---

^{Route 2: True Infested Woods || Night}
Butterfree were supposed to be the nice bug-types—the ones that couldn't help their muted emotions and apathetic kindness, fluttering overhead and sprinkling glittery dust over trainers marching off into the sunset. What they weren’t supposed to be, though, was terrifying, and that was exactly what they’d become at the moment. Even the second it took for Eryn to register what was happening and snap out of her shocked gaping was one second too many, and when Eryn collected herself she knew all she had time for was snap decisions.

“Run!” Eryn took off, leading her Pokemon into the denser part of the forest where she hoped the foliage would serve to block some of the falling dust. “Kylie, Fairy Wind overhead! Dei, Ember anything that gets too close!”

In her arms, Tula wiggled, causing Eryn to clutch her tighter. No time to return her Magikarp right now, unfortunately. She barely had enough headspace to figure out where she was going and how she was going to avoid tripping, nevermind trying to retrieve Tula’s Pokeball.

“This way!” Eryn skipped over exposed roots and overgrown vines, doing her best to avoid anything her Pokemon wouldn’t be able to run over themselves. As the trainer, she was unable to do anything helpful in terms of abilities, so she’d do her best to do everything else and leave that up to her Pokemon. She’d briefly considered returning her Pokemon and running for it herself, but that would be dangerous—suicidal, even, especially given the status effects involved. If she were to get poisoned or paralyzed out in the woods… well, she’d rather not consider those possibilities at the moment. Plus, Kylie would probably be able to blow the worst part of the dust away to allow for an escape, though that probably wouldn’t buy them too much time. More than anything, Eryn was counting on the Butterfree not giving chase. She’d trespassed on their territory and presented herself as a threat, most likely, so hopefully they wouldn’t be too vengeful if she were heading in the opposite direction.

“I officially hate Butterfree!” Eryn shouted as she ran, more out of exasperation than frustration now. This was a little too much stress than she signed up for, and between the adrenaline and the icy numbness that came with fear, she was having a hard time figuring out what to do if the Butterfree didn’t let up. She deserved this, she supposed, for trying to brave the dangerous part of the woods in the dead of night. She shouldn’t have expected anything short of status effect-focused moves when taking on bug-types, and now she was doing her best to running away from the consequences.

---

@PlatinumSkink

---

Valen found himself suddenly seated in a chair, staring into the gaze of a very intense senior before him. At first, he thought he’d done something wrong. “Uhhh…” He tried to think of what to say. Had he come off as too forward?

His trepidation lessened as he found himself listening, not to scolding, but a warm winding tale about Highhill. This is… Nice. He sat back in the chair, letting the story unfold.

There was much the old man had to say and it wouldn’t have been accurate to say Valen could glean everything from it, but he tried as hard as he could. Some of the details gained may have been fuzzy, but the main points he was able to retain. Perhaps the most inspiring and captivating tale of all was the story about a hero that took down a monster.
Hero. It was a powerful word, especially to a child like Valen, who dreamed of being a hero. Someone who could save people and make a difference, he thought dreamily. There was no terrorizing monster now, and who knew if the forest guardians existed, but there were some troubling rumors stirring about Amethyst and Virtue. Just for a moment, Valen toyed with the idea of being able to woosh in on the gangs and shut down their awful antics. Brushed away just as quicky, the notion was tossed out. You’re still just a kid… With a Porygon who doesn’t listen to you and a Snivy that doesn’t like you. Grow up. But there was still that excitement and wonder that caused him to tremble-- where were those forest guardians now? Did they still exist? What had the monster been? How had they taken the monster down? Even as the elder moved onto different topics, the legend remained in Valen's mind.

When the old man finished, he was quiet for a moment, reflecting and uncertain of what to say. But finally he flashed a smile. “Thank you. Thank you so much. I loved hearing about Highhill, and the information you gave was really useful.” His words may have not been the most sophisticated, but his appreciation couldn’t have been overstated, and he could only hope he expressed his feelings well. But it was late now and Valen wanted some time to rest and parse through all the information.

After thanking the man and heading back to the pokemon center, Valen took a room for the night. Letting his pokemon out of their capsules, they looked less than pleased. He wondered what was wrong at first before realizing.

“Oh, that pokemon on Route 1, right? Guys,” he sighed, exasperated. Pokemon were very much like children, he thought. “I’m sorry but I didn’t want you guys getting hurt! And you know, that pokemon was probably more afraid of us than him. We knew better, didn’t we? Besides, you guys were stronger and that’s not fair.” The last part he wasn’t sure about, but he was willing to bet. After all, Qwerty had looked like she had been winning.

The Snivy folded his arms and flicked his tongue with a soft hiss, though his head was tilted as if he were entertaining Valen’s point at least. Qwerty hovered around in circles uncertain, but swayed.

“You didn’t have one fight, it’s not the end of the world. Qwerty, just earlier today you didn’t want to fight those Shuppet, remember?” Valen pressed. “I know that Growlithe attacking probably made you angry, but we don’t always have to retaliate. It was just dumb. It's not like it was gonna solve anything.”

Qwerty let out a sigh, bumping into Valen’s shoulder. She conceded.

“Knew you’d come around,” Valen smiled, patting Qwerty’s head. “Let’s all get to bed. Oh and Snivy,” he paused. “Mind if I call you Basilisk? Basil sometimes, for short.”

The Snivy let out a tiny ‘hmmph’, curling his leafy tail around him, a ghost of a smile—but a smile nonetheless—curving his snout.

The next morning Valen woke up early; the habit of getting up around 7 AM for school had not yet left his internal clock and was far from doing so. The only thing to do then, was prep and get ready for the day. So, after withdrawing some fresh clothing items from his PC, freshening up, and getting breakfast, Valen, Qwerty, and Basil were up and out to explore the day away.

Bounding about with energy however, Qwerty and Basil were raring for some training first. They were chasing each other around in circles, giggling. Hmm…. Maybe they can train together? It seemed more practical to train his pokemon together, rather than against wild pokemon. After all, even if wild pokemon challenged them, it felt a little unfair to just use them for level up fodder.

“Okay, so I have an idea, how about you guys spar against each other?” Valen suggested to the rowdy duo. “Basil, you come at Qwerty with Vine Whip and Qwerty, you practice with Conversion 2 and Psybeam! Remember, you guys are sparring. You're figuring out your techniques and stuff!” And afterwards, we're gonna go to Silent Shrine. Some prayers and luck were in need.

After some good effort and training from Basil and Qwerty, and a firmer grasp on how his pokemon battled, Valen hurried along to the Silent Shrine.

---

@Gardevoiran

‘Hm. That’d be that way,’ Earl pointed in a direction. ‘You’re going to run into the path to the Silent Shrine first. From there, you can either go off the road into North Silent Forest, or head east to Highhill Town. Route 3 is either east of North Silent Forest or north of Highhill Town, you’ll need to at least step inside one or the other before reaching the route,’ Earl simply stated.

Then there was Vivia. Celebrity used Pound! … “Lightly”!

'AH!' Vivia flinched and accidentally kicked the sleeping Venonat beside her, flinching and rolling to get back onto her feet while one hand went to the place she had been pounded. 'I’m awake! I’m awake! I’m- huh,' she said, as she started looking around herself in confusion. 'Oh, right, I was…' Vivia reasoned as she remembered what she had been doing… and then frowned at Celebrity. 'You put me asleep! Don’t do that! I like being awake, okay!?' she mildly scolded, before looking up to Skylar. 'I’m sorry! What did I miss!?' she asked in a panic, looking around, seeing Skylar and Earl. 'Oh, this is…'

‘… I’m Earl,’ Earl simply stated.

'Huh. Vivia. Pleased to meet you,' Vivia stated, looking around for wherever he might have come from, having been preoccupied with Celebrity earlier but seeing the building again she was starting to remember.

‘Venonat…’ Venonat complained, getting up beside her as well. Eventually, a giggling Rotom that had just startled a Tropius into dropping into the spring and a mildly upset Scraggy trying to keep eyes on Rotom also came over.

So, what’d Skylar do?



Connected areas:
Route 1. To the south.
Route 3. If you head north-east for a while.
Silent Shrine. Go north, you should be able to find the road there.



__________________________

@Ephemeral

Eevee Sand-Attacked, and Extraordinary Leered, and Grolithe Embered. It had much of the intended effect, the Blitzles’ Defense was lowered, they scattered lightly, Ember scared them and parted the way. The way was opened to the Shiny Blitzle, and Eevee was going to commit to a Tackle… when he was hit by a sudden Quick Attack from a Blitzle straight on. In fact… the whole herd knows Quick Attack, Blitzle IS BORN with Quick Attack! Suddenly, the herd confident in its abilities, numerous (6 in total) Blitzle’s came charging forward at blinding speed, hitting Eevee and Growlithe for heavy damage when all the Blitzles came at once. The ones that targeted Extraordinary obviously flew straight past, but one of them was charging electricity, preparing to unleash Shock Wave. … Except, of course, Shock Wave immediately went to one of its companions, Lightning Rod preventing them from actually targeting Extraordinary with any electricity.

Level-range in the herd of Blitzles, 6-12.

Thing is, one of the Blitzle’s that had charged in towards Growlithe was the Shiny Blitzle, who had Quick Attacked alongside its companions.

So, Eevee and Growlithe are both about to faint from taking on superior numbers, though the Blitzles are unable to actually do anything about Extraordinary, ironically due to their own ability. Thing is, unable to target the Pokémon, at least one of them looks towards Erza himself.

Does this change his strategy?

__________________________

@Joshua Tamashii

To Joshua on the outside, having his Pokémon battle the hordes of Ghost-Pokémon summoned to break out of the Tomb… it suddenly happened that all the ghosts stopped. The Goletts froze in their advance, Honedges suddenly pulling back and Bronzors stopping in mid-air, a sudden air of truce hanging over the halls. It seemed like something had happened, something that made all the advancing forces stop. The fighting completely stopped, Joshua’s Pokémon and the ghosts stopping and staring at one another.

… There was something on the skies to the north. Was something approaching…? … It was numerous…

____

@Eklispe@Joshua Tamashii

Aegislash stopped short and the young man’s smile dropped as Amelia spoke. It clearly wasn’t what he was expecting. They were silent as she explained their similarities. A small snort came as she said she wanted to be their friend and the people above probably didn’t know his plight. A silence hang in their end of the room as Amelia asked them to call off the attack until the negotiations were done, and then Amelia’s words to Greninja. The young man raised his chin while Aegislash floated eerily and glared at her before she turned to face him again.

‘Aeegislaash,’ the Pokémon declared. A manner of power reached out from him, and all at once, his ghosts across the tomb stopped their assault. They stopped where they stood, not moving another muscle.

‘Very well. You may speak with my master. We will hold off… until the end of your talk,’ the young man declared. ‘I have no doubt you will fail,’ he told, altogether unconvinced, yet regardless affected on some manner of level.

With that, Bronzor flew forth, and applied its Hypnosis.

As Amelia had accepted this, the felt her consciousness darken and drift away, but not before a final message. But if you can… do what I cannot. Help him.

Then, if Dawkin didn’t, if Greninja didn’t, then Cofagrigus reached forth with its many arms and grabbed Amelia before she fell, and then the room would be silent, nobody having any express reason to speak.

‘Hmpf. Foolhardy girl. I will take pleasure in seeing her expression after her failure,’ the young man said, though his expression was remarkably sour. Aegislash maintained roughly the same aura.

‘Still, we have time. After all, so many years have passed, the ones who locked us away should all be-’

Suddenly, the eyes of both Aegislash and the human widened, glaring off in the distance past Dawkin and the other amassed ghosts.

‘Aegi-!?’ Aegislash questioned in alarm.

‘No! They should… they should all be-! Why are they…!?’ the young man asked, panic and dread in his voice.

____

@Joshua Tamashii

‘Bravo! Bravo!’

… Said the man whose feet hit the sand beside the entrance Joshua was guarding. The man was dressed in a fancy cloak-uniform in black, white and gold, an elderly man in glasses and a balding head, a Chatot placed on his shoulder. To his left was a woman of darker skin-colour in a white official uniform-dress and to his right a man in a suit, holding a book and long staff with a Pokéball etched into the middle of the spire, a huge scarf around his neck and hanging way further than any normal scarf would. The leader had ridden in on an ancient fossil bird Archeops, the woman had ridden in on a psychic bird Xatu though it had looked more like she’d been carried along by psychic power, while the scarf-man with a staff had ridden in on the ogre darner Yanmega. Behind the three of them was a group of numerous men and women dressed all in white with belts of Pokéballs on them.

‘Bravo!’ … Said the Chatot.

‘Bravo, indeed,’ said the older man with a kind smile. ‘You’ve held off the ghosts until we arrived. But, you have nothing more to fear. Let me introduce myself. I am Roderick. Leader of Team Virtue.’



‘These are my Admins, Ivory and Oscar,’ Roderick said, waving gracefully to his companions.

‘You have our gratitude,’ Ivory said, keeping her head lifted, Xatu by her side.

‘Maye the fates…’ Oscar said, weaving with his staff a bit in the air, as if he was blessing Joshua or something, Yanmega buzzing in mid-air beside him. ‘… smile brightly at you for today’s actions.’



‘The situation is now handled. We will end whatever threat has arisen within this tomb, and seal them away once again. Oscar, the chosen Pokémon is ready?’ Roderick asked, turning to his companion.

Oscar lifted and bumped the staff against the sands, looking to the Pokéball etched into the spire.

‘Ready to fulfill its destiny.’ The was something of awe in Oscar’s gaze as he looked at the Pokéball…

‘Good,’ Roderick nodded, taking out a Pokéball of his own and looking towards the assembled horde of ghosts, the men behind the three leaders of Virtue doing the same. They were making ready for battle again, in fact even staggering backwards trying to get to more easily defendable positions. ‘Men, ready for battle!’ Roderick called, completely intending on completely ignoring Joshua…

‘Ready for battle!’ … Called the Chatot.

____

@Eklispe _{… and @Joshua Tamashii for Greninja, I suppose.}

‘Blast it! This is too soon! The master is not ready…!’

Aegislash turned and glared angrily, directly at Dawkin.

‘Did YOU call for them…!?’ the young man asked, glaring right alongside the Pokémon controlling him. All of a sudden him and his Golurks and other Pokémon were in the mood to fight again, and Cofagrigus as well as Gengar made ready for battle once again.

Meanwhile, a certain daughter was peeking out through the doorway behind Aegislash’s puppet, for some reason not asleep while all the rest of the ghost’s captives were. There was all of a sudden a whole lot of pressure on Dawkin, and a battle that looked like it was about to break out all at once.

____

@Joshua Tamashii

…

…

…

Amelia felt like she woke up with a jolt. It was by the sound of a lightning strike. It felt like she had just been woken up and all the adventuring she had just done had been a single long, extensive dream, all of it suddenly cut short…

This… was her bedroom. Her cage, the very same one she had moments ago been describing for Aegislash. … And that was another lightning strike. The sound of rain pounding against the walls and windows were echoing throughout the house. If she tried to move, each motion felt like it was taking ten times the effort, and like her heart had to work overtime to keep up.

The door suddenly struck open, almost perfectly timed with another lightning bolt. There… stood her father, glaring at her accusingly.

‘I heard… you snuck out again,’ he told, actual anger in his voice. ‘You went far, far away… you can’t do that. It’s not safe out there. You need to stay, right here, if I so have to…’ he took a step forward, and in his hands were chains. Chains to bind Amelia to her bed. He approached slowly, with almost guilty eyes, but… ‘You leave me no choice…’

… Now, there was a lot of negative aspects piling up in this existence, fueled by who knows what that could clearly see her memories as it did what it did, and perhaps it could have been too much for her…

… But with her in her dream were her Pokémon.

Actions?

__________________________

@Dusksong

Eryn ran, with Kylie shooting Fairy Wind overhead to scatter the powder released from the Butterfrees into other areas. Some of the Butterfrees flew close, but they were held off by sudden Embers from Dei as they ran, though they were quick enough to avoid actually being hit. She ran, attempting to outpace the intentions of the Butterfrees… and eventually they let her go, circling back as she was running on… but all of a sudden she was seeing light up ahead… along with even more noise of flapping wings, not those of Butterfrees, but very similar.



__________________________

@prettydrops

Training among one’s own Pokémon is excellent for potentially figuring out and performing combos among your Pokémon or creating excuses for pulling of wild moves or preparing for whatever’s to come. In average, Qwerty and Basilisk both benefited from this training, getting more experience and perhaps getting to know one another a bit better. However, to gain actual levels they’ll need to battle enemies from the wider world~!

With the training done, they headed off towards the Silent Shrine!



__________________________

@Rune_Alchemist

Claire moved down along the Mountain Valley towards…

---

---

"We'll go and check out the Shrine, then, before we swing by Highhill and get to Route 3." Skylar planted his fist in his hand before he turned into the direction of the way Earl pointed, unsheathing his cane once again, before waving at Earl. "Thanks for the battle Earl! I wish you luck on your efforts to meet that mystical Pokemon!" He looked over at Celebrity and Vivia. "Sorry to spearhead the adventure, Vivia, but Paradise and Celebrity could both use a visit to the Pokecenter, and if there's a path from the shrine that we could take to get there then I think it'd be a good idea to go."

He looked at Earl one more time. "This'll be it for a while, I think, though you're welcome to travel with and come visit the Shrine with us." Skylar offered happily, with Seabreeze affectionately commenting along with a happy "Wingull!"

With that, Skylar and Vivia went forth back into the forest, Skylar holding his Pokeballs at the ready and giving Seabreeze the Wise Glasses that he picked up earlier. Might be nice for him to hold.

As for what he's looking for on the way, you already know what he's searching for. Any rare flying types are optimal, but if he found anything super rad and cool, he'd gladly catch that and bring it along with him as well.

Erza winced slightly at every quick attack taken by his pokémon. Growlithe and Eevee took quite a lot of damage from a sequence of quick attacks - these Blitzles were indeed fast as ever. Extraordinary, however, was completely immune to their attack thanks to his ghost type. Not only that, but Erza quickly realized that their electric-type attack didn't go through as well: They drained their own lightning thanks to their innate ability. Interesting the boy thought, quickly realizing that he had suddenly gained an enormous upper hand that would serve pretty well. Here, have one more friend join the frey!

Pidgey came out of its pokéball already taking flight with a confident look on her eyes. That particular pokémon didn't get to see much battle if any at all, so it was eager to prove herself.

"Vee, Growlithe! Move away from them, don't take any more unnecessary hits! Vee, stay behind and be defensive! Pidgey, sand-attack from a safe distance! Make sure their lightning rod keeps you safe from being hit with an electric-type attack- Extraordinary, target the Shiny Blitzle with Night Shade! AAAAH, Growlithe! EMBER! THAT ONE!"

There. Now Erza has four pokémon on battle, Eevee and Growlithe are weakened while Pidgey and Extraordinary are still completely healthy. He couldn't lose this opportunity, so he was trying to keep himself calm- still, he wasn't particularly comfortable with the situation especially after he realized that he was the targetted choice of at least one Blitzle, which made Erza panic and quickly order Growlithe to ember that particular one. Their numbers and levels were both higher than his team, so he had to rely on luck and possibly some strategy to get through this. If Growlithe managed to use Ember on the Blitzle that was targetting Erza himself and the boy was free to act, he'd quickly pick up two potions from his backpack. One for Eevee, one for Growlithe.

---

Valen had hardly expected to overhear a conversation of such caliber on what was supposed to be a routine shrine trip. The day had started off normal enough, with some warm up training by Qwerty and Basil.

Then they’d headed through the beautifully woodsy Silent Forest, appreciating the plethora of grass types that had made their home and helped craft the ambience of the area. The walk had been uneventful enough, with Basil and Qwerty had thoroughly enjoying the simple stroll. Qwerty especially had to zip around and examine what seemed to be every leaf and vine and flower. She couldn’t help it—the real world was so different than the digital one she had spent her life in.

When they had arrived to the shrine, with it’s verdant green pagoda roof and moss-covered, cobblestone walk, they had taken a moment to admire their surroundings. Even Basil, normally sarcastic and avoidant of Valen, had relaxed enough to even climb up on his shoulder. The place seemed quiet, solemn, but gentle and inviting all the same. In any case, it hadn’t at all seemed like there would have been anything suspicious going on.

So imagine Valen’s shock as he glanced in the direction of a conversation he shouldn’t have been hearing. True, maybe he shouldn’t have eavesdropped, but it was hard not to, what with how loud one of the people was being.

The Shrine Triangle? A third shrine? It was in the legend? Valen’s thoughts flashed back to the legend that he had heard just the night before. This was crazy! Had he truly stumbled upon such a controversy? A legend that had yet to be discovered? It was exciting—hadn’t this been what he had been dreaming about? But it was a terrifying reality check all the same. The people conversing seemed much older, stronger, and—not to mention—much more sinister than anyone he’d seen in his life.

Trying to be logical about his next move, he ticked off the options one by one. Leaving would have meant not getting potential information and though he was nervous, he wasn’t so afraid that he felt the need to leave immediately. His hiding spot was decent enough, and it hadn’t seemed like they had spotted him. He crouched down further. Do I act like I’m praying then? But then… If I head over and pray, they’re gonna know I’m around, and then they’re probably gonna leave to talk more, and I won’t be able to hear them anyways. That left one option then. I’m gonna wait this out, see what they have to say.

@Ephemeral

Eevee went onto the defensive, trying to dodge Quick Attacks… except Quick Attacks are really hard to dodge. Growlithe Embered that one particular Blitzle, which skipped away startled no longer focused on Erza, while Pidgey Sand Attacked at their opponents… Unfortunately, it didn’t exactly stop their opponents. Erza managed to use his Potion on Eevee (because Eevee had no move commanded), but he didn’t have time to also apply it to Growlithe. Despite the lowered accuracy even the affected Blitzle’s were decently accurate, and all three targetable Pokémon suffered numerous Quick Attacks. Pidgey and Growlithe fainted, though Eevee was still about, albeit once again took heavy damage from numerous Blitzle charges.

Extraordinary cast Night Shade on the Shiny Blitzle! The shiny Blitzle shuddered, though only took the equivalent of 5 HP of damage, and turned to attempt Quick Attacking Extraordinary! … It had no effect and charged into a Blitzle behind it! The Blitzles around was starting to get rather annoyed with Extraordinary, whom was turning difficult to harm. One of them was trying to get close to Extraordinary with the horn in order to shoot a Shock Wave straight in the middle of her before it was rerouted to another Blitzle, but Extraordinary didn’t really have any trouble just drifting off before that could happen.

Erza only has Eevee and Extraordinary left right now. What does he do?

__________________________

@prettydrops

The guy was looking over, while the girl recovered from her coughing him. It took a couple of seconds, with Valen of course not seeing because he was hiding.

‘W-well, in any case! We’re here to look for clues, because there may be some hints to the Pokémon supposedly associated with each of these shrines. That is, while the guardians of Silent Shrine and Abandoned Shrine is long gone, the guardian of Lost Shrine is supposedly still there, so if we check here, we might be able to figure out what it is…!’ the girl continued saying… when the sound of a Pokémon coming out of its Pokémon sounded out. ‘… Huh?’

‘Hey.’ Valen suddenly found the guy from the pair crouching next to him, staring at him with a blank stare, a familiar small fire dog species standing at his side.

‘Growlithe!’





‘How’d you find our conversation? No matter. Hey, would you like to come on a trip with us? It’ll be fun. I promise,’ he told, holding a blank face the whole time, staring at Valen. The girl over there was looking rather confused. ‘The alternative is we have an immediate and violent Pokémon battle. So, franky, I insist.’

… What does Valen do?

__________________________

@Gardevoiran

‘You’re welcome. Thank you, as well. Hm,’ Earl said, as Marowak came back with a crying Cubone in her grasp so that Earl could return them both to their Pokéballs. ‘I might depart as well. Some of my Pokémon need to visit the Pokémon Center, and I need to experiment with herbs from other forests as well. Besides, my Budews are more than able to handle the research and the pot in the house without me,’ Earl told, and a couple Budews up at the building went up to the edge and stood at attention, sure to be a big surprise for the next person who knocked on that door that it was a house completely inhabited by just Budews.

‘I won’t go with you, that’s not in my nature,’ Earl stated, shrugging a bit. ‘… But down the line, we might meet each other again, in some forest way away from here. So long, for now,’ Earl stated, before casually starting to walk east, out through the forest.

'… Huh,' Vivia made a mildly puzzled noise at Earl’s departure, but then looked to answer the “sorry to spearhead” thing. 'It’s no problem, I was planning on wandering pretty aimlessly myself, seeing the sights and so. The shrine, huh. Silent Shrine in Silent Forest, where a hero in the past is said to have prayed in order to get the support of different guardians to fight off a monster that had appeared on the Pureplains. Since then it’s been a tradition for young trainers to pray at the shrine for their success, indeed, they say every champion of Isson has prayed at the shrine at some point or another…' Vivia smirked. 'I’d like to go there, so sure.'

And then they were off, Vivia taking most her Pokémon back to their Pokéballs for the moment. Then, they walked through the South Silent Forest again… however, Skylar has pretty much seen every kind of Pokémon that appears in this part of the forest. As such, here’s a list.



With that, coming from the south, they eventually arrived at…

Erza's breathing was heavy. He returned Growlithe and Pidgey to their respective pokéballs, as both could no longer fight. Eevee wasn't feeling too well, either, even after a potion he could tell that his ace pokémon couldn't handle that many Blitzle at once. Extraordinary, however, was almost completely immune to them all: He could literally just waltz through and get out unscathed, but for how long? Erza was considering his options right now and there weren't many. He could keep Extraordinary and stall the battle until she could weaken the Shiny Blitzle, couldn't he? But, Extraordinary wasn't particularly tough just yet and a STAB attack such as shock wave could likely bring her down.

Erza exhaled, he was not lost in thought just yet - he had to stay focused after all. Maybe formulate a strategy in seconds. His objective wasn't winning here, it was catching that Shiny Blitzle, so maybe he could go for an all in strategy - yeah, that's risky, but all the Blitzle had just attacked.

"Vee, tackle the Shiny Blitzle! Extraordinary, Night Shade him!" As Erza commanded his pokémon, he readied an empty pokéball. It was an all or nothing strategy. There was two things to consider here: That Erza managed to weaken his objective enough - and all the other Blitzle were sand-attacked enough to not have a chance to counter-act in this period. Hopefully...

---

It seemed that things were going from bad to worse. Not only had he been found out, he was too close to a fire-type for his liking. There was a sea of feelings Valen was going through, but they all tied back to one thing--fear. How had he gotten himself into this situation again? Stupid, stupid, stupid! He was regretting and questioning all of his choices. He should have run away the moment he'd finished hearing their conversation. Or maybe he shouldn't have heard it at all. What had he been thinking?

Valen could hardly speak, the terror twisting his gut and tightening his throat. "I didn't find your conversation, I dunno what you're talking about." But the contradiction sounded weak, no matter how much he tried to play it up.

What were his options? Run? The Growlithe's nose would have him down in no time at all. Fight? He was outnumbered, two trainers to one. Perhaps the girl didn't have a pokemon, but Valen was going to assume she did. What kind of fight could he put up anyway? And his pokemon--his poor pokemon. Did they deserve to be dragged into this because of his stupid, reckless mistake? I'm the worst..

On the other hand, perhaps, going along with them, would buy some time, allow him to get help. Something? Go along with it, and maybe I can find a way out of it? Or... Or maybe... I mean, how tough can this guy be if he still has a Growlithe? Qwerty was handling herself pretty well yesterday. Maybe...

"Sure, yeah," he agreed, not knowing what else to do. Qwerty let out a noise of protest, alarmed. Basil hitched his breath. But Valen patted them both, rising. "That's okay. It'll be fine." He looked at the older trainers in front of him. "I'll come with you." Both his pokemon huddled close to him.

This is a dumb plan. But... It's better to try, I guess. Just when it seemed that he had tossed in the towel and was getting ready to give in, shoulders slumped and head down, his eyes met Qwerty's, and he whispered "Psybeam."

Qwerty fired off a prompt attack towards the Growlithe. If things get too bad, I'll tell them to get out of here, he thought. But right now, they had to at least try. Giving in when there was a chance to better the situation was the worst choice, after all.

---

---

The two trainers had made it to Silent Shrine after the generally uninteresting walk through the forest, Seabreeze cawing at Skylar every now and again to tell him he was about to walk right into a tree. Thankfully, Skylar didn't, and stood at the shrine's entrance with Vivia. "Cool beans, we made it!" he cheered semi-softly as he stepped into the shrine, walking only a few steps forward before raising his cane to halt Vivia from moving forward. Skylar heard something sketchy, and pulled out his Pokedex, flicking on the camera option and holding his camera around the corner to take a video of the people in the shrine, Skylar watching carefully on the Pokedex display.

‘The alternative is we have an immediate and violent Pokémon battle. So, franky, I insist,’

"Sure, yeah, I'll come with you."

There were three people. A kid with a Porygon and Snivy, a red-haired man, and a cyan-haired woman. The red-haired man had a Growlithe with him, too, and from what it seemed, he was hounding the kid. I mean, maybe it was the case and this was a big misunderstanding on Skylar's end, but it didn't seem to be that way. Not at all. Skylar felt an urge within him to keep his Pokedex rolling as he himself stepped around the corner, quickly moving forward with Celebrity trailing behind him. Whether or not Vivia came with was up to her.

"Hey, what's going on here?" Skylar asked. "Shrines aren't meant to be places of conflict, so what's this I hear about a violent Pokemon battle?"

Dawkin swiftly caught Amelia as she collapsed and lowered her to the ground. Well if anyone could fix this ghost mess it'd be her. Regardless it was awkward for a bit before Aegisslash reacted to something out of vision and suddenly Dawkin was accused of something he wasn't even aware of. "Huh? Call who? Amelia and I came here alone. The only person that could've been related to us is Joshua and he's one dude. What are you on about? Just let Amelia do her thing." Dawkin said, a bit of anger at this false accusation in his voice. Out of the corner of his eye he recognized that girl that had been captured earlier but wasn't sure what todo with this information. He didn't exactly want to point her out and give her away since she seemed to be hiding. Perhaps she would lend him a hand? Otherwise, at this rate, they just have to leave and hope that using an escape rope wouldn't ruin whatever mumbo jumbo Amelia was going through.

---

---

^{Route 2: Deep Infested Woods || Night}
Eryn’s plan worked, which was satisfyingly fear-relieving. She’d managed to regain some control of the situation by getting away from the Butterfree, but when wingbeats came from ahead instead of behind, Eryn knew her control was still limited. The glow in this part of the woods was the Volbeat swarm

A warning hiss from Dei helped Eryn spot the residents of this part of the woods: Kakuna and Beedrill, Vespiquen and Combee—Eryn couldn’t tell whether her new situation was better or worse than her previous one. The Butterfree had threatened debilitating status effects, but Beedrill and Vespiquen were the bug-types no one wanted to come upon in the middle of the woods.

From above, a flurry of wingbeats and buzzing arose. Eryn clutched Tula tighter, eyes wide as the source of the sound loomed into view: A Volbeat zoomed past, identifiable only by its glow, then a entire pack of Dustox dropping powder even in flight.

“Kylie, get ready to Fairy Wind if it blows our way,” Eryn whispered.

A voice sounded from beside Eryn, causing her to whip around so fast her hair almost hit her in her face, tied up or not. It was a woman dressed in a flowing white and gold gown with intricate designs and draperies about her, branding her a stark contrast to the murken scenery around her. Behind her, a red-furred Pokemon—Delphox—leaned against a tree, looking into the flame at the end of the stick it held.

The woman, though, continued talking, proving herself exceedingly knowledgable about the goings-ons in the woods. So knowledgable, in face, that she gave herself away before she even said the word.

“Eryn,” Eryn said, introducing herself over the Magikarp in her arms, “and I don’t think it’d help my cause if I mentioned that I didn’t expect it to go like this.” She adjusted her grip on Tula so that the Magikarp was once again lying in her arms. “I heard in Pureplain that at night there are ghosts here, and I wanted to check it out. In hindsight, I probably should have trained a little more before heading in, but I figured that if I found you it’d be fine.”

Smiling sheepishly, Eryn ducked her head, one hand adjusting her cap. “Nice to meet you?”

---

@PlatinumSkink

@Ephemeral

Eevee tackled past the different Blitzles at the shiny one, and hit for a considerable amount of damage, the shiny Blitzle recoiling from the blow. It appeared that the shiny Blitzle was on the lower spectrum of the level chart, and as such took more than half health from Eevee’s powered-up Tackle. Then Extraordinary Night Shaded it again, and the Blitzle was reduced to almost nothing. Erza cast the Pokéball as Eevee was struck by multiple Quick Attacks in return, causing him to faint. However, Erza’s Pokéball curved towards the target in the air and hit, absorbing the Blitzle into it with a red shine before falling onto the ground.

It rolled once. It rolled twice. It rolled thrice.



__________________________

@prettydrops

The guy smirked a bit at Valen’s reply. ‘Good. I promise we’ll discover some interesting things together. Who knows? After we’re done, maybe we’ll have a job offer for you,’ the guy said, while standing up straight again and holding a neutral expression. … Then Qwerty shot her Psybeam, Growlithe perceived it but was unable to get out of the way in time, and was hit… though not for as much damage as it would have had the two Pokémon been of equal level. Growlithe and the boy both gave Valen a serious evil eye.

‘Well, then,’

Team Amethyst Grunt Allan wants to battle!

‘Growlithe, Bite!’ Allan commanded, and Growlithe immediately skipped into combat, being considerably faster than Qwerty. Unless desperate measures were taken there likely wasn’t a way for her to escape being bitten for noteworthy damage, barely maintaining herself from being flinched. They were in close combat now, it’d be harder to land a Psybeam at this range unless Growlithe was taken by surprise.

‘I didn’t entirely follow what was going on…’ the girl was mentioning as she walked out next to Allan, Pokéball in hand. ‘But I’ll support!’

Though, that’s when…

@Gardevoiran

Skylar came in and talked about peace by the shrines, holding up his Pokédex. The two suited individuals gave him a glance…

‘Hey, that’s a Pokédex. Given to only a handful of young trainers by Pokémon professors, quite the prized piece of technology…’ the girl mentioned.

‘I’ll leave it to you, then,’ Allan said, and the girl gave a smirk. With that, she threw her Pokéball down between her and Skylar, a blue duck emerging from within.

‘Ducklett!’ the duck announced.





‘If you don’t like us fighting by shrines, then how about you fight us off?’ the girl said confidently, crossing her arms and looking at Skylar.

Team Amethyst Grunt Mia wants to-

'HOLD IT!' Vivia took a step forward and placed herself in the way in-between Skylar and Mia. She threw a look back at Skylar, with a bit of a frown. 'Your Pokémon are still hurt from the battle with Earl, right? So,' she turned to face Mia. 'I’ll handle you!'

‘Hmpf, handle me? I’ll handle any number of you!’ Mia boasted back, frowning in turn.

'We’ll see!' Vivia boasted right back, before grabbing for a Pokéball, and… 'Rotom, go get-'

Rotom is off pestering the owner of and stealing from the souvenir shop.

'Venonat, go get her!' Vivia commanded, and sent out Venonat, who jumped out confidently.

‘Venonat!’





_{On account of that Valen is also seeing Venonat now, Venonat Pokédex}

Now, Skylar can totally be like “I can handle this anyway” and not let Vivia defend him, but that’s 100% up to him. His actions now is his own. And Valen also saw that part happen, but of course, he’s attacked by a Growlithe, too.

Valen and Skylar’s actions?

Falling asleep and having a dream was very much like waking up in some regards. You're surrounded by darkness for who knows how long and then you're suddenly surrounded by something, be it a product of your imagination or the boring reality around you. So to say Amelia was confused when she 'woke up' after falling asleep was definitely an understatement. The reason she 'woke up' was definitely the lightning. The mere sight of it flashing caused her to sit up, though she noted that it seemed harder then usual today.
"What's going on? Was I really dreaming?" she mumbled to herself. Her adventurous dream had seemed so real... a little too real. But here she was, in bed with a storm outside her window.

The second bolt of lightning almost made her duck under her covers to try and hide away, but sadly for her, something much more terrifying awaited her as her father suddenly came into the room. He accused her of running away, far away, which was odd. The graveyard wasn't that far, last she checked. A good ten minute walk away, nothing more. Sadly, she didn't get to dwell on his fact as her eyes focused on what he was holding: A set of chains, just for her. Her mind blanked, fear over coming her ability to think. This was definitely her worst possible nightmare.

Now, pokemon were odd creatures. Most of them were content to stay in their pokeballs, locked away until they were needed. Despite being stuck in these capsules, isolated from the world, they occasionally demonstrated the ability to know when to come out of these capsules to aid their trainer in some degree. As was the case that happened here, as Amelia's partners all showed up from their pokeballs, which were Arceus knew where in this dream, and stood between their master, no their friend, and her 'father'.

"LITWICK!" The leader of the group of pokemon shouted before unleashing a fire spin on the dream father, trapping him in place. In the meantime, Shuppet made her way over to Amelia and opened her mouth, literally eating the fear Amelia was experiencing to help calm her down a bit, or at least try. Fear was definitely a dark emotion, even if it wasn't the usual hatred or envy that most Shuppet's ate.

The sight of her pokemon caused Amelia to reel a bit. Her brain began moving fast. She had pokemon here. That meant that what she had been dreaming had to be real, somehow. Her parents would never get her a pokemon, she knew that. Also, what her father had said earlier would suggest that her 'dream' had in fact been reality. So the young girl closed her eyes to concentrate on that 'dream' and figure out what was going on. It didn't take long as the newest scenes from the dream were the freshest. She had been put to sleep. What she was seeing now was actually the dream. Something was manipulating it into a nightmare, using her fears against her. So, it could see into her mind. Which made talking telepathically possible.
I know you're out there. I just want to talk. Please, come and meet me. I want to know you, I want to know what happened to you. You've been sealed away. I want to know why! She thought as loudly as she could. Yes, she was a little upset at this thing for using her fears against her like this, but she figured it was some sort of test, so she held no real malice towards this entity. Maybe it was just a really powerful pokemon.

----------------------------------

Joshua's bit of peace didn't last long as it seemed the calvary had finally decided to show up. He turned to face these newcomers and upon seeing them, his eyes narrowed and his expression was less then pleased. A group this big, wearing similar uniforms with only a few individual showing any sort of individuality? He had been to enough regions and seen enough to know that his reeked of a Team set up. He didn't have to wait long to be proven right, as the older man in front introduced the group as one of the two groups of the region he had heard about, Team Virtue.

The group seemed to be determined to head right into the tomb and seal the pokemon that were in it back up. Joshua was not going to let that slide. He had faith in Amelia and Dawkin being able to handle the situation. That meant that there was only one thing to do.
"You're making a lot of assumptions old man." He said to Oscar. "If you think I trust you just because you've shown up with supposedly good intentions, you got another thing coming. I trust any group with 'Team' in their name about as far as I can throw a Snorlax with one hand. You plan on sealing the tomb back up? What, so this can happen again when the seal inevitably breaks again because of some stupid trainer, treasure hunter, or research team? You're not solving anything, you're just putting a bandage over it. Why not actually let those who arrived to fix the problem before you Slowkings showed up finish their shot at it before you do something stupid.

The Ghost had already stopped their advance. They seem to be waiting for something. Wait it out a bit. Otherwise, you'll be dealing with me before you touch a single one of those ghosts. And I can easily block this hallway up again, make no mistake. But if you have any virtue to you, you might want to take the more pacifistic approach and wait your turn before rushing in like this is some holy crusade in Arceus' name.

Joshua's pokemon gathered around him, facing the Virtue army, Absol and Houndoom growling at the group while Pangoro cracked it's knuckles and Bisharp began sharpening his blades. The Dark pokemon were ready to battle at a moments notice and Joshua knew that in such a narrow hall, even a single obstacle would signifigantly slow an army's progress. On top of that, there wasn't much room for the flying types to maneuver. Essentially, he had the advantage, especially if the residents of the tomb backed him up.

------------

Greninja watched as Dawkin caught Amelia as she fell over, actually looking a bit amused at this. However, when Aegislash began reacting angrily, the ninja frog listened intently before moving between Dawkin and the irate sword.
"Greninja. Grenin, gre, gre, greninja." It said to the pokemon and it's puppet. In translation, however it might work because pokemon language was really weird: "I doubt my master will let whoever is invading your domain pass. Please, do not harm the younglings, whatever is going on, they are innocent. It is likely my master now defends your tomb and this chamber. I will join in this defense. I suggest you prepare for the worse incase we fall. However, should any harm befall the humans in this chamber or the one behind it, he is likely to turn on you. The girl you just put to sleep is his pupil. If you have any honor, you will no bring harm unto her or her friend.

Now, I will go. Hopefully when I return, this will all have been resolved peacefully."

With that, the ninja frog left them, running past the ghost army and joining his master's side, joining in the Anti-Team Virtue defense if a fight broke out.

The ball rolled thrice. The center lit red and the Blitzle escaped, together with his herd. Erza returned the fainted Vee to his pokéball and right after, wordlessly returned Extraordinary to her pokéball as well. The return to the pokémon center was somber and quiet, Erza was contemplative, lost deep in thought: If there was one thing that he absolutely loathed, was losing. This however, wasn't a mere loss: It was a total and complete loss to wild pokémon. Not only that, but it felt as if he had thrown a great opportunity at the trash-can.

There was no dialogue with the nurse, either. He handed his pokéballs, except Extraordinary which wasn't harmed, nodded when she asked if he wanted them to be healed and took them back wordlessly as well. From there, he moved to sit on the couch, hands grasped together and elbows resting over his knees. He stared forward, blankly, still fighting his own thoughts.

Could he find the shiny pokémon again, ever? Was that an one in a lifetime opportunity? Maybe he should train his pokémon harder before searching them... Where could he ever find a ground type, anyway?

"YOU KNOW WHAT! The boy suddenly stood up and likely startled the entire Pokémon Center. He burst into a sprint out of the door, throwing a pokéball up as he did so: An Eevee materialized and fell comfortably on his shoulder. "Get ready, Vee, we'll be playing rock'n'roll from now on. NO MORE LOSSES EVER AGAIN.

With that, back to his previous route he goes. He'll not seek that Shiny just yet, but...

"Extraordinary, let's go!" With that, the ghost-type also came into action. Erza decidedly will train his pokémon, as he clearly needs some levels. Eevee and Extraordinary, for now.

@Dusksong

Laurinda looked at Eryn, soft in her look, then looked off through the trees.

‘So the rumors of ghosts have spread. This is unfortunate. I will be forced to save more children going out into these woods for foolish reasons during night-time to look for these fabled spirits. … Most unfortunate. Delphox, I’ll be counting on you, to see them before they get hurt,’ Laurinda said, as she turned to look towards her partner.

‘Delphox…’ the Pokémon sounded out, sounding like it was a bit of a pain, but acknowledged nonetheless. Delphox gave Eryn a mildly curious stare for a moment, then looked back into the flame.

‘Now, then,’ Laurinda said, turning back towards Eryn. ‘I'll have to insist you leave these woods now. They are too dangerous this time of night. I'd rather not be used as a safety net for young trainers intentionally throwing themselves into reckless danger intending me to catch them,’ she told in a serious tone. ‘I'll escort you back to-’

‘Delphox,’ Delphox suddenly stated, her tone sharp, pointing her wand in a direction. Laurinda looked back at her with regret.

‘Another one…? … I suppose there's no helping it, then,’ Laurinda told, taking out a Pokéball and opening it before Eryn. Before her a floating, living chandelier took shape.

‘Chandelure!’





‘I'll let you at least see a ghost for your troubles. Mine, that is,’ Laurinda told Eryn, before turning to Chandelure. ‘Escort Eryn here back to Outer Infested Woods, and then return home. Understood?’

‘Chan~!’ Chandelure replied.

‘With that, I need to save another hapless young wanderer…’ Laurinda commented, but that was…

‘Del,’ Delphox said with a warning tone, looking to Laurinda, who looked back with a more serious expression.

‘No. You’re saying they are…’ Laurinda asked, and Delphox nodded. ‘Hm. Eryn, you best be on your way. I have something I need to see through. Good luck on your journey, may we meet again when you're better prepared.’ With those words, Laurinda turned to sprint through the wood in the direction Delphox had pointed, leaving Eryn with Chandelure, and…

Delphox stopped next to her and all her Pokémon. Delphox turned and gave Eryn’s Pokémon a bit of a fox-like grin.

‘Del, delphox,’ Delphox said.

‘Ch-chan!?’ Chandelure exclaimed, startled.

‘Delphox, phox,’ Delphox said with a shrug, and then ran on after Laurinda.

‘D-delure...’ Chandelure replied, looking unsure.

And to translate for Eryn’s Pokémon…

‘The ghost-Pokémon are beyond Inner Infested Woods. You’ll be fine if Chandelure looks after you,’ Delphox instructed to Eryn’s Pokémon.

‘Wh-what!?’ Chandelure asked, clearly alarmed.

‘I can keep a secret if you can,’ Delphox told Chandelure, before running off.

‘I-I’m not sure about that...’ Chandelure replied, obviously not as comfortable disobeying his trainer.

Eryn’s… and Eryn’s Pokémon’s reactions?



__________________________

@Ephemeral

After a visit to the Pokémon Center and then a return, Erza went training with his Pokémon. None of the targets here had much to threaten with. Zigzagoon having Tackle, Growl, Tail Whip and possibly Sand Attack. Budew had Absorb and Growth. Pidove had Gust and Growl. For Extraordinary, the raccoons couldn't even damage her as she slowly Night Shaded them to defeat. Eevee, meanwhile, was capable enough to handle his training on his own with Adaptation and more.




They both took some damage. Extraordinary didn’t train just against Zigzagoons, we’ll say.

And now?



Connected areas:
Redcoast City. Right behind you.
Rainrock City. Requires crossing Route 11, but it’s a pretty well-travelled and safe road.
Route 12. Requires crossing Route 11 on the way north, also pretty well-travelled.
Pokéball Factory. A turn east on the path north should bring you there.

---

---

"I'm pretty sure Seabreeze and Celebrity can handle a little more, but alright!" Skylar stepped away for Vivia to handle the situation with her Venonat. He wasn't able to do much right now with his team not in the best shape it could be. Best he could do right now is be prepared for what's to come in case Vivia's Pokemon all go down to the scoundrels that were harassing this kid.

In preparation, Skylar grabbed the Potion out of his bag and sprayed the scrapes that were on Celebrity, trying to heal her back up as far as he could. She was averse to this, not liking the spray being on her, but she quickly put up with it after she felt better.

"If things get hairy, trade out with me one of you! Until then, I'll be ready to pick up where you left off!"

Skylar looked at the new kid and posed a question to him. "Hey, if you don't mind me asking, what's your name?!"

Sweat dripped from Erza's forehead. Honestly, it felt as if hours had gone by in the span of a short time training with his Eevee and his Duskull. Both grew to considerate levels and even learned new abilities, which was amazing and would be especially helpful in the future. If I can disable their quick attack... Erza was already setting his mind on searching for that Shiny Blitzle once more, now much prepared. But before he went and did that, he hugged tightly both his Eevee and his Duskull--- wait, was that even possible? Hopefully she wouldn't become intangible or something like that. After thanking them for their effort and apologizing for the earlier failure, Erza returned both of his pokémon to their respective pokéballs and sent out Princess, the pidgey and Hunter, the growlithe - finally coming up with nicknames for his pokémon, something Erza had been delaying to do.

Now, Erza's method of training was quite straight forward: Double battles after double battles. He'd avoid electric types, if possible (it might be unlikely that theres any left as the entire herd fled with the shiny blitzle, but who knows what other pokémon has not been discovered here). It should also be noted that while training, Erza is paying a lot of attention to his surroundings and going in the general direction of where the herd went - he's just making sure he knows their location already, so he can fight them again later on.

With Growlithe, Erza is just hoping the big boy gets to the same general level of his team (9~10). Pidgey will continue training alone, then, and Erza will probably spend his two potions to make that happen. Gotta make sure that Pidgeotto gets closer and closer, as all of Erza's pokémons evolve by stone or other methods, Pidgey is the only viable one to focus training on, at the moment.

---

^{Route 2: Deep Infested Woods || Night}
Eryn decided to stay quiet as Laurinda spoke, figuring she’d already done enough damage to the woman’s opinion of her. Her eyes flickered to Delphox when the fire-type was mentioned, then back to Laurinda as she continued. So other trainers had come into the woods to find ghosts, but perhaps only just a few.

Wincing slightly at the implied label, Eryn waited until Laurinda finished, which was when the warden called out another Pokemon. It took Eryn a moment to place the ghostly flame as a Chandelure, and she only snapped out of her staring when Laurinda mentioned another wanderer. Had another trainer gotten lost in the woods? The look exchanged between Laurinda and her Delphox seemed to suggest it was something else—something worse—but Laurinda was off before Eryn could ask what she’d meant.

Instead of getting her questions answered by perhaps the only person able to answer them, she was left with Laurinda’s Pokemon and her own.

“Well, that was awkward. Thanks, by the way. I was—am—totally lost,” Eryn said to Laurinda's Pokemon, laughing lightly.

The Delphox turned to the Chandelure and started a dialogue that Eryn was unfortunately unable to decipher much of. That the Chandelure was put off by what the Delphox said was her only clue, and she could only assume it was a bad idea. A stir at her side reminded Eryn that her Pokemon were present. Present… and able to decipher the ongoing dialogue.

Eryn grinned, looking between Dei and Kylie expectantly. Dei’s ever-present frown remained, though he appeared more of a mix between concerned and uncertain than irritated, his tail flicking slightly as he looked between the two larger Pokemon. Kylie, on the other hand, transitioned from surprised to gleeful, almost mischievous so. Above her, her jaws clacked together gently.

“O-kay, so, what’d they say?” Eryn asked, rubbing her hands together.

Dei’s tail flicked as he looked to Kylie, whose full grin he clearly disapproved of. The two had a short dialogue themselves—each exchanging single lines—before Dei looked to Eryn.

“So, twenty questions.” Eryn frowned. “Is it about taking us out of the forest?”

Dei nodded.

“Did they… decide not to?”

Dei shook his head, his tail flicking towards the Chandelure before he pointed into the darkness of the woods.

“So, Chandelure’s agreed to take us out of the woods… or… into the woods?”

At Dei’s nod, Eryn grinned again. “Wowzers, with Chandelure escorting, we might actually be able to explore some.”

Eryn paused before she could get too ahead of herself. Was that the best idea? Other than the addition of a strong Pokemon guide, nothing had changed. Her Pokemon were still unprepared to take on the majority of the Infested Wood’s inhabitants, and she was still severely underequipped to heal them back up to health should they wind up in a scuffle.

Still, what were the chances she’d get another chance to explore the woods with a Pokemon as experienced as the Warden’s Chandelure so early in her trainer career? The opportunity was perhaps too good to pass up, and she figured that if Laurinda trusted her Chandelure to lead Eryn out of the woods, she trusted her Chandelure to be able to deal with whatever scary shadows lurked in the woods.

“I’d prefer to explore more if possible,” Eryn said, looking to the Chandelure.

Laurinda had, after all, entrusted Eryn’s safety to her own Pokemon, not to Eryn herself. Eryn was clearly not a candidate able to keep herself safe, and Eryn agreed with that judgement call, but now that she had someone able to ensure her safety the prospect of some more danger didn’t seem too terrible. And, after all, it seemed she had the Delphox’s approval in whatever antics she might try.

“That alright with you two?” Eryn asked with a conspiratorial grin, looking between the Chandelure and Delphox.

In her arms, Tula wriggled.

---

@PlatinumSkink

@Joshua Tamashii

‘Old man,’ Chatot repeated from the beginning of Joshua’s speech.

‘Hm?’ Roderick came to a stop as Joshua decided to stand in his way. The old man made a dramatic gesture of bending his head back and placing a hand before his eyes. ‘Ack, that is such a shame!’

‘Such a shame!’ … Copied the Chatot.

‘That you be so taken by such prejudices and simply assume that we’re some form of crooks! I had hoped better of you, but alas,’ he removed his hand and looked back towards Joshua with a seemingly friendly but sad smile. ‘You seem to not be from around here, so let me tell you. Team Virtue is an upstanding organization following a set of instructions passed along from our ancestors about all the dangers of this land, some too dangerous to let the public know about. We were operating from the shadows under no name, until the havoc brought by Team Amethyst forced us into the light due to the necessity to recruit an army to counter them. One of these threats await us within the tomb…’ … and he shook his head a bit.

‘… And I’m afraid any regular trainer will not be able to calm him. Each second you delay us, you’re letting him regain his strength. Should he get out, he’ll spread fear and horror throughout the land once more, and it’s simply not something we’re willing to risk. We will seal him back. Perhaps we will look into a more permanent solution after we are done, but for now… You will not stand in our way.’

‘Will not!’ … Repeated the Chatot.

‘Ivory! Oscar! Seek alternative methods of entrance! Dig your way through if you so need to! Oscar, don’t forget that this all hinges on you! Take groups 2 through 5 with you!’ Roderick said. Behind him, the majority of the troops started moving out to stand behind Ivory and Oscar. Ivory frowned.

‘And leave you here alone?’ Ivory asked, looking unconvinced. Roderick gave but a smirk.

‘This man has the strength of an Elite Four member. Do not underestimate him. Out of our forces, only I can take him on,’ Roderick said.

‘I can take him on!’ … The Chatot called in Roderick’s voice, enthusiastically.

‘Don’t forget our mission,’ Roderick told them.

‘Hmpf, understood,’ Ivory acknowledged, turning to the forces and addressing them. ‘This way!’

‘Alas, the whims of fate has called to conflict…’ Oscar told, one hand reaching up to stroke the Pokéball in the tip of his staff. ‘We shall make our way to where we’re needed. St. Roderick, I wish you the best of luck,’

Roderick nodded to his companions, then took out a number of Pokéballs. ‘Now, are we going to have a battle following the rules of engagement or are you going to stand in that corner blocking me with all your Pokémon at once?’ With that, Roderick dropped numerous Pokéballs, from which emerged…

So, three Pokémon took shape, to engage with Joshua’s Pokémon.



‘So, let us dance, shall we?’

Team Virtue Leader Roderick would like to battle!

_{… And I am also 100% feeling like this epic battle can take place off-screen, because this is extra effort and would take forever to play out, but heh.}

____

@Joshua Tamashii

Amelia’s “father” flinched when suddenly a bunch of ghost-Pokémon emerged. He looked on somewhat stunned as Litwick called a wall of flames to surround him, and then grunted as the rest stood to her defense. Then, Amelia attempted to think, to convey her thoughts to the entity that was creating this, the being that was…

‘Why, you…’ her father said, frowning and gripping the chains. ‘IT’S NOT IN YOUR PLACE TO SPEAK TO ME!’ he shouted out, using her father’s voice as she remembered it, when suddenly a wave of energy shot out from him and scattered the flames. The blast sent Litwick back to Amelia due to the sheer power of it, all the furniture in the room rocking as thoughts dark as the blackest night sky surged through the room. Amelia’s father had just used Dark Pulse to blast through Fire Spin. He looked to her, frowning.

‘… Stay asleep, Amelia,’ he told her. ‘Be a good girl and sleep. Have a nightmare, so I may feed on it. I need your energy before I need your comfort. Whatever you try, it’s too late. She is already here. My captor is here to seal me away again.’ With those words, he snapped his fingers. With that, numerous beings flashed into existence behind him, punctuated with a flash of lightning outside the window. Behind him, numerous gemstones floated in the air… eyes. With grins under them.





The shadowy creatures jumped forth, aiming numerous Astonishes at Amelia’s frontline. Four of them, so one on Phantump, Drifloon, Pumpkaboo and Litwick respectively, with Shuppet occupied eating Amelia’s fear.

‘Stay asleep, Amelia,’ he repeated again, reaching the hand with chains forward towards her, and advanced again. ‘It’s the best thing you can do to help me. I worry too much about you. The best thing you could do would be nothing at all.’

… So he says.

Actions?

Keep in mind, this is a dream. The capabilities of your Pokémon is not necessarily tied to their level!

____

@Eklispe

Aegislash slowed down when Dawkin stated his no-nonsense defense and Greninja also spoke to their defense, outlining the situation before dashing off.

‘Aegislash,’ Aegislash stated.

‘I was hasty. You appear to speak the truth. Very well. I shall rouse the rest of the ghost of this tomb to assist in our defense,’ so Aegislash said, before turning to Gengar and Cofagrigus, and…



And so, for the moment, Aegislash, his boy, the Golurks, Cofagrigus and Gengar left to gather forces for a possible Team Virtue invasion from other directions. This left Dawkin in place, with a couple of Yamasks floating about inspecting him and the sleeping Amelia. There’s a certain chance she was making a mildly troubled expression in her sleep, though her player can veto that if she likes.

That’s when the child by the doorway came out and approached Dawkin, her expression neutral and her hands behind her back.



‘It would appear you’ve been left alone,’ the girl said, looking at Dawkin. She looked down at Amelia. ‘I was put to sleep as well, so I got the chance to speak with this master. “Speak” is a frivolous term, more like attempt making sense of the mess he was shouting at me. However, I was given a vision and he then woke me up. Do you fight for him, now?’ So she asked, tilting her head slightly at him.

‘If you’d like to help stop this battle, I leave you two possible options. The whole reason this turning so violent is because the master’s rival seeks to seal or destroy him. She’s in a Pokéball, tied to the spire of one of the invaders. Steal the Pokéball and talk to the entity within. Should you do that, you can avert the whole situation. I warn, the man holding it is strong enough to contend in the Pokémon League. The situation might go better if you collect a certain mystic item from the Mythic Oasis, which will make her kinder towards you… but even with my friend’s help, that could take far too long. Still, you can borrow my friend if you’d like to try it. He can’t fight, but he CAN transport you.’ So she said, taking out a Pokéball and letting out the contents. Next to her formed a yellow mildly fox-like humanoid creature with lines for eyes, which may or may not be asleep.





‘The second option is to actually go to the master’s chamber. From there, we can see what we can do to help. He’d be able to hear you from there, so if you think something you could say could help, then that would be the place to do so. He’s still being weakened by something, which is why he needs to gain power from sleeping people, so we could try to find what that is and do something about it, potentially. That, and that’s also a place to mount the last defense if the master is attacked by something. Though, there’s also a chance the master may attack you for intruding. Maybe. I’m out of Pokémon, other than my friend here. I can’t do much. What will you do? I could look after your friend. Or you could carry her along. Or I could. She probably needs to stay close to the master to keep contact with him, though.’

And that was a whole bunch of words. But, yes, he’s now in a tomb that was about to end up under siege and who knows what’d happen beyond that. What would Dawkin do?