Salty spray and stinging sand whipped at the backs of Olivie, Bernard, and their Pokemon as their headlong sprint toward town came to an end. Out of breath, the pair threw themselves on the pier that overlooked the Friending Pool. She dumped Gespenst beside her, who tucked into a roll to lessen the impact, and his spikes brought him to a stop. Having vanished shortly before the skirmish with the Malamar started, the Araquanid befriended by Bernard now stood on the other side of the pool, its thoughts imperceptible. Olivie's chest heaved as she tried to get her wind back without opening her mouth, lest unwanted sand fly into her mouth. A couple of slips into tide pools of varying depths on the way back had left her leggings soaked and dirty, so she kicked off her shoes and yanked the sullied garment off. After that, she let herself relax, reclining on the mossy wooden boardwalk. The irritating wind, it seemed, brought with a wave of clouds spreading over the horizon like jam. As they sped along, they clumped together, blotting out more and more of the sky. Olivie's eyes narrowed as she saw how the sunlight filtered through the odd clouds to create a bizarre, [url=http://orig03.deviantart.net/fd37/f/2010/222/4/e/some_strange_sky_by_jochel.jpg]green sky[/url]. Bemused, she turned to Bernard, who'd also noticed the heaven's weird hue, but he knew nothing more about the phenomenon than she did. Once the pair recovered just enough to move somewhere out of the rising wind, they skedaddled. Moments later, they stood in the threshold of a floating building called Ribbly's Raft. Sitting on an enormous pontoon in a pool in the middle of a boardwalk ring, the round structure buzzed with the sounds of conversation and merriment. From its open windows drifted the smell of cooked fish, and through them the trainers could see an assortment of patrons. Altogether, it gave off a lively impression—one wholly opposite of the state of two of Bernard's pokemon. [color=3EB489]”You go ahead,”[/color] the young man told her. [color=3EB489]”I gotta get back to the pokemon center. Just thinking of Painkiller's arm makes me sick. I've got to get him healed.”[/color] Olivie nodded, and off she ran. The sight had made her skin crawl; she couldn't begin to guess how she'd feel if it was Gespenst who'd been mauled. As her thoughts turned to the perpetrator of the injury, her blood boiled. The sound of grinding teeth caused her Cacnea to look up in alarm. While the Malamar enraged her, however, she could not go back out into the biting winds and get her own party -or self- torn apart as well. The resulting feeling of helplessness made it even worse. With heroic effort, Olivie reigned in her fury to enter the building. Her revenge would have to come later. At first the bruiser thought she'd entered a bar. It had all the quaintness and other traits that any brewhouse might put on display. A handful of customers even glanced her way, giving her pointed or curious looks. She did spot some plates of food here and there, though, and a soda fountain. Wearing an ugly frown, Olivie made her way to the counter and seated herself on the stool, and reflexively she tugged on the bottom of her sweater-skirt. The person behind the counter, a barrel-shaped man with pronounced mutton chops, sidled over. “What'll it be, missy?” Olivie maintained an unpleasant countenance as she asked, [color=954535]“Cola?”[/color] Without a word the man turned around, grabbed a clear plastic cup, and started filling it from the fountain. [color=954535]”Let me ask you something,”[/color] the girl began as soon as he turned around, and he gave a nod as he gave her the drink. [color=954535]”I just ran into this tentacle monster down on the beach. It had a beak, and it used moves called Superpower, Foul Play and Psyche...uh, Psychic Cut. Do those things have anything to do with dreams?”[/color] A shred of Olivie wanted him to say no. As much as she wanted to tear the wild pokemon a new one, she got the sinking feeling that it would be her on the receiving end of the tearing. The guy crossed his arms. “Ya mean Malamar? Well, there's good ones and bad ones. Some of the bad ones do hyp-no-sis, but I ain't heard of any makin' bad dreams.” A soft, melodic voice from behind Olivie called out, “Are ya a trainer?” When the girl turned to look, she found a young woman with a huge black afro and glasses, her face sprinkled by dark freckles and sporting an intrigued expression. Wondering what the stranger wanted, Olivie gave a curt nod, and her new acquaintance continued, “Ya must be lookin' to solve the nightmare problem. Well, hon, ya don't have long to wait. I 'spect since ya new here, you ain't had the pleasure of one of Stillwater's Green Days.” Noting that Olivie now paid rapt attention to her, the woman smiled. “Usually our town's quiet and peaceful-like, but on some days the wind rises an' clouds roll in that turn the sky green as the sea. If anything's gonna give ya a hint 'bout the nightmares, it's gonna be tonight. Just ya wait an' see.” [center]-=-=-[/center] By evening, the wind had died down, but the sky turned from leaf to kelp. Dark clouds swirled over Stillwater, and at 8:00, the moon rose over the ocean. It shone through the clouds, a spectral, emerald orb. Goosebumps lined Olivie's arms and legs as she stood on the boardwalk by Ribbly's Raft, and not just from the cold. In the hours that had passed since arriving at the place, Olivie had made the rounds of the town. Two repels were in her bag, ready for use against meddlesome, annoying wild pokemon that might get in the way of something important. She'd gotten a bite to eat, freshened up, and even found a pair of jeans at the little local shop to wear. Yet, she hadn't found Bernard. His failure to return, while surely for a good reason, rubbed her the wrong way. Since being told about the Green Day, she'd indulged in every local tale she could get a hold of. She'd learned about Lunaala and Darkrai, the two Legendary pokemon said to favor this region, and about the things that went bump in the night. Sleepwalking, night terrors, and even disappearances, with some of the vanished found laid out on the shore days later, and some never seen again. [i]How could these people not be more terrified?[/i] And many of these events occurred on or near Green Days. Anxiety from this realization threatened her courage, but here she stood beneath the rising moon, ready to find out what was going wrong even as the townsfolk retreated into their homes. They regarded the nights of Green Days with suspicion, and best avoided. Tonight, Olivie stood as Stillwater's lone sentry. Or rather, she stood along with her party of pokemon. Buck, Gespenst, Verrine, and Bifrons all shared her resolve, though visible in different ways. Olivie shifted her view constantly, scanning the coastline and the town for any disturbance. [hider=The Benevolent Beauty Turned Boisterous Bruiser] [b]Current Location:[/b] Stillwater Shore [b]TP:[/b] 44 + 1 – 10 (Repels) = 35 [b]CP:[/b] 23+ 1 = 24 [b]Be Advised:[/b] [@Dusksong] [@LuckyBlackCat] [b]Pokemon:[/b] Buck the Bidoof – lvl 3 – healthy Gespenst the Cacnea – lvl 5 – healthy Verrine the Karrablast – lvl 4 – healthy Bifrons the Nidoran♂ - lvl 2 - healthy [/hider]