@PlatinumSkink

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Success! As Weedle hopped onto her hand, Claire stood rather rapidly and proceeded to hug the bug close to her face, careful of the poison stinger.

"W-weeedle!?" It gave a rather surprised cry, but didn't seem entirely opposed to it. Honestly, he was glad to not be dead right now.

"Haha, just you wait Del!" Del, was that its name now? Well, he supposed there could be a worse name out there. "We're gonna go on an adventure, and we're gonna kick major butt in battles and pokemon contests. It'll be greeeeat, just you wait!" Well, not like he had much of a choice unless he wanted to get blasted with hellfire from the demon fox. "We'll talk more later once we're outta this forest and I can actually do a bit of training without having Delphox cover my cute butt."

"Weed." Well, might as well go along the. Claire pressed the pokeball against the Weedles nose. The pokeball shook three times without much trouble, and Claire placed the pokeball along with the others in her pockets. Well, today was just great so far! With an upbeat smile, she picked up Ralia who looked a bit tired now that she thought about it. Guess it'd be time to get out of here as soon as Laurinda returned.

‘It appears… you’ve gone a bit wild.’

Oh look, she had fabulous timing.

"Oh heey, Laurinda." Claire said, quickly walking up to the woman. "Awesome timing. We should be leaving anyways. Ralia's tired and I got what I came for, heh!~" The redhead chuckled brightly, showing off two pokeballs. "Combee and Weedle! So uh," Claire immediately turned her attention to the new girl. Well, someone looked confident, heh.

"So who're you? Got your nooblet butt saved by Laurinda here? I was kinda hoping I'd finish up here and get to totally save the day myself in a totally awesome and fabulous manner, but heh, I guess a girl is gonna have to keep dreaming." Ralia tilted her head curiously at the newcomer, initially unsure what to make of her. She looked like she'd be fun to mess with though, so Ralia would do that.

"Rrrral?" Ralia patted Claire's head from where she was sitting on her shoulder.

"Oh yeah, this is Ralia. She says hi."

Mess with her later, once they had gotten out of the area where everything wants to kill them, at least.

Joshua's extravagant description of contests never ceased to undo her interest, strengthening it even further, though she wouldn't admit it. She noted down that Redcoast was the place to go, making sure to also note that there were training institutes for those who wanted training in the contest department. She wasn't sure about 'making it big', however it seemed like a great, unconventional way to train Shyn; acquiring an edge in any way would surely prompt them ahead of the others. Though at his mention of being broke, Ren felt her gut knot a little out of guilt. "I'll be sure to repay you when I have the finds to do so." Ren stated simply, the edges of her lips gently curling towards a smile, though not quite there yet.

Happiness turned to inquisitiveness as Joshua spoke of the All-Star: a Pokemon capable of contending in (and winning) all five categories. Her eyes turned to Shyn, whom had been sleeping on her shoulders for half the contest, despite the noise. She wasn't quite sure just yet, however she felt he had what it took to at least compete in all five categories. He was certainly cool, though had a cute, playful, adorable side to him. His toughness knew no bounds, and with a little work on his hair, she could imagine him pulling off a real beauty look. Not to mention he was intelligent and clever enough to act on his own accordingly, should they be separated in battle. It could be a long shot, however perhaps there was merit to training Shyn in the art of Pokemon Contests. Only time would tell.

"Perhaps Shyn has what it takes..."

Her attention immediately returned to Joshua as he asked for her number. There was no harm in doing so, and with Joshua such an excellent source of contest information, she figured it would be worthwhile. Although... she didn't really know how to operate a phone very well. "I don't see why not. Though... I'm rather poor with technology, so it may take me awhile to get accustomed to such things." It only took Ren about five minutes to find her phone number, with some help from the other two, however with it found they managed to exchange contact details, should they need to do so. "As for questions... I plan on sticking around a little longer in Pureplain. See the gym, give my farewells and thanks to the professor, and see what else there is to see before heading out. My journey may not take me directly to Redcoast, though I'm sure I'll reach it soon. That said, where will you two choose to venture to about Isson?"

The girl responded as he'd expected, with incredulity, but the man was entirely different, instead actually offering a place with Team Amethyst. Dawkin blinked in surprise, giving it serious thought for a moment. The man had a point. He was going to catch Pokemon anyway right? As long as he didn't do anything illegal there was no problem. "Interesting. That's all there is to it? I give you my number, catch a few Pokemon from a list, keep things mum and I'm set. If not I get put on the list. Plus if I join this little cave fiasco gets forgotten. And what happens if I say no?" Dawkin's body was relaxed, a confident expressions as his face as he spoke, even as a resigned sigh passed through his mind. He wouldn't do it. Couldn't do it. All his work to this point, working hard to prove himself, excelling in every way he could, it'd all be pointless if he took this unethical shortcut. He hadn't gotten this far by taking the easy way and he certainly wouldn't change that now. The professor's expectations, his brothers, as well as his own drove him forward on the difficult path he'd chosen.

Amelia listened to Laurinda , a frown crossing her face at the warning given to her from the older, more experienced trainer. When all she got was a warning, she cheered up a bit though.
"I won't tell anyone, promise. I just want to see if the pokemon I'm looking for is among those Ghost-types. And I've come this far, so I'm not going to turn back now." She said to Laurinda kindly. "If it's not, I'll leave immediately. If it is, I'll try to catch it then I'll leave.

Are you okay though? You seem a bit tired.'

Litwick and Shuppet watched the older trainer suspiciously, not trusting her yet.

((Double post due to Guild problems.))

Lucian Vazquez

Lucian took a deep breath after reaching the outer woods. He was not used to running that fast for that long. Turning to houndour he took thr pokeball from his mouth feeling triumphant although frowning slightly as the houndours saliva left on the pokeball made contact with his skin. "Well, I suppose you two ought to get healed up." After placing the pokeball in his pocket, Lucian approached the healing huts followed by houndour "Would you mind healing my newly acquired associate and my houndour?" He asked go whoever ran the little healing huts, cash already in hand.

@Eklispe

‘That’s it, yes.’ The guy says with a little smile and cigarette in hand. ‘We get orders from customers, typically for rare, unusual or cute Pokémon, and we send a grunt to obtain that Pokémon for them. Sometimes there are details, like they have to be a certain level, know a specific move, such things, but generally it’s enough to merely obtain the Pokémon. The operator can usually point the grunts in the right direction for the particular Pokémon. That’s our operations at their core.’ He said, looking to Dawkin. ‘For a bigger paycheck, you CAN take other kinds of jobs… but you don’t have to.’ He continued.

‘… And if you say no, we’ll just continue from where we left off.’ The girl said, crossing her arms, glaring at Dawkin. Growlithe and Ducklett both stood ready as well.

‘Not with the intention to pressure you into joining, mind you.’ The guy noted. ‘Just a natural consequence.’ And he left it at that.

… There’s a light ripple of force going through the water, that only someone who was actually standing in the water could feel, and that was only Dawkin, right now. It made the water wave just the slightest, but it wasn’t anything the two of them noticed. There’s... something in the water. As for what it was and its overall nature… hard to say. But it’d be quite still after this.

__________________________

@Pink Madness

"Interesting… … ... give you my number, catch a few Pokemon… … … If not I… … … Plus if I… … … … … say no?"

It was a bit hard to hear what hard to hear what the person they were talking to were saying. As they did have limited contact earlier, Donna MIGHT recognize the voice, but likely not as there was a bit of obstruction and such. Donna kept spying, from behind the two individuals. It was, however, far easier to hear what the two others were saying, as they were closer.

‘That’s it, yes. We get orders from customers, typically rare, unusual or cute Pokémon, and we send a grunt to obtain that Pokémon for them. Sometimes there are details, like they have to be a certain level, know a specific move, such things, but generally it’s enough to merely obtain the Pokémon. The operator can usually point the grunts in the right direction for the particular Pokémon. That’s our operations at their core. For a bigger paycheck, you CAN take other kinds of jobs… but you don’t have to.’ He said, looking into the cave..

‘… And if you say no, we’ll just continue from where we left off.’ The girl filled in. The two Pokémon, the dog and the duck, looked ready for potential battle.

‘Not with the intention to pressure you into joining, mind you. Just a natural consequence.’ The guy finished.

What all this meant was for Donna to interpret.

__________________________

@Pikmin Eye

Nincada managed to dodge the Vine Whip, the vines smashing down where it hit into the stones at the bottom of the drain, and then the green Pokémon followed Nincada with his gaze, turning ready to intercept in case of more attacks.

Then, he heard Martin’s words and noted he was pointed at. Bulbasaur turned and met Martin’s gaze, glaring defiantly back, accepting the challenge.

‘Bulba!’ He then darted at Nincada as the bug was using Harden. He wasn’t going to let him set up in peace. Using Harden requires the user to stay still for a bit, and Bulbasaur was going to take advantage of that. He stopped before the bug, tilting forward, and launched a couple of tiny seeds from the bulb on his back. Leech Seed.

Now, Nincada could dodge these. But, perhaps not while also trying to Harden. If he’d go ahead with the three Hardens plan, then Bulbasaur was going to hit with Leech Seed and then continue with a single more Growl before proceeding to Vine Whip at Nincada. But, seeing Bulbasaur’s plan to take advantage of having to stay still with Harden, would Martin maintain that this was the best course of action?

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@Rune_Alchemist

‘Hmpf!’ The girl smiled when addressed, more than happy to introduce herself with one hand on her him and bringing the other hand up to her chin while inspecting Claire with a look of superiority despite having not having a vaguely advantageous position.

‘I’ll let you know. I am Yvonne, upcoming Pokémon Trainer and Coordinator of Justroad City, who’ll eventually bring everyone to their knees wishing to be acknowledged by me! I am here today because I was flying with Ellias with his Pidgeots, for he had promised to show me a sight that would take my breath away…’

‘… He flew off, ditching her in the most dangerous part of Infested Woods.’ Laurinda filled in, looking away and looking thoroughly tired. Didn’t look like Claire alone was taking on her energy right now.

‘Hmpf! He was obviously not worth my time!’ Yvonne declared, raising her chin and running a hand through her hair. Evidently, Laurinda had arrived in time to save her, given the lack of smudge or damage on her clothes and body. ‘So! The one who asks the question must also be prepared to answer it! Who are you, girl of red who’s manner of speaking slightly perturbs me?’

‘… You can talk while we’re walking. Come, Delphox.’ Laurinda stated, waving to Delphox, who nodded and started walking lifting her wand and looking into it, as they started walking back through the woods. That is, if Claire walked along. If she did, then Yvonne would. If Claire stayed for some reason, then Yvonne probably would, too, but that’d just result in Laurinda being done with you all and bringing you back a bit more forcibly. Not that you necessarily knew that.

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@Delta44

Joshua and Ewan helped her out with the phone, ensuring that it went well enough to get their contact information exchanged and that she then knew how to use it to contact them should events occur. She’d also find that the numbers to all the other trainers that had received Pokédexes from Kalmia were in there, as well as to Kalmia herself.

‘Heh. The Gym, eh? Oooh, I heard some stories about that gym from back home when they heard I was becoming a Pokémon Trainer and was heading for Pureplain City.’ Joshua grinned. ‘But, perhaps it’s better that you find those parts out for yourself~’ He commented, though she could still ask and he’d answer, of course.

‘Well!’ Joshua smiled at the question. ‘I don’t have a strict destination. Thing is, I want to go both directions! Wet Caverns should contain interesting Water-type Pokémon as well as cave ones, they got to be cool, but Silent Forest is said to have fairies, among other things! I wonder if there are any cool fairies there?’ Joshua inquired to himself.

‘… So, we were planning on heading through Route 2, to Infested Woods and Wet Caverns on the way, and then loop back north through Stillwood Village, perhaps look at the Mountain Valley and Mt. Strength on the way, then dip south to the Silent Shrine and Forest before finally heading north through Rainrock City then finally to Redcoast City. That was the original plan.’ Ewan described, apparently they had planned this out ahead of time.

‘But! Plans can change on a whim!’ Joshua grinned, placing a hand on his headphones, just because.

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@Joshua Tamashii - Night

‘…’ Laurinda looked at Amelia as she spoke, her eyes somewhat tired. Her question of who told Amelia went unanswered, which added another layer of silence on the woman. Finally, at the last question, she sighed.

‘Okay. Fine. Come with me, then. There’s no way you’re making it there on your own, and since I’m here anyway I’m unwilling to simply stand by and let you get poisoned. I don’t need that weight on my mind. Follow me.’

Laurinda said, her voice sounding more like she was giving in to an easier option, turning around to walk in roughly the direction of the ghosts, where Amelia had already been heading. She did not answer the question about if she was tired, but yes, she looked tired. If Amelia had any questions or just followed or wanted to chose her own path or some other thing, that’s her choice.

__________________________

@Pyromaniacwolf

‘Why, of course!’ The female of the very energetic couple who ran the hutt stated, letting Lucian hand over his Pokémon to be healed, which they quickly were in exchange for the money. Meanwhile, the man of the two were taking care of some fainted bugs of a few bug-catchers. They were allowed to rest a bit, and then they were free to go again.

‘I saw that. You came out of True Infested Woods with a new partner, eh? Well done! Not all newcomers manage that! Haha!’ She stated, briefly making small talk before Lucian got going again. ‘Come back any time!’ He got a smile and a greeting, when he then got a new choice of what to do in this place.



Connected areas:
Route 2. Close, can easily get there without complication.
Wet Caverns. Requires a bit of a walk alongside the outer regions of the woods.

Nincada did a great job dodging the vine whip. He can handle the abuse, but now Bulbasaur was using Leech Seed. That attack was not okay to get hit with. Martin had to change his plan again. "Nincada, change of plans, dodge the seeds. After it passes, use Harden, then follow it up with a Scratch attack. No way are we going to let it win."

Martin was too confident in his ability to take on one Pokemon, and it's not too late to fix the mistake. Bulbasaur accepted his challenge and wasn't going to go down to just any Pokemon. Even cornered, this Pokemon was giving it's all. Nincada could handle basic attacks and the occasional growl, but being seeded would be the downfall of him. He needed to get his head in the game and go on offense soon. Nincada was doing his best to stay mobile, but being asked to move and use Harden was asking too much. This was demanding more attention than he expected. Always something he should be expecting, as he remembered the swarm of insects back in Route 2. He really needed a Fire type if he wanted to easily walk through there. Not the time to be distracted, there was a fight still going on.

Amelia smiled when Laurinda offered to show her the way. She followed the older trainer, making sure to keel track of the wild Ghost-type, so that she would know if Laurinda was lying and leading her astray. But she didn't like the uncomfortable silence between the two of them and cast about for possible subjects to talk about. Sadly, as it was with strangers, she didn't know enough about the person to know what might make a good conversation. On top of that, her temporary companion seemed to be in a very grump mood, which would make things worse. However, there was one question that was on her mind that she couldn't help but ask.
"So, what Ghost-types do you have?" She asked. She was surprised that she could sense that Laurinda even had any Ghost-types, especially since they were in pokeballs. She had to wonder if that was an indication of their strength or of her power growing.

@PlatinumSkink

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"Ouch," Claire chuckled. "Someone should get better teammates, heh." That said, Claire was greatly enjoying this...Yvonne person. She was freakin' hilarious and Claire had to stop from laughing at her over dramatic display. She sounded a bit like her mom when she went on one of her over dramatic tirades. That said, Justroad Coordinator and upcoming trainer? Oho. Seems the two of them were in pretty similar boats, then. Barring the fact she didn't need a knight in...shining robes? To save her butt yet. That though, was bound to happen sooner or later since she'd inevitably get in over her head at some point.

"Me? Oh, I'm no one important, heh~" Now it was her turn to introduce herself. Well, she might as well give Yvonne a run for her money in the overly dramatic introductions department. Standing up as straight as human posture would allow, she placed a hand on her hip while giving Yvonne a confident, though definitely playful seeming smirk. "The names Claire Blackwood!" She pointed to herself confidently with her thumb. "New pokemon trainer recently moved here from Kalos, and soon to be best Coordinator in all of Isson!" The hand that had been pointing to herself, swiftly grabbed the three pokeballs containing her new pokeman, holding them in her hand. "Who has already successfully captured three new pokemon and is currently one of the only new trainers to make it through the Infested Woods and get out unscathed." She chuckled. "With a little help from the cute fox and Knight in shining robes over there...who are...currently walking away." Of course, standing around meant that she'd probably get her butt whooped by said knight.

"I'd rather not be bug food, and as fabulous as I am I'd probably get rekt harder than a level 1 against a level 100 raid boss. Which, is kinda pretty rekt, so we should probably start walking." Claire started following after Laurinda, still giving Yvonne a confident smirk. "So, I suppose that makes us Rivals? Frenemies?"

Lucian Vazquez

Lucian gave a cheerful smile to the hut owners as he left "Thank you for your hospitality" he said, before he turned to the woods before him. They were crawling with caterpie and brimming with volbeats for his newly acquired pokemon to train on. Releasing venipide into the woods, he could see he was still rather angry at his capture, giving houndour a rather angry stare, Lucian spoke before houndour could react "I see you are rather annoyed by your loss my friend, but don't worry! As long as you fight well and do as I ask, we will do great things together. So let's start by seeing how many of these insects you can crush,eh? Go nuts" he gestured to the entire forest "Although don't go too far and please don't attack any trainers, I fear that we are not powerful enough to bring down every trainer in these woods. Yet of course" he added.

Venipided glared at the many pokemon around him,before settling on a caterpie to begin his,er, training.

Dawkin nodded "Well as tantalizing as your offer is, I'm afraid I'll have to pass, you know, ethics and all that. As we were?" Dawkin asked with a mocking smile as he threw the rope into the air with full confidence that it would enable him to escape the cave. It was a shame he couldn't stop these goons or make anything more out of the encounter, but things were what they were, joining the organization and trying to betray it later was incredibly risky, as was basically any other option he had at the moment, making his path of action clear. Retreat. Until he got stronger. He'd remember these two, Dawkin didn't take kindly to losing.

@Pikmin Eye

Nincada was able to dodge the seeds with some deft sideways movements, but was still able to get one Harden through, but more would be pushing it. He aimed in another Scratch, and came into contact with the Bulbasaur with a claw. Bulbasaur recoiled at the impact, but immediately retaliated with a swift Vine Whip to the back of Nincada. … Due to Growl and Harden, neither did much damage.

However, the Bulbasaur was pressing his attack, using his limbs to stay close to Nincada at all times, threatening with seeds should he attempt to Harden again, while continuing to Vine Whip. Bulbasaur was doing more damage to Nincada than Nincada was doing back. But, perhaps that was preferable? They’d both end up pretty damaged in a little while if they kept this up. It was up to Martin if this was to his liking.

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@Joshua Tamashii - Night

Laurinda had kept walking, seeming quite comfortable with the uncomfortable silence that was being kept. However, upon Amelia’s question, she stopped momentarily to turn her head and gaze at the young girl for a couple of seconds with a neutral expression. There was slight curiosity in her gaze. After a bit of staring Laurinda fished out two Pokéballs from within her robes, before continuing to walk.

‘Stay close to me. For where we’re going, we need protectors. … And since you asked…’ She said, before she threw the two Pokéballs ahead of her. There was a flash of light, and two Ghost-Pokémon emerged.









‘Chan-del-lure~!’ The Chandelure waved around its lights happily, the fires of its candles drifting in the air while the Trevenant turned to eye Amelia and her companions curiously. Laurinda cleared her throat and waved forward.

‘We’re entering the Deep Infested Woods at night. You know what to do.’ She told the Pokémon, and they immediately focused forward and held attention forward as they advanced. It was almost soundless, yet the areas soon opened up, and they had entered the next area of Infested Woods.



Trees stood tall. The vegetation died down. Open areas blocked only by occasional trees spread out in every direction. … There was so much less life operating at ground-level. Yet, look up, and a dance was taking place. Small shimmering lights, pursued by a flock of moths, flew about in the woods. Beneath each flock of moths was a spray of dust, landing on the dying ground beneath. A powder that gathered on the floor of the forest and made the grass die, not to grow until the following day. … There were Volbeats, found much deeper inside the woods than usual, and each was pursued by a whole flock of Dustox.









There were most Pokémon. Most obvious were the Kakuna with closed eyes, sleeping attached to the trees. Other Pokémon were Beedrills hiding in the crowns of the trees, gazing down at intruders and the like. In some occasional trees were Vespiquens, the whole tree filled to the brim with surrounding Combees. But, they couldn’t do anything, for in the night the Dustox poisonous infestation reigned supreme. For in the night, nothing could infest the forest floor of Deep Infested Woods for the Poison Powder covering all.

‘The Illumise “Queen” directs a few of her fastest Volbeats each night to distract the Dustoxs of Deep Infested Woods. Without that, there would have been nothing preventing the Dustox infestation to spread to nearby houses and to Pureplain City. We don’t know exactly why “Queen” does this, but we’re thankful for it. Makes us tolerate that she sometimes becomes troublesome during daytime…’ Laurinda sighs, looking troubled. ‘But because of all this trouble contained in one wood, Infested Woods needs a full-time warden. … And that’s me.’ She raised a hand and pointed.

‘Trevenant, clear the way. Chandelure, discourage stragglers.’

‘Trev-e-nant!’ The Trevenant sounded out and seemed to grin as the tree-ghost thrust its limbs into the ground, ingraining itself and connecting with the trees before them. Manipulating the trees themselves, branches parted and crowns were brought down to brush the powder out of the way they’d be walking. Volbeat and Dustox trains were blocked from moving into a straight path as the woods realigned to give a safe path forwards, and those bugs that still tried to fly through were greeted by a swift flash of fire from Chandelure to scare them off. A safe path, not unlike what’s visible in the image above, was formed.

‘Well done. … We move.’ Laurinda told, starting to walk forward while a very pleased Trevenant detached from the ground to walk along, while Chandelure floated along keeping alert to blast a few shots of fire at any Volbeats about to bring a flock of Dustox into their path. Amelia was expected to follow. Assuming she did, she’d feel that in their destination… … … There was a lot of ghosts ahead, over a larger area than she might have thought. Just beyond Deep Infested Woods…? What even lay there?

__________________________

@Rune_Alchemist

Yvonne raised her eyebrows almost as high as she had raised her chin as she watched Claire’s introduction. ‘… Pffth.’ She brought a hand in front of her lips to hide her smile, though a little amused sound had escaped her lips before she had been able to hold it back. _{‘The best? That’ll be neither of us, silly.’ … For the briefest moment, Ralia felt a mix of fear and admiration from the girl, directed towards an unknown…}

‘It most certainly makes us rivals!’ Yvonne announced, her voice rising above the volume of normal speech. ‘Any who challenge the coordinators of Isson is bound to be in direct competition with myself! By simply stepping down, you’ll save yourself a lot of future disappointment, as there’s no way you’ll succeed…’ She smirked proudly at Claire. ‘But you’re not going to ruin the fun and disappoint me by actually adhering to logic on that one, will you? Claire of Blackwood?’ Yvonne inquired, quite expectant.

‘And, yes. This wood is not entirely to my taste, so let us be on our way before my charm rubs off on it and it actually becomes a pleasant place to visit.’ Yvonne declared and started walking on behind Laurinda. They were already heading back into the True Infested Woods now.



Back to moving through the tighter woods from right behind Laurinda and Delphox.

__________________________

@Pyromaniacwolf

Training in the woods turned out to be a walk in the park for the Venipede. With the Rock-type move Rollout at his disposal, Venipede could easily dispatch the denizens of Outer Infested Woods, suffering only minor damage in return. He was on a roll, literally as well as figuratively. To take down the flying Volbeats Venipede was able to use roots, trees and other such things as ramps to take down the flying targets.



… Hm? There’s something on the forest floor here. Must have been dropped by some newbie Pokémon Trainer, but in the Pokémon World it is finders keepers on things found on the ground, sooooooooo…



A small belt with five Pokéballs randomly lying on the ground. Lucian should have a total of nine, then.

And so, with the training done for a while, Lucian gets to act again.



Connected areas:
Route 2. Close, can easily get there without complication.
Wet Caverns. Requires a bit of a walk alongside the outer regions of the woods.



__________________________

@Eklispe

The two of them were not given a chance to react. As Dawkin pulled the Escape Rope he might have noticed the red-haired guy losing his smile and the cyan-haired girl’s eyes widening in alarm. The rope spun in the air as Dawkin threw it, unnaturally curling in the air… before it suddenly went taut, as if it had actually connected to nothingness, and Dawkin was pulled. He flew upwards, into nothingness, and vanished from the room. Next thing he knew, he manifested with both his feet hitting the ground just by the entrance of the Wet Caverns, facing outwards and his mind perhaps slightly disorientated.



He’d immediately realize that there were two others standing right here, as if on guard. A girl with white hair and whiter clothes, a long blue tie hanging in front of her and darker boots, stockings and sleeves. And, a guy with brown hair, a blue jacket and multi-colored pants, looking like a mix-match of a thug trying to dress a bit more fancily with a serene-like girl.



‘Wah!’ The guy called out, turning to glare at Dawkin as he appeared, his hand immediately reaching to grab a Pokéball.

‘Calm yourself, Karl.’ The girl said, throwing him a strict stare, discouraging his action. ‘It is but a trainer using an Escape Rope.’ She said, calmly.

‘… Keh!’ Visibly annoyed, Karl turned around and walked away, glaring at the trees that signalled the beginning of Infested Woods.

‘Our apologies. We’re a little on edge right now.’ The girl said, giving a small bow to Dawkin before looking at him with worry. ‘You came out in a hurry. Does your Pokémon need healing?’ She offered to heal, not knowing the status of Dawkin’s Pokémon.

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@Pink Madness

"Well as… I'm afraid… … … all that. As we were?"

Donna could hardly hear what the other person said, but it became pretty clear he hadn’t accepted the proposal. There was a sudden splash as the person who had been standing in the water was pulled out of it, vanishing out of the cavern by the way of an Escape Rope.

‘Fool! You’re not the only one with Escape Ropes…!’ The girl shouted, despite that the person had already vanished. She lifted a Pokéball and returned Ducklett to it, before she reached inside her clothing and pulled out a rope of her own.

‘… Really wanted to save these until we were face-to-face with dragons…’ The guy said dejectedly he returned his Growlithe to his Pokéball before going into his pockets because apparently both of them had Escape Ropes as well.

Seemed like they had the intention of leaving. It was always an option for Donna to do something else than just let them leave, if she for some reason felt that was a bright idea.

Nincada was doing pretty well, considering that they were barely hurting each other. Martin was already thinking about his options. If he chanced another Harden, Bulbasaur would punish him with Leech Seed. If he kept using Scratch, Nincada would be hit with Vine whip. In a straight back and forth fight, Nincada would lose. Considering that Bulbasaur knew how to Growl as well, this would be a tough puzzle. The good news was Nincada had his own edge, damage with healing in the form of Leech Life. Bug beat Grass, but what was the match-up with Poison? Worst case, its just a normal power hit. Best case, this would be really easy.

"Nincada hit him with Leech Life, then back to Scratch. We're done with toughening up, you can handle the fight with the Hardens you got so far. If you get hurt too much, switch back to Leech Life." Nincada gave a nod, going in for a quick snack on his opponent, claws as ready as always to strike down its foe. Martin was sure that this was the best choice possible. The fight might take a while, but in the end, this was another victory and Bulbasuar just doesn't know it yet.

Amelia let out a gasp of excitement at the sight of Laurinda's Ghost-types, moving towards them without fear. She knew about them already but still scanned them with her pokedex simply because she could and she wanted them in it. She then moved close to Laurinda when instructed to do so and watched as the older trainer's pokemon went to work. She had to admire them and she wasn't the only one. Her Litwick watched Chandelure closely and this didn't go unnoticed by his trainer.
"Given enough time, you'll be just like them Litwick. I'll help you get there." She said to her partner.

"Litwick, lit." He replied, still watching Chandelure.

"Shuppet, shup?" Shuppet asked.

"Yes, you too Shuppet. I won't let you fall behind." Amelia said with a laugh, rubbing Shuppet's head. She then turned to Laurinda and looked a little concerned. "I understand the danger but surely you can't be the only one patrolling this place. It's too big an area for one person."

@PlatinumSkink

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Ralia tilted her head. Oh boy, she definitely felt that. But what was it, exactly? Fear? Admiration? It wasn't directed towards Claire that was for certain. She tilted her head, a small growl of disapproval directed towards Yvonne but she said nothing. She had her ways of getting information. It'd be easier if she could teleport already...also taller, but she'd make do...She'd make the little blondie, talk, or she'd be sleeping with the magikarp fufufufu~

"Wahahah!~" Meanwhile, Claire simply laughed at the mere notion of dropping out of the contest scene. "I've never been known for taking the easy way out of stuff. If anything, I'm waaaaay too stubborn for my own good, pfft." She replied with a light chuckle. "Logic is for lamers. So yeah, you can bet that cute butt of yours I'm not backing down. Not until I've beat it in every single contest. So," Quite suddenly Yvonne would find one of Claire's arms thrown around her shoulders in the redheads usual overly friendly seeming manner. "Try not and disappoint me when I win, heh. Gotta have a good challenge!" That was that, then. A challenge had been issued, and it was not one she was gonna back down from no matter what, hopefully Yvonne would do the same. Claire released Yvonne, giving the other girl a bright grin before hurrying after Laurinda.

Dawkin let out a small gasp as the rope suddenly yanked him upwards into darkness... and back to where he'd been. His eyes rapidly assessed the area to confirm this, as well the presence of two more people, his brain confirming all this in another moment or two. A short girl and what looked to be her bodyguard, perhaps a brother or boyfriend, he seemed quite peeved at Dawkin's sudden appearance and Dawkin couldn't rightly blame him. Dawkin dusted nothing off of himself and offered the girl a friendly smile, "No need to apologize, my exit was rather sudden, I'm afraid I was fleeing a rather unsavory pair. In the unlikely and unfortunate event that they manage to catch me I could do with having my Pokémon in a bit better condition." Neither of them were fainted, but they weren't in pristine condition, and he'd rather get that taken care of as soon as possible.

Silently she was still hidding behing the large rocks, trying to listen what they was speaking. So far all she could hear was when the team Amethyst guy mentioned something about dragons, before they both used Escape Ropes and disappeared who knows where. The cave was now very silent, carefully she walked out of her hidding Place, when she was hundred procent sure they was gone 'What was that about?' she wondered glancing at the Place they team amethyst and unknown boy was just a moment ago standed.

@Pikmin Eye

Nincada and Bulbasaur engaged in battle, Bulbasaur jumping a bit to hit with his Vine Whips while trying to avoid Nincada’s Leech Life. However, Leech Life hit, making Bulbasaur cry out a bit. However, it didn’t seem to be Super Effective, and an angry Bulbasaur Growled back at Nincada once before returning to Vine Whipping after taking one more attack. Though, it appeared Nincada was taking more damage per hit by Vine Whip than he recovered per Leech Life, yet the battle was still going somewhat well.

‘Bulba…!’ However, over time, it still appeared that anyone could win this fight. Both Pokémon were getting considerably damaged, Bulbasaur keeping up the fight, intensely focused on his opponent, Vine Whips still read to do more damage. But, perhaps, this would be far enough. Or another blow, still? Bulbasaur still looked a bit energetic, but it was on a limit of how much he could take. Though, after this, Nincada also couldn’t take much more, it was uncertain how much would be too much.

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@Joshua Tamashii - Night

Trevenant looked amused at being inspected, while Chandelure was just energetically waving its candles and occasionally threw fireballs at offending Pokémon as they made their way through this part of the woods. It was pretty large, this area, but they were approaching a place which Amelia could feel would be filled with ghosts. Laurinda turned to stare at her slightly at her worry. She then gave a little smile.

‘I’m not alone. I have my Pokémon. This is true for all Pokémon Trainers. ... Also, having a partner that can see the future helps immensely.’ Laurinda stated, before turning to continue walking down the road which had been created for them. It was a curious road, created by Trevenant each step on the way while they were protected by Chandelure. But… soon enough. They were approaching.

And equally as soon, the trees around began to die.



Though, as dark and dreary as the place was, they then walked into something quite curious. There was a whole lot of bugs lying on the ground. They were all evenly spaced in-between one another. There were Beedrills, Combees and a few Vespiquens, lying on the ground with caring pieces of cloth over them like covering to keep them warming. Almost all of them had burns on their body. And, on a stump further away, sat a bored bipedal fox staring into the flame at the end of her wand, looking about to fall asleep. When she noticed Laurinda approaching, she slightly lifted her head to look. She also gave Amelia a brief, confirming stare before returning to looking into the flame.



‘She caused a bit of trouble earlier today, so she’s on guard-duty until the Pokémon she hurt are healed. This is… the safest place, at least for the Pokémon of Infested Woods, at least during the night.’ Laurinda sighed. ‘Not an ideal solution, but it works. You behaving, Delphox?’

‘Phooooooooox.’ Delphox answered in a bored tone. Trevenant and Chandelure turned in different directions and was seemingly intending on standing guard.

Now, it was entirely possible that Amelia wasn’t that interested in any of that. Because, since entering Wilted Woods, she could feel Ghost-Pokémon in practically every single tree around them, and some behind and some above the same trees. She wouldn’t have to look for even remotely long to find any ghosts. She could look for powerful as weak, she could search for lonely as well as clusters, friendly as well as hostile. Any kinds of spirits. She could feel them. All around.

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@Rune_Alchemist

Yvonne clearly was neither used to nor entirely appreciative of having that arm suddenly thrown around her shoulder. However, the grimace she made was quickly shifted to a just slightly uncomfortable expression with a little smile of confidence.

‘… Right! Yeah. I can guarantee that my performance will blow your expectations out of the water! … Geh.’ She said, as they were heading on after Laurinda after she had been let go off. The girl took a moment to correct her clothing and rebuild her comfort as she raised her chin and walked.

‘… So! I’m going to need to return to Justroad City. I have appointments in the near future. Ellias kind of put me on the spot, and now I’m most of Isson away. … Hmgh, this might be troublesome.’ Yvonne crossed her arms and considered as they were walking. Ahead of them, Laurinda sighed.

‘If for the sake of getting you home, I can call a friend I have in Freecape Town to get a ferryman over here that can then fly you to Justroad City. That way, order will be returned to the world.’ Laurinda said. Hearing this, Yvonne brightened up, smirking happily.

‘Of course! That would be lovely! Or, wait.’ She suddenly blinked in realization. ‘Maybe this is exactly the chance I needed.’ The blonde girl considered while Delphox steered them away from a Scatterbug nest. ‘Could it be possible to ferry me to, let’s say, Redcoast City instead?’ Yvonne inquired.

‘I won’t be paying for your ride, then, and can’t promise you’ll be flown home after.’ Laurinda stated.

‘Excellent! Do not worry, I have some cash to spare that’ll surely bring the ferryman back when I need him~!’ Yvonne grinned excitedly thinking about it while Laurinda looked like she was regretting what she had just offered. ‘Yes. This is excellent. Exactly what I needed. Perfect. Getting out of Justroad and onto a stage where I will be able to outshine all others. Wonderful.’ Yvonne mused for herself, looking excitedly down into the ground and seeming to momentarily forget that Claire existed.

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@Eklispe

‘Alright.’ The girl said, starting to pick up a few items from her pockets to give to Dawkin’s Pokémon while Karl was glaring at the woods… when all of a sudden the sound of four feet hitting the ground was heard behind Dawkin.

‘Fool!’ A female familiar voice called out. ‘You’re not the only one with-!’ She then promptly shut up, and if Dawkin looked he’d see her face transfer directly from confident triumph to utter panic.

‘… Well. This is awkward.’ The red-haired guy states in a passive voice, his eyebrows raised.

‘AMETHYST!’ Karl shouted, spinning and glaring at them with a stare of hatred while reaching for his Pokéball. Meanwhile, Dawkin would suddenly find that he had the healing items the girl had been taking out.



‘Grunts of Amethyst!’ She called out in an authoritative tone. ‘We are Karl and Anabelle of Team Virtue, and we will now place you under our-’

The two nicely clad Amethyst grunts were running in full, almost comical speed with limbs flailing back into the Wet Caverns, the girl’s hands flailing in the wind while the guy was alternating punching at the air in front of him with each hand in each stride while throwing the other hand behind him.

‘HOLD IT!’ Karl shouted out angrily and dashed after them, and Anabelle was right after. ‘I urge you to cease your attempt to escape at once to not be punished as severely…!’ She cried out after, dashing into the Wet Caverns.

And yeah, that just happened. What would Dawkin do?

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@Pink Madness

The two Amethyst members vanished, pulled up into the air through the use of Escape Ropes. Donna is left on her own in the tunnel. From here, she has access to the tunnels she had previously seen.

There was the way back, which was a flooded cavern which led off in two different directions, one way from which she came, and another which led in the direction the water flowed.

To the right from that cave, there was a slightly descending tunnel that opened in a larger area. Already from here, she could see the movement of several what appeared to be families of some seemingly rock-based wild Pokémon that she couldn’t identify from this distance, and Zubats overhead of them. The tunnel went deeper, she could not see where.

In the front, there was a thinly wet tunnel which water only reached a few centimeters of height, but it went on for quite some time and then ended up in a rapid descent, past which could not be seen from here. There were a few Surskits skidding on the surface of the water.

And then, of course, here to the left there was the room which she had been spying into. It led simply to a big lake in the middle of a dead end, if you didn’t count the hole in the ceiling which let in the daylight and proclaimed an unreachable exit. There didn’t seem to be anything else in here. … Except for, maybe, a strange ripple in the water.

Up to Donna what she wanted to do or head from here.

Nincada and Bulbasaur were in the battle, both sides dealing and taking damage. The Leech Life was not as effective as Martin hoped, that answered his question of Bug versus Poison.The good news was this wasn't a trainer battle, so he didn't necessarily have to win by knocking his opponent out. He knew he had four more Pokeballs, plus the one that flew off. Should be plenty of chances to get his prize. Quickly grabbing another Pokeball off his belt, he tossed it lightly in the air and caught it. Should be a good throw, but he needed to make sure Bulbasaur didn't knock it away again. A few more hits either way was the end of this battle, and he wasn't leaving empty handed.

"Nincada, get in there and use another Leech Life. Attack from the side and grab them. Keep Bulbasaur from getting away from you. Hold him still, it's my turn to end this fight." Nincada gave a nod, running to the fight once again, only from the side. Ready for another taste of this foul opponent, looking for an opening to stop his foes movement. Martin readied his Pokeball, once Bulbasaur was distracted by the bait, he was going to try again to capture that Pokemon. He put his force into this throw, aiming for the rather large bulb on his foe's back.