An important information, nonetheless: Worldedge City's pokemarts were likely to have Fire Stone. Why was Erza seeking one, however? Because in the near future, he would enjoy using it with Hunter, his Growlithe, to have the big boy evolve into an Arcanine. That was the beauty of loving and studying pokémon for a long, long part of his life: Erza knew many pokémon even though he never met them personally. Anyway, unfortunately, Redcoast City didn't have any particular pokémon Erza wanted, so far. He did register two in his pokédex, though:







Erza decided, then, that it was finally time to go back to his previous endeavor. With his pokémon slightly stronger, his mind better prepared and confidence restored to what it previously was... Erza makes his way to Route 11 once again. Princess was released from her pokéball and was flying alongside her trainer... who eventually stopped and looked over at her, smiling broadly.

"Hey, Princess. Remember that Blitzle? The one with the different color? Yeah, I need to find it. Help me over, search for him from above! We'll find those Blitzle eventually, alright?"

So, that's that. Erza's back on the previous Route and in search of the magnificient Shiny Blitzle. Hopefully he won't fail again this time...

@Joshua Tamashii

‘Oh, yes, as determined by Arceus’ design… We’ll solve that particular problem when we get to it,’ Roderick commented in the midst of Joshua’s statement. Then, he didn’t look particularly impressed by Joshua’s statement about crushing them like bugs, shaking his head disapprovingly. Then, at the next question… ‘Angelique is already being pursued by-’ Roderick started, but he was interrupted by Greninja’s sudden Smokescreen, the man taking a step back as his Pokémon prepared for immediate combat. However, instead of a battle happening, Joshua took the moment to run back into the tomb. Roderick’s Luxray dashed through the smoke to pursue, but then had to jump back due to the army of ghosts standing in defense of the tomb that had gathered at the entrance, an army that simply let Joshua run past now.

‘Hmpf, this will take too long. And with that young man among our opponents, it could be trouble,’ Roderick concluded.

‘Trouble!’ Chatot repeated.

‘Oscar!’ Roderick shouted out to his left, because Oscar hadn’t gotten far enough to get out of vocal range. Oscar stopped short, turning to look back at his boss.

‘Release her!’

‘But, your excellency, if I unleash our vessel of triumph, I fear we may be unable to give her commands, let alone return her to our custody!’ Oscar shouted back, warning of the consequences.

‘That is fine!’ Roderick smirked. ‘Today, our goals align!’

____

@Eklispe

‘Oho, what a gentleman,’ the man said, smiling towards Dawkin.
‘I see. Pity about the Pichu, I’d say you'd do great as a Pokémon catcher, but alas. That aside. Something dawns on me. Protecting that girl, who seems to have entrusted herself to the darkness… I asked about your greatest champion, but in reality, you're the champion, aren't you?’ he said, and then looked over and smirked over at his Pokémon. ‘How about it, partner? You're not limited by pesky things like only being able to target Pokémon, right?’ … The two started laughing, sounding like an already twisted man laughing with his shoulder-devil, no angel to be seen.

Then the shoulder-devil reappeared right in front of Dawkin. It wasn't clear if it teleported or just moved exceptionally fast. Two balls of power was shot from the creature, one orange and one blue, directly at Dawkin. There was no space to dodge. The energy surged right into him, and…

Something shone from within him. Some form of power had just planted itself within his chest, and suddenly all form of exhaustion left him all at once. Carrying Amelia suddenly became effortless. In fact, any sort of movement was really easy, and the walls themselves seemed like suggestions rather than rules…

‘That was Power Split and Guard Split. My partner has shared half his power with you,’ the man said, smiling, while the Pokémon cackled something terribly as it floated back to the trainer.

‘I can't stay, even I don't want to contend with the pet Roderick's bringing, but maybe you, with all your convictions, will. It costs me nothing, after all. Have fun being a temporary superhero,’ he said, before turning around.

‘Darkrai's coming free. I leave it to you what you want to do. Partner?’ With that, his Pokémon gripped a hold of his trainer and the floor beneath them turned into darkness. The both of them sank into the darkness effect, vanishing from the room. … Then a dark explosion hit into the feathers surrounding the barrier around Darkrai, the numerous feathers leaving the barrier. The cackle of the Pokémon somehow echoed throughout the room as the effect vanished…



The Pokédex suddenly spoke up, and the picture shifted, showing the creature Dawkin had just seen.



… And that's when the next Dark Pulse broke through. The dark energy surged through cracks in the barrier, and the figure within looked up curiously. Then, with a final wave of his hand, Darkrai clawed his way through the wind and got loose. Darkrai rose up, slowly rising to float unopposed, the aura of a legendary Pokémon filling the area. Darkrai was free. … Or was he?

The whole tomb suddenly shook from something impacting from the outside. Something similarly powerful had just been released on the outside, and it was attacking.

____

@Joshua Tamashii

Once again, a silence after Amelia spoke her words. A significant amount of time, in fact. Amelia could say more if she liked, but it would not change what Darkrai’s eventual response would be. Eventually, she heard the voice again. ‘I will keep this in mind. You, however, seem to no longer be of use to me asleep,’ the voice stated. It was silent some more. ‘It would appear things are heading towards their conclusion. You should get to safety,’ the voice told her, and with a start, Amelia woke up.

Her current location depends on what Dawkin did during the last post. There’s still a couple Yamask’s floating about.

____

@Joshua Tamashii

Joshua made his way back into the tomb. He passed numerous ghosts, some more powerful than the rest, spurred into motion by Aegislash, Cofagrigus and Gengar. However, when he had got far enough into the tomb with his Pokémon again, the impact of a huge amount of power struck the entrance behind him, informing that the battle may be over faster than initially expected. There was little time to waste.



Joshua ran and ended up in the room where Aegislash had been commanding everyone from. There, an adult man stood, the one from earlier that had been captured with his daughter and that Joshua had gone off to save. That may have been off-screen, but it’s a fair assessment to say Joshua had probably succeeded with this endeavour. He looked back at Joshua as he arrived in the room. The sleeping humans that had been taken captive were still in here.



‘I’ll look after these, but my daughter and the other two aren’t here, it would appear. I believe they might have gone to the source. That should be-’ and then he could give a description of where to go to get there, since the ghosts were occupied with that there’d be a battle brewing.

So, then Joshua could run by and… eventually arrive to the room where Darkrai floated in the air, majestically considering his options and probably, in some manner of being, waiting for him. That is, if Dawkin didn’t do something first, on account of that Dawkin and Amelia probably has time to react first.

__________________________

@Ephemeral

Erza headed back to Route 11, where it was raining a bit once again. Perhaps investing in an umbrella wouldn’t have been the most terrible of ideas? Regardless, Princess took to the skies and scouted for the Shiny Blitzle. Now, finding Blitzles wasn’t very hard here, just follow where the lightning bolts struck, but she had to pass a couple smaller herds before she could find them.

But find them she did. There’s the Shiny Blitzle and its herd.



It’s the shiny Blitzle and a herd, hanging out in a field, letting lightning strike them as they pleased and just resting about otherwise. Erza knew what happened last time, but this time he had a stronger team. What would Erza do, this time?

Yep, maybe an umbrella wouldn't be a bad idea. Then again, Erza wasn't made of sugar and although he had the risk of catching a cold or something, the boy was quite confident that his immune system was tough as himself- not that he was that tough in all honesty... Anyway. Princess took some time, but she eventually found Erza's objective and quickly returned to him, guiding the champion-in-the-making towards the correct herd. Erza passed through a few and eventually there he was, standing in front of the one herd that handed his ass to him previously. His pokémon didn't quite enjoy the previous battle, either. Those quick-attacks man.

Erza thanked Princess, returning the Pidgey to her pokéball and immediately pocketed the pokéball as he raised both of his hands in a 'defensive' manner towards the herd, clearing his throat loudly - probably not as loudly as the lightning strikes but loud enough anyway.

"Well, took my damn time but I finally found you guys again, eh." The boy spoke out, stepping closer to the herd - hopefully they didn't turn hostile right away... hoping that they didn't, the boy continued; "I have a simple proposition, a fair, one on one battle against..." Erza's left arm extended forward and his index finger pointed directly at:



Then, he'd cross his arms in front of his chest, expectingly staring at the herd to see if that'd bring any reaction with them. Honestly, Erza knew that his five pokémon couldn't take those six out - he had no ground type, and two of his team members were weak to lightning (he couldn't always count on luck to have their lightning moves absorbed by their own ability) and one of his stronger pokémon, Growlithe, had their STAB move weakened by the rain. If it was a fair, one on one, however, Erza's chance would grow considerably.

@Ephemeral

The Blitzles turned and looked at him for a bit, surprised to hear him talk to them. They looked among themselves, shiny Blitzle as well.

‘Blitzle?’ asked the shiny Blitzle.

‘Blitzle, Blitzle!’ replied another.

They threw another look at him before the whole herd turned and ran away from him. Not Quick-Attack fast, just regular running. Nope, they wouldn't agree with that.

Apparently the Blitzle were discussing what to do. Unfortunately, Erza didn't had a clue of what they were saying to each other, so the boy relaxed a little and waited.

...

...

The Blitzle fled away!

"Hey!! THAT'S NOT HOW IT'S SUPPOSED TO WORK!" Ah but Erza wasn't going to have any of that. He took a deep breath and broke into a sprint after the Blitzle. If they were not willing to have a fair fight, then he'd do it the hard way - or at least try to, once again. Hopefully he could keep the Blitzle's pace - and hoping such, he'd reach for Extraordinary's pokéball and throw her out, as soon as the ghost-type materialized alongside him, Erza pointed forward while sprinting.

"Listen, I think-" A pause to breath, "You're the most appropriate for the current situation. If you can, use Astonish on that Blitzle! SPOOK IT GOOD, EXTRAORDINARY!" And apparently desperate situations call for desperate measures.

Dawkin eyed the old man warily. Not limited to targeting Pokemon? Wouldn't that mean- Dawkin recoiled suddenly as the man's Pokemon appeared in front of him. Predicting he would have no time to dodge an attack Dawkin merely whirled to present his back rather than Amelia to the attack. However the surge of energy, rather than leaving him in pain, left him feeling good. Better than good actually. A temporary superhero he'd said? Dawkin felt like one. He glanced down to reassure himself Amelia was still in his arms, as he suddenly felt as though he was weightless. Then a dark energy slammed into the barrier that was trapping Darkrai and Dawkin was forced to run through his options.

His own strength had been magnified, though he wasn't sure how much, he was sure that he was stronger than any of his own Pokemon at this point. Now Darkrai was breaking free and someone named Roderick was bringing trouble as well. What in the hell was he supposed to do? Sealing Darkrai seemed both implausible and slightly immoral. He didn't know anything but Roderick and/or whatever was trying to get in while Darkrai was trying to get out. It was this time that Amelia began stirring. Dawkin, taking great care to be gentle, shook his arms every so slightly to encourage her to wake up.

"Amelia! Amelia! I got superpowers from a strange man's Pokemon, Darkrai is free, and someone named Rodreick is bringing something to take care of him. What do I do?" Dawkin asked, a tinge of desperation in his voice. Maybe it was unjust of him to pile this on her. But she was the Ghost Whisperer, while Dawkin barely knew that Darkrai was a Pokemon let alone what it was, even the Pokedex had conflicting information. How could he be expected to make the perfect decision in a situation like this?

---

@PlatinumSkink

---

"Great!" Claire released Frans, patting him roughly on the back. "First things first! You got your pokeballs? Favorite snack? Partner in crime? Safety goggles? Rock climbing gear? Dumbbells?" Claire ran through a quick, rather daunting checklist. "Everything? Great! Now the most important thing...is your battle face." Claire stood in front of Frans now, a serious expression on her features, hands on her hips as she started her 'training' in earnest. "You wanna catch pokemon? You gotta make 'em fear you!" Claire quickly flashed the Castle Medal. "I wrestled with a Pangoro in Mt. Strength and earned their respect! So lemme see it!" Claire paused long enough for him to give her a questioning look before shouting loudly again. "I said let me see your battle face!"

From now, Frans might be questioning whether if this was worth it, and if he continued he'd be put through a few more trials. After the battle face, Claire had him try a 'battle stance'. Had to totally intimidate your opponent with your amazing battle posture after all. She would then order him to use them both on a pokemon.

After that likely trainwreck, Claire would then inform him of the value of physical training and stamina in order to contend with hostile wild pokemon - and would order him to do 100 pushups, 100 sit ups, and a 10km run. If he needed motivation for the run, she'd Del to chase him. Where'd she get that whistle from? She'd give it a loud blow every time he looked like he was slacking. Paravati and Ralia would likely show back up after that. Ralia, dizzy and slightly sick from the acrobatics, spun dramatically and face planted into the ground. Was this entirely needed? Nah, she just wanted to mess with him a little bit. Besides, everything she was doing was totally important. In fact, the part about type advantages she briefly touched on was likely the most important thing.

Next was some training for Paravati. Testing the limits of the Togekiss' agility and battle ability. It was obvious she was way to strong to be picking on tiny little baby pokemon. So she'd need to actually restrain herself a bit to injure them just right. Claire would then order Paravati to attack Frans to learn restraint in her attacks.

And lastly, to bring all the team work together - Claire would order them to find a wild pokemon, engage it in battle. She would once again, watch from a safe distance with Ralia eating some sort of pokemon snack from her shoulder.

Released from her dream by the giver of nightmares, Amelia was slow to wake up because she had been put into a rather deep sleep. After all, pokemon can be burned, shocked, frozen, stung, cut, punched, kicked, and possibly more while under the effects of any move that puts them to sleep and still sleep through it. So, waking up from such a move naturally definitely took a while longer then it usually would for her, though Dawkin's gentle shaking did help.

That being said, she missed a bit of what Dawkin said due to her mind still picking up speed. She managed to catch bits and pieces of it though, so the first words out of her mouth were confused.
"Superpowers?... Roderic?... What do you mean Dawkin?" She asked sleepily. Even if Dawkin replied and clarified, he would get a response out of Amelia as she finally realized that Dawkin was carrying her and how he was doing so. Her eyes shock open as her face became a very, very lovely shade of red and anything she might've said got caught in her throat, her embarrassment effectively robbing her of her ability to speak.

Thankfully, it was at this time that Joshua arrived from his run through the ruins, having only stopped to get instructions from some random guy he came across (convenient, but he wasn't going to complain). Walking into the room, he spotted the Darkrai, Dawkin carrying Amelia, and the girl the random guy had brought up. He had noted the earlier shaking of the tomb and could guess the cause. Virtue must've gotten rather desperate. So, with that, he walked into the room, stopping by Dawkin and Amelia first, smirking a bit.
"So, when's the marriage ceremony?" He asked jokingly, causing Amelia to go even redder. He swore he could see steam coming out of her ears. Chuckling, he made his way to Darkrai and eyed the pokemon before extending his hand. "It's a pleasure to finally meet one of your kind. I've been looking for one of you for years now. I'm sorry it couldn't happen under better circumstances but for now, let's work together to help you out. I know a Cresselia is on it's way here. I'm going to defend you against it. However, more people are coming to either seal you away or to possible catch you and use you for their own means, seeing you as nothing more then a simple tool. If you get too weak in the ensuing battle, our enemies might succeed in catching you. I don't think either of us wants that. I would rather make you my own partner.

So please, stay back and rest, regain your strength and think things over. I'll work to defend you from your rival. I'll be your champion if thinking of me in such a manner will please you."

Regardless of wether Darkrai shook his hand or not, Joshua would return to the center of the room, grabbing his pokeballs from his belt. He glanced over at Dawkin and Amelia and spoke.
"We got a hostile Legendary pokemon heading our way. I don't think either of you can help out here, but if you can, try to help protect Darkrai. If we lose... him? Her? regardless, if Darkrai falls, we lose the entire war going on here. One the other hand, if you found something or have an idea, I'm happy to hear it. I'm not expecting an easy battle." He said. "Oh, and please put Amelia down. If she get's any more embarrassed, she might actually pass out."

Amelia was understandably confused upon waking up and Dawkin took a deep breath as he pondered where to start with his explanation, but before he could do so Joshua showed up. "Huh?" Dawkin asked in simple confusion to Joshua's comment, feeling as though he was missing something. Joshua continued talking to the Darkrai, sounding a bit pretentious about it if you asked Dawkin. "I think I can do something. Some gentlemen got his Pokemon to charge me up before leaving and I'm feeling pretty strong." Dawkin said. "Oh I nearly forgot, can you stand alright now?" Dawkin asked Amelia, carefully setting her down. He wasn't sure why she was so red in the face, perhaps something to do with the Pokemon induced sleep? "I'll do whatever I can to help, and it feels like I should be able to do something at least." Dawkin said confidently.

---

---

It all seemed too hopeless for Valen. He just wasn't sure what to do. The man seemed to be reaching for another pokeball at his belt and it was everything Valen could do to keep himself together. What do I do?

"Qwerty, I'm sorry," he sniffed, feeling the situation overwhelm him. Why had he ever thought he could handle anything like this? He returned his Porygon, shoulders heavy with regret. This was only the second day of his journey. Who would have ever known something like this would happen?

Looking at the villains in front of him, he raised his hands. "Look, I'm just a newbie trainer. I started yesterday. I didn't mean any harm. If I come with you, will you leave everyone else alone?" There was no need to get the others involved. This was his mess, and it was up to him to take care of it.

---

^{Route 2: Outer Infested Woods || Afternoon}
The morning was spent heading back and forth between the woods and Pureplain as Eryn trained her Pokemon. Much to her delight, the woods seemed to offer a bounty of fodder wilds if she looked in the right places. However, Eryn quickly realized that fodder Pokemon failed to provide her Pokemon much of a challenge, and only Tula seemed to be getting anything out of her battles, which were less about wits and strategy than about simply slapping the foe down with some well-timed Struggles.

So, on she went, leading her Pokemon deeper into the woods where danger seemed to lie around every wrong corner. Around the right corners, though, Eryn was able to pit her Pokemon against foes that weren’t felled at the first blow; wilds like Spinarak, Karrablast, and Metapod provided sufficient resistance for Eryn to practice some new tactics with her Pokemon, and soon enough Dei picked up Smokescreen, giving him access to an array of interesting ambush tactics provided he didn’t run out of energy beforehand.

But, like before, Eryn soon ran into a wall when her Pokemon grew too strong for their opponents, and after a few hours of limited success trying to find the middle threats of the Deep Infested Woods, she realized that she was probably better off moving on to the Wet Caverns to try her luck.

With this in mind, out of the woods she went, Tula in her hands and Kylie and Dei at her side. As she walked, however, she was interrupted by a cry from Kylie, which immediately preceded an extremely human call that sent Eryn whirling around in alarm, prepared to face the ghosts from the previous night. Instead, though, she found herself looking at a quintet of youngsters, all bright smiles and eyes as they fanned out around her, chattering away at her.

Eryn opened her mouth to speak, then closed it, thinking it over. ‘Mute lady?’ So her doppelganger had been busy, if not today then before. Though Eryn found it hard to believe that her double had existed before she’d first stepped foot in the woods, having put her double’s origins up to ghosts or some other mysterious origin, maybe Eryn had been looking at it wrong. Perhaps her double was another person wholly her own… but how? Why? And what were the circumstances under which she became so similar to Eryn herself?

But, these were questions that Eryn knew she’d have to save for someone else. Now, she had to address the matter of the energetic kids around her.

Biting her tongue back from another attempt to reply, Eryn opted to grin and wave enthusiastically with her free hand. One youngster requested a battle, and one requested tricks. Another offered her a white, shimmery fabric, which Eryn received with a hesitant smile, patting the youngster’s shoulder as she tucked away the scarf. She’d see that it gets to her double since she had a few questions she wanted answers to.

Pointing at the boy who had issued the battle request, Eryn grinned. This is how her double had done it, right?

---

@PlatinumSkink

@Ephemeral

Erza sprinted after the Blitzles, intent on catching up to them, though the equinus Pokémon were definitely faster than him. Then he sent out Extraordinary, whom… is also slower than the Blitzles. When they’re running, Extraordinary will have trouble catching up to them. Astonish is a physical move, after all.

The Blitzles were still running. Might need to rethink that a bit.

__________________________

@Rune_Alchemist

Frans looked a bit confused at the pat on the back. Pokéballs? Frans pointed with a smile to his belt. Favorite snack? ‘Huh?’ Partner in crime? ‘Uh.’ Would that be Parvati? Then he looked completely lost for safety goggles, climbing gear and dumbbells. Then… battle face. Frans looked utterly confused, but not dissuaded enough to not attempt to go along with the demand. So, battle face. Make the Pokémon fear him.

‘A-aaaaarrrr…!’ A somewhat nervous Frans raised a fist and opened his lips to intentionally show (extremely white) teeth for Claire, trying to frown to look angry while his eyes still looked confused. For battle stance he’d try to turn his side towards the opponent in a stance that totally looked like he was going to fence with said opponent, except he had only lifted his fists, and looked towards Claire to wonder if he was doing alright and what on earth he was doing.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaand then came the physical training. Turned out Frans wasn’t quite as able-bodies as Claire, to put it mildly. He was entirely alright physically for his age, slim and healthy enough, but his physical endurance left something to be desired. 100 pushups, 100 situps and 10 km run was way above his capabilities, but Claire was always there with a giant bee with very pointy stingers to keep him motivated, along with the whistle that she now has and can add to inventory.



All in all, she had Frans sweating and panting in a pile on the ground by the time she was finished, Parvati looking on in mild concern when she arrived to that.

Then she tested Parvati. The Togekiss was, by all intents and purpose, a Pokémon that was already Pokémon League worthy. Agility was exceptional and battle ability was off the charts, as far as Claire could tell. Sooooooooo, attacking Frans.

‘Huh? W-wait!?’ Frans asked in alarm where he lay on the ground, while Parvati looked confused at Claire. Buuuut, okay. Parvati turned and unleashed an Air Slash towards Frans…

‘WAAH!’ Frans jumped out of the way in a weirdly comical way and just got out of the way as the Air Slash carved a small tunnel into the ground just where Frans had been lying. ‘P-Parvati, try to hold back…!’ Frans asked with desperation, shaking in his boots as Parvati looked at her wing considering how exactly to do that. The tests that followed resulted in everything between small puffs of wind that did nothing and additional tunnels formed behind where Frans had just ducked under, leaving his hat in mid-air above the Air Slash he just dodged under before the hat fell back down on his head.

Then, it was time to engage a wild Pokémon! … The first few were slammed off into the distance by Air Slashes. ‘C’mon, Parvati! You can do it! Hold back…!’

They engaged a Bronzor for the specific reason that the steel-type would take less damage from Air Slash. Frans stood determined, displaying the battle face and stance Claire had taught him, Parvati flying cautiously as they faced the Bronzor…

‘Parvati! Held Back Air Slash!’ Frans commanded, and Parvati called out in affirmation, before throwing her wing, and… succeeded! After numerous failures against other Pokémon, a weak Air Slash flew through the air and hit Bronzor, who staggered back in mid-air, damaged but not taken out.

‘Alright! Now, Pokéball! Bronzor, I CHOOSE YOU!’ Frans said, raising a hand and turning his extravagant hat backwards on his head (which did not have the same effect as a peaked cap) before doing the most exaggerated throw over him using his whole body to throw, and the Pokéball flew over at Bronzor and hit. The bronze Pokémon was absorbed by a red light into the Pokéball.

‘Yes! Alright, now…!’ Frans clutched both fists and looked on, seeing the Pokéball fall to the ground.

The ball rolled once, it rolled twice, it rolled thriiiiiice…



__________________________

@Joshua Tamashii @Eklispe

Darkrai held still, listening to Joshua’s little speech, eyeing him with an analyzing gaze, the cloth-like darkness extending from its shoulders and pelvis flowing as if caught by an unseen wind. It indeed did not accept Joshua’s hand, however it appeared to accept the words he said on account of that it floated back and planted itself on the floor of the tomb, on the other side of the hole it had created when it emerged.

‘…’ The girl was standing silently at the side, camera in hand, determined expression on her face. She was entirely intending on taking pictures of this event.

The people present are free to exchange a number of more sentences… when suddenly Darkrai flew up into the air for a second. That’s when the roof detonated. Or, more accurately, the roof was caved in. A massive beam had impacted the roof above the tomb and cracked straight through, shooting a dangerous rain of rocks down-

And then Darkrai blasted out a Dark Pulse. Not in offensive purpose, merely to scatter the rocks so they didn’t hit anyone present. There was now a giant hole in the ceiling, and light from the crescent moon shone down into the tomb from the heavens, because it’s totally night now, you totally spent that long in the tomb. In the center of that light, right in the way of where the moon was now placed, the Pokémon shining and glittering as if divine.

She looked down into the crypt, gazing towards Darkrai and the other inhabitants, the moon behind her outlining her sparkling form.



__________________________

@prettydrops @Gardevoiran

Allan looked at Valen as the young trainer gave up, and so gave a bit of a smile towards him.

‘Sure, we can come to an arrangement,’ Allan said, with a tone of victory.

‘Heh, saved by the bell, weren’t you?’ Mia taunted Vivia.

'Ngh-!' Vivia made a frustrated noise, glaring right back at Mia.

‘Now, then, we should get going right over to-’ Allan started… when suddenly a huge fireball fell from the sky and he had to throw himself right aside to get out of its way, rolling on the ground to get back up on his knees and look up at the source of where the fire had come from. Turns out someone new was standing on top of the shrine.

‘Good lord, if you’re gonna mug someone, don’t do it at my shrine!’ a young girl said, standing on top of the shrine in question, with long dark hair and an outfit benefiting a shrine-girl, though with some liberties taken. At her side sat a moth-like larva Pokémon with several fiery hot horns sticking out of it, a large humanoid ladybug floated behind her and hiding behind her left leg was a tiny white fairy with a green cap and a small red horn sticking out of it.



‘Wait, that’s-’ Mia said, suddenly alarmed.

‘-Darn, pull back!’ Allan told, and suddenly the two of them returned their Pokémon and made a run for it southwards, into the woods, leaving the present trainers unharmed.

‘Such rowdiness,’ the girl commented, before jumping down, her Ledian gripping around her shoulders to ease her descent. Larvesta skipped down next to her, emitting a bit of fire to slow the fall. The Ralts remained on the roof, peaking timidly down past the edge. If the individuals present hadn’t all taken off by then for some reason, the girl gave them a smile.

‘Hi! I’m Lorette, Shrine Maiden of the Silent Shrine and Gym Leader of Highhill Town. How do you do~?’ she asked, sounding a bit playful, but at the very least friendly so.

So, the reaction of the individuals present?

__________________________

@Dusksong

Eryn accepted the scarf and then moved on to the battle.

‘Alright, let’s go!’



Youngster Kale would like to battle!

… Though, Kale was pretty underleveled compared to Eryn, and as such she can deal with his Pokémon as she sees fit. He does have four of them, but they’re all about level 5. That said, how will Eryn battle? Without speaking?



Regardless, she’d win eventually, and gain 240P for winning.

‘Aw, I lost again! And… woah, you got new Pokémon already! Awesome!’ Kale called, looking rather amazed.

‘So, um, will you play with us, today, too?’ the bug catcher asked, sounding totally hopeful.

… So, regardless if she spent her time with them or just headed on, she’d eventually find herself in Outer Infested Forest with the ability to move on. But, seems like her doppleganger had played with a couple kids yesterday, after their battle. Apparently.

What will Eryn do, now?



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

---

---

"To be honest, my team's a bit low on health, but fairly good otherwise!" Skylar's voice was cheery, but it quickly shifted to apologetic as he looked at Valen and Vivia's general direction. "Sorry I didn't help with the battle, guys, but I'm down a Tropius and I'm close to being down with a Jigglypuff."

Celebrity scoffed at that last comment, her face furrowing into a frown as she decided to respond to Skylar accordingly.

Celebrity used Pound!

"Wha-? Hey, I didn't say you're bad, it's just that we haven't been to a Pokemon Center yet." Skylar corrected the Jigglypuff and flicked her gently on the curl, startling her a little bit. Sheesh, she's so proud of herself it's almost obnoxious. Ah well, she'd come around eventually. Regardless, Skylar smiled as he introduced his merry cast.

"I'm Skylar. This is Seabreeze, Celebrity, and I'd show you Paradise but she's busy taking a nap. Our last battle didn't go so well for her."

"Wingull!" "Puff!"

"You said you were the Shrine Maiden, Lorette? You wouldn't happen to know if any rare Pokemon happened to reside around here in the Shrine, or maybe even some Flying Types?" Ah yes, of course, that question.

Erza halts and returns Duskull to her pokéball. He looks around, breathes deeply and exhales a long, drawn-out sigh that probably had all of his will or motivation with it. Looking up at the sky, the boy raises a hand and wipes some of the droplets from the rain from his forehead which was probably mixed with his sweat, then downs his hand as he turns over and begins to walk the opposite direction from the Blitzles.

This ain't gonna work. I've wasted a lot of time already with that one Blitzle. So what that it's got a different color? It ain't even one of the toughest electric type around. Come on, I can do better than that..

Giving up on the Shiny Blitzle because of the many complications in catching it, Erza's now set on adventuring further ahead instead of wasting time without any success. Considering he's on Route 011, the boy is currently travelling to Redcoast City - and possibly through it should he pass without any interruption - directly to Route 015, where he'll search for new pokémon. Gotta expand his options, heh.

@PlatinumSkink

---

Claire watched with fervor as Frans engaged the bronzor. Obviously, with all this training, he should be an expert by now! After all, no one was as good of a trainer as she was, and there was no way her teaching methods could be ineffective or nonsensical, heh! Ralia herself started acting as a cheerleader as the battle ensued, using her clones as little motivators to make Frans more certain of himself. Paravati hit it with an attack, Frans launched a pokeball at it...

Once...

Claire gave him a thumbs up.

twice...

Ralia had her clones build a tiny tower of ralts

Thrice...

Claire struck a victory pose of her own.

poof

The tower of Ralts' fell into a pile.

Claire looked visibly shocked, making a comical flinching motion with an accompanying grimace.

Blinking in surprise, Claire folded her arms, not quite sure what just happened. That should have worked, right? She was certain. No way in heck it didn't. Ralia's clones had disappeared, leaving her staring curiously at the bronzor.

"...Raaaal?" Quickly teleporting up to Claire's shoulder, Ralia tapped her trainer lightly on the cheek before motioning to the Bronzor.

"Well that's weird." What happened? For the most part she ignored Ralia's prodding. "Should have worked..." Pouting lightly, Ralia quickly grabbed Claire's bag from her shoulders.

"E-eh?! What's the matter girl?!" Before Claire could ask or say anything, Ralia had fished out one of her Great Balls, scurrying the item over to Frans and holding it up for him to take. "U-uh Ralia, you can't just give out my hard earned battle spoils..."

"Rrral~"

That sounded suspiciously like a 'Yes I can'.

"Tsk, well, whatever I can always buy some more." Claire looked over to Frans. "I think she wants you to try one of mine for some reason."

"Rrrraaaaal~" She eagerly hopped, waving the pokeball back and forth trying to get Frans to take it.

"... I might actually hurt a human today." Joshua muttered to himself after they were all rather rudely interrupted by Cresslia, Roderic, and Oscar. When he spoke next, it was loud enough for all of them to hear. "Okay, now you're definitely pulling Team Rocket tactics. Honestly, you all have to be the most cowardly people I know alongside them. Regardless of that..."

He pulled out his pokeballs again and this time he had all five of them. When he released them, Bisharp, Absol, Pangoro, and Weavile stood at attention but floating behind Joshua was probably one of this deadliest pokemon: A Hydreigon. The three headed dragon let out a powerful roar quickly joined by the rest of Joshua's team, as they were ready to go to town and excited for the battle they sensed was coming.









"I agree that things are going to become violent. Greninja, take out that Archeops! Weavile, your target is the Luxray! Absol, you got Chattot. Bisharp, see what you can do about that Cresselia. And Hydreigon, smash that bug and the painter. I don't care if the rider get's hurt that this point." Joshua said, his tone very unlike any he had up to this point. It was as cold as an icy tundra. He was not in the mood to give out any mercy. His next words were much gentler though, if not a little concerned."Dawkin, do what you can. It doesn't matter what it is, so long as you remain safe while doing so."

Regardless of what Dawkin did, Joshua's pokemon sprang into action. Greninja used Quick Attack to close to distance on Archeops before unleashing a Water Pulse. Weavile also used Quick Attack to close the distance, only it decided to go with a Poison Jab to open up on Luxray. Absol just shot an Ice Beam at Chattot, possibly grazing Roderic a bit by 'accident'. Not enough to actually hurt the old man but enough to possibly shake him.

Bisharp, let out a cry towards Pangoro, who smirked, before taking a dashing jump towards it's ally. Pangoro in turn grabbed Bisharp before throwing her at the Cresselia, the Sword Blade pokemon using Metal Claw to try and cut through the Moonblast Cresselia was building up. If this move was successful, Bisharp was attempt to cling or ride on Cresselia, at which point she would unleash a Dark Pulse on the legendary pokemon.

Hydreigon, meanwhile, began unleashing Dragon Pulses at the Yanmega that Oscar was flying on, the Brutal pokemon flying after the insect as it possibly flew around to dodge, not letting up on the ruthless wave of attacks, more then eager to squish the bug.

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

Amelia had regained her composure at this point and knew she had heard the name of Team Virtue before. It didn't take long for her to remember the man who had tried to attack her Driffloon before she had caught it, simply because she had been holding onto it. This, of course, immediately infuriated her.
"Why are you bullies even here?" She shouted at Roderic. "Are you picking on the pokemon here simply because you don't like them?"

This whole situation was a massive mess and Dawkin could barely put together his thoughts enough to figure out what he should do. His eyes roamed over the chaotic scene that was forming and they latched onto the pokeball at the top of the the man(Oscar's) staff. Was that Cresselia's Pokeball? If he got a hold of it perhaps he could do something about the situation at hand? There was that small bit about talking to the pokemon inside not just having the pokeball but hopefully that part could be completed after. With that in mind Dawkin silently and swiftly skirted around the edges of the situation, trying to remain out of sight as best he could with his new found physical prowess, his eyes on the staff. Even better, Joshua's Pokemon could keep the man distracted. Dawkin would get closer and closer until he saw his chance and attempt to steal and staff and retreat.

---

---

^{Route 2: Outer Infested Woods || Late Afternoon}
Eryn realized only after issuing the challenge that, because of her front as her mute doppelganger, she wouldn’t be able to issue orders to her Pokemon like she normally did. Still, she maintained her grin while freaking out internally, trying to figure out her best course of action. If the youngster’s team wasn’t too strong—which Eryn guessed it wasn’t, seeing as her double had beat him, and she’d beat her double—she’d probably be able to get away with just having her Pokemon perform their default moves. If the youngster wasn’t significantly weaker than her, though, and the battle needed a more than a hand wave and some pointing, Eryn was in trouble. But she’d deal with that when she got there.

The youngster called out his first Pokemon, a Shinx, which instantly worried Eryn considering the possibility of paralysis. The last thing she needed was being driven into a corner because of status effects.

Eryn turned to look at Kylie, pointing at her and waving her towards the field, remembering to mouth words after a second of empty hand motions. Thankfully, Kylie seemed to catch on quickly, skipping onto the field and waving at her opponent, who growled in response. Her lack of care encouraged Eryn to relax instead of obsessing about getting the right outcome, bringing Eryn back to a full grin as the battle started. Kylie looked back at Eryn, who mouthed ‘Bite’ as the youngster shouted his own command. Though Kylie likely had no idea what Eryn mouthed, Bite seemed to be her default move ever since she’d learned it, and she fell back on it now as she charged the Shinx, jaws wide.

To Eryn’s surprise, the Shinx seemed close to fainting after a single Bite from Kylie, telling Eryn that the youngster was probably a lot weaker than she was. This was supported by Dei’s easy one-shot of the Youngster’s Oddish and Zubat with Embers, which he’d defaulted to after multiple exasperated looks back at her. So, when the youngster called out his last Pokemon, a Purrloin, Eryn made the decision to call on... Tula.

After giving the Magikarp a reassuring pat, Eryn jogged back to her side of the field, waving her arms above her head and mouthing encouragements that the Magikarp could neither see nor hear. The battle was an arduous one, considering Tula’s hard carapace and the Purrloin’s lower level, but eventually, Tula managed to land enough Struggles to take the Purrloin out. Eryn jumped up and down in celebration, rushing over and picking up her Magikarp to spin her around. She even considered tossing Tula into the air before thinking better of it, mostly for the sake of her fingers when it came to Tula’s fins.

Then, realizing that perhaps she was celebrating a bit too much for a sure-win, Eryn walked over to the youngster and clapped him on the back, giving him a big thumbs up and a grin. Even without words, the message she’d sent was a universal one for trainers: Good battle.

After that, she stayed around for a bit longer, entertaining the kids with a few improvised tricks that she managed to get Dei and Kylie to do by sneaking in whispers while pretending to pet them. For Dei, a Smokescreen show punctuated with Embers was the plan, followed by an air-clearing Fairy Wind by Kylie. That Kylie burst into tears after surprised Eryn as much as Dei, who seemed positively baffled when Kylie pointed at him accusingly. But as it turned out, it was all fun and games, which Kylie revealed with a wide smile and cheery, sing-song cries as she danced around Dei, who by the second circle around had crossed his arms, snorting smoke.

With the sun now low in the sky, Eryn waved the children towards the path out of the woods, imitating walking motions with her fingers. After a lot of patting and hugging, she managed to send them along their way, giving her the freedom to finally—

“AGH!” Eryn yelled, then ducked and glanced back to see if any of the children had heard. She’d waited a bit after they left, but not being able to talk was way more frustrating than she’d originally imagined. Without words, she’d been limited to nods and shakes, waves and pats and some rudimentary miming when she wanted to convey actions. As an impatient person, she was just about at her limit towards the end.

“Well, hopefully I never have to do that again. Ever. Or I’m going to tell them flat out,” she said, sighing, then exhaling, then coughing to make sure all her vocal cords were still there. Then, reassured, she looked at her Pokemon with a wide grin, bending down to pat each of them. “Thanks, guys. Dunno what I would’ve done without you, miss smarty-pants,” she said, rubbing Kylie’s jaw, “and you, ya grump,” she said with a rub on Dei’s head. “And, of course, our one and only MVP, Tula! Arceus I’m so proud,” she said, hugging Tula against her. In her arms, Tula gave a strong wiggle, nearly dislodging her from Eryn if it weren't for Eryn's quick reflexes. “Woah there. You keep growing and battling and one day you’ll be the strongest of us all. Kidding, kinda,” Eryn said, winking at her other Pokemon.

“But, take a rest for now, Tula. I’ll see if I can get you healed up sometime soon,” Eryn said, returning her Magikarp. Then, looking around, she pointed in a random direction into the woods.

“That way, until we find my double!” she said, bending down to scoop up Kylie before setting off. Ducking to avoid a spiderweb, Eryn shivered, tightening her hold on Kylie. “Fingers crossed we find her quickly this time, though. These woods give me the creeps.”

---

@PlatinumSkink

---

Just when Valen thought he was finished, a voice rang out like the note of a clear bell. A girl donning tradional clothes with long flowing hair and a mischevious smile appeared. She sent the antagonists running, which shocked Valen. She didn't look nearly as threatening as their bolting away portrayed. That aside, he sank to the ground in relief, his legs suddenly jelly as he realized they had been saved.

"Thank you," he exhaled, still a little too in shock to say anything else. But as she introduced herself, his eyes snapped open. One of the folks of Highhill had told him all about her! So this was the gym leader, then. And a Shrine Maiden too boot.

Who knows what would have happened if she didn't intervene... He shuddered. Well, things seemed to be better now. His pokemon not in great shape (all his fault) he could only think to ask. "I'm Valen. Um, I know you just saved us, and I'm really grateful, but do you think you could maybe heal our pokemon too? I'm kind of afraid of running into those guys again..."

@Ephemeral

Erza turned around and went back through Redcoast City. This time just heading through, but there seemed to be some form of commotion by the Contest Hall. Seemed like some notable contest had just ended. By all the walls around that particular street was various posters about contestants and idols with their Pokémon being advertised via Dreamer Studios. The entrance to the Contest Hall was completely blocked with people. A group of girls happened to be moving in the same direction as Erza and was speaking loudly enough about it for him to overhear.

‘Woooaaaah! That was such a thrill!’
‘The Queen of Contests herself came down from the heavens! I feel sorry for the poor hopefuls that had to compete against her…’
‘One of them forfeited immediately and ran! Haha, guess they didn’t even want to compared to someone their like, huh?’
‘Everyone said it was between Yvonne or Alberto for whom would win, when Valerie appeared out of nowhere and entered!’
‘Yvonne was the one that forfeited, right?’
‘Who cares about that!? Queen Valerie might still be in the city! Let’s find her…!’

If he actually stopped to inspect the posters then he could learn more about the names of people of note in the Contest business. … Or he could be completely disinterested in the Pokémon Contest side of things and move on to route 15, as intended.



__________________________

@Rune_Alchemist

So, Ralia came up and offered Claire’s Great Ball.

‘Huh?’ Frans asked, looking a bit confused. Then, seeing how earnestly she was offering it, he gently took it from her. ‘Alright, I’ll try it,’ he said, giving her a smile again and standing up. ‘Alright, Bronzor! I will catch you!’

‘Bronzor…?’ Bronzor asked.

‘I choose you!’ Frans called, throwing the ball with an extravagant spin of his body as if that somehow enhanced the probability of capturing. Bronzor was hit by the Great Ball, absorbed into the ball which fell onto the ground once again…

It barely rolled once.

It barely rolled twice.

It barely rolled thrice…!



__________________________

@Joshua Tamashii @Eklispe

Greninja blasted off with Quick-Attack towards Archeops… when suddenly her travel-time was cut short when she flew straight into Archeops’ Quick Guard, who had used similar speed to intercept her attack. Archeops just appeared and slammed with equal force back, blocking the advance where Archeops and Greninja now found themselves in contact with one another. Now, this could have been the perfect time to blast that Water Pulse, except Archeops vanished in a flash of similar speed to block Weavile’s Quick Attack as well, distancing the rock-bird from Greninja and blocking Weavile’s attack on Luxray as well, also with Quick Guard. Both Pokémon had been blocked from ascending out of the crypt. Roderick smirked.

‘Now, now. I saw that speed before. It’s not like I’d simply let you Quick Attack wherever you plea- WOAH-!’ Suddenly Roderick had to dodge aside an Ice Beam aimed for the Chatot on his shoulder. Chatot had been more prepared for that than Roderick, extending its wings before Absol’s Ice Beam came close enough and waved its wings rapidly to blast itself out of the way, its small size helping it avoid the blast as the Ice Beam flew through between Roderick and Chatot, splitting trainer and Pokémon.

In a heck of a stylish move, Pangoro threw Bisharp at Cresselia, intending to Metal Claw through the Moonblast. While the Metal Claw held the type-advantage against the beam Cresselia was about to launch, it quickly became a matter of sheer might as Cresselia held far more power than what Bisharp could deliver. The Moonblast blew up in Bisharp’s face and sent her flying back into the crypt and into a wall hard enough to crack it, while Cresselia had merely floated back a bit in inconvenience. Protected by part steel-type, Bisharp had been able to endure the blow, but perhaps facing the might of a legendary Pokémon directly was a little beyond her scope. Still, the first shot had been deflected.

Hydreigon instead flew to assault Oscar and his bug. Now, Oscar wasn’t actually riding said bug, but still. Hydreigon started Dragon Pulsing at Yanmega, who took horrific damage. With exceptional speed, Yanmega flew in close and sent out waves of Bug Buzz onto Hydreigon, doing pretty bad super-effective damage back onto the dark-type dragon… but we’re dealing with a level 55 Yanmega against a level 70 Hydreigon, the Yanmega was at a disadvantage despite the type advantage. Hydreigon would certainly win and continue on towards…

‘Hold your fire, fierce dragon…!’ Oscar told, walking and standing in front of his Smeargle, spreading his arms to protect the artistic Pokémon, the staff in his left hand. ‘Me and my Pokémon are but audience now, a historian and an artist wishing to depict this moment in all its glory for generations to come! We will not interfere, your enemies are my master and the Lunar Poké-’

And that’s when Dawkin dashed in. He had jumped around the battle, every step feeling immensely light as the strength granted from that Pokémon allowed him to jump with ease at speeds beyond what most of his Pokémon might have. Eventually he had jumped out of the hole in the crypt, up to where Roderick and Oscar were, and then leapt at the distracted Oscar and snatched the staff out of the startled Admin’s hand. Oscar was merely human and did not have the strength to hold onto the staff, ensuring that Dawkin had claimed it.

The staff was a golden one looking to be worth a fortune, with a Pokéball of some custom-made sort adorned in the middle of the red tip of it…

‘That staff will not avail you!’ Oscar yelled to him, head held high, the man looking proud. ‘The gentle Cresselia has already been released from its bounds! She has no intention of being bound again, and thus its holder holds no sway over her actions!’ … So Oscar claimed.

Meanwhile, Archeops was busy blocking the attacks of Greninja and Weavile, blocking them from escaping the crypt with their high-speed Quick Attacks. Luxray took the moment to Charge, his body sparkling with electricity, staring down at the fighters as if with contempt, prepared to leap near Archeops to defend him if so needed. Chatot flew higher after having avoided the Ice Beam, and looked down at the far closer Weavile, and there opened it’s maw to let out a ferocious cry that sounded nothing like what a bird should sound like.

Chatter!

The attack wasn’t that powerful, but it came at the speed of sound and should it hit, Weavile was sure to become Confused.

‘Huff,’ Roderick made a noise as he stood up again from where Ice Beam had forced him to dodge, his shoulder pretty cold. He placed his glasses back as he heard the voice of a young girl talking to him, and he turned to look a bit curiously at her. Amelia felt the eyes of Team Virtue’s leader fall upon her alone.

‘You have gravely misunderstood, young girl. Darkrai is a monster that in the past has ravaged the people of the land with his nightmares, causing a dark age of fear and dread. You won’t deny these actions, will you? Darkrai?’ Roderick asked, turning his eyes towards Darkrai with the last question. Still behind Joshua, the dark-type legendary Pokémon stayed quiet, gazing at the enemies above.

‘Your silence confirms your guilt. Hence, we have no choice but to contain the menace. Cresselia!’ Roderick pointed down into the crypt at the dark-type. ‘I offer him to you!’

Cresselia, showing no hint of having reacted specifically to Roderick’s command, was rising higher towards the moon, and charging another Moonblast, aimed directly at Darkrai. It was a mighty power charging overhead, unwavering and not even bothering to consider what other Pokémon nor people might be present around her. The presence of Darkrai twisted her priorities, and she would not have it.

‘This is… crazy…’ the girl with the camera and an Abra on her shoulder backed away a bit, raising her camera to snap a couple photos of the scene before her, watching wide-eyed at something way out of her league going on. She was relatively close to Amelia and had an Abra. In case that was something.

What would the present individuals and Pokémon do?

__________________________

@prettydrops @Gardevoiran

‘It was the least I could do,’ Lorette said in response to the thanks.

‘Hello~! This is Ledian, and this is Larvesta! Up there on the ceiling still is Ralts~!’ Lorette responded to Skylar’s introduction.

‘Larvesta…’ Larvesta merely sounded tired while Ledian gave a little wave with multiple arms. Then, a question about potential rare Pokémon.

‘Hmmm? Rare Pokémon at the shrine, huh. Well, that would be Ralts,’ Lorette said, and the Ralts on the building made a little frightened noise and hid. ‘… Though, not THAT one. That particular one was the one that teleported into the woods to find me when it realized you were in trouble. So if you attack it to try to catch it, I’ll get mad~!’ Lorette said with a little playful smile. ‘Though, if you’d try to be his friend instead, that’d be different~’

‘As for Flying-types… There’s Tropius in the Southern Silent Forest, there’s Drifloons on Route 3, there’s Hoppips on Route 4… But otherwise, isn’t the place you usually go to find flying-types the Mountain Valley, or Route 8, right outside Freecape Town?’ Lorette tilts her head as she asks, mentioning Skylar’s hometown not knowing he’s from there.

‘Heal you? There’s a Pokémon Center right over there…’ Lorette said, gesturing towards Highhill Town, which isn’t that far. She then sighed a bit, and pulled out a couple Super Potions. ‘Oh, but fine. Here you go.’



‘So, you two here to pray for success as Pokémon Trainers? Then feel free to, should be safe now! Oh, and please consider leaving a donation~!’ Lorette said, happy kind little shrine maiden smile on her face as she said that.

Meanwhile, Vivia walked over to where Rotom was picking up coins from the terrified souvenir-shop-owner. Rotom was happily laughing about, when suddenly he felt the intent to kill and malicious aura from behind him, turning his head to look curiously at Vivia.

'Rotom?'

Vivia swiftly pressed both her hands into her backpack and slammed down a small washing machine on top of Rotom’s head. Rotom, forced inside the washing machine, suddenly found himself possessing it.



'Rot-!?'

'I NEEDED YOU!'

Vivia shouted in his face before she slammed the washing machine and Rotom into the ground right next to her, though Rotom was just grinning. Vivia was furious, though.

'I was fighting a duck! A WATER BIRD! Why can’t you just be a regular, loyal Pokémon!? If I’d have had your electric attacks, I’d have won for sure…!' Vivia complained, almost looking teary-eyed down at the electric ghost… which suddenly grinned.

'Rotom~?' Rotom asked, with a sultry tone. Vivia flinched, eyes suddenly scared.

'Wha- No! I didn’t lose! The match was cancelled! The enemy forfeited! I don’t need the penal-' And then Rotom shot an electric bolt at her. '-tyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy…!' Vivia cried out, body shaking with some yellow lightning effects as Rotom apparently shocked her, leaving her standing with arms and legs on odd angles smoking a little after he was done.

'Ro-to-to-to-to-to-tom~!' Rotom laughed and drifted away…

… Yeah, that happened.

So, what will Skylar and Valen do now?

__________________________

[@Dusksong]

Eryn and her team fought valiantly, despite the handicap of Eryn being unable to speak while battling. Despite this, they managed to pull through. The opponents were too weak for Dei or Kylie to receive much experience, but Tula had an even enough fight to toughen up a bit.



After which Eryn spent a while entertaining the kids, who thought it was a bit odd how all her Pokémon were different, but they didn’t actually question it because this was fun too. Eventually, however, Eryn managed to escape and gave praise to her Pokémon. Then, it was time to turn and head off into the forest to find her double-

‘Quite an ordeal you just went through. Did you enjoy it?’ A familiar voice told her right as she passed one of the trees. Laurinda was standing there, looking at her somewhat unimpressed, with Delphox leaning at a tree a bit further away. Delphox was smirking.



‘The fact you played along tells me you know of her. The double I saw playing with the kids last night. If you’re looking for the being that followed you, she has left the woods already.’ So she said, looking away into the woods for a bit. ‘I believe I know what she’s trying to do, but it will be hard for someone like her. She’ll be heading for a nearby city, somewhere where she can obtain Pokéballs. However, she may not know that without a trainer’s card, the Pokéballs will not recognize her as a trainer, and will be useless to her. Even if she does, I doubt she knows where to go to get one. … Unless she somehow manages to overcome her difficulty in communicating to ask a question. Impressive, if she does. If she does get that information, that’d take her…’ Laurinda glances at Eryn.

‘… to the same place you got yours, wouldn’t it?’

Delphox is mildly snickering in the background. Something is terribly amusing to the fox.

What will Eryn do?