❄Erika Olson❄

Erika nodded and gave Ewan a smile. "Yes! I managed to convince a Gible to join me." Erika said, still feeling elated from her previous accomplishment. "Ready to go on to Lakewatch?" Erika asked in a more of rhetorical fashion as it seemed like both Joshua and Ewan were already marching on with that same intent.

Erika had other temptations to wander off and explore other bits of the cave but she still remembered that she had intended on meeting Claire and pushed aside those desires for the time being. After all, she could return later. "Alright let's proceed!" Erika urged her friends, taking the right path.

The Pokemon was swapped, as followed by Dawkin. Now that Sprout was here, the Bubble attack didn't matter. Flabebe was already targetting Wooper out of the gate. Marill was trying to distract Martin from helping out Dawkin. "Sprout, use Leech Seed on Flabebe and follow it up by showing it how to do a real Vine Whip." Now was the time for offense. Unlike Marill, who had no ability to worry him, he could apply pressure to Flabebe and hit hard.

Sprout ignored Marill, moving towards Flabebe, seeds flying off of his body towards the flying Pokemon. Already following it up with vines looking to punish it for trying to get out of the way. If the Water type attacked him, oh well. He had his eyes on the foe who was mocking him with Vine Whip. Only he could do it better, and no one would take this from him. Martin was pumped, Sprout was following orders, without having to ask a second time. He felt that they were finally getting along. "No more hiding, get down here."

@Pirouette

So, Erika moved on through the cave. Joshua and Ewan were hanging along, probably making some form of unimportant small-talk, at the very least Joshua. So, moving on, they walked by a couple of knocked-out Geodudes. Unfortunately, they were all knocked-out, meaning they couldn’t be captured, but at the very least, that’s opportunity Nr. 1 for Erika to deviate from the path that this post offers to her.





Moving on from that, they’d eventually run into… a Pokémon battle. Moving through the cavern on the left side, and there was a river of water on the right side that they could enjoy not having to wade through. So, they moved, and soon they saw the light at the end of the tunnel, where the exit lay, assuming the map was correct. In front of said exit was a battle, between a couple of people the three of them knew.

Martin was commanding a Bulbasaur, while Dawkin was using a Wooper. Cathia fought them both with a Flabébé and a Marill.

It was Martin and Dawkin, fighting Cathia of Jacques’ trainers.

Pokédex Entry #194 – Wooper, the Water Fish Pokémon. It lives in cold water, sleeping on the bottom and seeking food by the shore when it's cold. When walking above water, wild Woopers cover their bodies with a slimy, poisonous film that keeps them from dehydrating. It's slightly dull-witted.

‘Oh, my. A single girl on her own, fighting two guys…’ Joshua commented silently, looking on. Though, he smirked. ‘Looks like she was prepared for it. In fact, I think Cathia’s the one who challenged them.’ He said, a bit knowingly. Ewan merely nodded, looking at the battle. There wasn’t someone with a clear advantage as seen from here.

@Pikmin Eye@Eklispe Now, assuming any of the two guys didn’t feel like stopping them, Erika was free to pass the battle. Cathia’d look a little pained, but she’d focus on the battle. This is, though, opportunity Nr. 2 for Erika to deviate from the path of this post, but the post will assume she wants to move on.

Anyways, moving past them, out into the sunlight once more. The brighter light is momentarily blinding, before Erika could finally see what lay ahead of her. There was a small bridge, leading over a river, the river being small parts of the Dragon Lake pouring down back into the ocean. The river from the Wet Caverns also fell down in a small waterfall, joining said river. On the other side was a hill, leading down via a dirt road down to a collection of buildings. Beyond the buildings, was plains, a tall icy mountain, and more forest. Regardless, for now… she could head down to the buildings. There…

After smiling at the passer-bys and thanking them for their congratulations, Lucian looked over the lake to the town and shook his headat the design Why on earth would you place the businesses at the lower levels of the town? If they were to flood it would be disastrous! Only an idiot would buy a business in this town. After reflecting on the towns poor business design choices Lucian approached one of the canoes, before entering however he returned houndour to his pokeball "Something tells me it's best I use venipede against any pokemon in this area.." he muttered.

After entering the canoe Lucian began to gingerly row towards Lakewatch, however half-way towards the town his curiosity got the better of him. Who knew what he could find in these waters? True, it may be a challenge to capture due to his current team but if all goes well it will be worth the risk. Making his decision, Lucian turned left and began carefully peeking over the edge of the canoe as he searched for any potential pokemon.

Skitty, Lotad, Ekans. Those were very different and in Erza's eyes, interesting enough for the boy to try them out! A mental note was made, tracing a plan of his next actions which he would almost certainly forget and do entirely different. Anyway: Highhill Town. Erza was approaching, slowly, but he could already see it from this distance. There was a surprised gasp upon such sight: The town was the largest out there but it was certainly beautiful. And... as closer as Erza got, the more he could see of...

Uh. Many strange individuals, led by a man with a pale white hair and a girl - slightly on the shorter side - with a black hair. They all dressed in the exactly same attire and marched as if they were the very same being, in complete unquestionable unison and synchronization. Erza's eyes stared at them blankly, trying to take what exactly they were - wasn't there a group known around? Team... team..

‘Woah, Team Virtue Grunts!’ Some random kid informatively called out. ‘What are they doing out here?’ Someone else asked -- or Erza even -- asked, receiving no reply. What Erza received instead, was the sight of something dropping from one of the grunts after they chanted something about the forest. He approached curiously, glancing down at what was apparently a card key. He leaned down and picked it up.



_{‘Uh, so... What should I do?’} Erza was very unsure if following them to give it back was safe at all. So, the boy did what any sane, normal and stable person would do: Pocketed it and moved on to Highhill Town! And what a beautiful town that was. Erza's eyes widened as he expected it, moving through the town in search of the pokémon center. It didn't take long until the boy arrived there. Finally, all his pokémon would see both rest and they'd be nursed back to full health.

..

...

Once that was done, Erza had a new objective. Find those grunts, after all... He had something that belonged to them, aye? Not only that, but Erza heard some stories of the silent shrine. If they were 'combing the forest', whatever the heck that meant, they might as well be closeby. Or if not, at least it was a place worthy of visiting. So, Erza and his company of pokémon began their journey outside of the town once again, what awaits them?

Amelia smiled as she was told she could entered the shrine. However, it seemed a payment was in order first. Not minding this in the slightest, she approached the offering box and thought about what to put in it. In the end, she decided to give 200 pokedollars to the offering box, saying a small prayer after doing so. Once that was done and she was allowed inside, she followed the mysterious girl. Once inside, she looked around and frowned at the condition of the shrine. It was nice and clean but if would use some maintenance.

She didn't get much further on this train of thought as her new acquaintance released a pokemon, a giant bug a little over three-and-a-half feet long. The room instantly began warming up and Amelia instinctively moved closer. Her wet cloths were going to make warming up hard but she was sure they would dry rather quickly if she was close to this new pokemon. While warming up, she listened to the girl, who introduced herself as Lorette, the gym-leader of Highhill Town before getting into a bit of a tangent. Amelia listened to it patiently and smiled as Lorette finished.
"It's nice of you to continue your mother's legacy but it's a shame you gave up your dream in order to do so. Didn't your mother support your dream?" Amelia asked

@PlatinumSkink

---

"Thanks babe!~" Claire grinned brightly to Anise, turning back towards Hector and Conkledurr. "We totally got this, right guys?" Cries of various excitement and confidence between her four pokemon. "Pssh, come oooon, we've got a perfect two pokemon KO streak right now, this oversized guy ain't got nothin' on us! Cue dramatic music and all that, heh~" With a grin Claire unzipped her jacket and pulled it off, tossing it to the side as it slowly fluttered towards the ground in a somewhat overly dramatic fashion.

"Alright!" She pointed confidently towards Conkledurr. "Teamwork is key guys, remember that! Ritz, you know what to do! Stay out of his range and keep him confused! I don't want you gettin' hurt any more unless it's needed. Keep 'em confused! Del, I want you to use that string shot to tie that guy down! You know what to do if he gets close!" If they got luck, they could maybe whittle him down with both confusion and Poison. She wasn't going to bet her entire cards on that, but it'd help a lot. "Ralia, stay behind Del! Focus on using Growl but prep the 'ol switcharoo again!"

Ugh...who were left. The three she had commanded had already started to do as instructed. Ritz, hovered high around the outside of the ring, and hopefully well out of range of the Conkledurr...and if not, enough distance to at least make for a somewhat difficult dodge. Del, started hardening his shell as instructed, and Ralia twirled, unleashing a growl in the direction of Conkledurr.

Oof, commanding this many pokemon at the same time was going to be difficult. By now Hector and Conkledurr would have likely had time to make a move as well.

"Meditte, hang back and use confusion!" She commanded, hoping that the other pokemon would at least listen to her unlike a certain bug. "Froakie, you got the dangerous job...Quick attack, now! Keep him occupied for now and use quick attack to evade!" Claire looked towards a certain bumblebug who was snaking on some more honey she had found somewhere. "Lure...if you could just find it in your tiny little shriveled bee heart to blast him with a gust, that'd be great thanks."

"Combee."

"Yeah, thought not."

---

Actions taken:
Ritz flies hopefully outside the range of Conkledurr, uses Supersonic.
Del will string shot to hinder Cokledurr, use poison sting if he gets close.
Ralia will use Growls to lower his attack, but will keep an eye opening for teleporting Del and her to safety.
Meditite uses confusion from the sidelines
Froakie uses Quick attack to harass and use it to try and avoid Conkledurr's attacks.
Lure watches the unfolding chaos from the sidelines.

@Pyromaniacwolf

Lucian started looking over the edge of the canoe for Pokémon, drifting outside the edges of the town, and…

He had some luck finding some creatures. So, except for the occasional Woopers drifting about like nothing, and the occasional Poliwags that also were fairly common under the water’s surface…





There were also occasionally small schools of… other tadpoles, swimming underwater and sending small echoes to one another through their “ears”.





If those didn’t interest him, he could row on. It was notable that the canoe he was on or the oars weren’t made out of wood or any such, but rather some form of metal. Why this was notable? … Well, because suddenly the canoe jerked from a dozen or so impacts and the right oar tried to twist itself from his grip. If he lifted it, he’d note a very violent-looking fish had bitten into it, glaring at him with a “what’cha think yar lookin’ at, punk” kind of look.





So, yes. He had drifted into a territory. … And because they knew these things existed in the lake, the boats and the oars were reinforced. Fortunate that they think of such things, huh? Especially since there was a small swarm of the things trying to tear the bottom of the ship out now. Up to Lucian what he wanted to do.

_{You’re not going to be able to find a creature who’s whole shtick is trying to camouflage itself as kelp in freshwater}

__________________________

@Project

He’d eventually decide to walk through town. Yupp, Highhill’s a nice little place, undisturbed by anything, if the townsfolk perhaps a little perplexed by the unit of Team Virtue Grunts that had just wandered through.

‘Where’d they come from?’ Some worker carrying some boxes asked within hearing range of Erza.

‘Most likely from their base in Redcoast City, I’d assume?’ Another, not as interested worker answered with a shrug.

‘Er, I could figure that, but… WHY’D they come…?’ The first one responded. The question, once again, remained unanswered.

Anyways. Erza went to the Pokémon Center and got his Pokémon healed.





If otherwise unsaid, Rory was in the Pokémon Center, sitting to the side.

As he went out of the Pokémon Center and started walking towards the exit of town… an elder man chuckled from beside him as he noted the direction Erza was heading. The man was just heading by, a Machop at his side.







‘You heading for Route 3, young trainer? Hueh-heh. I’ll say you probably want to get an umbrella. They sell a few at the store.’ The man said, looking a bit amused as he kept going, the Machop looking at Erza for a moment before following the older man. … Depending on if Rory interacts with him or not in his next post, the man could have been heading in or away from the Pokémon Center.

So, those umbrellas were being sold for 50P. Up to Erza if he wanted to buy one. But otherwise, he was free to run back into…



… But, yeah, Erza had been on this route before. He hadn’t been all that lucky last time. Or, well, in a way he had been lucky. How many people do you think get free rides on wild Tropiuses? In any case. Now entering the route from the other direction, he saw a sign right by the road.

“DON’T LET YOUR CHILDREN HOLD DRIFLOONS!” - Sign at the entrance of Route 3. Huh.

In any case. As he travelled, he’d undoubtedly see the two most common creatures of Route 3. Some Bellsprouts just outside the fence just rooted there looking around, and some Shroomishes resting or preparing to get moving for the next night.











Connected areas:
Rainrock City. Across the route, north.
Route 4. Head east just before Rainrock.
Silent Shrine. Head west just before Highhill, through the forest.
Highhill Town. Just south.
<technically, you could reach Silent Forest by just jumping off west, and Dragon Lake by just jumping off right, but those aren’t listed as proper “connected areas”>



__________________________

@Joshua Tamashii

The Ralts made a pleased nod as Amelia deposited an amount of Pokédollars… ‘R-ralts!?’ It recoiled, wide-eyed under its cap. 2-200!? To the tiny little Ralts, that was a fortune. It quickly started pointing with its tiny broom in various directions at varying other Raltses and… ‘Ral-ralts! Ralts!’ Made commands that got the other little follows dashing.

Later, inside the shrine, Amelia suddenly found Raltses approaching her, carrying and offering her a one of their cushions, a blanket, a mug of water, a hand-fan which the little Ralts carrying it seemed to intend to blow wind on her to please her with itself, and remaining Raltses giving her respecting bows. Nevermind she might not be in a situation where she needed most of that, but still. Lorette blinked a little at their offering, before giggling. Up to Amelia how she reacted to that.

‘Well, it wasn’t my dream, per se, just a preference. I’m perfectly happy having become a Gym Leader at all, and my mother supported that. It’s not like I could have walked over to Jeanette, who’s a little bit of my idol might I add, and told her to stand down as Fairy-type Gym Leader, could I?’ Lorette giggled a little more. ‘Nah, I’m okay with this. … Maybe in a few years, when I’m a bit older and experienced, I’ll make a more decisive move~!’ Lorette smiled, a slight bit of mischievousness in her expression, but otherwise she was happy.

The Larvesta accepted its role as room-warmer, and relaxed beside them, though still let out some flames for them to be warmed by.

__________________________

@Rune_Alchemist

Hector grinned as Claire made her plan. In answer to that, he simply leaned his head back, and…

‘Conkeldurr. The Kakuna. “Rock Throw”!’ Hector commanded, and the muscular Pokémon immediately moved.

‘Conkel-!’ The Pokémon took one of its concrete slabs, and swung it overhead as if intending on throwing it… except the Conkeldurr jumped, never letting go of the pillar, and the whole Pokémon flew across the room at Del and Ralia. This was apparently still “Rock Throw”, and any Pokémon that’d potentially be hit would confirm it definitely would feel like Rock-type.

Ritz hadn’t had the time to reach Conkeldurr’s “just out of range” before the Fighting-type had launched himself, and Supersonic missed after. Del shot his strings, but like this it just uselessly hit the slab, and that didn’t slow down his flight. Ralia was about to Growl, but quickly would have noted that she couldn’t Growl and Teleport at the same time and (I’d assume) focused on Teleporting to get out of the way, successful by just the slightest.

Ralia and Del managed to Teleport out of the way, and where they had stood the huge concrete mass slammed into the floor, cracking it and sending a wave of power through the room. At this time, Meditite, who had been floating off to the side, took advantage of the moment and got off a Confusion on Conkeldurr… except…

‘M-medi?’ Meditite blinked as Conkeldurr, despite having gotten the purple effect around his head that indicated a hit, hadn’t even flinched. He just grinned. He had probably suffered some Super-Effective damage, but…! Meditite looked a little discouraged.

Froakie tried to Quick-Attack close to the beast, but it barely had any effect. Any hit left no notable marks, Conkeldurr didn’t even look like he noticed him.

‘Okay!’ Hector grinned. ‘That Ledyba is dangerous with its Supersonic. Slam it, Conkeldurr!’ He commanded, and Conkeldurr turned and glared at Ritz, grinning, grabbing the slabs of concrete and intended on jumping at him while swinging them both. Now, Conkeldurr doesn’t know “slam”, really, but any move where he hits the opponent with the slabs could qualify for “Rock Throw”, which meant it was immensely dangerous. But, Claire got to know his strategy now, though, and got to prepare for it.

Ralia and Del could have appeared about anywhere within the ring of battle with Teleport. But, it’d take a bit to recover after having been relocated.

‘Ngh.’ Anise glared at the battle, looking unsure what to think.

❄Erika Olson❄

Erika lead her group through the cave, noting the fainted Geodudes with a mild curiosity and concern before being drowned out by the sounds of battle just ahead. To some surprise, Erika knew the the partakers in this battle, although a bit distantly. "Hey guys!" Erika waved to her... classmates? The nomenclature was still a bit confusing. Erika's group would watch the three battle for a moment before moving on.

Clearing the cave entrance, Erika took a deep breath of fresh air, relieved that her first chapter was done and onto the next. "Whew. Thank you so much for letting me tag along you guys! It would have taken me forever. Anyway, let's see what Lakewatch is about." Erika said to her companions, leading them down the path to a river's edge. Although not too violent in appearance, Erika did hesitate at the river's edge for a moment. "I guess they want us to wade through, huh." Erika said in part to Joshua and Ewan and in part to herself. Taking an extra, maybe even unnecessary precaution, Erika slipped one of her Pokeballs from her clip and opened it, summoning Poli from her Pokeball.

"Hey Poli!" Erika greeted her Pokemon with a smile as she bent down to her knees. Poli sheepishly gleamed and greeted back, "Pol!"

Erika patted Poli on the head gently, "Hey Poli. I was wondering if you find me somewhere where I can cross the river. Think you can do that?" Erika asked to which Poli nodded her whole body, "Poli!" she dutifully acknowledged the request. It didn't take long as the river was fairly safe to begin with before Poli emerged signalling the spot to cross. Erika crossed with Poli swimming circles around Erika before the two reached the other side. "Thanks, Poli!" Erika said as she returned Poli to her Pokeball.

Assuming Joshua and Ewan followed, Erika lead them into Lakewatch Town a fair ways before turning around to address them. "Alright, I'm going to go check out the Explorer's Guide Service and then visit the Pokemart to stock up. I don't want to keep you two from anything but you are welcomed to join." Erika said to them, implying that they didn't have to keep following her but not telling them off either so it was up to them.

If they did decide to part ways, Erika would again thank them for their help and offer the suggestion to meet up again, providing her Pokedex number.

Regardless, Erika would carefully navigate the waterlogged city, jumping from canoes and following posted town maps until she arrived at the Explorer's Guide Service.

Just as Rory and his Spheal finished their food and drink, a man he vaguely recognised walked up to him. ‘Oh, there he is’, the old man said. Rory then remembered that this man was Darryl, a friend of his parents. Darryl spoke to Rory for a few minutes, before giving him a couple of items.




"Wow, thanks!" Rory thanked Darryl, before he started to walk off. Rory decided that this would be a good time for him to head off too. He thought he had seen Erza head towards route 3 earlier, but was too busy eating. It hadn't been too long ago, though, so Rory decided that he would walk quickly to route 3, and see if he could spot Erza.

Erza was about to set foot on route 03 - or at least try to make his way there when a gentleman interrupted the boy. He offered him valorous advice, which Erza was certain to ignore. The Machop was far too interesting though, so he quickly brought his pokédex up and rudely pointed it at the pokémon. He registered some information, thanked the elderly man and set foot on Route 03.

Now, rain wasn't a bad thing for Erza, but it was for the Growlithe. He immediately realized there were some grass-type pokémon here and... he could potentially train the Growlithe - but not only did the Growlithe had no Fire Type moves so far, but they were weakened in the rain. Oh well, there was still Pidgey... But wait, wait. Erza was moving too fast, the boy took a deep breath, feeling the raindrops against his unprotected skin and hair. It took a few moments for his blonde hair to become wet, now a darker shade of blonde. His eyes scanned the surroundings: A Sign caught briefly his attention: “DON’T LET YOUR CHILDREN HOLD DRIFLOONS!" It said, strange. Drifloons... ghost type, eh? Maybe Extraordinary could find some action. Finally.

... There was something more, over the fence. What was that, dancing around? Erza's eyebrows furrowed as he tried to take a better look aaaaand, wait. That's... Rory?! The first and last opponent Erza encountered. Wow, how much time had passed since he last saw that trainer? Rory looked taller and bigger, or was he always like that?

Ahem. Erza cleared his throat, throwing a hand up to wave at the other trainer, greeting him. "Hey, look! My favorite and only rival."

Amelia was enjoying her conversation with Lorette when she noticed the Ralts coming towards them. She was curious at first but upon seeing that they were coming to give her offerings, she was immediately embarrassed.
"Th-there's no need for that!" She said to them gently. "I just wanted a place to relax and dry off. Thank you for the effort though. Please, there's no need to go this far."

Once she was sure the Ralts new she didn't want any special treatment, she turned to and listened to Lorette.
"I don't think asking her to step-down would've been a good idea anyway. But you couldn't, maybe, become her apprentice or something along those lines. Study under her and work at her gym maybe. Sure, we have time but we should still pursue our dreams... if we even know what they are at the time. Just the fact that you know what you want to do put you leagues ahead of me.."

@Eklispe@Pikmin Eye

Cathia blinked in alarm at the mention of Leech Seed.

‘Flabébé, disengage, dodge!’ She shouted in a brief moment of alarm.

‘Fla-!?’ Flabébé blinked a bit in surprise at the command, and quickly swirled to the right instead of following the route to Wooper with its smaller Vine Whips. It successfully managed to dodge the Leech Seed, Cathia breathed a sigh of relief, however Flabébé had been unable to consider the effective range of Sprout’s own Vine Whip. Sprout’s Vine Whip, of course, as a proper Grass-type move from a more physically threatening Pokémon, was far stronger and reached further than Flabébé’s and hit with a good crack through the air, sending the Flabébé spinning backwards in damage.

Meanwhile, Wooper stepped into Marill’s way, and the two Water-Pokémon impacted one another. Since Marill actually knew how to do Tackle, only Wooper took neutral damage. Not much neutral damage, Marill’s bulk is extremely unimpressive, but some neutral damage anyway. Seeing how Flabébé had disengaged to avoid a Leech Seed from Sprout, there was no shoving of Marill needed.

‘Tsk.’ Cathia held forward a Pokéball and returned Marill, who was having minimal impact on the current game. ‘Flabébé, shoot Fairy Winds at them! Prioritize Wooper, but it doesn’t matter which one you hit!’ She had momentarily forgotten Bulbasaur’s Poison-type. Flabébé smiled widely, recovering from the Vine Whip and charged Fairy Winds to send at them from a distance. Cathia reached for one of her discarded Pokéballs, when…

‘Ah, right…’ She had a realization. ‘All Pokémon used should, by Pokémon League rules, be picked out before the battle, and I didn’t intend on using that one. I can’t pick it even if it’d be the best choice…’ She closed her eyes in regret, before taking another Pokéball she had already used, and sent out Bagon again on a slight distance from them. The dragon-Pokémon was showing the signs of the damage from earlier, clearly not in a good state, but also showing it was willing to continue fighting with a little snarl.

‘Bagon, I need you to Ember that Bulbasaur. Get close, don’t let Wooper block the fire! … Flabébé, for all your worth, don’t hit Bagon, but aim for Wooper!’ She commanded.

Of course, returning Marill and sending out Bagon was a turn in itself, meaning both Wooper and Bulbasaur could get off one move each before Bagon started moving. But, otherwise, Bagon would start charging, fire burning in its mouth as it intended on closing the distance to Bulbasaur while Flabébé was launching Fairy Winds at them, trying to hit Wooper but not minding if Bulbasaur got in the way.

__________________________

@TheIrishJJ

Rory got up, exited the Pokémon Center and headed for Route 3. Now, unlike other player characters, Rory actually makes his home in Highhill Town. Because of this, he knows Route 3 properly as the route it always rains on. He also knows of the store where he can buy umbrellas for 50P if he wants to avoid getting wet. … Or, really, he could probably go home a quickie and get an umbrella from home, or perhaps he had actually already brought one knowing he’d eventually need it. Regardless, he sets off to Route 3.



“DON’T LET YOUR CHILDREN HOLD DRIFLOONS!” - Says a sign at the entrance of Route 3. Rory would know this is because of the stories that Drifloons spirit away children that hold the balloon Pokémon, and because they live on Route 3. In any case, moving on.

Crossing the road, he’d undoubtedly see the two most common creatures of Route 3. Some Bellsprouts just outside the fence just rooted there looking around, and some Shroomishes resting or preparing to get moving for the next night.









… So, aside from that. Rory’s been spoken to. Erza’s right over there. Feel free to have a conversation. Otherwise, here’s the natural actions of the route.



Connected areas:
Rainrock City. Across the route, north.
Route 4. Head east just before Rainrock.
Silent Shrine. Head west just before Highhill, through the forest.
Highhill Town. Just south.
<technically, you could reach Silent Forest by just jumping off west, and Dragon Lake by just jumping off right, but those aren’t listed as proper “connected areas”>

It looked like Martin struck a nerve on Cathia. Her moment of panic told him what he was guessing. All he needed to do was land the Leech Seed and the battle would start turning. Coming up next was Bagon again, which could burn up Sprout quickly. Since Cathia picked Marill, that would be a low threat if they could hold long enough to force it back out again. "Sprout, use Wooper as cover from the Ember, keep it between you and Bagon. Use your body to block Fairy Wind and use another Leech Seed on Flabebe." He might be seeing things, but using that move might force another withdrawal from Flabebe, buying them time. Being forced to stay together to handle the fight, this was a double battle. It kept Martin excited to show that he was ready for his journey.

Sprout leapt back a few steps, to get next to Wooper. Already firing more Leech Seeds at the Fairy. He was already focusing on the threat, as it would have been more work handling Bagon. If Martin was guessing right, Wooper would also be doing his best to hold off Bagon from Sprout. A fight on both sides, and with them in the middle.

@PlatinumSkink

---

'Ngh' was right.

This was going to be more than a little difficult to pull off. Ralia and Del sat down some distance away from the Conkledurr on the opposite end of the field, taking a moment to adjust their focus after the teleport.

"R-ritz, avoid it as best you can!" Claire narrowed her eyes at the behemoth of a pokemon, trying to think of something that could give her an upper hand. She could do something, but it was a definite long shot and would be well, incredibly risky, but she didn't have many options, did she?

"Del, Harden as much as you can! Ralia continue using Growl as soon as you're able!" Her gaze shifted towards Froakie and Medicham. Medicham had gotten off a confusion, but it didn't seem to do much...though, Medicham didn't have many other moves that would be helpful in this situation, would it? "Medicham, keep up the confusion! Froakie, use that bubble attack of yours to fill the arena with bubbles!"

It wasn't an enclosed space like the shrine, but it'd hopefully atleast still be semi-effective.

@Pirouette

On the subject of the Geodudes, wild Pokémon are knocked out all the time. They recover eventually after a good nap. Because there is nothing bad about battling wild Pokémon, assuming you’re not obviously abusing them under bad circumstances.

And, um. On the subject of the river. There’s a bridge over, to ensure that travellers don’t need to wade additionally, they did enough of that in Wet Caverns. But, she could wade over if she wanted to. That’s entirely up to her. (I will admit I imagined the river to be a bit too big to wade, though)

‘It was our great pleasure to escort you through the cavern, fair maiden.’ Joshua bowed deeply as he said, smiling and knowing how ridiculous he was being. Ewan seemed indifferent to it, but gave her an affirmative nod. Then, they were onto Lakewatch Town, and all it meant.

‘I have an interest in the guide-service has to offer, as well. I’ll accompany.’ Ewan says, nodding to Erika.

‘… And I’m not going to be leaving you alone with Ewan! Besides, if he gets any strange thoughts when looking at guides I need to be there to make plans with him!’ Joshua grinned, talking as if he was the dependable one of the two. Ewan raised an eyebrow at him for his words.

‘Regardless. We have plans on heading north, afterwards. There’s a Minor League Gym in Stillwood Village, and Joshua wants to then head on to the Contests of Redcoast City.’ Ewan continues.

‘Of course! It’s the highlight of it all! Just you wait, we’ll be shining on the stage!’ Joshua looked really happy on the stage.

‘Me too, huh.’ Ewan looked away, still with his normal neutral expression but looking just the slightest pale, forced to think about it.

So, apparently with these two as companions, Erika headed through the flooded(?) town, and towards this particular service that caught her eye. On the way she saw many others using canoes and various Pokémon to cross the town, either by water or flying, and just living ordinary happy life in a town covered mostly in water. They seemed quite happy, and numerous markets advertised to tourists. The main attraction was definitely the Lakewatcher’s tours of Dragon Lake, but other souvenirs and such could be bought. Anyways. Eventually, Erika found her way where she wanted to go.

Now, the Explorer’s Guide Service building itself was but a small dent into a building, a door and windows full of advertisement for the service. Inside was a cozy little store-like room where lots of fliers advertised the accomplishments of several presumably employed individuals while good reviews of their services hung around like newspaper articles, the walls covered by papers, maps of Isson and the likes. By the door stood a sign with some info for a visitor.

“Lakewatch residents live somewhat out of the way, meaning we need to travel to find our callings! On our travels, we have learned a lot! Here we offer our experience for you to use!”

There’s also a map of Lakewatch under the message with a “Our guides live HERE!” showing small arrows pointing at various spots throughout Lakewatch Town. It was vague enough that’d it be somewhat hard to find the person based on it, but with the number of arrows and how spread it was it delivered the message that this was an honest occupation in this town.

And, in the back on a chair behind a desk covered in paperwork and a strange small stone-statue of a Trapinch sat a girl staring at her mobile phone. Except, the moment Erika came in, she quickly looked up, gained a mildly interested look and leant forward. The girl’s wearing a jacket, a hat with some adventurous-looking goggles on and a large backpack lies packed on the right of her chair. She looks like she’s basically already on a journey.



‘Oh? You’re a new face. Heading somewhere?’ The girl asked in a casual yet sharp tone, with hints of interest as she looked at Erika with considerable focus. Meanwhile, Ewan and Joshua had momentarily stopped outside to look over some of the notes.

Now, a list of the place’s services are listed to the girl’s immediate right.



__________________________

@Joshua Tamashii

The Raltses looked a bit confused that Amelia denied the special treatment, but eventually acknowledged her wishes and left. They left the mug of water behind, though, just in case she got thirsty.

The Flabébés that accompanied Amelia are still here. They’re floating about inspecting the insides of the shrine and making occasional pleased noises in the sound of their names, looking happy. The Raltses don’t seem to mind them.

‘Hm. I suppose I could have.’ Lorette confirmed about Amelia’s suggestion. ‘But, eh… This felt more natural.’ She got to think about a few things she hadn’t expected to think about. But, she got to smile a bit. ‘Teh-heh. Thanks. And don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll be able to find something on your journ-’

She didn’t entirely get to finish that sentence. It wasn’t really that anything interrupted her, but there was suddenly a bunch of Raltses running inside the shrine and taking cover, throwing somewhat frightened glances outside. The Raltses on the inside also looked in that particular direction, before starting to run off, leaving the two young girls on their own along with the Flabébés and Larvesta. Lorette threw around a few mildly inconvenienced looks, and then stood up.

‘Looks like someone’s coming. You can keep warming yourself, I’ll have a look.’ She said and then walked outside.

Now, if Amelia looked outside…

On the street surrounded by forest outside, two men in soaked white clothes stumbled through the rain. They were looking around intently, seeming surprised at where they had found themselves. Other than the fact one had red hair-color, they looked basically identical on a range.



‘Who knew there was a shrine like this in here…?’ The white-haired one asked, looking around.

‘Hey look! A girl!’ The red-haired one noted, pointing at the shrine where Lorette was walking out.

‘Think it’s, uh, our girl? There’s no Drifloon…’ The white-haired one asked, looking a little unsure.

‘… Well! It’s better we take her and it turns out it WASN’T her than that we let her go and it turns out it was her!’ The red-haired one reasoned, before he acted. He walked forwards, pointed at Lorette and raised his voice.

‘You there! Young girl! There has been a warrant issued among Team Virtue for a young girl in Silent Forest! As you’re currently a young girl in Silent Forest, I insist you come with us, or we’ll have to resort bringing you in by force!’

Lorette stares at them in a bit of silence. She breaths in, preparing to say something, then breathes out again, a bit dumbfounded.

What happens next depends on if Amelia does something or not.

_{One of them has a ghost-type.}

__________________________

@Rune_Alchemist

Ralia Growled and Del Hardened, and the effects took place. Conkeldurr’s offensive strength decreased a little, while Del’s defense increased. … But would that actually make a difference?

Ritz was forced to dodge as the giant lept for him, swinging his concrete slabs. He dodged the first, deftly flying up above the horizontal swing! He dodged the second, managing to duck precisely below the other slab swinging horizontally in the same direction! … However then Conkeldurr swung around, using the centrifugal force of his swings to spin around 360 degrees and swing again with frightening speed, and this time it was too sudden. Ritz was hit by the first slab and was sent flying across the room by the impact, rolling a bit before coming to a stop. Ritz has fainted, unable to escape the far more experienced monster of an opponent.

Meditite smirked where she floated. Yeah, not much else to do but to Confusion and hope it all adds up. Conkeldurr wasn’t exactly hard to hit. Another Confusion was shot, to similar effect, Conkeldurr taking the blow with but the slightest of reaction. But, that smile on the Pokémon may have dropped just the slightest. As commanded, Froakie jumped around, blowing out his bubbles and doing his best to cover the area. Which sure, it did, but Conkeldurr wasn’t even bothering with seeing it even as a it hit a considerable amount of them with each move.

‘Conkeldurr. The Confusions are going to pile up eventually, so let’s not let them. The Meditite. Chip Away!’ Hector commanded.

‘DURR!’ Conkeldurr acknowledged, and threw the two slabs a bit up into the air before gripping them both at their middles. With the weapons balanced like that both back and forward, Conkeldurr had considerably increased finesse with its giant weapons. He then turned towards Meditite with a violent grin, and the floating yoga-Pokémon could but awkwardly smirk back while charging another Confusion.

Conkeldurr made ready to leap at her. Meditite made ready to attempt dodging. Bubbles covered the range between them, but Conkeldurr wasn’t about to lose track of her because of them as they weren’t so numerous and tight to completely obstruct vision.

So, what does Claire do?

__________________________

@Pikmin Eye@Eklispe

‘Flabébé, stop, dodge!’ Cathia quickly commanded after hearing Martin command another Leech Seed, and the fairy-type once again disengaged from making her attack and instead focused on dodging the Leech Seed. No Fairy Wind came.

‘Flabébé, use Fairy Wind when you can, but focus on avoiding the Leech Seeds!’ She commanded.

‘Flabébé~!’ Flabébé acknowledged, looking at Sprout with the smile that appears basically plastered onto the fairy-Pokémon and charging another Fairy Wind, although once again ready to dodge if needed. So, she couldn’t dodge the Leech Seed and make an attack at the same time. One or the other, and Cathia was prioritizing dodging.

Meanwhile, Bagon had come out and started dashing for Wooper and Sprout, but took a Water Gun on the way, stopping slightly in his tracks because of the sudden surge of water. Bagon glared at Wooper, taking another Water Gun before blasting off an Ember right after into Wooper’s face. Now, Water Gun was Not Very Effective, but coupled with the damage from earlier, Bagon was getting seriously hurt. … But the same was true for Wooper. Wooper had taken a couple Embers, a direct hit from Fairy Wind, and it was starting to pile up and now Wooper didn’t have much left, either. Bagon glared at Wooper, eyes overcome with…

‘Rage, Bagon!’ Cathia commanded, seeing the increasing damage on Wooper and decided to finish it.

‘BAGON-!!’ Bagon gave a little cry of rage as he dashed forth, intent on bashing his face into Wooper.

So, how would they react?

"Hey, look! My favorite and only rival." Erza said to Rory just as Rory caught up with him.

"Hey Erza, how have you been?" Rory replied, and started to walk along with Erza.

Amelia was listening to Lorette but was immediately distracted by the resident Ralts when they began running around in a panic. She quickly grabbed any that passed by her and held them close to try and comfort them. When Lorette told her to stay put while she checked things out, she initially obeyed but curiosity about what have scared the shrine's residents and concern for them drove her to leave the room after letting go of the Ralts she had managed to gather. Moving to the door Lorette had gone through, she heard the men talking outside. She heard what they said, including the part about the girl with a Driffloon and how they insisted that Lorette come with them, willing or not. Angered by this, she turned towards the Ralts and possibly the Flabébés if they had followed her.
"Stay in here or behind me. But stay safe." She said before opening the door and marching out.

"What gives you the right to take her somewhere if she doesn't want to go!" She demanded of the two men, her anger evident in her tone. "Leave this place, you're disturbing the residents. Also, you have no right forcing someone to go somewhere they don't want to. And when you see your friend with the Bonsly, tell him that the Driffloon was being friendly and he scared the poor thing half to death! Now get lost, you're no welcome here!"