clasped behind his back as he followed her up the steep hillside. Instead of answering him with words, though, she simply turned her head to glance back over her shoulder and pressed a finger against her lips, as if to remind him that their destination was a secret, then laughed quietly to herself and picked up the pace a bit. He sighed, "I should have asked somebody else for help finding this coin, shouldn't I?"

But as they neared the top of the hill, he spotted the top of the unmistakable red wood structure that had become so familiar to him from his time in Kanto-- a torii, the gate of a shinto shrine, where it was customary for one to pray for wishes, and pay respects to the dead. "Y'know, I'd heard that Ilex had a shrine," he uttered, fascinated, "just like the Ilex Forest Shrine I've been to in Johto, but I thought that was just a rumor..." He burst into a jog, spurting ahead of her and racing to the top of the hill to get a better look.

Mia's tail swished behind her, giggling, "It's our secret, alright? Well, ours and the rest of Ilex's." When she reached the top of the trail behind him, she found a glorious purple sky unfolding across the horizon, the meadows and beach glowing orange in the light of the setting sun. Seemingly unaware of the beauty around him, however, Migi was rifling through his shorts pocket for something, so she tilted her head curiously until his hand whipped back out, holding up a couple of 5 cent coins victoriously above his head for a moment. "What've you got there...?"

"My offering~" he responded without bothering to look back at her, his gaze fixated on the shrine. Stepping up to the side of the gate, he traced the characters carved into the side of the wood with his fingertip, reading aloud, " 'Kangei minasama, Ubame Jinjya' -- 'Welcome everyone, Ilex Shrine..." as his gaze wandered up to the bell, his voice slowly trailed off. Cautiously, he stepped up to the offering box, handing one of his coins to Mia, and she looked up at him with a confused smile.

"What do I do with this?"

  "Follow my instructions, okay?" Migi gave a reassuring nod. "Give the offering to that box there, like this," he slipped his coin into the box, then stepped in front of it, up to the rope that hung from around a large bronze bell. Mia followed suit, scurrying up at his right. "Now you ring the bell." Carefully, she gave the rope a little tug, the sound of the bell ringing for a moment until Migi stepped up and gave it a much more firm pull, and its sound echoed down the valley and through the meadow. "Now clap twice, and then you pray."

  Mia's voice came nearly whisper quiet, "...for what, Taku?"

  "For your future wishes. To the gods, for everything they've given you. But most importantly... I like to give thanks and well wishes to those whose souls have passed on-- the people who touched my life while they were alive, and continue to do so even now that they're gone, in a way that's so special to me, that I feel like I owe them thanks. Because I know that..." he stopped to try to swallow the knot that was forming in his throat, "...that they deserve it, but that since my soul will never be able to depart, that I'll never see them again, and have the chance to tell them myself. So this way, maybe Steevi, Sundae, and Mori, and all the others will be able to hear me, y'know? ...That's what I pray for." So with tears in his eyes, but a warm smile on his face, he gave two loud, distinct claps, closed his eyes, and bowed his head.

  One of Mia's hands drifted up to cover her mouth, and muffle her own sniffling, while the other found its way over to Migi's arm, barely grazing the side of his sleeve with her fingertips. 'You forgot about the coin,' she wanted to say, but she figured he'd realize this eventually-- now that he was standing under the bell, it was in somewhat plain sight, after all. So instead, she said simply, "I think... I'll pray for that too," closed her eyes, and clapped twice.
---

This one only took two different concepts/drafts, but I got kind of far into each of them before I decided which one was going to actually make more sense for this specific trait + challenge combination.

I took a lot of creative liberty on the appearance of this rumored "Ilex Shrine" (which is literally a rumor both in character, to Migi, and to me because I've only ever seen Ilex roleplayed by its leader as an office-like building? but others say it's a shrine, so I'm quite confused), because there aren't really any drawings or even written descriptions of any of the gyms aside from Rocket. So you'll have to forgive me if I've gone against any headcanons any of you may have, I guess. When I asked around, most people just kinda said 'shrug emoji', so I styled it into a basic torii of a shinto shrine, minus an actual visible shrine or offering box, for aesthetic sake.

today's trait of the day is Empathy, Migi's highest trait in the Social category~

oh! and since this is the final piece of this Round 2 series, I really want to thank glutinousRice and Delliria-Gruesome for having to deal with my constant barrage of WIPs and bouncing ideas off of them for the past week-- they were great sports, and really helpful with offering their opinions on my ideas!!

(actually, double thanks to because Miallow Constella belongs to her)