Amelia smiled as she listened to her pokemon having a good time with the local Spewpa and Scatterbugs, trying to talk and play with the natives. Amelia was more then content to talk with any Vivillons that came close, with Shuppet content to stay in her arms. She liked these gardens, as the pokemon where friendly and it was a peaceful place that was sent at the perfect temperature so her to relax without feeling too hot or cold, unlike the outside.

As she was relaxing, she relaxing, she suddenly tensed up as she noticed a presence entering the gardens. It was one she had felt long ago but it had been embedded into her mind. With it being present now the memories rushed back and she knew she had to move. She quickly returned Shuppet to her pokeball but running back into the foliage and gathering up the rest of her partners. Luckily, they weren't hard to find, as the presence had been enough to send them running back to her.

Once they were all gathered up, she moved back towards the Shedinja she had encountered earlier. She knew what this thing, this person was after. They were gathering up all the Ghost-types in the area, whether the pokemon liked it or not. Amelia wasn't go to sit by and let that happen easily, even if she really could do nothing in the end.

Once she came across Shedinja, if it was still there, she would take action based on the current situation.

---

@Pikmin Eye

Apparently deciding he was done here, Martin picked one of the carts (probably in the back) to be shoved through the caverns. Eventually Anton considered them ready to move, and the order was given to push the carts. Anton led the way, looking back and forth with Clauncher ready to fire at any point anything moved for them. It got to shoot some Bubble Beams at wayward Durants, which scattered as they advanced. Soon enough, there was an opening to the left, which they were going to walk straight past. Martin took the moment to slip away.

Now, it was impossible to slip away without being seen by at least the other grunts pushing the same cart, but it was at least possible to slip away without being seen by someone who’d actually act because of it. Martin could sneak off, and the confused rest of the crew could but assume he had something important to take care of and continued pushing, probably to report later why exactly they were falling behind the rest and possibly with nobody remembering the person that was missing. Regardless, Martin successfully slipped away and, back in the darkness of the Vast Underground, he threw out an Escape Rope.

-1 Escape Rope.

The rope went taut, connecting to seemingly nothing, and then Martin was pulled. The pull drew him straight out of the caves and transported him to right outside the keycard door which Trubbish had shown him. He was back among the factories of Worldedge City’s Industrial District, including this supposedly abandoned factory that Team Virtue had obtained for themselves. No people around, just a couple Grimers. So, what would Martin do from here on out?





Connected areas:
Route 10. South of Worldedge. A farmland employing multiple psychic Pokémon from Mt. Edge to help with the crops.
Route 13. West of Worldedge. A slightly disturbed route, which attracts electric Pokémon due to the proximity of the power plant.
Mt. Edge. The mystical mountain at the heart of Worldedge’s unnatural existence. Few people actually cross its fabled tunnels, most just teleport past.
Route 18. East of Worldedge. A calm stretch of land going from Worldedge to Witchpeak, part of the Allmass Cycling Circuit.



__________________________

@Joshua Tamashii

Amelia hurried in the garden, something which confused many of the bugs that had otherwise been enjoying a quiet evening. She retrieved all her Pokémon and ran for where she last saw Shedinja, and there the Shed Pokémon still resided. It had no reaction when Amelia picked it up, no indication that it felt any way or the other as it seemingly let itself be carried by the young girl. Then, Amelia headed to intercept the presence she had felt. On account of having felt it on a range, and that it didn’t exactly move quickly, Amelia had time to run and intercept at the door.

There, right outside the garden…

---

^{A small town near Pureplain City || Early Morning}
High school graduation was only yesterday, but the milestone event was already far out of Eryn’s mind. Her petition to become a Pokemon trainer had gone through, and she’d barely been able to sleep, excitement driving away any tiredness she might have felt the night before. Waking up in the morning had been the easiest and quickest thing Eryn had done in a while, and she was dressed, packed, and bursting to get out the door in less than twenty minutes.

“Bye Mom, Dad,” Eryn said, hugging each of her parents, who’d woken up to wave their daughter off on her big day. Her dad had even made Eryn’s favorite Oran berry pancakes, which Eryn had appreciated by scarfing down in record time.

“Bye Harper,” Eryn said, leaning down to give her younger sister a proper bear hug. “Take care of Mom and Dad for me, won’t you?”

“Will do, sis,” Harper said, grinning at her sister. Though she was a few years younger than Eryn, Harper was older mentally, and Eryn had no doubt she was leaving her parents in good hands.

“Take care of yourself out there, Erry,” her mom said, waving as Eryn bounded down the porch steps.

“Go get’em, Err!” her dad called.

“You better kill it, Eryn!” Harper called, hands cupped around her mouth.

“I’ll get on the telly one day—just wait!” Eryn shouted back, waving at her parents as she latched the picket gate behind her.

---

^{Pureplain City || Kalmia’s Lab || Early Morning}
The bus ride to Pureplain was too long for Eryn’s liking, but she made up for lost time by sprinting the rest of the stretch to Professor Kalmia’s lab. Sure Pureplain was exciting, being a major city and all, but Eryn had been before. Exploring the city would have to wait until after she got the most essential part of any new trainer’s life: a starter—her dream since the day she learned that she too could become a Pokemon trainer. Fire-type, water-type, grass-type—all three were more than fine for Eryn. Sure she’d daydreamed about a torrent-stirring Swampert or a blossoming Meganium, but any starter would sate her since her end desire was to become the best Pokemon trainer she could. If she were to be honest, though, she had a soft spot for the fire-type starters: be it a blaze-backed Typhlosion or a flare-kicking Infernape, fire-types drew her attention like a moth to a flame. Perhaps it was their oft-portrayed feisty-yet-loyal temperament or simply the showiness of their moves that she was drawn to; either way, Eryn was thrilled because today, she would get her first Pokemon.

Giddy with excitement was one way to describe the wide smile on Eryn’s face as she pulled up in front of the lab, adjusting her backpack that had shifted during her run. A starter! How exciting was that? Her first real step into trainership, because she could hardly be called a real trainer without a Pokemon. Sure it was still a while until the specified eight o’clock, but Eryn preferred being early, and there was nothing she was more likely to be early to than her first day as a trainer.

Rubbing her hands together to get rid of excitement jitters—or whatever the tingly feelings in her hands were—Eryn reached to the double doors and planted two solid knocks in the right one, the sound reverberating through the smooth surface and into the space behind. Her knuckles tingled, her cheeks were starting to feel sore, and she couldn’t stop the impatient bouncing she was doing, but first day jitters were first day jitters, and Eryn couldn’t wait until the doors opened up.

If one thing was to be sure about pushing a cart full of questionable items, it was heavy. He was all too happy to see the splitting branch up ahead as he was far at the back. No one said a thing when he walked off from the cart, and pulled out his Escape Rope. Sure, they would be asking questions later, but there was a reason he acquired an extra Escape Rope earlier. Not like he owed anything to Team Virtue, as Martin was pulled out of the cave by a scientific and totally not magical explanation. He ended up outside the building that started this trip. No one was outside, a clean getaway.

"That's enough snooping for now. I'll be back one day when I can take them down." Martin gave a laugh, looks like he won't be in the Vast Underground for a while. Now it was time to get back to his adventure of training. He was in Worldedge City, and the minor gyms needed backtracking. According to the last map he checked, that meant going through Route 10 to Stiltwood Village. Turning around, he had a thought. He still needed to visit a Pokemon Center first, also he was overdue for training at this point.

Action: Visit the Pokemon Center to heal up. Then head out to Route 10 to train with Durant.

A cactus grass-type pokemon? That could be useful. At this point in time going in pratically any direction offered Pokemon he could use to round out his team. For now, "I am interested in learning more about the cactus Pokemon, what is the best way to go about finding one of those?" He could think of a few things but it would be best to make use of this information while it was available. Better to not need and have than need and not have after all; plus they had said they would help out in information about a specific Pokemon. After that Dawkin would step out and begin heading towards the dessert, he still had his repels and his Pokemon were in pristine condition, so there was no more prep work he needed to do at the moment. Pichu wouldn't get much use here, but Whooper would do fine against the groun- huh? Dawkin paused amidst his musings, halted by a chill going up his spine. A glance around revealed the street he was on was rather desolate except for- Amelia? Not so surprising, more so was the rather ghastly looking women with an even more fearsome Pokemon behind her. Dawkin reflexively took his out Pokedex to identify the creature while Angelique stared down Amelia. Did the two know each other?

Action: Encounter Amelia(7.1)

---

She knew it. Even though it have been years, she still remembered this woman's appearance and how the air around them felt. Almost every fiber in her being told her to run away from this woman but she stood firm and managed to meet the woman's gaze. It was cold, like an empty graveyard devoid of spirits. But she managed to hold it while she spoke.
"I remember you. The graveyard, so many years ago. You just showed up and began taking all my friends away. You're going to be doing the same here aren't you? You're going to take all the Shedinja away from their friends." She said, managing to keep her tone calm. "I won't let you. I can understand catching pokemon if you need to but you're just doing it because you can. That's not right, it's not fair to the pokemon. Now leave here and let the Shedinja live in peace."

@Dusksong

A pleasant morning awaited in Pureplain City, with the city waking up and people heading to their respective destinations. Here, Eryn arrived at the Pokémon Lab to receive her first Pokémon and embark on her journey. The lab itself was a single-floor building with a sign that said “Pokémon Lab” on it that didn’t really look like a lab, and then an offshoot on the right side which looked like a regular home that connected to the lab part.

Inside the Pokémon Lab, Professor Kalmia was… sleeping. On the floor of room stood a Slowpoke, vacant eyes looking at absolutely nothing in particular as it seemed the professor was going to sleep in again. From the other room over, Eryn’s solid knocks on the door resounded, but fell on sleeping ears a few rooms away. So, the scene continued peacefully…

'SLOW!'

'KYAH!'

…

…

…

'Eryn! There you are!' Kalmia sounded out happily as she swung the door open for the newest young trainer to embark on a trip through Isson, one minute later. Kalmia was a decently tall woman, wearing glasses and had blonde hair tied into a ponytail, and wore casual blue clothes under a white professor-like lab-coat. Her hair was completely soaked and she had a towel around her neck for some reason.



'Come on in! I’ll get you started in just a second!' Kalmia waved her in, turning to go poke at her laptop on a table.

The rectangular room immediately inside the door had bookshelves placed in a circle around an area in the middle, not properly taking advantage of the space in the corners. The shelves contained varying books and papers of research, as well as the occasional Pokéballs. In the back and right, a large amount of what appeared to be computer servers filled about 40% of the available space, and they were coupled to Kalmia’s laptop which stood on a desk to the left of it. Other than the laptop, there was also a large amount of papers and binders on it, making it impossible to place anything else on there.

To the right of the table was a healing station from a Pokémon Center, with places to place six Pokéballs, along with a large cylinder thing with a glass middle and a hatch that one likely were to place something moderately large within. There was nothing that said what it actually was. While it was tight in here, it was still decently maneuverable and Kalmia knew where everything she wanted was.

There was a door to the right leading to the offshoot house on the side of the lab, and from it was a pink Pokémon waddling forward at an extremely slow pace.



In addition, on top of the servers was another Pokémon, a round tadpole-looking blue one with white stomach with swirly pattern on it.



_{@Pirouette is free to add if she wants Poli to do anything~}

Kalmia went and recovered an item next to her laptop, turning and delivering the item to Eryn.

‘Okay, since you waited until graduation before embarking you’re a bit late, date-wise, and the other trainers have already picked up their Pokédexes and left. They’ll have a bit of a headstart on you. Anyways, I figure you want to get going as soon as possible, so here you go!’



‘This is your Pokédex. Now, let me explain a few things.’



‘And with that done…’ Kalmia would then say, reaching over to her PC and clicking a number of buttons, before a Pokéball was downloaded into a small container that we will say that all PCs have on the side. She then took the Pokéball and turned towards Eryn with a smile on her face, walking forward before handing it over to her.

‘I don’t really have a bigger ritual than just this. Here’s your Pokémon. Treat him well.’

- You've obtained Charmander! -

Pokédex Entry #4 – Charmander, the Lizard Pokémon. A fire burns at the end of its tail from its birth, and the strength of the fire indicates its health and current emotional state. This fire cannot be put out, as it burns by fuel from within. It prefers living in very warm conditions. Caution is advised near newly born Charmanders, as they’re not careful with their fire yet.

- Would you like to give Charmander a nickname? -

Here’s an opening for Eryn to take the Pokémon out of its Pokéball and perhaps react to things and ask her own questions while Kalmia smiles happily.

__________________________

@Pikmin Eye

Martin headed out of the factory area and into a Pokémon Center to get healed.



Then, he headed up to the Information District of Worldedge City in order to be able to leave the massive city. Leaving it behind him and taking the south exit, the sky finally became visible again… except, there was still the pollution of population in these watery farmlands, as well as a touch of mystic to the atmosphere.



__________________________

@Eklispe

‘Oh, the cactuses? Well, there’s two of them. Cacnea is the most common, small cactuses with limbs and yellow flowers on their heads, you’re going to see quite a few in a normal trip through the desert without problem. If you have trouble finding one, for some reason, try smelling for the strong aroma it uses to attract prey, you can’t miss it if one’s nearby. Its evolution is Cacturne, a Grass/Dark type, and it comes out hunting at night. They’re strong and hostile. Avoid messing with those, unless you’re really confident.

The other is Maractus, pure grass-type, no evolutions, pretty strong. There are considerably fewer of them in the desert, but if one’s close you’ll hear it. It produces a maracas-like sound as it dances to its own beat. They’re pretty cool. But, be careful if you’re going after one! You can’t predict what level it is by looking at it! It might be anything from newborn to a stone-cold destructive elite of the desert! Hahaha!’

So sounded the advice on the cactuses of Route 7. Dawkin then headed out, and assumingly he had apparently spent quite a bit of time in the Miner’s Hangout because Amelia had intentionally awaited it to be late so to get Dawkin on the same timeframe it’s now late too. But, indeed, there on this empty street stands this woman with a disturbing aura facing Amelia, who’s protecting a little Shedinja in her grasp facing an opponent far out of either of their leagues.





… Then, after that…

__________________________

@Joshua Tamashii@Eklispe

Angelique stared down at Amelia, her eyes showing no emotion nor hint at how she was taking Amelia’s words. Just the two of them looking at one another, and Dawkin happening to enter the street from the side and then pausing to look for now, and the large coffin-Pokémon behind Angelique. The atmosphere was tense, charged by Angelique’s presence, her cold eyes unflinchingly staring down into Amelia’s, and then…

Dawkin felt nothing. Amelia felt a sudden ripple, something unexplainable to the sense she had typically used to find ghosts. It was like the air itself was dense fluid, and she felt a wave from when something had been sent through it, from Angelique to her Pokémon. A command.

‘GRIIIIIIII…!’ The excited Cofagrigus’ arms stretched forth past the unmoving Angelique at Amelia, arms of shadowy ghastly nature stretching far further than limbs of physical nature could have possibly. If nothing stopped them, their intention was to circle Amelia and grip her tightly in ghostly power, arms circling her and reaching for her arms in order to pry her embrace of Shedinja open, which they surely would succeed with if Cofagrigus got its four arms on her. If she attempted to dodge, they surely would reach for her legs to prevent her running.

Amelia and Dawkin are both free to react as they feel suitable to the coming attack, which Angelique conducted without even speaking, simply standing tall and coldly watching Amelia. She had seemingly not noticed Dawkin yet, but in this atmosphere was that an assumption he wanted to make?

What would they do?

Wha- What was this? The trainer had just attacked Amelia! Was she with one of the teams? Whatever the reason, the more important thing was to do something. Dawkin released Pichu and Whooper immediately, "Use Thundershock and Water gun to protect her!" Dawkin ordered them, releasing his other two Pokemon immediately afterwards. Whooper was obedient as always, spitting a burst of water at the streched arms, Pichu's own electric attack following a similar path. Atlas and Tyrunt at his side as well, though not leaping into action as of yet. According to his Pokedex, that Cofagrigus was at least level 34... Which meant neither Dawkin nor Amelia would be able to inflict practically any damage to it, much less any other Pokemon that girl could bring out. "If you don't back off I'll bring help, you don't think you can fight the entire town do you?" Dawkin called out to Angelique. It was unlikely that she could deal with all of them and their Pokemon quickly enough to be for her to get... whatever it was that she wanted from Amelia before they got help. Dawkin definitely had some questions that needed answering.

Action: Intervene

---

❄Erika Olson❄

---

---

It was Erika's first official loss and as briefly disheartening as it was, she wasn't going to let it get her down. After all, her mother had told her several stories of about it took several attempts to beat a few gyms when she was Erika's age. However, Erika was a bit of a poor sport, thinking the Flower Lady was a bit smug, shooting a wayward glare at Daisy before turning to head back to the reception. If Daisy was an indication of just how tough Stillwood's Gym is, then Erika had her work cut out for her. She wondered how far Claire had gotten. She probably had evolved her Pokemon already and probably had two gym badges.

Despite how Erika's apprehension about being inferior, she was still glad to finally catch up to Claire. After all, the two had originally planned on adventuring together and if her time with Joshua and Ewan had proven anything, it was that company really helped with the journey. When she finally saw Claire, Erika waved and looked sincerely happy to see her, as if an old friend. "Hi Claire! I hope you've been having fun so far and it is nice to finally catch up to you. I think.. but you probably have three gym badges by now!"

Erika would wait a moment for Claire's response but assuming the reality, Erika had no gym badges so having any was impressive. Hearing Claire's success would easily prompt Erika's next request. "Ooh, I bet you have a strong team then, huh. Here, let me show you what I caught so far."

Now unless there was any reason to, like if Claire wanted to keep the teams a secret for a potential battle between the two, Erika would pull her full team from her Pokeballs and introducing each one to Claire and likely her team. All except for Kay were rather polite and happy to greet each other which reminded Erika that she had done those Treetop battles for a reason. She dug into her bag pulled out a Spleon Berry. "Here Kay. Be nice to everyone." Erika would offer her Inkay a berry which it happily took and began nibbling on it. Erika looked relieved but her cheeks were a bit red when she realized Claire would probably notice. "... I dug her out being frozen in ice and Kay might be really old, same with Eep, but for some reason, Kay has been really bitter. It is kind of embarrassing that I'm such a poor trainer."
----

Meanwhile back at Kalmia's lab, Poli had been adjusting well to the change of scenery. She spent most of her time paling around with Kalmia's Slowpoke and generally being curious around the lab. In fact, Poli was in the middle of that curiosity as she was discovering that servers had produced a nice bit of comforting heat when someone entered the lab. With the Professor handing over a Pokedex much like Erika's then she knew what was happening. She wondered how Erika was doing and hoped to see her again soon but for now, there was another trainer in front of her!

Poli hopped down from the server and ran over to the trainer, giving the her a slight nudge in the shin with Poli's round body."Poliwag!" She cheered, offering her own way of encouraging the new trainer. Maybe one day she'll meet Erika?

Amelia felt the silent command and when Cofagrigus suddenly stretched out it's arms to try and grab the Shedinja. The arms moved to fast for her to do anything though. Luckily for her, something came from the side and struck the arms before a familiar voice called out. When she turned towards them, she was relieved to see Dawkin but at the same time terrified for him and his pokemon.
"Don't stay here. Run!" She shouted at him as the arms paused. She then felt another ripple before the arms continued towards her.

At Dawkin's location, something dashed past him with incredible speed before moving in front of Amelia, grabbing her and jumping away from the arms while several projectiles made out of water where thrown at the arms, these one packing a much harder punch then Wooper or Pichu's attacks. When the creature that had come to the rescue landed back at Dawkin's side, he would see it was a tall, humanoid frog with it's tongue wrapped around it's neck like a scarf.



"Well, well, what do we have here? My apprentice, what must be a new friend of hers, and someone who instantly made it onto my hate list. I must admit, this is turning into an eventful evening." A voice said from behind Dawkin. A young man approached the confrontation occurring outside the garden, his hands in his pockets and an air of calm around him. Walking beside him was a quadrupedal pokemon, resembling a dog with white fur, a black face, and a single, black horn growing out of the side of it's head and curving upwards.



Of note what that this Absol's horn seemed to be pierced, with a rainbow-colored gem attached to the horn by a metal hoop. In the center of the gem appeared to be some sort of spiral pattern.

The young man stepped past Amelia and Dawkin, his eyes never leaving Angelique.
"Now, seeing as how my student was being attacked by you, I don't need any more reason to challenge you to a battle then that. You're free to flee if you wish. However, if you're willing to be humiliated, by all means, keep pushing my buttons. I'll be happy to put you in your place." He said. His tone was calm and there was a casual smile on his face, but his words conveyed the true amount of anger and malice he held towards the woman in front of him. It was up to her how things would play out.

Meanwhile, Greninja set Amelia down and moved over to the man's side. Both of the man's pokemon eyed their potential opponent, ready to battle at a moments notice.

@PlatinumSkink@Pirouette

---

"Rrrralll..." Ralia, a little less than impressed by the results of her messing with people, pouted slightly. The people of Stillwood really were...lackadaisical, weren't they? Well, she'd just have to try harder! A Gloom just so happened to be passing by! Didn't they do something funny when they were messed with? Ralia walked up to one while it wasn't looking and attempted to pick one up...

Claire was waiting rather impatiently for Erika. As much as she wanted to see her friend, she also wanted to get moving. Staying in one place not doing anything for more than five minutes was something she didn't do all that much.

"Rrrrraaaal!" Before she could get really impatient though, Ralia came running over, and with her a putrid smell and a Gloom that was wearing the usual lackadaisical expression of the people here. The smell caused Claire to hold a hand over her nose, having to breathe through her mouth to simply tolerate it.

"Urgh...Ralia?"

"Rrrraaaal?~" The Ralts gave her a smile, holding her hands together.

"Don't give me that look," Claire giggled, picking up the pokemon and giving her a light thump on the forehead, causing the fairy to stick her tongue out at the human. "Next time try to pick a target that won't make this entire place smell like me after I've been training all day." She snickered.

"Hi Claire! I hope you've been having fun so far and it is nice to finally catch up to you. I think.. but you probably have three gym badges by now!"

"...huh? Oh, Erika!" Upon hearing the voice of Erika, Claire gave her an excitable wave. Ralia followed suit, wiggling free of Claire's arm and hopping onto the floor. "Aha, I don't quite have three badges yet." Claire chuckled in reply. "Buuuuut, I do have a badge and have been officially recognized in Mt. Strength as a totally awesome trainer." She briefly flashed both the badge and medal to Erika. "I don't mean to brag - no, I totally do - but yea, I'm kinda awesome. I even beat someone in a pokemon contest, haha!" Stretching the truth a bit there, wasn't she? Ralia giggled idly.

Erika then went on to show her entire team to her. Well, might as well return the favor too, then! Claire let all of her pokemon out, and much like Erika's own, Claire's own pokemon were also happy to be introduced. Except for Lure who was remaining irritable as always and simply giving everyone death stares, and Rtiz who still was a bit shy. Surprisingly, Erika had more pokemon than she did! Well, maybe unsurprisingly. Claire wasn't really aiming to be a collector. She just wanted a small team, after all. For a few seconds, Claire's pokemon happily played with and interacted with Erika's own, until she made that comment about being a poor trainer.

"Huuh? Poor trainer?!" Claire shouted with a frown, pointing a finger accusingly at Erika. "Ahaha, nonsense! I mean, you're not as good as me obviously," Her frown turned into a grin. "But the way I see it, all your pokemon like ya! And that means you're pretty good, don't it? HEY DEL!" Claire made a motion, the Beedrill buzzing over and looking at Erika curiously. "And since it seems like you're gonna need some convincing...battle time! And I'm not taking no for an answer!"

@Joshua Tamashii@Eklispe

Angelique did not even turn to look at Dawkin. Cofagrigus did, the coffin Pokémon giving a snarl as it was hit with a little bolt and a water-shot that seemingly did nothing but annoy the ghost, but to Dawkin the ghost swiftly resolved to ignore him and pushed ahead. Amelia felt a ripple with her sense, another command, which had made the ghost press on. At Dawkin’s warning of alerting the whole town, Angelique did turn and gave him a cold, focused stare, bereft of any emotion other than her shilling power.

Then… the Greninja dashed past, and the Water Shurikens had far more effect than Pichu and Wooper’s shots.

‘GRIGUS…!’ the coffin recoiled, turning angrily at Greninja and then spun to face the new person that had appeared on the scene. The Greninja, and all Pokémon that were used to that level, recognized how absolutely insufferably slow Cofagrigus actually was, it was ridiculously slow. The Pokémon was about to move to try to fire something after Greninja, but a ripple only Amelia felt from Angelique kept the coffin still, unmoving.

The eerie woman instead turned her head only just enough that her unchanging eyes could settle on the new arrival at the scene. She stood silent, her eyes drifting between him and Dawkin while Cofagrigus stayed motionless, neither moving. Then… she spoke, unclear as to whom.

‘Hmpf. Champion or chaperon? Friend or fool? Helper or hinderance? Apostle or adversary?’ Angelique asked, her tone a graced voice which would have been beautiful had it not been seething in malevolence. Not bothering explaining her words or waiting for a reply, Angelique turned her head and looked straight at Amelia. Her cold eyes stared unflinchingly… and then she spoke again, this time for far longer.

‘A caliginous claimant calls from the catacombs, unpropitious ubiquity unequivocal. A wraith wanders, an eidolon exposes esurience. The seer searches, its abode of aplomb amidst evidence of epochs elapsed. The claviger of the cadaverous clambers, piling purity and perspicacity. The stalwart stallion succumbs to parsimonious peregrination, the damsel disregarded. The contentious connection congregates the chosen, inquisitive of the improving individuals. Cold will be cleansed, can you call upon the clinger?’

Finishing that _{(and probably leaving everyone confused)}, she lifted and threw up a Pokéball. With a crash and a flash, a large, round, balloon-like ghost rose from within with two small red eyes and a cross over where a mouth would be imagined, flying up above its trainer.

‘Bliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiim~’





With the blimp Pokémon rising up above Angelique, Amelia alone felt two more ripples sent from the woman. One was directed at Cofagrigus, who immediately gathered its hands together and started charging some kind of internal mystical power for an unknown move. The one to Drifblim was much more obvious, a lot louder, and somehow Amelia could tell exactly what the command was.

Explosion

‘Boom,’ Angelique simply stated, in the exact same tone as before without any change in her expression, as suddenly everyone saw as the Drifblim swelled up to considerable size and gave everyone present precious little time to react. Behind Drifblim Cofagrigus was charging something but wasn’t aiming at anything, and before the blimp stood Angelique… who was seemingly within Drifblim’s blast-radius without making even the slightest motion to escape it, like she was perfectly safe.

So. What would Amelia, Dawkin and the older young man do?

This was only getting more confusing, his attacks had done little to affect the ghost Pokemon and it had simply glanced at him before ignoring him. A trainer with dark hair had arrived, who seemed to have equal if not greater ability than that mysterious women, and he seemed to be related to Amelia in some way. How did she know all these people? The women's gaze turned to Dawkin and whoever had just arrived, ending somewhere in the middle, as did her speech. Was she... Asking what they were? Whatever it was, a moment after she turned to Amelia and began ranting again. It sounded like English, but Dawkin had no idea what she was saying, the most coherent thing he could grasp was that there was a lot of alliteration. There was perhaps one word that made any sense to Dawkin

Boom

The Drifblim immediately swelled up and Dawkin's eyes widened. It was going to use explosion right here? It wasn't exactly a common attack, but it was distinctive in both its effects and strength. There was... Nothing he could do about that. His Pokemon weren't strong enough to disrupt, nor defend from the attack. The only thing he could do was get out of range, whatever that was. [color=gray]"Run!"[color] Dawkin shouted, not feeling the need to explain what was going to happen, as it was just clear. Frankly he wasn't sure why Amelia hadn't started running already given the situation, but he could only hope that she would do so now. After all running over to her wouldn't exactly help either of them very much. So Dawkin took the chance to return his Pokemon and retreat behind one of the buildings next to the alleyway, trusting that the Drifblim wouldn't be powerful enough to level everything with a city block.

Action: Advance away from the enemy!

---

Martin was on a stroke of good luck. As he expected, Durant was the king of this place, having no trouble against anything here. He was tempted to stay here longer to keep training, but that strange rich looking person was crying. It wasn't a surprise, using a high level Pokemon to try capturing Spearow, but he wasn't going to ignore them man. Martin walked over to the man, talking as he went, his Durant preferring to continue teaching the Pokemon here who is champ.

"Hey, don't worry about knocking out that Spearow. Might want to try holding back on power, or using a weaker Pokemon. Of course, a better Pokeball could help as well. I'm Martin by the way, who are you?" Martin gave a smile, holding his hand out for a handshake. It was likely this guy didn't know much about training or catching anything, but he could be wrong.

Action: Give the noble a few pointers and tips about catching Pokemon. Possibly cheer him up as well.

Am I now find myself in an old school play. Someone needs to get out more often. The young man thought to himself as he calmly watched Angelique's actions and listened to her words. He could hazard a guess as to what they meant, but putting form the effort hardly seemed worth it. Instead, he grabbed another pokeball from his belt and laughed as he watched the Drifblim begin swelling up.

"Sensei?" Amelia asked behind him.

"Follow your friend but stay nearby. I wanna talk to him after I'm done here." The man replied calmly, never taking his eyes off Angelique.. Amelia nodded and ran off after Dawkin, after which, the man decided to have some fun. "Ho, a she-devil who speaketh in tongues! Begone I say, your foul presence shant taint these peaceful lands. Crawl back to your pit from whence you came, ye demoness, corrupter of souls, and bringer of chaos. Leave the people and creatures be, so that ye may crawl and suffer among thine own kind. If thou does not retreat, ye have naught to blame but thineself for the defeat that awaits you."

Cringe worthy? Very possible. Worth it? If he got any sort of annoyed or angered reaction from her, most definitely. Otherwise, a good bit of practice incase he encountered this woman again. Without further delay, he released his third pokemon, this one taking the from of what appeared to be some sort of armored humanoid.



"You three should know what to do." He said calmly. All three responded positively, which Greninja running towards their opponent while Absol and Bisharp remained behind. Bisharp moved in front of the man and crossed it's arms while using Iron Defense to raised it's... well, defenses, to protect her master incase the explosion went off. In the meantime, Absol charged up and fired an Ice Beam at the Blimp, hoping to either freeze it or, it they got lucky, flat out knock the thing unconscious. Greninja took the most offensive approach, using Double Team to create a dozen clones of itself. Half the clones attacked Drifblim while the other half attacked Cofagrigus. The real Greninja got above Drifblim though, aiming to hit it with a point blank Dark Pulse, the same move it's clones would be using, at the same time Ice Beam hit for a double whammy.

@Pikmin Eye

'Oh, um,' the relatively young man flinched a bit as Martin (younger) came up to him and started talking, the man quickly brushing his tears away and getting to his feet to look at him. 'Ah, thank you… but um…' he started, looking a little unsure, until asked to introduce himself.

'Ah, yes!' he straightened his back, smiled widely (still with tears in his eyes) and gestured proudly to himself, Togekiss happily flew to look pretty over his shoulder with a smile to match. 'I am Frans! I am the young master and son to the owner of the Private Palace, north-west of here! I don’t blame you if you’ve heard of me, I am actually quite an accomplished Pokémon combatant, frequently partaking in the Pokémon League competitions! This here is my proud partner, Parvati!'

'Toge!' Parvati the Togekiss rose and made a happy noise. … Then Frans’ smile faltered, and he looked a slight bit… mortified.

'… Yet, I have never actually caught a Pokémon myself. Even Parvati here was given to me in my youth, and even with all my strength I’ve never been able to prove I can handle the full experience of being a Pokémon Trainer.'

'Toge…' Parvati drifted closer to comfort her trainer, a little sad expression on the flying fairy’s face. Frans abscently patted her, looking at her gratefully before continuing.

'I don’t have any weaker Pokémon, and I suppose I could buy more expensive Pokéballs, but I don’t really want to. That’d just be taking advantage of my fortune again, wouldn’t it? I’ve already resolved to leave my other Pokémon other than my dear Parvati behind for now, so as to not hold on to my advantage too hard…' Frans sighed, before once more looking to Martin, Parvati floating behind him.

'I’ve been doing what I can, but it’s been difficult. Yeah, so, um. Sir Martin, if you have any suggestions on what I could do, I’d gladly hear them!'

That’s a situation. What’d Martin have to say to that?

Otherwise.



Connected areas:
Route 13. North-west, a dark route where electric-types gather for the nearby power-plant. Leads to Bigfjord City and further west.
Worldedge City. North, the largest city in Isson, divided into many districts on top of one another made possible by Mt. Edge’s crooked physics.
Crossing. East, a simple bridge over to Route 18 for those who don’t want to walk through Worldedge City and Mt. Edge.
Mountain Valley. West, a passage between the ranges Mt. Strength and Mt. Chill, leading directly to Stillwood Village.
Freecape Town. South-east, a cliffside town with excellent view and many birds. Home of the Freecape Ferrymen.
Route 8. South, a pleasant cliffside walkway with hilly terrain and great view over the waters.



__________________________

@Joshua Tamashii@Eklispe

Angelique turned and glared at the young man, her cold eyes and expression not changing the slightest throughout all which he said, though her gaze did not leave him. Then, however, she turned and started walking towards him, completely ignoring his Pokémon that shot beams of ice and jumped divided into many as she wandered. Drifblim took the Ice Beam, shuddering in damage but was not frozen, however the next Dark Pulse struck out from Greninja and Drifblim wavered, before collapsing together onto the ground, fainting and returning to Angelique’s Pokéball without her even acknowledging it. Cofagrigus just cackled, feeling nothing as the Double Team Greninja’s attacked it.

Angelique approached the young man until either something blocked her, she was a meter or so away from him glaring at close range, until he started backing away from her or until something other unexpected happened.

‘Shrouded shepherd, seasoned soldier on secluded soil. The moment’s misused, the extant engagement embryonic. To a greater goal will be given guidance. A favored felon stirs in the septentrional city, a contest copacetic for the crusade. Amongst atramentous architecture, an adversary awaits. The spectral savant of the triumphant tetrad testifies the trial, present particular pulverising postponed until the unworthy upholds legitimate labelling in the league,’ she spoke, looking at him, gaze held steady.

At that moment, Cofagrigus was done with what the coffin had been charging. The four hands slapped together, and cube-shaped blue shimmering walls rapidly expanded from it, quickly enveloping all within the expanse of the battlefield. Absol and Bisharp both suddenly felt their movements hampered, like an otherworldly force was keeping down their speed and mobility. Greninja felt like some monster was holding her down, only the slightest speed allowed from her like she had just quadrupled in weight. This, to any who recognized it, was Trick Room, where the fast move slow…

And Cofagrigus swooped forth with unimaginable speed, the previously excessively slow-moving ghost flashing forth, cackling as it approached Greninja.

‘COFAFAFAFAFAFA~!’ Having seen which Greninja had sent the Dark Pulse, Cofagrigus approached and charged a green ball of a move a Cofagrigus normally shouldn’t know, quite alike Trick Room. Basically regardless of Greninja’s attempt, she’d find the move she was trying to perform to be excessively slowed and couldn’t be performed before the sudden blast of Cofagrigus’ Energy Ball, the grass-type shot knocking the Greninja off her feet and into the air. Only because Cofagrigus was no grass-type did she make it out of that conscious, slight health remaining.

Except, before she even had time to be properly knocked back, the super-speeded Cofagrigus gripped her leg, Greninja’s balance pulled out from under her as she was suddenly thrown straight in the direction of Absol, who too had found his movements hampered trying to dodge. Though, the throw was not actually a Pokémon move, and as such they took minimal damage, it was simply Cofagrigus showing off its power, the blue walls of Trick Room shimmering around them, all while Angelique was staring at the young man knowing full well what was happening behind her. By Cofagrigus ability, Mummy, bandages had somehow appeared on contact binding loosely around Greninja repressing her ability but having no other effect, and in case of successful impact with Absol the same happened to him.

‘Stay in subjugation, striving sentinel,’ Angelique finished, before turning around and walking. She didn’t seem to have any intention of continuing the battle, simply walking off through the street, not stopping unless stopped by something. Cofagrigus still hovered there, however, grinning within the Trick Room which was granting it such magnificent speed. Unless any Pokémon moved to try to counter it, Cofagrigus wouldn’t move to attack, but it’d be quick to intercept any attempts to attack from “faster” Pokémon…

Of course, the explosion didn’t happen, so the young ones running off had not noticed any explosions.

So, having ran away a bit, Dawkin and Amelia noted there were actually a few individuals that had been waiting, just out of sight, staying at a healthy range from Angelique. Adult men standing behind corners on edge with Pokéballs at the ready like they were preparing for potential conflict, tense with the knowledge that if she did something they probably wouldn’t stand a chance. Behind one of the corners in the front was a girl in a long black dress, with long pink/purple hair, standing with a black snake curled up head raised behind her.



The group spared a look at them, looked to the girl like she was in command of them, and she made dismissive gesture which resulted in them all merely looking past them at the conflict that was actually out of their sight, assumingly listening for bad sounds. Didn’t seem like they considered the current situation terrible enough to actually interfere.

What would those present do?

❄Erika Olson❄

---

---

"A badge is still having at least one, right? That's so good! And winning a contest is something, too!" Erika praised Claire's accomplishment, but was secretly quite jealous that she had zero badges to show for her time as a trainer. This exchange didn't help her confidence as she really couldn't think of anything she did as extraordinary as Claire. Of course, Erika wasn't quite giving herself any credit for anything but that's how she was. "Oh well yea but I don't think that's something..." Erika mumbled, looking a bit embarrassed with herself.

It was true, she needed convincing but to be offered a battle so soon was something that took her off guard. "A battle here? Right now? Oh no.. Err I mean okay!" Erika sounded as she was wavering with a chance of just running off before finally finding some confidence in her answer.

"Well how about it, Eep? Want to lead for us?" Erika's first choice was a safe one. She couldn't help but pay attention to what Claire's team composed of. Bugs. Even though they sent a chill down her spine, Erika had a fire type and chances are, a thunder type would be effective as well. However, Erika should be reactionary with her advantage as Claire's Ralts and Chimchar would present a challenge, or so Erika predicted. It was a question whether or not Kay would be of any help but with these berries, Erika though she might be able to convince her. Thus, Erika wanted to subtly defer to Claire to make her first move with her first type.

The young man's smirk only grew as Angelique approached him, clearly having struck some sort of nerve within a woman. As she gave her speech, he watched as Drifblim was knocked out before Cofagrigus released it's Trick Room. His smirk never faltered, even when Greninja was almost knocked out and sent flying towards Absol, who dodged using Quick Attack to negate the effects of the Trick Room. Apparently both Trainer and Pokémon had some experience fighting in this environment.

"Cheap tricks are only as good as the fools who fall for them. Sadly, no such fools here." He said to her calmly before she turned to leave. He returned Greninja to her pokeball before closing the distance between himself and Angelique, grabbing the neck of her shirt and holding her in place. He then spoke to her in a tone one might use while gently chiding a child. "Hey, you owe me some money. Cause while I knocked out one of your tools, you didn't manage to knock out a single one of my partners. Now, pay up and I'll let you leave. Come on now, be a good little girl."

---

Meanwhile, Amelia stopped where Dawkin did, looking back in the direction of the two battling trainers. She was a little out of breathe but otherwise fine.
"It seems he stopped the Explosion." She said after a few seconds of waiting. It was only after she relaxed that she finally registered the presence of others around them. She quickly moved closer to Dawkin, her expression nervous as she watched the individuals around them, unsure if they were friend or foe.

@PlatinumSkink@Pirouette

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"Aha, that's the spirit!" Claire grinned. "Eep, eh?" Lileep, was it? She wasn't too sure what it could do, but it was a grass/rock type, right? She had chosen Beedrill already, so this was going to be an interesting match up. Still, as much as she liked Erika, going easy on her would be an insult to her. She intended to always fight opponents at her best, after all. Excitedly bouncing, Claire pointing enthusiastically at Erika and Eep.

"Alright, Del! Dazzle 'em and show them how skilled we are!" With a buzz of confirmation, Del moved to the battlefield from where he was buzzing behind her. "I'll try not to trash you too thoroughly...Del! Harden poison sting combo!" Claire was certain Beedrill would be faster than Lileep, but she wasn't so sure if it knew any rock-type moves or anything else. A safe strategy to start with since he could get Harden off, then if Lileep go close, stab 'em with a stinger.

"Bzzz!" Flapping his wings, Del began to harden his muscles, tensing up his body to reduce physical damage that he might take. Next, he'd make a beeline right for Eep, zooming towards it with his stingers so long as he wasn't interrupted.

Huh, who were these people? At a glance he had to assume they were related to either the extremely skilled man or women that was here, but they seemed almost like they were scared of getting noticed, although clearly not by Dawkin and Amelia. He had a lot of questions and wanted answers. "Ameila, who are those people and how do you know them. As for you lot, what are you here for, are you following one of them?" Not that he really expected the strange group to answer his questions, but it was better to ask and not get then get without asking. That wasn't how the saying went, whatever. A glance back revealed whoever had come to safe them seemed to very much have the upper hand.

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