@Typical

‘Sure, I’d be happy to. Always nice to meet an young person actually interested in exploring ruins!’ Wilhelm said, happily providing Eryn with his number. Then, it was off to heal.

Fortunately for Eryn, food only costs money if you’re in Redcoast City (in exchange for that they might become happier by eating there), so she gets to eat for free. It probably cost money, but we’re not counting it. They did get a couple curious looks walking through town, given she and Eri looked like identical twins.

So, then, here’s a thing. Trainers on their own, that’s sort of easy to find anywhere around here. People who are actually on the level where they can challenge Lesley? Now those are rare, the cream of the crop. She kept her eyes on the door… then this somewhat fancily clad man with lavish ear ornaments stopped beside it. He opened a Pokéball, and this decently huge purple dragon-bat cross took shape, and he started having a conversation with his Pokémon. Suppose he matches the description?

So Eryn walks forth to talk to him…

‘Oh?’ he makes a curious sound, looking in their direction. ‘What are these precious saplings doing talking to little old me? … Hm-hm-hm, I do suppose I do look like someone who would have the experience they’re seeking…’



‘I’m Braith. A pleasure to meet you, two identical misses,’ he said, giving Eri a curious look as he looked between the two of you.

Too late, can’t escape now.

‘Landmarks and the like? Hm-hm. Do you little ladies know about the true Dragon Lake, then? Sure, all of the lake is typically called the Dragon Lake, but most is just Route 14. In the northern half of the lake, however, there’s a place with rocks surrounding it, a closed-off section surrounded by cliffs with a single entrance in the south. This is where the dragons truly live. That’s where their nests are, and where they live out their young lives, usually. That’s the fort that the Lakewatchers protect. How’s that for a landmark?’

‘Mining inside the Frozen Cave is always fun, though I’d dissuade you from trying to go deeper inside, Route 9 and Mt. Chill is not for inexperienced trainers. If you’d like to go to Cooldome City, go through the eastern Tunnel. Cooldome City doesn’t have much to offer the less experienced trainers, other than as audience when more experienced trainers clash. Those born of Cooldome City are a different sort, molded for Pokémon Battle… It’s a sight to behold. Still… if you look into the lone house on Route 5, the Trail Master should be able to prepare something fun for you. Hm-hm.’

‘If you wish to cross Route 6, I recommend trying out doing it via the Rapidash service. Few things beat travelling over the plains as such high speeds, I guarantee. Oh, and don’t be afraid of getting lost in Endless Forest. Just head straight in any direction, and you’ll come out of it eventually. It’s a pleasant forest where you don’t have to worry what direction you’re going, just entrust yourself to the forest itself, and you’ll find your way. It’s such a pleasant experience.’

‘Oh, this town? There isn’t much here. Explorer’s Guide Service has maps and can give you tips on finding Pokémon, if you find yourself backed into a corner. Otherwise, it’s just obsessed with their dragons. There’s Descent Tower, but it’s really only good for one visit then you’ve basically seen it all. There isn’t much down there, unless you like that sort of thing, I suppose. No, the reason I’m here is Lesley. Even among the Major League Gym Leaders, she’s known to be a challenge. I’m going to be overworking Cloyster, that’s for sure. No worries, she can handle it. I haven’t challenged Lesley yet, but it’s sure to be a thrilling battle. I’m only a few steps short of the Pokémon League challenge. Hm-hm-hm!’ so he says.

In case she still wanted to ask for his contact information.

‘Oh? My number?’ he asked. ‘… Now, now, that’s a little too much excitement. What would happen to my reputation if I was found collecting contacts among the young female trainers of the world? Hm-hm-hm, I digress. Very well, I’ll give you the honour of having my contact information. Only because, I’m honestly worried the next person you ask that will accept may be a far worse person than I am, hm-hm!’ … And with that, obtained Braith’s contact info.

Now, then. Onwards.

Lakewatcher Base. The place is a decently big building with random trainers just walking about and getting prepared for their duty. They’re probably the main employers of people in Lakewatch Town, and the force always standing on duty to fighting off the supposed dragon-poachers that were so numerous in the past. Team Amethyst has been in decline, but still. There’s plenty of smaller ships docked by the building, and they seemingly had a personal harbour. Regardless, Eryn headed in and to the counter to the receptionist. … Who, along with most of the employees, probably, looks like a typical sailor.



‘Welcome, trainers. Have you come to help us out tonight?’ he asked, looking at Eryn and Eri. ‘Allow me to explain. We have a fair amount of patrollers each night, but we always have use of volunteers that also ride around at night preventing any infiltrators from trying to catch themselves dragons when they think we’re not watching. We offer 6,000P per night per trainer, albeit we may halve it if you fail to prevent an infiltrator or even retract it entirely if it’s reported that you were lazing on the job. You’ll be part of a team, so we need to know we can count on you. … Oh, and if you try to make use of the position to catch a dragon, we’ll have you pay a 20,000P fine and be banned from working in Lakewatch Town, taking the Route 14 ferry or even surfing on this lake ever again, and probably have Lesley absolutely hate you if you ever feel like challenging her gym.’ Just minor things.

‘We do appreciate flying Pokémon with the ability Keen Eye or water Pokémon that can keep a lookout under the surface without falling prey to Carvanha. If you have any of those, we reward 8,000P per night instead, or 3,000P per night if you’d just leave the Pokémon for us to use over the night. That’s all. What say you?’

So he asks.

Though, like, if she says she asks to just hang along a patrol…

‘… Hm. Yeah, that’s fine. Extra pairs of eyes we don’t need to pay for, I suppose, for a limited time,’ he’d reply, looking at them quizzically. ‘I’m going to say that the penalties for betraying our trust still applies, however.’

So, what would Eryn do?

In case she didn’t want to head along.





Connected areas:
Wet Caverns. Water-filled caverns that are located to the east. There’s a small hill to climb to get to the entrance.
Route 5. The main exit of Lakewatch, leading to a grassy incline connecting mountains, forests and plains.
Route 14. The waters of Dragon Lake are also known as Route 14. It connects Lakewatch Town, Highhill Town and Stillwood Village.



__________________________

@Eklispe

‘Wait, that’s… that’s a Pokédex!?’ Florrie blinks a bit in realization. ‘Th-then, you’re…!?’ she looks at Dawkin wide-eyed. ‘O-okay, let’s go!’ she said, still wide-eyed and thinking about it as they were heading on.

---

---

Feel free to continue having the conversation with Amelia until you’re both satisfied, I’ll continue describing what’ll happen after.

---

---

After healing at the Pokémon Center, Florrie was there waiting for him. She looked nervous.

‘… I’ll answer your questions, if you come with me to the Raremine Research Lab. It’s… a sensitive subject,’ she informs. So, would Dawkin follow her to the research lab? Entirely up to him, of course. If not, skip this next hider.



… And if he didn’t? What’ll he do, then?





Connected areas:
Route 6. The Vast Plains open up to the north of Raremine. The shorter paths lead to Route 8 and 16, while west far enough leads to Lakewatch Town.
Route 7. The single rocky desert of Isson, it connects to the Desert Mines, the Old Tombs and to the Mythic Oasis.



__________________________

@Joshua Tamashii

Feel free to continue having the conversation with Dawkin until you’re both satisfied, I’ll continue describing what’ll happen after. Though, okay, that does look like an end.

---

---

‘Alright. Okay, Aero, we’re getting a passenger,’ Jacques told his Aerodactyl, who gave a nondescript cry that didn’t really sound like a confirmation but okay. With that, assumingly, Amelia would head over to obtain this ride. Jacques put on some form of harness on the flying dinosaur Pokémon that he could hold, and then informed Amelia to hold onto him. We’ll go with the assumption that this doesn’t feel as absurdly dangerous as it would be in real life. With that done, and Jacques making sure that Amelia had a good grip, he commanded Aerodactyl to lift.

Aerodactyl lifted with powerful waves of his wings, the rock-Pokémon’s wings powerful after having been trained by an Elite Four, and the Pokémon easily lifted both humans high up into the air, allowing Amelia one impressive view. She could see all over Route 6, all the wild Pokémon running around. In the distance over Route 8 she could see the rising town of Freecape City, leaning over the edge of the cliffs towards the ocean. Unfortunately, preventing her from seeing further north was Mt. Chill, the mountain range higher than Aerodactyl was planning on flying. South was the desert she’d just left, which really didn’t look particularly large from up here, but the eternal sandstorm over the western part made it somewhat hard to judge.

Flying west at a high speed, they headed over Endless Forest. Trees blocked sight of everything else. Further north was Route 5, and north of that was Stillwood Forest, within which Stillwood Village was housed. Now the Mt. Strength mountain line presented itself in the north, as Jacques took a turn to fly over Dragon Lake on the way. On the south was the mountain that housed the Wet Caverns… Odd was it, perhaps, that the top of this mountain opened itself up like it was a volcano or something, but it was too high up there so Amelia could not see what it contained.

Regardless, soon enough they flew past Highhill Town, Silent Forest on the right, Infested Woods on the left and Route 2 and 1 closer to beneath, as they approached Pureplain City. From this altitude, it was obvious just how far the suburbs of Pureplain City had spread, and what a massive plain Pureplain must have been before Pureplain City had grown up to occupy it. That said… it was time to touch down.

Aerodactyl landed them right in front of Kalmia’s lab. A simple building with an outgrowth on the side that was Kalmia’s own home. Jacques helped Amelia down, before recalling Aerodactyl and giving Amelia a smile.

‘That will do. I won’t fly you back, however. That journey you’ll have to do again. Good luck on your future endeavours, Amelia. Now, time for me to go bother Dorian about a matter, then it’s right back to seeing to Angelique…’ Jacques said, sighing a bit before tilting his hat a bit and starting to wander off.

Now, Amelia had found herself by Kalmia’s lab again. Under the assumption that she’ll go over to the door…

If she knocks or otherwise calls for attention, Kalmia comes over and opens the door. If she just opens the door, she’ll find that it’s open and that Kalmia’s sitting by her computer on the other end. Regardless, the following scene is displayed before her.

So, there’s a bunch of hot servers in the far away and right. There’s shelves and furniture arranged in a circle… and there’s a bunch of Pokémon here for Amelia to dodge if she wants through. Specifically, every single Pokémon that has been put inside the box by one of Kalmia’s trainers.

With other words, unless their players have something against it, in here are…

@Rune_Alchemist a Beedrill and a Ledyba
@Pirouette a Poliwag and a Pikachu
@Ephemeral a (lot) Meowth, a Lillipup, a Growlithe, a Castform and a Duskull.

and of course, a _{(i’d appreciate if you kept a list updated somewhere, profile or in your posts)} Yamask, a Golett and a Spiritomb.

_{Any of you can have your Pokémon impact the scene if you so feel like it. Just take the following paragraph into consideration.}

More than that, however, there were two children here. Two giggling, happy children who was currently occupying their time chasing after and playing with the various Pokémon in here, with plenty of treats on their belts and willing to give pats to whatever Pokémon wanted them, but was also actively seeking out and trying to engage with the shy ones and chase them down if so be it! Though, while the twins were unfamiliar to Amelia, didn’t they look somewhat similar someone Amelia had seen not long ago…?





‘Amelia! Come in!’ Kalmia said, looking surprised but happy to see her.

‘Oooooh, a trainer! Are any of these yours!?’ one of the kids immediately stopped to ask.
‘Have you met with big bro!? How's he doing!?’ the other twin asked. Both were really eager.

‘… These are Timothy and Thomas, Dawkin’s younger brothers. Since Jacques stole my last assistant, I had to get new ones. They’re are enthusiastic, I'll give them that, _{and are also a whole heap of trouble},’ Kalmia said with a little smile, Tim and Tom grinning widely at Amelia, not catching that last bit. ‘Anyways! I just received your Pokémon, and you’re already here! Your Pokémon are over there, safe and sure!’ Kalmia said, gesturing over to the Pokémon, among all those other Pokémon.

Now, what would Amelia and Pokémon do?

With numbers exchanged and his worries dismissed, Dawkin quickly carried along with his original task. After his Pokemon were taken care of he found Florrie waiting for him, and she subsequently hurried off, calling him to come along. Still somewhat bemused by the whole series of events Dawkin followed her. Once they got into the lab his interest was piqued even more and he scanned the lab with interest, though he wasn't able to look too carefully as Florrie was moving quite quickly. In not time at all they came to their destination. "Ah, you might recall that I was present at the incident regarding “Desert Princess Kristy", and what she says is true, although I'm still not entirely sure why that leads me here." Dawkin said, his tone polite and respectful. Perhaps they wanted to add or take some information from his Pokedex? Really he had no idea why Florrie was so excited for, he was still curious as to that dog Pokemon.

---

@Ephemeral

Erza commanded his Pokémon to attack, and neither had any trouble blasting off their attacks, despite the accuracy loss! Summer shot an ember, and Croagunk yelped from the sudden burst of fire-type damage, the blast managed to leave a lasting fire! Croagunk was burned! In addition, Flora drained at Makuhita, the upped Special Attack taking out the last of the Fighting-types strength and the super-powered mass of confusion fell fainted to the ground. At this point, Dale had realized he wasn’t about to win this battle, Burn ensuring he wouldn’t be doing damage, but he did what he could to do as much damage as possible!

‘Croagunk, Poison Sting the fox!’ Dale commanded, and Croagunk launched at Summer to sting her with his fingertips. It hit, doing some damage to Summer…! … But she managed to avoid being poisoned! Next turn the next Ember and even a weakened Mega Drain was enough to finally bring down Croagunk as well.





Fake Out, Mud Slap AND Poison Sting had probably reduced Summer to about 65% health.

Flora only took a Mud-Slap, so, like, 88%, perhaps.

Dale passed by close on his left side. _{‘Keep the amount you just won secret, now, won’t you?’} Dale whispered, before walking on to join the rest of the Black Belts and Battle Girls.

‘… Mud-Slap, Poison Sting… It occurs to me, but you’re fighting pretty dirty, aren’t you?’ Madeline told Dale, looking a bit displeased. Dale grinned.

‘Fighting dirty is a way of fighting, Made!’ Dale told her happily.

‘Hmpf, if you say so,’ Madeline said, and then walked forward. ‘Okay, me next!’

And then Erza promptly beat her _{(as established in earlier posts)}.

‘OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH YEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAH-!’ Hector grinned as he let out a loud shout, revving up his right arm, making ready to battle.

‘I’m fired up! I’m fired up! You beat them all! Awesome, AWESOME!’ Hector grinned, and the rest were moving to make room. Even those that had just been training before were now looking over to see the action, Erza having gained quite an audience from the inhabitants of the gym.

‘Kid! What’s your name!?’ Hector asked, still grinning at him. He’s wait for a reply, and then call out. ‘You’re now a recognized challenger of a Pokémon Gym! From here on out, you’re expected to face any opponent with guts and glory, fight your way through any challenge until you’ve secured your badge! I am Hector! Leader of Redcoast City Gym! You’ve challenged me, AND I’VE ACCEPTED!’ Hector shouted, and then reached out with his hands to the sides, palms upwards.

‘ISABELLE! CONRAD!’ Hector called out. Basically instantly, a Battle Girl and a Black Belt grabbed a Pokéball each and threw them over the room so that Hector could catch them in his left and right hands respectively… and his arms crossed in front of him so that he caught each ball with the hand that had started on the opposite side.

‘We’re making this a double battle. We keep it going until either of us run out of Pokémon. I will only use these two. This does not mean your challenge will be easy. I wish you good luck, because you will need it,’ Hector said, before throwing the Pokéballs up into the air, the two balls crashing into one another. The impact was enough for the balls to open, and two creatures fell down.

‘The Gym Battle for the Challenge Badge begins NOW!’



__________________________

@Pirouette

Erika managed to pass Ellyn and Maple unnoticed, the two girls continuing to wander on chattering, or mostly Maple chattering anyways. Then, she listened to the guy by the gym, before making her conviction to him.

‘Now that’s the conviction of a champion-to-be! Go make her proud!’ Gym Guy told her, giving her a smile and waving Erika into the Gym. With that, she ascended the stairs and engaged the first opponent. Tanya, the Aroma Lady.

‘Safeguard!? Fuhuhu, I see you’ve prepared!’ Tanya laughed out as Tara blocked the Stun Spore with said move. Tara VS Shroomish, Tara found herself Leech Seeded but Peck did way more damage against Shroomish anyway. Shroomish managed two counter-Tackles, one of which caused a lucky powerful Critical Hit on Tara, but Tara regardless won out the battle with Super Effective Pecks, and Safeguard protects against Effect Spore _{since Gen V!}.

Tangela Vine Whipped at Tara, but wasn’t able to block Safeguard being reinforced once again. Chic came out, and Tangela kept up the Vine Whips because they were his best possible attack at this point. Chic took some Vine Whip damage, but in the end Ember did far more damage and Tangela fainted, with one more turn of Safeguard to go.

Eep VS Treecko! … Absorb, Quick Attack, Leer. Doesn’t entirely matter, Eep stonewalled the lizard, none of its attacks particularly effective against her superior defense. Confuse Ray made Treecko hurt itself half the time, Ingrain neutralized any damage Treecko managed to do, and then Acid did the rest. Notably, though, Tanya’s Pokémon in general were obviously weaker than those Erika had trained. No levels awarded.



‘Fuhu… hu… Well! I did my job! I keep all the kids out, as the weakest trainer of a Pokémon Gym! But, honestly, it’s a bit demoralizing, having to sit here with an intentionally weak team and have trainers with five days of experience beating me day after day…’ So Tanya complained a bit, but nonetheless smiled and gestured to Erika to move on.

She met with Daisy again.

‘… Oh my. It seems like I’m not very… oh, well!’ Daisy said, first a little taken aback, but then reinforcing it with a smile, still engaging in the battle like this.

Eep VS Whimsicott! Eep Ingrained herself, while Whimsicott successfully spewed Stun Spore around her, paralyzing Eep. This meant Whimsicott was fasted for the next move, firing off a Mega Drain for neutral damage, high Special Attack clashing against Eep’s higher Special Defense. Unfortunately, Eep couldn’t move due to paralyzation, letting Whimsicott do another Mega Drain, but Ingrain was actively working against the damage. Next turn Eep managed to send out a Confuse Ray that hit Whimsicott, confusing the target.

Next turn Whimsicott damaged itself in confusion! This while Eep shot Super Effective x4 Acid at the cloud, which did some serious damage! Next turn… Whimsicott damaged itself in confusion again, while Eep kept Ingrain healing and shot another Super Effective Acid! And that… that was too much! Whimsicott fainted!



Kay VS Lombre! Neither Pokémon had a move that was especially effective against the other, so it was a straight up competition for who could outlast the other’s moves! Lombre fought with Bubble, who was a bit faster and as such struck first, but… but Foul Play was a so much more potent attack move it was ridiculous. The dark ball of energy slammed into Lombre multiple times, far stronger than its own Bubble. No critical hits or special effects, Foul Play just did far more damage than Bubble and Lombre eventually fainted.

Tara came out first against Vivillion. Vivillon came speeding across the distance between them at a great speed, but Tara still managed to get off Safeguard in time for when the Sleep Powder came falling. Safe for now, Erika switched to Sno… who immediately took a pretty powerful Struggle Bug attack upon exit. Sno replied with an Icy Wind, doing super-effective damage and slowing the bug down a bit. Safeguard protecting her, Vivillon Stuggle Bugged again, doing considerable damage and leaving Sno with considerably little health… but Sno successfully sent back a strong Icy Wind, trapping the flying bug in a hail of ice! Critical Hit! Vivillon fainted.



‘Ara. Looks like you won. You’ve clearly done some training, and caught a Swablu for the status effects. Good job! You can now keep going!’ Daisy said, still with a smile.

Then, against Ramsey.

Chic VS Skiddo. Skiddo got a Leech Seed off on Chic first, but that did little to balance the damage Chic did with Ember back. Chic found herself tackled, taking significant damage, but Chic managed to topple Skiddo as intended with Ember, burning the grass-goat down. Skiddo fainted.

_{Chic is almost to level 16… like, it wouldn’t take a fainting an opponent, necessarily, but perhaps just a bit of pressure and determination in a heated battle…}

Tara VS Leafeon. Sand-Attack was immediately met by Mist, the sands doing nothing but dispersing against the protective fog that Tara had called upon. With that, nothing had happened that round. Ramsey then simple commanded Leafeon to Quick Attack, so it became a Quick Attack VS Peck battle. Now, here’s a thing. Leafeon has an absurd amount of defense, and a respectably high attack power, more so than Tara. Even with all forms of type-advantages, Tara was not necessarily doing more damage per hit with Peck than Leafeon was with Quick Attack. Then, came the time when Tara had to raise a new Mist… and succeeded, but then came Leafeon with a powerful SLAM of a Quick Attack, striking Tara down from midair. Critical hit! Tara fainted. However, Leafeon didn’t have all that much health left. Say 35%. Still, Leafeon still stood, watching for the next opponent.

Despite having fainted, Tara put up a good fight, so…



Relief Pokémon was Gibs, who showed up in front of Leafeon. Sandstorm first, blowing up a huge storm of sand in front of Leafeon… who unleashed a flurry of Razor Leaves at Gibs, which not only hit despite Sand Veil but also managed to score a highly damaging Critical Hit at the dragon-ground type, doing heavy damage! Gibs was almost out by that single attack! Next turn, after Leafeon got buffeted by some sand, the two hurt Pokémon faced off with determination… and one unleashed another hail of Razor Leaves, while Gibs blasted off a fiery surge of Dragon Rage! … The leaves arced around the Dragon Rage and cut into Gibs, the dragon-type misfortunate enough to suffer ANOTHER Critical Hit despite the sandstorm! Gibs fainted! … However! The Dragon Rage he’d shot flew on towards Leafeon, who was too tired to dodge! The Dragon Rage fire hit straight on in a purple burst, sending the eeveelution rolling back and curling together…! Leafeon fainted!



Kay VS Nuzleaf! Ramsey peered at Kay for a bit, and then decided to go with just shooting Razor Leaves! Kay got up her Reflect, halving the damage of the dangerous leaves. Nuzleaf was faster, so it got off another Razor Leaf attack, hitting Kay for half normal damage again for one complete damage… and then Inkay Swaggered him! Attack raised sharply, but he was confused! This, however, meant there was one dangerous attack between Kay and Topsy-Turvy… And Nuzleaf successfully threw out Razor Leaf, and what’s even worse, it managed to get a Critical Hit on Kay, and Critical Hits bypass Reflect to become even worse! Kay fainted!

Tara, Gibs and Kay had all fainted against Ramsey’s Pokémon. All to critical hits, notably, which had nothing to do with anything but bad luck and Razor Leaf’s increased Crit rate. Nuzleaf’s attack had been raised significantly, but he was confused. Reflect still guarded Erika’s team for two more turns. What would Erika do to reply?

__________________________

@Gardevoiran

Both Vivia’s and the wild Goomy paused what they were doing when the rest of Skylar’s Pokémon inserted their opinions into the situation. Wild Goomy was already looking like she’d decided she’d overstayed her welcome… and that’s when Celebrity did what Celebrity does best: take issue with that someone else was getting her pats. Goomy spun around in wild panic and then did her best attempt to spin about more to slide off and save herself, but Celebrity sung out her song that hit the wild Goomy head on, and Goomy fell asleep.

Skylar, taking advantage of this, grabbed a third Pokéball and threw it at Goomy, the sleeping slime being absorbed into the Pokéball once again in a shine of light…

It rolled once! It rolled twi-!

---

^{Route 5 || Day 3: Evening || @PlatinumSkink}
Braith’s purple dragon-looking Pokemon was a dead giveaway as to his experience since most dragons didn’t start looking fierce until they were full-grown. Talking with him further proved his experience, and she realized that, in a way, this was the closest she’d ever come to talking to a champion, save for the Elite Four member she’d met back in Kalmia’s lab. She listened to his tips, rapt, making mental notes pretty much everywhere. By the end of it all, she wondered how she could have managed without his expertise, and she only remembered to ask him for his contact information after he mentioned his future Pokemon League challenge.

“After you gave me all those free tips? I’m pretty sure I’m in your debt now, so if you ever need the sort of help a rookie trainer could provide, ring me up,” Eryn said with a grin. “Really, really nice meeting you. Hope your Cloyster wipes the floor with Lesley’s dragons! Bye!”

With that, she skedaddled out of the diner before Braith could voice any further questions about Eri’s silence. Eryn’s excuse about Eri being shy might have worked once, but she didn’t want to push her luck. After all, bringing around a mute doppelganger was a whole other level of weird, which is why Eryn turned back to look at Eri on their way to the Lakewatcher Base, rubbing her chin thoughtfully.

“Say, Eri, would you be able to mimic multiple people’s traits at once? Like, for example, turn my—well, your, but—ugh, whatever, you get what I’m saying right? Turn your hair another color, change your eye color, nose shape, etcetera etcetera,” she said, waving her hand dismissively.

Eri with thoughtful eyes, nodding as Eryn spoke and pausing when she finished. Then, straightening, he closed his eyes for a moment, then rubbed at his nose before shrugging.

“No can do?” Eryn asked.

Eri shook his head, then pointed at his nose, then his eyes, then some passing people on the street.

“Right, that makes sense.” Eryn looked around, then shrugged. “Be kind weird to stare at people at this hour, so how about we just continue on and you focus on recording possible features or edits?”

Eri nodded, and Eryn smiled.

“Excellent, on we go,” she said, hefting the Onix egg. “This thing is so much harder to carry than Tula. Hate to say it, but at least Tula doesn’t seem like she’ll break if I drop her. No offense, Egg. Dumont. Peri. Monty. Per-per. How about I just call you Perty for now, huh? What do you say, Perty? Until I get your gender, we’re going with this strange amalgamation, alright?”

The egg couldn’t respond, of course, but Eryn continued on with a grin, stopping by the Pokemart to buy some supplies before heading to the Lakewatcher Base. Though her eyes lit up at the sailor’s mention of pay, sliding over to Eri as she grinned deviously, the rest of the conversation reminded her of why she should think better of it. For one, Eri had no Pokemon, and though Eryn could lend him one of his teammates, he’d have no way of communicating with them on the field. Maybe with some training and tactic-devising they’d be able to come up with something, but that’d take time, and right now Eryn wanted to go on the patrol and call it a night.

For another, Eryn herself had heard of what groups and people were trying to catch the protected dragons, and they weren’t easy targets. People like the kid she’d battled earlier weren’t the threat. Rather, it was the people who’d caught and sold him his Gible that were dangerous, and for them Eryn knew that she’d need to be on her A-game

“Could I volunteer for patrolling and have my friend come along with me?” Eryn asked. “And would I be patrolling alone, or would there be other volunteers assigned with me? Or would an official patrol member come with me?”

---

@Eklispe

‘Oh, yes. That happened, didn’t it? You didn’t get to see my best side, I’m afraid,’ Leila told before giving him a kind smile. ‘I’m Leila, Pokémon Trainer, and representative of the researchers of Raremine as well as Worldedge. Pleased to meet you.’

Florrie blinked a bit.

‘D-did I ever introduce myself?’ Florrie asked, suddenly frozen in place. She then spun around to Dawkin. ‘I-I’m sorry! I’m Florrie, Pokémon Trainer and lab assistant! Pleased to meet you!’

‘… And I’m Professor Dunstan,’ the man said, casually saying that he’s the most famous researcher in Isson. He put his hands in his pockets and stood, looking over to Florrie. ‘So, Florrie. Your reasoning is that because he has the Pokédex, we can trust him?’

‘Y-yes!’ Florrie said, bewildered. ‘He’s been entrusted with one of the very few Pokédexes that the foreign professors made, this must mean he’s a worthy and dependable trainer to be entrusted with something like that! If the Professors trust him, then so should we! Besides, that Pokédex already knows about Zygarde and told him upon scanning Zei…!’

‘Is that so?’ Dunstan says, not sounding particularly convinced. ‘Leila, what do you think?’

‘Hmmm, I think he has his head on straight,’ Leila said, probably recalling how he made her and Kristy not fight. ‘Besides, it’s not like we have a lot of options, now, do we?’

‘I suppose not,’ Dunstan says, and then looks towards Dawkin. ‘Well, then, kid. Would you like to partake in a possibly dangerous mission that might involve taking on criminals and threats of a scope you can’t even imagine with little to no backup? We can’t tell you anything until you agree, but it is for the sake of the betterment of the world,’ Dunstan asks, staring blankly at Dawkin.

‘Now, now, Dunstan, don’t intentionally try to scare him away,’ Leila told, giving him a smile. ‘We can tell you this much, at any rate. Zygarde 50% form long inhabited the Desert Mines. We found him, noted that he existed, and then didn’t bother him. Zygarde consists of a collection of separate cells, the more together the more powerful. Zygarde is mainly regarded as the guardian of the ecosystem, who rises up to destroy those who threatens the order of life on this planet. The 50% form is a form it takes to monitor. It uses some unknown senses to keep track of all the threats in the world, and should any of them cross the line it will summon the rest of its kind and become the 100% form, capable of whatever you’d expect a Legendary to achieve.’

‘So when we found it, we obviously let it be. We don’t mess with Legendary Pokémon, but I did try to study it as best I could,’ Dunstan said. Then, his look became serious. ‘However. A week or so ago, someone visited the 50% form… and blew it open, scattering the cells. We’ve tried seeking in the desert and in the Desert Mines, but we’ve only found enough to create the 10% form. Basically, we need trainers to seek through the rest of the world for Zygarde Cells, and protect them from whatever person it was that destroyed the 50% form…’

Dunstan shakes his head a bit, looking grim.

‘… However, more importantly. We can’t allow whoever destroyed Zygarde to do it again. He must have done it with a purpose in mind. As such, information about what we’re doing must be kept under wraps.’

‘Dunstan doesn’t trust the Pokémon League, and any normal trainer might be connected to the man who tore Zygarde down in the first place, so we’re terribly short on options,’ Leila said with a smile. ‘Not to mention, we have our regular businesses and troubles to manage…’

‘… So, there you have it. We recollect the cells, make the 50% shape, let him monitor whoever destroyed him somewhere safe. Then Zygarde can administer whatever judgement he decides appropriate when we get there, as the 50% shape should be able to summon the rest of them,’ Dunstan said, shrugging a bit before looking towards Dawkin again.

‘What say you? Think you can gather Zygarde Cells around the world while keeping them and the information about them safe?’ Dunstan asked. Yupp, that’s the question. ‘If it’s rewards you’re wondering about, then I do have quite a bit I could offer. You can name your price, and I’ll see if I think you’re worthy of it after a while.’

What would Dawkin respond?

‘… How did he learn you had Zygarde with you?’ Dunstan asked Florrie.

‘I, um, used Zei against him in a Pokémon battle…’ Florrie told, looking away, mild panic in her face.

‘…’ Dunstan did not answer, just looking towards her with a blank face.

Anyways! Dawkin’s actions?

In case he just up and leaves.





Connected areas:
Route 6. The Vast Plains open up to the north of Raremine. The shorter paths lead to Route 8 and 16, while west far enough leads to Lakewatch Town.
Route 7. The single rocky desert of Isson, it connects to the Desert Mines, the Old Tombs and to the Mythic Oasis.



__________________________

@Typical

‘Hm-hm, I’ll consider it. Farewell for now, and good luck on your own endeavours!’ Braith told as Eryn made her way away.

Later, at the Lakewatcher Base.

‘You’ll be assigned to a team which may contain a combination of official patrol members and other volunteers, depending on how many are working at the night. You can bring a friend along if you so wish, you’re the only one actually working?’ he asked, because, like, matters of pay. ‘However, there may be times where you’re sent off on a smaller boat on your own if we’re investigating something fishy or a battle occurs somewhere and you’re either sent as reinforcement or perhaps to stay as a look-out while the rest are the reinforcement. We intend to be as flexible as possible. Expect the unexpected.’ So he says.

Does that answer her questions? Does she want to ask anything else, or does she want to try this out?

In case she didn’t want to.





Connected areas:
Wet Caverns. Water-filled caverns that are located to the east. There’s a small hill to climb to get to the entrance.
Route 5. The main exit of Lakewatch, leading to a grassy incline connecting mountains, forests and plains.
Route 14. The waters of Dragon Lake are also known as Route 14. It connects Lakewatch Town, Highhill Town and Stillwood Village.

---

^{Route 5 || Day 3: Night || @PlatinumSkink}
“That’s right, I’ll be working, and Eri here will be watching,” Eryn said, glancing at Eri, who was fixated on the sailor’s face as the sailor continued on.

“Consider the unexpected expected,” Eryn said, grinning. “Let’s do this.”

Glancing out the window to the darkened skies, Eryn frowned, then squatted down to Dei. “Hey, Dei, would you mind being returned for the time being? I’ll pull you out for any battles we might get into, but otherwise your tail’s gonna be a dead giveaway that we’re coming.”

Dei nodded, shooting a glance towards Kylie and Eri. “Char,” he said, then turned back to Eryn with a nod.

“Great,” Eryn said, rubbing the Charmander’s head. “Thanks, Dei.”

Then, after returning Dei, Eryn turned to her other Pokemon. Eri would undoubtedly be useful, seeing as he could see in the dark. After all, he’d lived in the Infested Woods, and Eryn had seen for herself how little light penetrated the wood’s inner sanctums. His ongoing staring, though, was beginning to make Eryn regret telling him to try and pick up facial features since she’d forgotten how fixated he tended to become when given a task. Sure being able to invent a new face would go a long way to helping him become a trainer himself, but the way he was going about it, he made it seem like she’d test him again before bed. Not that she wouldn’t ask him after they finished their patrol, but… alright, seems like he had her there. Patience was a virtue she didn’t have.

“We’ll probably see a few cool Pokemon around here, so take notes, alright?” Eryn said, winking.

Eri paused, then nodded, which brought a grin to Eryn’s face.

“Awesome. I’ll be counting on you to be my eyes anyway, so bonus task,” she said, then turned to Kylie. “You ready to show those Carvanha who’s boss?”

“Maw!” Kylie said, smiling as she flashed her fangs.

---

@PlatinumSkink

---

Listening to the directions, it seemed like it was indeed, a good place to get in some training, especially for Laurel. Should be easy enough for her to get a clean sweep going. handing over the money, Claire snatched up the ticket with a grin.

"Yep, I'm gonna. Ain't no competition gonna be safe from Claire Blackwood!"

"Laaaarv!" Laurel raised his arms up, waving them at the man in a friendly manner, and making Claire wobble slightly.

"Feh, why do you have to be so heavy..." She grumbled, following the attendant to the proper Arena. It certainly wasn't any huge, flashy arena, but it still got her blood going nonetheless. Even if it was a kiddie arena, it still had that competitive vibe to it. Settling down in front of her first opponent, Claire gave Monnie a grin.

"I'd be insulted if you did!" Claire called back to her opponent. So she got to use three of her current team to fight, huh? Well she came here for one reason, and one reason only, so obviously she had to start with that one. "Alright Laurel! Lets start the intense training! Show 'em who's boss!" She'd use Larvitar, Pip, and Tez for this battle.

"Laaaarvitar!" Jumping down from Claire with enough weight to earn a small 'oof' from the redhead as he left her arms, he landed on the ground with a loud thud. Alright, this was going to be easy enough.

This first match-up would be easy. Larvitar Vs. Hoothoot. Doubtful the Hoothoot knew anything that could easily affect Laurel. First attack, Laurel would use Sandstorm, then aggressively hug Bite until Hoothoot fainted. If by chance Laurel gets low on HP, switch to Tez. Use Imprison to prevent Hypnosis usage, then use Confusion until defeated.

If Larvitar is out when Clefairy is switched in, switch in Tez. Confusion until Clefairy is defeated.

Upon Luvdisc entering the field, switch to Pip. Alternate Growl & Razorleaf. If Pip is defeated, switch back to Tez and finish it off with Psywaves.

once Monnie was dealt with, Claire chose of course, to heal her pokemon.

"Ey, I don't underestimate anyone kiddo. That's just silly, ahaha." For Alfred, she'd Choose Pip, Lure, and Laurel.

Lure first, using Gust repeatedly against Machop until victorious.

Against Onix, switch in Pip. Razorleaf. Same strategy against Krabby. After finishing, she'd go to heal her pokemon once again.

"'Course we will. I'm your opponent! And I know how to have fun." Laurel, Pip, and Zeal would be used for the fight against Cornelia.

Send out Laurel first, for Sandstorm. Use Bite repeatedly until fainted, using Sandstorm again once it runs out. Same strategy for Lilipup, should Laurel still be on the field. If Larvitar gets hurt too badly fighting Cyndaquil, switch to Zeal. Power up punch until defeated, same for Lilipup.

If Larvitar is still on the field when Abra shows up, same strategy. Bite & Sandstorm. Should Zeal be on the field, switch to using Scratch. Should both be KOed or upon Zeal and Laurel getting critically injured, swap to Pip, and razorleaf until win or lose. Afterwards, of course, healing her pokemon before fighting off against the final trainer.

Laurel, Ralia, and Pip would be used for this match.

"Weird shapes, huh? Well my team of all-stars ain't gonna let a buncha wierdos outdo 'em!"

Start with Pip, alternating between Growl and Razor leaf. Switch to Laurel should she be injured, and alternate Leer and Bite. Assuming Pip is still on the field when Klink enters, use Growl until either attack is lowered the most, or becomes critically injured. Then swap to Larvitar if not already on the field. Sandstorm first, then alternate Leer and Bite. Assuming Larvitar is on the field when Crygonal shows up, Alternate leer and bite, keeping Sandstorm up at all times. if Larvitar faints, use Pip to try and whittle away his last HP before switching in Ralia. Double team twice first, using Teleport to dodge where she can. After two double teams, alternate Double Team and Confusion until evasion is max, then confusion until defeated.

---

---

"Uh, as much as I'd like to take credit for putting the Goomy to sleep, that was... um... all Celebrity." Skylar explained as the Jigglypuff walked over, hands on "hips" as she demanded her headpats to come. Of course, Skylar obliged, and placed a gentle hand on her head as he patted away. "Still, nice job Celebrity! Good girl!"

Skylar was prompted with the display on his Pokedex, showing the information on it in gigantic font, no doubt so he can see just barely. He thought for a moment before he came up with a nickname for the new addition to the roster. "Fruity. Plain, simple, and it makes sense considering she ate as much banana as she did."

Skylar stood back up to his feet, allowing the Goomy to go to the box for the present moment as he thought about what to do with his team. He had seven members, but he could only have six at a time, and he'd thought about something else for a while. Meh, he'd ask Vivia the question as they walked back.

"Alright! Got the Goomy, now... uh... I think we could all use with a little rest. Plus, it is kinda late." Skylar said as the moonlight above the group illuminated Route 3. "Back to the Pokemon Center? I'm pretty sure they have some beds for us to use."

Hopefully Vivia would agree, and the whole group would start their walk back to Highhill Town.

Along the way, though, Skylar looked at Vivia and had to ask a question to her out of his own curiosity. "You know how I said a little earlier that Celebrity had liked you? I was thinking maybe you two would both do a lot of good being in each other's company... so... uh, when we get to the Pokemon Center, would you like to maybe have Celebrity join you and your team?"

Regardless of what she responded with, Skylar would eventually trip over a certain item in the path towards Highhill before looking at the item a little closer. "Now who in their right mind would leave some ceramic vase in the middle of a forest?"



... eventually, though, when the group made it back to Highhill and back to the Pokemon Center, Skylar's first order of official business (that wasn't healing the team) was to talk to Professor Kalmia over the PC. Maybe he could have his dad get access to his PC box so all his Pokemon that weren't active were able to help his pop at the lab? That'd be a cool idea.

The ride on Aerodactyl was both exhilarating and terrifying for Amelia. The pokemon flew high and fast, requiring everything Amelia had to try and maintain a decent enough grip to stay on the pokemon. She was still able to watch the landscapes below them pass by, at least for a bit, before she had to close her eyes to focus on not being sick.
When Driffloon evolved and I decide to go flying with them, I am going to be much lower and going much lower. But still faster then walking pace. She thought to herself.

When they finally arrived at Highhill, she was happy to get off of her ride, though she immediately sank to her knees as she took a few deep breathes to calm herself. Once she was sure she wasn't going to be sick, she got to her feet and turned to Jacques, bowing to him once again.
"Thank you very much for the Ride, Master Jacques. I wouldn't ask you for another one, as I think it would be rude and presumptuous of me to do so. You have much more important matter to attend to other then a lowly trainer like myself. So, I wish you luck in your endeavors." She said, hoping she had been polite enough and not offended the Elite Four member. When he left, she made her way to Kalmia's lab and knocked on the door. When there was no response, she gave the lock a try and found the door unlocked, so she walked in.

The lab was as she remembered it from when she had visited after catching Phantump. The main differences where that there were a lot more pokemon present then just a Slowpoke now, with hers being among them, and two younger boys who were running around excitedly. Of her pokemon, Yamask was staying well out of reach of the children, Spiritomb was staying in it's rock to avoid them, and Gollet was apparently shut down for the time being, curled up with it's head hidden and it's limbs against it's body. Yamask spotted Amelia first as a result and let out a cry, flying over to her. Said cry alerted her pokemon to her presence, if her powers had not already, and the two roused themselved before making their way over to her.
"It's good to see you all again." She said to them, giving each of them a pat on the head, or rock in Spiritomb's case as even Amelia couldn't touch souls. Before she could do much else, the boys and Professor Kalmia approached her, saying hello in their own ways. Upon hearing the boys where Dawkin's brothers, Amelia smiled down at them. "It's a pleasure to meet you Timothy and Thomas. My name is Amelia and yes, I just got done going on an adventure with your brother. He's doing well and seems to be doing fine on his journey. As for which pokemon I own, it's these ghost-types here. I also have all of these."

Wish that, she grabbed her six pokeballs and threw them in the air, releasing her party of six. With the exception of Litwick, who took his usual spot upon Amelia's head, the other five hovered around her, Phantump appearing in a shower of sparkles. Letting them distract Dawkin's brothers, she would turn to face Kalmia.
"Professor, is I may, there is something I would like to ask you." She said, her tone more serious then it usual was, though still gentle and quiet.

@Typical

‘Very well. This way, then!’ the sailor told, pointing towards a door for volunteers to enter through and wait to be assigned to a ship.

Eventually, a young man came into the room in order to pick her up. Now, inform me if you want to interrupt anywhere, because otherwise I’ll take you for a bit of a ride.



‘You’re the new volunteer? First time, eh? I’m Laurel,’ he said, holding a hand forth to greet Eryn. ‘I’m the Lakewatcher that’s in charge of this crew. Good to meet you. Can you tell me a bit about your capabilities and what you bring to the team?’ he’d ask, and Eryn was free to answer whatever.

‘Alright. Let’s move,’ he said, and then it was out towards the docks. A sailboat was prepared there, and there were two other individuals there, prepared to go out on the waters. A Youngster and a Swimmer…



‘Zak reporting for duty!’ the youngster said, excited.

‘Hm,’ the swimmer just made a noise looking at them.

‘Good to hear you’re in high spirits today again, Zak! Yeah, this is Zak, and this is Lin, they’re also volunteers,’ Laurel said, gesturing first to the youngster and then to the swimmer. ‘Zak, Lin, this is…’ and left a spot for Eryn to potentially introduce herself.

With that done, it was onto the ship. The ship was a simple sailboat, pretty suitable in size for four people. Sail because that’s so exceedingly much cheaper than running an engine all the time, albeit the ship had an engine. It was a simple already prepared sail, Laurel just had to pull a rope and the sail unfolded itself in order to give them some speed, because there was some wind tonight. And, if there wasn’t, they had solutions to that.

‘Fly, my birds! Be my lookouts!’ Zak called, releasing no less than three Pidgeys to fly off over the lake.



‘They all have Keen Eye as their abilities! Nothing will get past them, and I’ll be earning more money to support mom with!’ Zak called proudly, not the first time he was out here, obviously.

‘Nothing over the surface, anyway. As for under…’ Laurel said, opening a Pokéball, which called out a fierce-looking blue seahorse to stand on the edge of the boat.





‘Seadra, keep a lookout under the surface, and don’t let the Carvanha bite!’ Laurel said, and Seadra nodded before jumping into the water. … Now Laurel looked towards Lin, who was lying trying to sleep in the ship, arms under her head, eyes closed. ‘… Lin,’ Laurel called her attention.

‘You know the deal,’ Lin said. ‘I’m only relevant AFTER we’ve been engaged in battle. At that time, I’ll defend with my full power. Until then, I’ve got nothing.’

‘Lin, I know you have a Tentacruel.’

‘But she’ll be bit by Carvanha!’

‘She’s way too tough to be bothered by the common fish in this lake.’

‘Tsk,’ Lin made an annoyed noise, until she surrendered and took out a Pokéball, throwing it back. A decently huge Pokémon with great red orbs on it took shape and grabbed the side of the ship, tilting it a bit.





‘Cutiecruel, look out for infiltrators trying to get into Dragon Lake underwater, will you? Oh, and blast apart any Carvanha that tries to bite you,’ Lin commanded, and the Tentacruel nodded, before letting go of the ship and diving underwater, making the ship jerk to somewhat. With that, Laurel was satisfied albeit Lin was a bit annoyed, and they could be off.

Followed by Seadra and Tentacruel under the water and numerous Pidgeys in the air, their ship sailed onto…



__________________________

@Rune_Alchemist

Against Monnie.

Laurel VS Hoothoot! Hoothoot managed to miss the first Laurel with the first Hypnosis, allowing him to get a first Sandstorm. Then it became a Bite VS Peck fight… and due to Tinted Lenses, Hoothoot still did regular damage with Peck! That, and because Hoothoot was double Laurel’s level, meant that Laurel wouldn’t be winning this battle, despite buffeting Sandstorm on the bird. Tez came in and used Imprison, a usually hilariously useless move that now meant Hoothoot couldn’t do Hypnosis. Monnie wasn’t able to understand she couldn’t use Hypnosis anymore, though, so Claire could use this moment of confusion to easily Confusion down the Level 10 Hoothoot with her Level 15 Bronzor. The sandstorm died down.



Tez VS Clefairy! … Sing did nothing! Tez resists both Disarming Voice and Pound, and just Confusions away! This battle is a cakewalk, albeit Clefairy’s high Special Defense meant it took a while before it fainted, managed notable chip damage! Clefairy fainted!

Pip VS Luvdisc! Pip alternatively used Growl at first… but for some reason Draining Kiss is a special move, it was unaffected by lowered Attack! Razor Leaves did way more damage, though. Still, Draining Kiss taking health from Pip and Growl doing nothing meant the battle was decently equal… until Pip got in a good Critical Hit, Super Effective! Luvdisc fainted!



Don’t win no money in an official tournament battle, though.

‘Ooooh… I didn’t hold back, but I lost anyway… Good battle, big sis!’ Monnie called to Claire.

Then, Alfred.

Lure VS Machop! … Karate Chopping at Lure did, like, nothing but be an annoyance, and Lure could Gust him into oblivion afterwards!

Lure VS Onix! Lure shot Razor Leaf at Onix, doing magnificent damage! However, Onix’s mildly put awesome Defense meant he could take at least one of those! She took a decently damaging Rock Tomb back, which lowered her speed! This lowered speed meant Onix outsped her enough to do another Rock Tomb, hurting her down to under half health, but then she Razor Leafed again and that was enough to KO Onix!



However, then it was Krabby. Krabby was Level 15. That said, Krabby has poor Special Attack, meaning it’d take three Bubble Beam’s to do even half damage to Pip. Pip also needed three Razor Leaves to take out Krabby, but Krabby was faster. Krabby shot Bubble Beam after Bubble Beam, none of them doing the secondary effect of reducing target Speed. Pip also shot Razor Leaf after Razor Leaf… but didn’t get a Critical Hit. Krabby had been reduced to 20% health when a final Bubblebeam took the last of Pip’s health and fainted her.

What would Claire do, now?

Against Cornelia.

Laurel VS Cyndaquil. Sandstorm and Smokescreen was exchanged, but honestly, Sandstorm is a powerful wind and as such the Smokescreen was blown away. Cyndaquil was buffeted. Then they started attacking. Now, the thing is, Cyndaquil is Level 13. He may be at a type disadvantage, but Cyndaquil still did the more damage, especially since Laurel didn’t have any Super Effective moves to pull. He bit into Cyndaquil and did damage, but ultimately higher-level Embers and Quick Attacks did the more damage. Claire switched to Zeal, who took some Quick Attacks but could efficiently take out Cyndaquil with two Power-Up Punches.



Zeal VS Lillipup… after Zeal had two Power-Up Punches already. … Zeal slammed his opponent down easily, meeting that Take Down in the middle and took the damage from the brutal attack, but Lillipup took a far more brutal blow and fainted.

Lastly, Abra. Abra teleported behind Zeal, but Zeal was attentive enough to spin around and SCRATCH, with 3 Power-Up Punches backing it. Abra took massive damage but still grabbed the arm and threw Zeal into the ceiling, dealing a decent chunk of damage. Zeal was more than capable of coming down on his own and dealing another Scatch, fainting Abra.



‘A-aah! You’re good! I-I should be able to do that, too, as soon as Cindy evolves… Th-thank you for battling me!’ Cornelia said, amazed at Zeal’s performance, ultimately bowing to Claire again.

Finally, Kyle.

Pip VS Roggenrola! Pip Growled, reducing the power of the Rock Blast Roggenrola shot at her. Three rocks hit her, doing some damage. Then, onto Razor Leaf! It does a hefty chunk of damage to Roggenrola, but unfortunately Roggenrola’s rocky defense defended it from taking even more damage. She was hit by another Rock Blast, though this time only two rocks. Growl again, reducing Rock Blast’s capability further, which was good because next time she was hit with five of them. Pip shot another Razor Leaf… and missed! Roggenrola somehow got out of the way! Another Rock Blast was shot at her, hitting thrice, doing very little damage now. Pip could do one final growl, but after the next Rock Blast it was time to switch Pokémon.

Laurel VS Roggenrola. Leer took down Roggenrola’s Defense a notch. Then he was hit with three rocks, that took a bit of a chunk of health. He bit Roggenrola, which did a little bit of damage. Then he was hit by three rocks again. He used Leer again, dropping the opponent’s Defense down further. Then he took three rocks again… and now Laurel was about to faint. Most certainly would if he attempted to Bite again. Roggenrola had taken a great deal of damage, but would certainly survive another Bite.

What would Claire do?

__________________________

@Gardevoiran

‘Back to the Pokémon Center sounds nice,’ Vivia says, and heads with Skylar back towards the Pokémon Center. Then… there was the matter about Celebrity. Vivia looked towards Skylar, a bit surprised.

‘Wha, you mean it?’ Vivia asked, sounding a bit confused. She then took a moment to consider, during which she was considering how exactly to ask this in a way that didn’t insult Celebrity in any way, shape or form. Eventually, she gave up on asking this question, instead going for. ‘… Yes,’ Vivia said, nodding to him, eyes a bit wide, still. ‘She’s so cute and so. I’d be happy to, if you… feel that’s best,’ she said, remaining serious.

Then Skylar tripped over an ancient vase in the midst of a wet forest and alleviated the atmosphere a bit. In any case. Moving on. He healed at the Pokémon Center and then called Kalmia.

We’ll say that Amelia’s visit and this call takes place on slightly different times.

‘Hello, Professor Kalmia speaking! What’s up, Skylar? Oh, yeah, I just got your Goomy! Nice catch! Interestingly enough, you’re not the only one to catch a dragon!’ Kalmia said with an audible smile, and now Skylar’s free to talk.

Still. Currently in Highhill Town.





Connected areas:
Route 1. To the south, is the common route of first journeys. Green and straight.
Route 3. To the north, the route to Rainrock or the Silent Shrine. A wet woodland.
Route 14. To the east, the lake known as the Dragon Lake, potentially for crossing.
Path to Silent Shrine. To the west, the Silent Forest and the path to the shrine within.



__________________________

@Joshua Tamashii

Jacques raised a hand and a smile, making a light tip of his hat at Amelia for the thanks before he departed. Now, onto Kalmia’s residence.

Since they were fleeing keeping to themselves, Tim and Tom probably ignored those that just fled from them all the time, at least until they had a plan for how to engage.

‘Ehehe, but he doesn’t have a single Gym Badge yet~!’ Timothy said with a grin about his brother.
‘We know, we have looked at the Professor’s computer~!’ Thomas followed it up with, grinning as well.

‘Yeah, ask permission before you do that, next time,’ Kalmia said, sighing. Then Amelia showed all her Pokémon…

‘Oooh, a bunch of ghosts!’ Timothy sounded excited.
‘Look! That one’s shiny!’ Thomas pointed equally excitedly at Phantump. Then they both took off towards Amelia’s Pokémon, assuming she let them out for them, because that’s what it felt like to them.

‘Boys! You should ask the Pokémon if you can play with them before you… jump right in… oh, sigh. I need to find a handbook on how to deal with children. Was this what Dawkin was dealing with every day before he went on his trip? I heard it’d been hard, but…’ Kalmia sighed a bit while Tim and Tom so excitedly went on. ‘Still, I couldn’t take care of all these Pokémon on my own, I have research to do…’

Then Amelia said she had something to ask of Kalmia, with a serious face. Kalmia looked at her with slight surprise, sitting back in her chair with a decently professional expression.

‘Alright. Ask away, and I’ll see what I can say,’ Kalmia replied, looking directly to Amelia right now. Regardless of what antics the twins were doing.

…

Pumpkaboo found a Max Potion somewhere with Pickup!

Currently in Pureplain City.





Connected areas:
Route 1. Easier path, just follow the bigger road.
Route 2. Walk through quite an amount of suburbs until you eventually reach the path.
Sea. There’s water, alright. Can take you anywhere you want to go, assuming you have means to traverse it.



__________________________

@Eklispe

‘Hm. Aren’t you eager? Very well,’ Dunstan said approvingly, standing up. He went through the lab and opened a storage box, lifting out a truncated octahedron, similar to the one that Florrie had. He went over and handed it over to Dawkin.

‘We’ve managed to duplicate a few of these. Here you go.’



‘This is the Zygarde Cube. Whenever you encounter one of the cells, you can store it inside this. It’ll also give you a hint if there’s a Zygarde Cell in your current area. I have a couple, so if there’s anyone else with a Pokédex that you’d entrust with this mission, you can send them this way and you can hunt side-by-side. Leave the desert and the immediate area around here to Florrie, that’s where our Zygarde was broken apart after all, while you go seek far and wide over Isson for the rest. That should work out, right?’ Dunstan said.

‘W-welcome aboard!’ Florrie said, sounding excited to have another ally.

‘If there’s anything you wonder, you can find us either here or in Dunstan’s lab in Worldedge City. Except for that…’ Leila said…

‘Right, I’ll give you my number, so you can give updates on your progress. Alright?’ Dunstan said. Unless Dawkin had any complaints, he was then handed Dunstan’s contact information.

‘That’ll be all, right? Now off with you, then,’ Dunstan said, turning back to his chemistry research with the vials and such…

‘… Sorry about him. Was there anything else you were wondering, or are you good to go?’ Leila asked.

‘I-I’ll follow you out, at least…’ Florrie said, for whenever Dawkin was actually on the way.

With that, Dawkin was free to leave out to Raremine Town again, unless he had other business with these individuals, things to ask, etc.

What would Dawkin do?





Connected areas:
Route 6. The Vast Plains open up to the north of Raremine. The shorter paths lead to Route 8 and 16, while west far enough leads to Lakewatch Town.
Route 7. The single rocky desert of Isson, it connects to the Desert Mines, the Old Tombs and to the Mythic Oasis.

---

---

"Cool, glad I wasn't the only one! I've really just been spending the day trying to find some new friends." Skylar opened before stepping back to reveal the current team, including Celebrity. One by one, Skylar introduced each of his new friends to Kalmia.



"Anyway, I wanted to ask a few things. So... uh... I guess I'll start there." Skylar said as he returned Celebrity to her Pokeball, hopefully just for a little bit.

"So... I wanted to give Celebrity to Vivia, and I wanted to withdraw the Goomy I just caught. Do I just... give Vivia Celebrity's Pokeball before you send me my Goomy? I-I'm sorry, I'm just not sure how this works since I'm a little new to it all."

(Assuming everything goes off with a hitch, Skylar'd give Celebrity to Vivia and then have Fruity join the party.)

"My other question was if you could somehow route the Pokemon I catch to my Dad's lab in Freecape, just so he can do some research and my Pokemon have a place to be when they're not with me in my party." Skylar asked as he scratched at Mac's head just a little bit, causing the Torchic to chirp happily in Skylar's arms.

"Yish scritchies! I wuvs the scritchies!!!"

Hopefully with that question answered, Skylar would be able to ask his second-to-last question without being so bummed.

"I've got some things I recorded that you should probably see." In some way or another (that we can come up with later), Skylar sent the recording of Valen and himself being harassed by those Grunts in the shrine, and he also sent over that picture of Entei that he snapped on the farm. Hopefully both of those could be useful to Kalmia.

"Last question, promise... how's it going?"

@PlatinumSkink

---

Vs Alfred
Against Krabby, swap in Lure. Gust to oblivion, whilst using the wind to deflect the bubbles to ensure victory. Should this prove ineffective and she has to use Laurel, simply get in close and use Bite before faints from Bubblebeam.

Vs Kyle

Damn, that Roggenrolla was much stronger than she had given it credit for. This was looking bad. Really bad, if she were to be honest. She was down to her last pokemon almost. She would like to think she didn't underestimate any of her opponents, or even over estimate her own pokemon, but she needed to get creative here. Laurel wasn't the fastest of pokemon, and sandstorm couldn't really be used here to help. If anything, it'd only hurt her more since she'd likely be swapping in Ralia soon. She should have taken into account Roggenrola's exceptional physical defense.

"Alright, that's enough." Claire recalled Laurel, swapping in Ralia. "Ralia'll finish this! Double Team, Teleport!" She'd follow the usual strategy. Since Roggenrolla was physically weakened, it should be a good time to buff Ralia. So she'd max Ralia's evasiveness, using teleport to dodge where she could, and then finally finish it off with confusion.

As for Klink, Ralia has limited options. Confusion until fainted.

Crygonal follows much the same pattern. If Ralia gets Ko'ed, swap back in Laurel and use Sandstorm, followed by repeated Bites until he has to use Sandstorm again to keep it up.

---

^{Route 5 || Day 3: Night || @PlatinumSkink}
“Eryn,” Eryn supplied with a grn when Laurel paused. “And this is Eri. Nice to meet you all!”

Eryn waved, and Eri did the same. Since Eryn’s talk with her Zorua would probably happen later that night, she figured it wouldn’t hurt to let people stay confused for a bit longer. After all, it was pretty amusing to see the gears turning in their heads as they tried to piece together nonexistent puzzle pieces.

With introductions over, onto the ship they went, and it was there that Zak and Laurel revealed their true colors. It was pretty clear from the get-go that Eryn was the newest person to the routine, but she hadn’t been able to figure out how new she was until her fellow patrollers whipped out their Pokemon of choice. While she’d been pretty sure that Laurel was more experienced than her, since he’d acted like some de facto team captain, she was surprised to find that Zak was as experienced as he was as well. His goals were sweet, with his Pidgeys, but she couldn’t help but wonder if his birds would be as useful at night as they would in the day.

Unfortunately, though, her most valuable team member was a secret, so trying to prove that she would also be able to contribute seemed like a bad idea. Eri was someone who felt more comfortable in another’s skin, and Eryn didn’t want to take that away from him, especially when he was in a new environment where even Eryn wasn’t fully comfortable. So, in this case, she felt it was more prudent to just let him do his thing.

“Wow, Cutiecruel is pretty awesome,” Eryn said, eyes wide as she leaned over the edge of the boat to watch the Tentacruel fade into the depths. Kylie joined her at the boat’s edge, prompting her to look over at her twin. “Eri, you getting this?”

With a nod, Eri walked over, looking over the edge as well. Though Eryn wasn’t sure of the versatility of having him fake water-types, given that the illusion didn’t lend him the ability to swim or breathe underwater, she figured it couldn’t hurt to have a Pokemon who could look like a Tentacruel for a few seconds sometimes.

The novelty of the new Pokemon quickly wore off, given that the more interesting two were underwater and therefore not quite visible. Besides having Kylie Fairy Wind the few Carvanha that leaked through the Seadra and Tentacruel, there wasn’t much to be done, which Laurel voice aloud soon enough.

Eryn laughed. “I’d say fingers crossed something comes up, but in this case probably not.”

She paused, glancing out over the lake at the other lights that roamed it. While she’d known that the lake was large enough to have multiple patrols out at once, it seemed like she’d underestimated the sheer number of resources at the Lakewatcher’s disposal. It was comforting, though, to know that the rare Pokemon of the lake were protected from smugglers and trappers. That there were as many people dedicated to the safety of Pokemon as she’d seen was reassuring for the future of such environments.

“Say, Laurel, I met someone who said they’d bought a Gible. From, er, somewhere in town, actually. The city underbellies or something?” Eryn shrugged. “Do you know anything about that? How are people managing to get through despite everything the Lakewatchers are doing?”

The discussion went on for a bit, Eryn filling up the time with either questions about his Seadra or about the Lakewatcher’s operations. When they reached a wall with those conversations, she moved on to trying to get Lin to open up because—since Zak was an easy read and she’d already grilled Laurel—there was only one other person left for her to chat with. Besides, Lin seemed like an experienced trainer, if Cutiecruel’s presence said anything, and Eryn figured she may as well ask where the sleep-seeking trainer had been to catch her trusty water-type.

Sometime during the conversation, though, something unexpected happened: The egg in Eryn’s arms shook. It took her a few seconds to process what was happening, to connect the dots she didn’t think she needed to connect for a few days, but surprise quickly morphed into alarm, then fear.

“Arceus, Lin, could you—could you get Cutiecruel to take me to shore? This egg is hatching and it’s, damn it, it’s an Onix,” she said, shooting to her feet and whirling on Lin. “Throw me if you have to, but the Onix is going to sink this boat if I stay here.”

---

@Gardevoiran

Kalmia watched on as Skylar presented each of his Pokémon, waving to them and greeting them each in turn. So, then…

‘Yeah, sure. You can just give the Pokéball to Vivia, and it’ll transfer alright. There’s a couple safety measures that prevents the system from being abused, but you don’t need to know about those,’ Kalmia said, explaining to Skylar with a smile.

_{NPCs can just hand over Pokémon in the games, so sure, you can, too. Not sure how it works, so let’s keep it vague, heh.}

Then Skylar asked his second question about letting his dad have the Pokémon in his boxes. Kalmia looked a bit surprised, but thought about it.

‘Hm. It would be possible, but it’d take some complicated workings. You need special permission from high in order to be able to house Pokémon boxes, but I got mine for research purposes and with Oak’s recommendation, so it should be possible. I got the rest of the trainers boxes here, so I suppose I could part with yours. I’ll get into contact with him and see what I can do, but it could take a while. I’ll see what I can do,’ Kalmia says, listening in.

Then he transferred that part with the grunts, because that’s a thing. ‘… Hm. That is worrying. It’s not as bad as it once was, but the grunts are still out there, it would seem. I know there are Team Virtue members patrolling the area searching for them… but things like this still happen, huh. I’m sorry you had to experience that. I’ll certainly report about it for you,’ Kalmia said, sounding a bit serious.

‘Oh? You saw Entei? Cool,’ Kalmia said with a smirk. ‘Yeah, he hangs out around these parts. We know this, from occasional sightings, but they’re rare. I wonder where usually runs when we don’t see him? Still. It’s cool that you got a photo of him. Nicely done!’ Kalmia said, sounding excited. Now, then.

‘Hahaha! I’m doing fine, thank you for asking. I have less to do now that the trainers I’ve prepared are out on journeys, so I keep looking up your profiles and seeing what Pokémon you’ve all encountered and caught, only one of you have a badge yet, though. Still, I need to do my own research. I intend on doing research on Pokémon within the boxes, but I don’t know beyond that, I’ll see. You’re doing okay, too, right?’ Kalmia asked, happy enough.

Vivia was in the background somewhere. She was looking a bit awkward, given her own “betrayal” of Kalmia, despite that Kalmia had previously forgiven her.

What now?

Currently in Highhill Town.





Connected areas:
Route 1. To the south, is the common route of first journeys. Green and straight.
Route 3. To the north, the route to Rainrock or the Silent Shrine. A wet woodland.
Route 14. To the east, the lake known as the Dragon Lake, potentially for crossing.
Path to Silent Shrine. To the west, the Silent Forest and the path to the shrine within.



__________________________

@Rune_Alchemist

Lure came in and easily dispatched the last of Krabby’s health with Gusts, leading to a simple victory for Claire.



Lure is level 15. Remains at 15.



‘ACK!’ Alfred recoiled. ‘C-could it be? W-was I easy pickings? Argh! Back to training! … But I must keep beneath level 15!? AGH, THIS IS ANNOYING!’

Anyways! Onwards to Kyle!

Ralia managed to use Confusion to down Roggenrola rather easily. However, Klink turned out a greater challenge than a mere Confusion spam could handle, and the exchanges of Confusion VS Vice Grip was one that Ralia eventually lost. Ralia fainted. Laurel used Sandstorm, but was then fainted by another Vice Grip. Then… honestly, Pip doesn’t stand much of a chance. This will end up in a loss for Claire. But here’s some experience!



‘’Ey, Rickey! We won!’ Kyle presented to his child, lifting the boy high into the air, Rickey laughing as he was lifted high, not seemingly understanding much of what had actually happened. In any case.

In any case. Claire was made to wait around for the end of the other battles, her Pokémon were healed, and then it was time to announce the results…

‘Fourth place, Pokémon Trainer Claire!’

Turns out she actually got a better standing than Kyle, because Kyle had lost an earlier match and some of his Pokémon had fainted in other battles, so she got a better position than any of her opponents. One of those over her was a kid, but the other two was a Pokémon Trainer girl that looked close in age with Claire and the winner was a middle aged man who looked considerably experienced, who was wearing this smirk… was he really supposed to fight here? Regardless. Claire got her fourth-place reward.



And then, she was free to go again. Where would she go?



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





Currently in the Residential District.



__________________________

@Typical

Laurel frowned when Eryn asked about the Gible that she’d earlier encountered. He took a moment, during which he looked decently troubled, and then responded.

‘… I haven’t heard of many recent successful attacks, but once upon a time, there were many. Of course, we don’t know what happened to all the Pokémon taken them. It may be that the criminals saved a number of those dragons for breeding purposes, and still sell them for outrageous prices,’ Laurel theorized, frowning as he did. ‘… and as little as I like to admit it, yes. There’s the “Lakebacks”... don’t go there. Most activities done there are strictly legal, just murky bars, some gambling parlors and Pokémon battling… but there’s surely shady business happening beneath the surface, it’s simply hidden. Believe me, we’ve stormed those corners before…’ he said, and sighed in a way that indicated they probably didn’t find anything.

She then went on to ask Lin where she got Cutiecruel.

‘Hm? Oh, I caught her on Route 27, but you can catch a Tentacool or a Tentacruel in just about any sea-water,’ Lin replied, looking decently relaxed. She then smirked, grinning a little as she looked towards Eryn. ‘… But, be careful if you ever find yourself surfing across Route 26 through 29… There’s a pirate ship sailing about those waters, whose destructive trainers don’t care how inexperienced you are, they’ll challenge you for your loot anyway…’ Lin said, clearly intending to scare Eryn.

‘Eh, they’re not really pirates. They like to make you think they are, though, but they’re not strictly doing anything illegal and as such aren’t wanted for anything but scaring unsuspecting trainers,’ Laurel told, just musing over there.

‘Oh, I dunno… I heard something about them smuggling Pokémon from way overseas…’ Lin said, giggling a little more, but that was enough about that.

Then Eryn came upon her little disaster about the egg hatching. Laurel, close enough to hear, blinked somewhat in alarm at this call.

‘… Why, aren’t you a spot of trouble,’ Lin told, frowning at the sudden need to get up from her resting place, sitting up and looking at the egg before looking out over the waters. ‘Cutiecruel!’

Within moments of the call, the Tentacruel got up. ‘Get this girl to shore so she can hatch her Onix!’ Lin commanded, and Cutiecruel understood quickly enough. She gave Eryn a tentacle to help her onto the top of the big, blue head and then quickly swam to shore, knocking numerous Carvanha out of the way as then Eryn was left off at shore close to the woods of Route 5.

Here, the egg could hatch safely, and the huge form of an Onix evolved out of the egg. A newly hatched Onix, huge from birth, and here’s the data once again.





Gender: ♀
Type: Rock/Ground
Personality: (Up to player.)
Quirks/Talents/Aspirations/Other: (Up to player.)
Level: 1
Moves: Mud Sport, Tackle, Harden, Bind
Ability: Rock Head. Prevents recoil damage.
Held Item: None.



‘Woah, that’s more exciting than normal. That happen often? Do you collect eggs, or so?’ Zak asked Eri, who I’ll assume stayed behind on the ship. ‘So, are you two, like, sisters?’

‘You do look quite similar, I wondered myself,’ Laurel chuckled by himself.

‘Pffth. Learn to extrapolate data,’ Lin mocked them, before leaning back where she was.

That was, though, when on a fluke, Eri might notice something. Way up in the sky, WAY up, there was an exceedingly dark… balloon? It made no noise and just hung there, almost invisible against the night sky. Now, there’s PROBABLY others also looking towards the sky… but did they have as good night-vision? … And… something similarly dark just dove from it, straight down towards Dragon Lake. This is while Eryn is dealing with a hatching egg on the shore along with Cutiecruel.

Actions?

Among Amelia's pokemon, Phantump, Pumpkaboo, and Driffloon were the only ones willing to play with the twins, flying around them and generally avoiding their grasps, turning intangible when needed to avoid the little kids' hands.

With the children likely sufficiently distracted, Amelia could keep her attention on Kalmia. So, with the professor's attention now on her, she made her request.
"I want some way to travel with all my pokemon. I don't want to leave any of them behind, since they're all my friends and I want to get to know them all without having to neglect others. I just want to travel with them all. I know there is the concern of having more then six to select from for a battle, but what if we had something that could lock the pokeballs of the pokemon I don't plan on using in battle whenever one occurs? That way I'm still limited to six while still traveling with everyone. Like a chip I can place on six of them while something else locks the others up. Is such a thing possible?" She asked, hoping it would be. She just wanted to travel with everyone. She knew she was going to need to do a lot more battling with her current goal, but to her, traveling with her pokemon and experiencing her journey with all of them was more important. That had been the initial reason, along with freedom, she had gotten on this journey and it would remain her main reason for continuing it.

@PlatinumSkink

---

"F-fourth place?!" She hadn't really expected to truly win, but come on! What happened to second? Or third! This was definitely for training, but...Claire took her prize with as much pride as she could. Ralia gave her trainer a pat on the head from her shoulder perch as she walked out of the arena. Well, no sense in dwelling on it. Couldn't win them all, heh. Just try harder next time was all she'd need to do.

"Hmmph~" Walking back out onto the street, Claire stretched. Where to next? She couldn't think of anything else in Northern Worldedge she wanted to do at the moment. She'd need to come back and check out the contest stuff later, but she needed to get her cute butt moving. Getting back on her bike, she zoomed down the streets, finding an Abra and teleporting herself back to the Southern districts. Might as well see about doing what she was here first, that is, talking with Professor Dunstan.

Once back in the information district, she walked up to the lab, not really planning what she was going to be doing. Why was she even here? She already knew what she had to do, but she felt like she did need at least, a bit more information about the trio. Azelf, Uxie, and Mesprit. Knowledge was power, as they say, and if she learned something, it might be a bit easier for her to get their favor or learn about them.

How would she even get his attention? Claim to have met Uxie...wait a minute, that wouldn't be a bad idea, would it? She had it recorded on her pokedex. She could...well a little white lie never hurt anyone, did it? Noupe.

Ralia poked her head.

"Alllright!" Shoving open the doors, Claire made her way inside the lab. "Heeeey! Is professor Dunstan here!? I gotta talk to him about some important stuff!"

@Joshua Tamashii

The kids and the Pokémon playing over there, Tim and Tom seeing it as a challenge that the ghosts could just turn intangible, Amelia and Kalmia could have their discussion.

Kalmia listened to what Amelia had to say, her expression turning serious and putting one leg over the other as she listened. At the end the professor had put a hand on her chin as she considered.

‘It’s not a wish that is easily granted. The whole Pokémon system is built upon the six Pokémon limit. There are times where people are granted special permission to bring more than six of their Pokémon, primarily at events, but you don’t have anything that’d make you eligible for such a permission. However…’ Kalmia looked like she was thinking of something. ‘… I can see what I can do. It’s a bit beyond my authority, I’ll have to ask some people that I answer to when it comes to the PC-system. Chips or so, or perhaps something even better. You do have the privilege of having a Pokédex, which does grant you some favours in the system. Hm. Yeah, I can see what I can do. Not right now, however. I’ll need to work on it.’

Kalmia responded, looking to Amelia to see what she thought of that.

Currently in Pureplain City.





Connected areas:
Route 1. Easier path, just follow the bigger road.
Route 2. Walk through quite an amount of suburbs until you eventually reach the path.
Sea. There’s water, alright. Can take you anywhere you want to go, assuming you have means to traverse it.



__________________________

@Rune_Alchemist

So, Claire goes and busts her way into a laboratory!

At the entrance there were simply different corridors leading to different places where different kinds of research was being done, with fluids in tubes and Pokémon and who knows what else, a ton of researchers in white and wearing glasses around looking official. However, to make this a bit quick.



‘M-my lady…’ said a scientist approaching her, who has a stuttering character trait rather than that he’s afraid or anything like that, he’s plenty confident. ‘I-I’m afraid that m-master D-dunstan is currently at his l-lab in Raremine Town… B-but it could be t-the case that I might s-serve your needs? I a-am Scientist Connor, a-an assistant of m-master Dunstan, a-at your service…’ … So he says.

Claire’s actions?



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





Currently in the Information District.

---

---

"Yeah, I'm doing okay. The adventure's been pretty good so far, though I'm hoping the good luck streak continues to tomorrow. I'm planning to get my first badge here in Highhill after a good night's sleep. Once that's done... I'm not sure where I'll head to next for this journey." Skylar explained, looking down in his hand at Celebrity's Pokeball. He wasn't sure about giving it to Vivia, actually. Not that he didn't like the idea, but he just wanted Celebrity with him for a little longer.

He took a breath, and he let Celebrity back out, looking over to Vivia for a moment. "Uh... sorry to get your hopes up, but I changed my mind about giving Celebrity up just yet." He felt a bit guilty, but after all Celebrity had done prior, he couldn't just give her up like that. Absolutely not.

The Jigglypuff waddled over to Skylar and glared at him. He stopped her glares by reaching down to pat her head.

"Anyway... yeah. As for everything else, there were a few Team Virtue people in the forest of Route 3 that thought we were poaching dragons because Vivia found her Goomy and I found Fruity there. They didn't put up too much of a tough fight, though, and me and Vivia handled them well." Skylar said as he gave a thumbs up. "I just wanted to check in on everything before I went to bed. I've got a big day ahead of me and I wanna be prepared for tomorrow. Speaking of that... I should probably get ready for bed. G'night professor!"

After Kalmia responded, Skylar hung up, and led the team to the small room the group was staying in for the night. Vivia probably had her own room, though, since it'd be slightly weird for Skylar and her to share a bed or something.


The next morning strolled up, and Skylar was awake early with his team. He didn't want to wake Vivia up, but he left her a note that said he was going to train in Highhill a little more. He needed to get Smiley a few more levels, and maybe he could get the rest of the team a bit more experience to prepare them for what's ahead.

"Wingull?"

"Why are we up so early? Well, dad always said that the early bird catches the worm. If we're gonna take on the gym, we need to be as prepared as possible. After a little training and then the gym, we'll grab some lunch then head on our way." Skylar patted his starter on his head just as he was arriving to the same spot as yesterday.

"Alright guys! Just a little bit of training today before we take on this town's Gym!"

---

^{Route 5 || Day 3: Night || @PlatinumSkink}
“Thanks!” Eryn shouted back at Lin, the latter half of the word pitching up as Cutiecruel rapidly picked up her speed. A grin quickly found its way onto her face, though, and she managed to look down at the shaking egg as the water and Carvanah were knocked out of their path. This was really happening, it seemed, and she couldn’t be happier about it.

“Thanks Cutiecruel!” she yelled, launching herself off the Tentacruel as soon as land was within jumping distance. Landing in a run, Eryn rushed further inland to stop a short distance before the trees of the forest up ahead. Then, setting the egg down, she pulled out her Pokedex and took a few steps back, then a few more when the egg hatched, a glow enveloping it to grow into the long, majestic shape she’d seen earlier that day in the caverns. Though smaller, it was none less intimidating, but within two seconds of the glow disappearing Eryn was running back towards the Onix, wrapping her arms around the cool stone exterior of her new Pokemon.

“Peri!” Eryn said, then stepped back to look up at the Onix, who looked curiously down at her. “Happy birthday! Nice to finally meet you! I’m Eryn, your new trainer. Your parents want me to raise you to be the biggest, baddest Onix out there, so that’s just what I’m going to do, alright?”

Eryn grinned up at the Onix, who continued looking at her with a somewhat blank look until suddenly the rock that formed her head fell open. A loud grating sound emerged, and Eryn narrowly dodged the Onix as she fell to the ground. Despite having decently good reflexes, however, Eryn was unable to dodge the Onix’s next move, and she found herself scooped up onto the Onix’s head, her eyes stretched painfully wide until the moment her surprise morphed into delight.

She cheered, pumping one hand as she gripped the other around Peri’s horn. Below her, the Onix rose again to her full height, raising Eryn up along with her.

“This is awesome!” she shouted, waving at the boat she’d left on the lake. “Eri! Kylie! Yoohoo!”

In the middle of her waving, though, Eryn stopped abruptly. Though it was dark, she could just make out the familiar figure of a cap-wearing girl waving her hands, then pointing up at the sky.

“Eri,” Eryn breathed, shooting her gaze up into the starry darkness above. While she couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary, moonlight or not, she trusted her Pokemon’s senses, and she cupped her hands over her mouth.

“Laurel! There’s something up there! I see something!” she shouted, pointing up at the sky. Then, bending over, she patted Peri’s cheek. “Sorry Per-per, I’m going to have to get you in your Pokeball for now. We’ll do intros later, alright?”

Again came the grinding sound from within the Onix as she lowered Eryn down, and Eryn gave her one last pat before pulling out a Pokeball and returning her.

As soon as Peri was safely hooked onto her belt, Eryn made for where the Tentacruel was waiting at the lakeshore. “Cutiecruel! Can you get me back to the boat? I think there’s about to be an attack, from the sky!”

A glance towards the boat showed that Eri was still pointing up at the sky and waving his hands, and Eryn bit her lip, pulling out her Pokedex and pointing it up at the sky. Since she had no flying-types, now was the time for crazy tactics, which was just was Eryn was racking her brain for as she climbed back onto Cutiecruel’s hard carapace, her Pokedex held up at the sky.

---