@Eklispe

Now, there’s not actually a physical Gym in Raremine Town. There’s a Gym Leader and a huge gate that says “Pokémon Gym”, with a sign and Gym Guy in front, except the gate leads straight out into the desert as an alternative way to exit Raremine Town into Route 7. Still, it was indeed closed, because there was no Gym Leader available. With that, Dawkin went and asked around for which direction that Kristy had gone. He was eventually directed to a specific section of town with a couple warehouses…

… and found one of them to have been completely and utterly demolished!


Kristy stood, in full fighting stance, facing off against two people in black suits and sunglasses looking utterly bewildered.



‘Ugh, w-we don’t stand a chance…!’ male grunt

‘I-it’s fine! We did our duties! We held them back…!’

‘Hahaha! Of course you’re losing, you’re facing a Gym Leader!’ Kristy said, smiling at them. ‘Now, I may have been too late to prevent you escaping with the Pokémon, but I’ll have the two of you tell me-’

‘Emergency Abras!’ the male called, and the two grunts picked out two hidden Pokéballs that cracked open and revealed two yellow humanoid fox-Pokémon…





‘-find- NO, WAIT I’M NOT-!’ she called, Claydol starting to use some Psychic power, but the Abras were faster and the two grunts teleported off somewhere. Kristy proceeded to do some wild arm movements in frustration, but ultimately sighed out, and then turned to see Dawkin there.

‘… Well. We found their lair, so we know it was Team Amethyst behind it now. Can put the accusations against the lab-people aside, I suppose. Unfortunately they all teleported away the Pokémon before we could catch them… but hey! Now we can start hunting them down!’ Kristy said with a grin.

‘Eh, now I have Gym Leader duties to attend to. Can’t be away for too long as a Gym Leader, you know? Only one of me, and a whole continent of youngsters that want their badges, hahahaha. Alright, back to base with me!’ Kristy said, putting her hands behind her head and starting to walk back towards the entrance of the Gym, Claydol floating mildly ominously behind following her.

That aside…



__________________________

@hatakekuro

Lupin was, mildly put, superior to Donald’s Rattata in every conceivable way, and the battle didn’t last very long. Just Rattata charging headlong to try to crash into Lupin. While Lupin didn’t have much room to dodge left or right, what he did have was more than enough to counter-attack and take down the rat without much trouble.

The second rat noted Lupin coming at him at high speed during Tail Whip and made a squee of panic as it dodged out of the way, but still, Lupin could without issue dispatch this one, too. Not enough experience for a level from these.



‘S-sir! I lost!’ Donald reported to the king.

‘Hmpf! Fine, then! The bard seems to have some prowess! Mercenary, have at him!’ the king commanded, and then it was Lena’s turn! She nodded to the greeting, and it was on!

Fake Out indeed started with doing some damage, and then Skitty pulled back to Tail Whip. Cecil shot Incinerate at Skitty… and found it did very little damage, Special Attack is a Darumaka’s worst stat. As such, Skitty easily breached through Cecil’s Incinerate’s with but minor singe damage… and then she suddenly got hit with a Darumaka’s best stat, Attack. Skitty simply could not contend with Cecil’s a bit more powerful Tackles. Left with no other option, Skitty started to Sing! … And she hit! Cecil fell asleep!

‘Woah, that was close! Okay, Skitty, Tackle!’ Lena commanded.

Would Basil want to revise his strategy? Lena’s current strategy is going to be Tackle while he’s asleep…!

__________________________

@Rune_Alchemist

Nincada gave a slow little wave as they descended out of view from the bug and closed the lid behind them, and then… and then Claire managed to fall onto her butt right by the open doorway into a new, foreboding environment.



__________________________

@Savo

Alright, so Cyril eventually travelled through the streets of Pureplain suburbs to where the buildings ended, and a green plain started ahead of him. This was the only parts that remained of the original pure plain that the city was originally named after, when the city was first founded. Route 1.



And here, Cyril wanted to train!

Though honestly, the low-level Pokémon around here’s not much of a match against his higher-level Pokémon. There was not a lot of experience hunting Rattata and Pidgey. Still, let’s bash Pokémon around for a bit and obtain at the very least one level for each, and a bit more for the smaller ones. Velvet could bash enough of them to grow two, and with some assistance Cation could train to a more capable level, which we skip over somewhat, let’s get some levels!



They’ve all taken generic anime damage from training.

‘Cyril!’ Cyril heard called after him after he’d been training for a bit. It was Chloe, her eyes excited, hugging around the shape of a more than mildly disgruntled Growlithe, which she wasted absolutely no time lifting and shoving the face of at Cyril. ‘I got one! Isn’t he adorable~!’ she called, after which Growlithe growled a bit at him, an unsure little growl that told he wasn’t entirely sure about this yet.

Other than that, Chloe was in an entirely new outfit. She was in an orange jacket, black shirt, slightly redder pants, and… and her colours matched the Growlithe perfectly. As to when she’d actually obtained these clothes, who knows, but they were fancy and modern as well.

Except for this, there was also a Pidgey sitting curiously on her shoulder and a Rattata that was trailing after the Sentret that was stopping next to Chloe as she’d started talking to Cyril. It appeared she’d caught some other Pokémon on this route.

‘And it seems I got some money from catching them, too! Which’s perfect, I can have a look at whatever fashion they might have for sale in Highhill Town when I get the-’ and then she promptly shut up, eyes widening as she looked over Cyril’s Pokémon. ‘AAAAAAAAAAAH THEY’RE ADORABLEEEE-!’ and then she was on her knees having dropped Growlithe and lowered her head to ground-level by Mimi, Velvet and Cation!

‘Hiiii! I’m Chloe, Cyril’s friend, Chloe! Delighted to see you…!’ she called, reaching forth a little hand to greet the adorable Pokémon. Growlithe looked on confunded, Sentret scurrying over to stand next to her trainer, and Pidgey and Rattata were looking on curiously.

Cyril’s next actions?



Connected areas:
Pureplain City. A bit south.
Highhill Town. A bit north-north-east.

@PlatinumSkink

---

Huh.

Claire took a moment to get off her butt and actually reply as she was forcefully handed a mask. Did...Raremine have an entire underground like this? The redhead mused briefly about exploring such a vast underground complex, but a light tap on her head from her partner quickly made her refocus. What even was this? Some sort of...delinquent group or something? And someone raiding their base? Hm.

Seemed like trouble, so this was perfect for her.

Claire quickly wrapped the black and white mask around her face, pulling her cap a bit lower down her forehead, trying to give herself a slightly more delinquent look.

Hm. She needed some bling for that. Maybe another shopping spree was in order.

"Ralts!~"

"Wahaha, right right. Sorry, I got caught up in a battle. Lets show this intruder how good we all are, yeah!" She replied to the lass. Who knows, maybe she'd learn something interesting by doing all this. A spy when people didn't even know there was a spy! Right outta some noire spy movie!

So Claire took off with the others, for now deciding to go along with this.

---

^{Flooded Lakewatch: The Drain || Day 5: Afternoon || @PlatinumSkink@Gardevoiran}
The visions Azelf showed her endowed her with a new sense of responsibility. She now knew what needed to be done and how it could be done, and all that was left was getting strong enough to be able to do it. Though she was not completely alone on this quest, there was no doubt that she and her team would have to shape up, and by the time the visions ended, she was left holding some crystals, her mind acutely focused on the path ahead.

After the Azelf finished its final address, Eryn nodded, glancing at the other trainers before giving it a secure grin. “Don’t worry, we got this. You keep doing whatever you need, and we’ll do the rest,” she said, her eyes drifting to the dormant giant towering above them.

At some point, Skylar asked permission to take a photo, which caught Eryn’s attention. She hadn’t even thought of taking photos, and when she saw him lining up his Pokedex with the camera, she couldn’t resist racing over with a grin.

“Cheese!” she shouted, leaping into the frame from the side with her arms raised. Landing in a stumble, she straightened, jogging over to check the picture out. It turned out that she was only half in the frame, but her face had made it in, and she was happy enough with that.

“I approve,” she said, giving Skylar a double thumbs up.

Skylar detailed his plan forward then, and Eryn frowned. As much as she liked the sound of heading along with him and Vivia, she still had some unfinished business in Lakewatch.

“Meeting Uxie sounds smart, but I still have some stuff I wanna do in town,” she said, flashing them an apologetic smile. “I still need to bring my Onix to meet her parents, and I’d planned on heading to Raremine next to challenge their gym. I guess that’d be taking the long way ‘round, but,” she said, glancing at Azelf, “I also think that’d help me prepare my team best.”

She shrugged, then looked back to Skylar with a grin. “That said, I definitely think we should coordinate heading into the base together. Mt. Strength sounds like the way to go for me, given that it’ll be like a surprise attack, but we don’t need to decide now. Let’s trade numbers and coordinate when the time comes,” she said, pulling out her Pokedex.

An Abra teleported in then, and Eryn turned to stare at it, grinning. “Sweet, I’ve always wanted to try teleporting!”

---

Seriously, was it okay for him to be beating up a preschooler's Pokemon? Those Rattata did not stood a chance so if he had to take a guess this group wasn't particularly strong...and soon enough he was eating his words.

Turns out Cecil's special attack stat was worth absolutely nothing; her attacks stung a little at best. She got a clean tackle in though it was not enough to take it down and as consequence, the Skitty used Sing to put her into a deep slumber. Cecil tucked her arms and legs into her body and chirped in her sleep.

Well crap.

"Cecil return!" Basil yelled out as he recalled his Darumaka back into her pokeball. Without skipping a beat, he tossed Lupin out and the general plan was to have him use Taunt, which were two obscene gestures he made with his fingers, to prevent the Skitty from using status moves and then rush in with Scratch.

---

---

"Excellent work everyone," Cyril exclaimed, positively beaming as he crouched down and held a hand out, winking at his team. While it was plenty easy to bash most of the Pokémon on this route due to their relatively low level, he did have to coordinate with them all to minimize the damage, as well as speed up the battles.

Regardless, the team trilled and vibrated with excitement, even Velvet was in on this despite trying to maintain a relatively cool appearance. Instinctively, they all gave him a high-five in their own unique way (well, as unique as you could get). Aster hopped up and clasped his buds around Cyril's hand for a bit, with Mimi followed up by jumping and giving a quick high five before giggling with a blush. Velvet responded by giving his hand a light tap with one of her ears, and Cation mewled while pressing both his paws against it with a humongous smile on his face.

"So, how about a quick break before we check out the rest of the area, and maaaaaaaaybe head into those woods over there?" Velvet didn't dignify that with a response like the rest of the gang, at least yet as she bounced onto his shoulder "Bun," before hopping again, "bun," and doing a twirl in mid-air and landing on his shoulder.

She nearly toppled over after attempting that, though Cyril was able to stabilize her landing as she began to recline into his hand before giving her a little pat to push her back onto her perch. "Hmph, bun, bun," Cyril merely rolled his eyes at her claim before giving her a little boop on the nose, "Sure, sure, I believe you, hee~."

Velvet blushed a little, though she did have to clamp an ear over Cyril's neck as he deftly lunged to grab the little Shinx, who was about ready to make a mad dash over to the forest in the distance. "Easy there Cation! Gotta move as quickly as the slowest person in the group, especially since we are takin' a short break right now, a'ight," the professor-to-be reigned the little cat in, who quickly brought their shaking legs to a stop before looking up at Cyril and beaming with a small mewl.

Setting the energized kitty down, Cyril did a couple of stretches before a familiar, yet oh so lovely voice called out to him. The man cleared his throat, put on his best award winning smile, before pivoting around... only to have a Growlithe shoved directly into his face. While he was adorable, this did make him flinch just a tad bit back from having the Pokémon directly in his face; pretty sure they touched noses in the process.

"He's not just adorable," Cyril murmured with and impish smirk, chuckling as he backed off from the Growlithe's face, who didn't seem too comfortable being shoved in some random guys face. Velvet was somewhat in the same boat, despite not being the receiver, and promptly hopped down from her perch and joined the trio, waiting for this to end.

"He's absolutely, positively, preciously adorable," he asserted, puffing his own chest out before leaning in, not too close and slowly raising a hand to briefly giving a brisk wave to the Growlithe.

"I'm Cyril by the by, and there's no need to be worried lil' buddy, you're in good hands," there was a sudden whiplash in how he was acting, going from bombastic once more to acting much more collected and level-headed as he reassured the Growlithe before moving his hands back to his hip, before he noticed something very obviously off about her.

Before he got the chance to commentate on it, she was already at his newest partners, gushing at the sight and being absolutely awestruck. While she was busy interacting with them, Cyril moved by Chloe's shoulder, eyeing the Pidgey, "Enjoying your perch lil' guy~? I'm Cyril."

---

All three Pokémon had brazenly different reactions to the sudden appearance of this lady, let alone her Pokémon. "Hapi?!" Mimi's reaction was to quiver a bit before scurrying behind Cyril and peaking out, taking shallow breaths as she peered from behind his leg. "It's OK, she won't bite," Cyril murmured as he spun around and quickly scooped up Mimi and turned back to face them, now cradling the Happiny in his arms.

"Sorry, she's a bit nervous 'round unfamiliar people; she'll warm up to you, give it some time." Well, she seemed a bit calmer now, though a little bit nervous as she stared up at the Pidgey and began fidgeting around in Cyril's arms before gulping and giving a bashful, tiny wave to the bird, "H-h-hapi..."

"Buneee..." Velvet reacted with feigned indifference as she 'ignored' the blonde girl and began to strut towards the Sentret. What followed probably surprised Chloe as Velvet reacted by pivoting around and swiftly walking right up to her and deftly shaking Chloe's hands with her ears before turning back and walking towards her first Pokémon and began sizing her up, "Buneary."

"Shiiiiiiiiiinx!" Cation was relatively more straight forward as he curiously stared at the girl, almost acting as awestruck as her as he inched towards her hand, giving it a sniff before rearing his whole body up and slapping his paws onto her hand, "Shiiiiii!" Despite this being the first time they met, Cation acted like they were old friends, before his attention was caught by these multiple Pokémon.

"Shinx?" His eyes lit up as he swiftly swapped targets, going from prancing towards and around the Growlithe and waggling his tail, to looking over and sniffing the Sentret Velvet was interacting with, before finally finding himself by the Rattata. "Shiiiiiinx!" Looks like someone wants to play.

"Fwee?" Despite being familiar with Chloe and her Sentret, the new faces caused Aster to shift around and shyly look away. He was going to go comfort Mimi, until Cyril did that himself, but he did take his partner's attitude into account. Open, courteous, yet still filled with mirth. Aster decided he would give a shot, gulping as he whipped his head around, his bud jiggling around as he trudged towards the Growlithe. "B-budee? Fwee, budee." Guess introductions were to be in order.

---

Beyond introductions it seemed as though everyone was getting along, at least from Cyril's perspective. Most of his partners were pretty cordial, if not overly playful or just a little wary of Chloe's own partners. Nevertheless, the new duds did catch his attention and he had been meaning to bring it up a couple of minutes ago. Hmm...

Raising his eyebrow, he tilted his head as he leaned to the side, peering to see if all her articles of clothing were like that. Looking at her back, the jacket was still orange, with a small design on the back, evocative of some stripes; bringing it back up front, he took note of the pure black t-shirt she had donned. There were a bunch of other obvious things as well, but he did snoop around, scrutinizing and analyzing the lass.

"Hmm, something seems a bit different 'bout you Chloe," he murmured to himself as he continued appraising her, reveling in his own false ignorance as the Happiny looked up, confounded by the young mans insistence on looking at Chloe so much. "Happiny?" She raised her head up to glance at her, before taking a sidelong glance at Cation; she ended up having a stare that just said "of course."

"Aha, I got it," Cyril snapped his fingers, exclaiming as he glanced up at her pretty face, "you got your hair done, didn't you!" Of course!... not. He could only giggle, waiting to see her reaction before continuing, "Juuuuus' kidding~; you're rockin' those new clothes! Looking pretty good, sort of like your new friend down there."

She probably stored her main clothes somewhere away, like in her purse. Man, bags sure have changed over the years; couldn't carry too many items on him in the past, now suddenly he could whip out an exact copy of what he was wearing, as well as ten different types of clothes! Well, that was an over exaggeration; it was more like nine, but still.

His gut couldn't help but feel she had a pair of rocking new clothes for specific Pokémon she wanted to catch and couldn't help but feel curious about what this fashionista might bring out next.

Speaking of Chloe.

"Hey Chloe, while I was actually planning on heading to Highhill, I thought I might do a little more exploring and training in that forest over there before that," Cyril snapped his fingers and pointed to the lightly dense forest in the distance.

"Y'wanna join me on this excursion? It probably won't take too long, pluuuuus you might be able to find more adorable Pokémon to join you~," as Cyril invited her to join him, he glanced over to see how the other four were holding up before holding his own hand up, gesturing to the forest.




Regardless of her response, Cyril would either say his temporary good byes or begin dashing over to the forest while keeping a steady pace as to not let Chloe be left behind. Once they or he arrived, Cyril would probably start training while Chloe did her own thing, with the former keeping close to her should she accompany him.

Did Krysty's team smash that entire warehouse? Holy Miltank. It seemed Kristy had gotten the upper hand but just as she was bringing the battle to a close her two victims managed to Abra away. Kristy gave him a brief explanation before heading back to the gym, leaving Dawkin to ponder the events. At least the culprits had been identified, it Team Amethyst's work again. As though prompted by this thought, Dawkin saw a familiar face flash through the crowd of miners. Cigarette guy! Dawkin immediately began walking after him without a plan in mind only to see him dip into a rather innocuous building.

Kristy was already headed back to the gym. Should he try to get her to help? Or perhaps some other authority? Last time his escape from this group had been a bit of a hairy affair and there was no guarantee he could get in and out of, what Dawkin was convinced was a secret hideout, unscathed. Screw it, no guts no glory. Dawkin approached the building, somewhat more furtively than cigarette guy, and stepped in. He would try to keep things on the down low. If Dawkin got discovered... Well he did have that Pichu, perhaps he could spin that as his ticket in. Or just run like hell.

Actions: Follow Cigarette guy and enter the very secret base, getting close enough to hear the voices better while trying to be stealthy.

---

@Rune_Alchemist

‘A battle? Not against someone who knew you’re with us, I hope?’ the lass asked with a frown as she put on her own mask, which was just the face of a Tympole plastered over the lower part of her face. ‘Ah, nevermind! Let’s go!’

So they ran through the base, and… yeah, some Pokémon battling had definitely happened here. A couple other random individuals were scurrying and escaping, and also pointing the way for the group Claire was now running with. There were damages after huge things had impacted the walls and torn up furniture, and the base itself seemed in a general state of evacuation, there were a couple Abras in the “teleport room” that were sending the refugees who knows where. Still, they entered the Research room, and…

There were busted up science machines all over, shattered glass and expensive-looking machines that had been torn apart. Scientist-looking guys were currently in a state of fleeing. There were a couple of ancient Pokémon just hanging out on the side…



There was an open door to a smaller room ahead. The lights within were out, yet all the scientists were looking in that direction with fear as they ran, and the group Claire had arrived with stopped short, holding their Pokéballs as they glared at the entrance. And there… There were calm steps of dark shape walking towards them from the other side of the doorway.

‘Sh-she’s coming…! The scourge of our lab is coming…!’ one of the scientists called as he immediately turned and fled, like this entity was somehow horrifying. The individuals by Claire also tensed up. Finally, out of the shadows came a girl, with blue hair and a thin outfit, holding a piece of paper. … Claire might recognize this person. Their interactions had been minimal, but she might recognize this person anyway.

‘“In ancient times, the Pokémon were worshipping and regularly interacting with the Legendary Pokémon that were their caretakers”,’ the girl read from the paper in her hand. ‘“Cells from their interactions may as such have been trapped in the fossils, and trace amounts may have been resurrected along with the Ancient Pokémon. We therefore research any cells on the Ancient Pokémon, to find these trace amount of legendary cells, using which we hope to track down the legendary Pokémon themselves”… what nonsense is this?’ Cathia asked, folding and then putting the page down into her bag before returning it to her back.

‘None of your business!’ the Lass that had led the group Claire was with shouted back. ‘Also, your luck just ran out! Unlike the rabble you’ve been facing so far, we’re a team gathered to defeat you! Say your prayers!’ the girl said, as she pulled a Pokéball, and so did the other three companions. Claire could potentially take a clue, but Ralia was already out, so.

‘… I’m sorry, but I cannot lose until I face my sister,’ Cathia said, shaking her head. ‘… and besides that…’ She then looked up, an unmistakable show of anger in her eyes. ‘I will never let the likes of you go without tearing you apart, Team Amethyst…!’



__________________________

@Gardevoiran@Typical

‘Um, land makes sense, doesn’t it?’ Vivia asked, looking to Skylar after his question. ‘Stillwood is just a stroll down Route 5, shouldn’t be too complicated. We might see some new Pokémon, too.’

‘… Hm. Very well. Trading numbers does sound sensible,’ Oaken says, if he hasn’t already with Eryn and I’m forgetting it. ‘I’m going to Route 6, because there’s a Pokémon there I want. Then I’ll wait for Rodger, who is in Stillwood Village until he gets defeats Archie, after which he’ll drive after me. Crossing Route 6 should be a lot less of a bother with his bike,’ Oaken figures, but that aside.

Anyways. Eventually, perhaps, they’d use the Abra…



__________________________

@hatakekuro

Basil called back Cecil and sent out Lupin, who the very first thing that happened to him was that he took a big Tackle because of the negative consequences of switching Pokémon as Skitty was charging at Cecil’s previous position. Faced with another adversary, Lena tried to make Skitty Sing this one too! … But got Taunted before it could happen!

‘Ah, no, Taunt! Skitty, no!’ Lena called, but Skitty already launched into another Tackle! _{Because Taunt is overpowered in this setting, I am going to let opponents use an offensive move instead of standing around doing nothing}

Still, Lupin was far faster than Skitty and the cat-Pokémon was already damaged by the encounter with Cecil. Eventually, Lupin’s scratches brought the opponent’s Pokémon down, with enough scratches.



‘Oooouuugh! … Well, at least I didn’t make Skitty accidentally put me to sleep, this time…!’ Which had happened due to the tight nature of the drain and due to her opponent having got behind Skitty…

Then onto the princess’s Pokémon! … After having waken up Cecil!

To be frank, the mercenary was far more of a threat. Incinerate did some damage, and then Pidgey tackled and did some damage… Cecil’s going to win with just Incinerate, mostly because Pidgey’s level 3. A similar story happened against Buneary, Taunt making it so the bunny had to run forth and try to Pound at once, after which Lupin could once again just use his speed to scratch and run as previously. Yes, these low-level battles are going to go like this a lot.



‘Aaaaah! I couldn’t repel him!’ the little girl cried as she went and ran behind her “king”, who was crossing his arms looking judgingly at Basil.

‘Hmpf! It seems the bard was hiding weapons under his cloak, and is really capable with them! Is he perhaps secretly an assassin?’ the king theorized, making some of his subjects and the princess cower a bit in fear, looking at Basil. ‘It would appear that I have no choice. I must release the horrible beast that once plagued these lands…’

‘N-no, not the monster!’ the princess called, positively shaking in fear.

‘Whelp, guess I’m out of here before it gets ugly!’ the mercenary said, winking to Basil a bit before lifting herself out of the drain.

‘A-are you sure this is wise, my lord?’ Donald asked, his childish little voice matching terribly with the seriousness he was trying to convey.

‘I understand your fears! But I fear we have no choice. Stand behind me! For I, alone, wield the power that can control the beast…’ the king said, lifting his Pokéball towards Basil as his subjects gathered behind him. ‘Are you ready, bard, to face the greatest monster of this kingdom!?’



‘I call upon the might of the unspeakable horror!’ the king announced, and then threw the Pokéball in front of him…! ‘Go get him, T!’

And with that, a creature of countless tentacles took form in front of Basil…!



__________________________

@Savo

Pidgey looked a bit curiously at Cyril asking enjoying his perch, and gave a little bird-sound in reply that could have meant absolutely anything.

‘Riight!?’ Chloe called happily about Growlithe being a whole lot of adorable. ‘Yes! Please do warm up to me so I can shower you with love, cuddles and happiness~!’ she then said about shy little Mimi, but then there was Velvet, which Chloe looked curiously at… and then got her hand shaken. ‘Ooh, what a cute little attitude~!’ Chloe grinned about Velvet. Then she was all squees of happiness and pats on Cation because happy Shinx! The Cation moved on, Growlithe looking a bunch at him moving about, Sentret looking a bit cautiously at the Shinx, too, and then he got to Rattata. The rat needed a moment to get it, but then jumped up to paw happily on Cation, and then they could play for a bit, because the Rattata was a most energetic playmate, heh.

‘Growl? Growlithe!’ Growlithe called when Aster introduced herself, causing the dog to lower its head and look curiously at her, waving its tail a bit and sniffed at her. Most Chloe’s Pokémon would warm up to them soon enough and get friendly enough.

‘Yes! I got new clothes, as a good-luck charm to catch a Growlithe! Don’t they look adorable?’ Chloe said, leaving out what the clothes must have cost.

Anyways. After all that. Cyril suggested they head over to the forest, and Chloe immediately looked even brighter than usual.

‘Oooh, yes! There’s bound to be a bunch of adorable Pokémon in the forest! We’ve just GOT to go check it out! Let’s go!’ Chloe said, skipping up on her feet and was then already on her way, her four Pokémon looking surprised for a bit before all four of them started skipping / running / flying after her, the Pokémon forced to keep up with their over-excited trainer. As Cyril dashed too, it probably meant they reached the forest pretty quickly!



__________________________

@Eklispe

Dawkin made his way inside the building and placed his ear where it counted, listening in on the conversation.

‘... in ruins,’ he could hear the guy say. ‘They appeared to believe it was our base in Raremine, now deserted.’

‘Excellent,’ said a mature, female voice, unknown as to its origin but by the tone one that was used to having its commands followed. ‘We’re currently suffering what appears to be a small one-trainer invasion at our actual base, but it’s of no matter. We already possess that which we came here to obtain. Allan, Mia,’ the voice told their names.

‘Yes, ma’am!’ Mia’s voice came immediately, the girl also present inside the room.

‘Deliver this to Bigfjord City. I’m going down there to destroy our little interloper. … I don’t need to make clear how important it is this reaches its destination unharmed, do I?’ the woman said, and there was the sound of something being handed over, and someone accepting the item.

‘Certainly not, ma’am,’ Allan says, in a serious enough tone.

‘Leave it to us! We’ll have it delivered safe and sound!’ Mia assured, somehow not sounding entirely convincing.

‘Good. Then be on your way at once. Avoid seeming suspicious, will you?’ the woman said, before what sounded like a hatch opening and the woman stepped down it, probably towards whatever base it was they had. As soon as she was out of earshot…

‘Ooooh, it’s our lucky break! Such an important mission entrusted to us…!’ Mia positively squeed in there.

‘Then let’s be on our way before we find a way to mess it up,’ Allan told, turning to start walking to the door.

‘Oh, have some faith! It’s just a delivery mission! What could we possibly do to mess up a delivery mission!?’ Mia ridiculous, following…

They’re heading for the door. Does Dawkin do anything?

There is a wall to hide behind a bit further in, curving left into another room, if so desired.

Jeez, these kids were really taking their roles a tad more seriously than he thought they would. Like really, an assassin? He was as intimidating as a Dunsparce and had the presence as one. Sure he defeated the first three trainers, but two of them were just kids so it's not like he should feel any ounce of pride over that. Not that he wasn't proud of his Pokemon, but uh, the only actual threat was just the girl with the Skitty though that "king" was making some pretty big claims about having the greatest monster in the kingdom.

Basil strummed a melodic tune with his mandolin. "May they sing tales of our battle." God dammit he needed to stop playing along.

From the kid's Pokeball came out a mass of living vines with two big eyes staring at his soul."Huh, what is that..." He pulled out his Pokedex and with its robotic, yet friendly voice it said,

"Pokédex Entry #114 – Tangela, the Vine Pokémon. It is constantly wrapped in countless constantly jiggling blue vines that never stop growing. The vines cloak its unknown contents, and are known to entangle anything that comes close. The vines easily detach if grabbed and grow back within a day."

So if its body comprised of vines did that mean that it was a grass type? If that was the case, the game plan was simple; throw Cecil in and spam the hell out of Incinerate from a distance. It did not look like it would be that fast and Sure, special attack wasn't Cecil's greatest stat, but it was still better to make use of the type advantage.

A secret base in Raremine, an unknown intruder wrecking the base, and an important delivery. A goldmine of information that'd just uncovered, but what was he to do with it? Stop the delivery in its tracks! Dawkin released Pichu and Cacena and knelt down next to them, whispering, "Two trainers are going to come out of the door, Pichu Thunderwave them, Cacena use Sand Attack!" Pichu seemed eager to have the chance to zap someone, and Cacena more passively nodded and looked at the indicated doorway intently. His plan was to have the two Pokemon blind and paralyze the pair as they came out. After the two let their moves rip, Dawkin would move in their wake to take whatever this 'important package' was. Dawkin wanted to be fast in the event that Pichu's Thunderwave wasn't fully effective in paralyzing them, Cacena's Sand Attack should hopefully give him enough time to retrieve the package and flee. Of course if the pair did two out to be neutralized by Pichu, he might just stick around and see what else he could ruin! Dawkin might have felt bad for attacking two people with his Pokemon like this, but he simply he to remind himself that Team Amethyst had surely done the same to countless people, himself included!

Actions: Have Pichu and Cacena prepare to thunderwave/sandattack Allan and Mia when they leave the room, taking their package, and leaving if they're still active enough to resist or stay if they don't seem to be.

---

Ryu looked at Fennekin before looking back at his opponent seeing the gift Ellyn got was a...Floating wad of cream.

He dug in his bag pulling out his pokedex, deciding that if anything it was good data to have at the least. He was surprised to see that it was a Fairy-Type pokemon but knew this might give him an advantage is it only knew moves of that type, since Fire was resistant to Fairy. But with their pokemon being such low level, it seemed unlikely that it would only know Fairy-type moves. Tackle or scratch were more likely.

"Alright here go, Finneikin! Dodge then use Ember!"He said as Fennekin nodded in agreement jumping out of the way at the last second before taking a deep breath and unleashing a cloud of hot embers at Milcery

---

---

"Raremine's got a gym, huh?" Skylar said, completely forgetting that it did have that gym. "That actually sounds like a better place to go before Stillwood. Get it out of the way so we don't have to return. Mind if we do that instead, Vivia? We could get up top to the surface, go to Raremine, then it's a straight shot to Stillwood, Freecape, and Worrldedge from there without either of us going off the beaten path." Skylar suggested, stepping closer to the Abra. She could totally say no to the idea and Skylar would be absolutely fine with it. Regardless, Abra was Skylar and JoJo's way out of this part of Flooded Lakewatch, so he'd take it.

Then he was greeted by the dopey grin of a Quagsire. "Heheh. Nice." He looked over to Lin at the front of the cave, the same trainer that took him down if he remembered correctly, and he walked back over to her. For a moment, he stopped and looked down at JoJo in his arms.

"Rrall?"

"Did meeting Azelf help you figure out if you wanted to evolve into Gardevoir or Gallade?"

JoJo shook his head. Seems as if he didn't actually put thought into the choice yet.

"That's alright, we've still got quite a ways to go before then. We'll take our time." The boy rubbed his Pokemon's head as he stood by Lin, waiting for the others to get ready so they could all leave and continue their adventures through Isson.

@PlatinumSkink

---

Woah.

Hold up.

Team Amethyst?

Well, that was...good to know. So that's who these guys were. Claire didn't have long to consider the implications of this, however. Cathia had already loosed her pokemon on the others here. Steelix, Gyarados, Floette, and Azumarill. That was a pretty stacked lineup. Just how much training had she done? Jaques knew how to pick them at least.

In another other situation she'd straight up ask for a battle, but considering the situation she found herself in. Ngh, maybe she should have not went with these guys and looked around instead. Maybe there would be some useful info on these guys, still...

"Yare yare daze, she's got some strong ones eh." Snrk, she always wanted to use that line! She could have Ralia teleport herself out of here. Zeal or Pip might be able to take the Steelix, but Zeal would need to watch out for the Gyarados and Azumarill. If they could take out them, things would become mildly easier. But did she want to fight, though? She ground her teeth.

Welp.

Since when was she one to hesitate? If she could temporarily help these guys, she might get some neat info.

"Alright, Bronzor, Chikorita, Ralts! Lets get us some free EXP!" This was probably a terrible idea, but hey. Whatever worked.

"Raal!"

"Chiko!~"

"Brrrnz."

If she was gonna be using multiple pokemon, she might as well too, especially since she was playing the bad guy here. Just like fighting Hector.

"Ralts, Setup with Double team. Chikorita, weaken those two with growl. Bronzor, confuse ray on that Gyrados."

Ralia gave a friendly salute, before splitting off several clones and ready to focus on evading any attack sent her way. Chikorita hopped out into the front of the others, attempting to growl in a menacing manner and failing cutely. Bronzor spun in place, an odd beam of light snaking its way towards the water pokemon, intent on confusing it.

---

^{Flooded Lakewatch: The Drain || Day 5: Afternoon || @PlatinumSkink@Gardevoiran}
Eryn grinned. “Exactly! It’ll be a good place to test our strength and get stronger, and it’s on the way, too. The long way, but still.” She shrugged as she joined Skylar in stepping towards the Abra, eyes wide with delight as she watched the floating psychic-type closely. This was her first time teleporting, and she was both curious and excited, but she barely got a chance to react to the flash of light before it was over.

“Hey Quagsire! Nice to see you’re doing good too!” she said, grinning and waving excitedly back at the bipedal swimmer. Wilhelm’s smiling face kept her grin on her face as he rushed through his words, and she had half a mind to tell him to text her about his findings when she recognized the unknown third figure who’d no doubt come with Skylar and Vivia.

“L-Lin?” She hesitated, searching for some sort of excuse to give. Torchic pox? A terrible haircut? Some long-lost lover who’d called her home? None of those sounded right, and she sighed, giving the swimmer a sheepish smile. “You got me there,” she admitted as she rejoined Wilhelm and Quagsire, retrieving the trinkets. The knowing look Lin flashed her communicated her suspicions with a small but visible smirk, and Eryn could only offer a shrug back. Eri wasn’t here, and the gig was up anyway. She hadn’t meant to lie or mislead, but she’d done both to help keep Eri’s cover, and she’d do it again soon enough, no doubt. After all, she wasn’t about to go back on her word, and Eri needed to look like a trainer to get practice being a trainer.

Once they were back on the coast, Eryn reunited with her Pokemon with a big smile, calling out and picking up Tula so she could pull as many of her team as she could into a team hug. “I missed you guys,” she said as Dei gave a protesting “Char” from being mashed too close to Kylie, who looked more amused than anything despite her agreeable, singsong “Maw’s.”

While tucking away her new finds into her backpack, her eyes caught on something shiny in her bag, and she fished it out, jogging over to Skylar with a grin. “Here, take this,” she said, shoving the Dawn Stone at him. “I dunno whether you’re planning on a Gallade, but here’s something to help keep your options open. Consider this a helping hand from one quest buddy to another, and if you must know, I think Gallade’s pretty cool,” she said, winking at Jojo.

Turning to Vivia, she smiled. “Hopefully I’ll see you around then, and if I don’t, I’m only a call and some running away.”

The joke sounded better in her head, but she rolled with it, laughing. When she turned to Oaken, though, she paused. Earlier, she’d wanted to battle him, basically made up her mind to issue a challenge, but after everything in the cave, the thought gave her pause. Even if she hadn’t directly battled him, she’d still beat him by getting chosen by Azelf, and it seemed like bad manners to challenge him so soon after that. That said, she still wanted to see how she measured up against him, so she settled for a sort of middle ground—in her opinion, at least.

“So, you gonna wait in town then? I’m tired today, but what do you think about a Pokemon battle sometime tomorrow? Bright and early like the good trainers we are?” Her grin was genuine but it was also sharpened by an edge of competitiveness. Though she knew it was rather silly to consider someone so ahead of her a rival, she did. She could blame it on their first battle in front of Kalmia’s lab, or she could blame it on her competitive spirit, but either way that was the way she felt.
Finally, the only people who were left were the people who’d brought her to the drain in the first place, and she turned to them with a grateful smile. “Thanks so much for taking us down, Quagsire. I couldn’t have asked for a kinder, or goofier, underwater guide,” she said, giggling. “And thanks, Wilhelm, for putting the idea in my head. Lemme know if you come up with any breakthroughs, but otherwise I’m just glad we both got something out of this!”

And with that, she bid the group goodbye, walking off, changing back into her normal clothes, and making for the Wet Caverns. “We’re gonna go find your parents, Peri! You excited? And please tell them good stuff about me. I’m too young to be a pancake!”

Peri’s grating laugh filled the air, and Eryn grinned, squeezing Tula with her Pokemon at her side. Today really was some sort of day.

---

@hatakekuro

Tangela started with Ingrain… and got an Incinerate blasted in his face! Now, maybe Cecil had poor Special Attack, but Tangela has poor Special Defense in addition to fire being super-effective, so it cancelled out! Tangela regained some health with Ingrain, but he’d taken more damage from Incinerate. Cecil was out of range of Sleep Powder…

‘Tsk… distance attacker…’ Lewis grunted, because clearly Tangela was only the king against enemies trying to counter him in close combat. ‘ … Only one thing to do, then! Vine Whip, and PULL IT IN CLOSE!’ Lewis commanded, and Tangela replied by snapping across the drain and, it being hard to dodge in here, it snapped around Cecil’s red body! It then started pulling the Darumaka closer…!

‘That’s right! Pull it in close, and then use Sleep Powder…!’ the king commanded, and it was possible Tangela wouldn’t go down before Cecil was within range like this!

What would be Basil and Cecil’s actions?

__________________________

@Eklispe

So, an important detail is that you can only effectively Thunder Wave or Sand Attack a single target at a time. Another important factor is that paralyzation is not total immobilization in the Pokémon World, you’re just immensely slowed down and sometimes unable to act. And so…

The door opened and the two grunts of Team Amethyst stepped through and-

Their eyes immediately went wide as they were greeted by Pichu’s Thunder Wave and Cacnea’s Sand Attack!

‘Khk-!’ Allan raised an arm but still got the shocks of Thunder Wave drilled into his body! Allan was paralyzed!

‘KHAH!’ Mia shouted out as she got a blast of sand into her eyes, staggering back and raising her hands to her face!

As said, Allan was currently disguised as a young Hiker, while Mia was disguised as a Backpacker. In addition to the large backpack, Mia was holding a brown decently large handbag, that was the best bet for being the item they were transporting, albeit Allan too had a bunch of stuff on his back. If Dawkin went for anything else than the handbag, do tell, but otherwise we’ll assume he took the handbag. Because these two could still move. It was pretty easy to snatch out of the distressed Mia’s hand.

‘YOU LITTLE-!’ Mia cried, throwing out a missed punch and glaring through reddened eyes after him. Under the assumption this prompted Dawkin to run…

‘A-AFTER HIM…!’ the slowed Allan called, the stutter an effect of the paralyzation, as he grabbed a Pokéball to throw out. Mia also took a Pokéball and threw into the floor. A predictable duo came out, a dog and a duck.



‘You won’t get away…!’ Mia dashed after him shortly after he started running (did he pick up his Pokémon? Pichu’s fine, but Cacnea wouldn’t be able to keep up with a running human), Growlithe running and Ducklett skipping while waving his wings. ‘Growlithe, Ember! Ducklett, Water Gun!’

And Dawkin and his Pokémon found themselves shot after by fireballs and waterballs as they came out again on the streets. Now, Mia had some problems seeing, but she could just follow her Pokémon that were fully capable of following. Then, of course, she could shout.

‘STOP THE THIEF!!’ Mia cried out loud when they got out on the streets again, making multiple passerbys turn to look curiously and in alarm at the situation. Some reaching for their Pokéballs.

Dawkin’s actions?

__________________________

@BlackMaiden _{@Joshua Tamashii}

The only attack-move that Milcery knew was Tackle! So the floating wad of cream came flying through the air towards Fennekin… who modestly easily just jumped out of the way and shot an Ember into the creature, as the fox-Pokémon was pretty much twice as fast and had access to a distance move. The fireball hit into Milcery, and…

‘Milcery…!’ the Pokémon cried out a bit as it was burned.

‘… Oh, no, cooked cream is the worst…’ Ellyn commented, looking down on her Pokédex for a bit. ‘… Sweet Kiss?’

Milcery continued to attempt tackling and occasionally kissing Fennekin with Sweet Kiss, but both moves required it to catch up to an inherently faster Pokémon. Fennekin could simply dance around Milcery's attempts to get into contact, while unloading the occasional fireballs into the slow wad of cream unable to dodge. It only took a couple laps during which Ellyn had no idea what she could possibly do before Milcery gave a weak cry and fainted.



‘Aaah, this sucks,’ Ellyn complained as she returned Milcery to the Pokéball. ‘I’m made to go back where I began just to lose to a kid that just got his first Pokémon, just because the Pokémon he was given happened to be inherently better,’ she continued, and then took out another Pokéball, and threw it forward to crack open before Fennekin. A yellow-bellied, significantly larger Pokémon with flames on the top of its head and read looked around curiously down at the fellow fire-type Pokémon.



‘… Come back when you have as many badges as I have. Then we’ll see who wins,’ Ellyn stated, satisfied by having proven that she wouldn’t have lost a normal battle with Quilava here. She turned to talk with Jacques and Eugene, Jacques giving her a smile and some encouraging talk while Eugene stood ready to transport her back on the Skarmory. _{‘Gh, where’s that kid that promised me cake…?’ Ellyn complained over there.}

‘Well done!’ Kalmia said, stepping to Ryu’s side. ‘It seems you’ve got the basics down well enough. Then, it’s about time you depart on your own Pokémon Journey through Isson! I’ll be right here, do ask me questions either in person or through calling with the Pokédex and I’ll see how I can help you. From Pureplain City there’s both Route 1 and 2 to choose between, each giving a different experience. You have your Pokéballs, right? Then, you’re set to go! Good luck~!’

‘And if you meet our brother, make sure to challenge him to a battle!’ Tim(?) called from the door.
‘Make sure to win, too, so he’s driven to become stronger!’ Tom(?) called as well. Then the two chased one another into the lab with some chuckles.

So, he’s now free to do whatever. What would Ryu want to do?

And, yeah, then there’s Amelia here, too, sitting with all her ghosts. The battle just ended. Would she like to do something? Talk to the new guy? Anything else?

You are 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.

And first blood goes to Cecil! Incinerate was of course super-effective and it looked like that it just had enough of an impact to deal more damage than the Tangela could heal from. All they needed was one more solid hit and then it would be over... is what he would be saying if it weren't for the fact that that the living tentacle monster getting its grip on her.

Oh come on! "Cecil, throw yourself at it!" Cecil used the momentum of being pulled in by the Tangela to close the distance even faster for a Tackle attack. The intention was to knock it down to delay it from using Sleep Powder and then follow up with Incinerate to deal with the final blow.

@Rune_Alchemist

‘Paaaaachiiiiiriiiiiii…!’ Pachirisu charged itself up for an electric Spark attack on the Gyarados…! … When a huge shadow suddenly overcame its whole being. ‘… su?’ it had time to ask before the entirety of Gyarados body-weight channelled into its tail slammed down into the tiny squirrel! Then again! Then it swung its giant face across the room, demolishing all that came in its way! Then the tail slammed down near Tauros, forcing the bull back! Pachirisu fainted! The “Lass” winced!

This was Thrash, an uncontrollable rampage by a giant Pokémon any close combat fighter would be hard-pressed to contend with…!

‘E-enough with the jokes! Take them out!’ the “Lass” demanded to Claire, pointing towards Gyarados.

Pip growled, reducing the Attack of both Steelix and Gyarados. Ralia was also allowed to Double Team without issue, as Cathia’s Pokémon were focused elsewhere. There’s now a bunch of Ralia clones about.

Ponyta and Slowpoke both started shooting fire and water at Steelix, doing a decent amount of damage both, but it was clear Steelix was way higher level. The giant metal snake responded by throwing a Rock Tomb over the fiery horse, Ponyta unable to dodge in time as the giant rocks came falling and buried it. Ponyta fainted!

And Azumarill just straight-up Bubble-Beamed Golett, causing the Ground-type ghost to fall back and faint at once. Snorunt decided it had picked the wrong opponent and scampered back…!

The “Lass” having pointed at Gyarados, the rest focused their firepower on the beast. Dwebble turned and fired Rock Blast at Gyarados, which did super effective damage but only hit twice. Tauros found an angle to Horn Attack Gyarados, doing some damage. Snorunt then shot Icy Shard at Gyarados, that also doing some damage, which would have been at the beginning of the turn because priority move but Snorunt had hesitated. Honedge took the time to Sword Dance, floating a bit back and preparing, swinging itself around. Altogether, the three attacking Pokémon did a not-insignificant amount of damage to the water serpent. In addition to this, Tez came with his own contribution of a Confuse Ray, hitting the Gyarados and causing it to be Confused ahead of time, much to Cathia’s irritation…

And this is when Floette so happily and unperturbed floated by with a huge smile, called out a happy ‘Floette!’ before a star of pure energy emerged from its flower, flying off into the air above Gyarados before Floette floated back into the backlines charging power to do that again.

‘Wish!? You’re kidding…!’ the “Lass” cried out looking up at the star that was soon going to descend down and heal the great sea serpent.

‘Hmpf. As I said, I will not be defeated,’ Cathia claimed confidently, eyeing Claire’s Pokémon a bit warily. She’d fainted three Pokémon already, but there were quite a few to go…

Claire and co’s new actions?

__________________________

@Gardevoiran@Typical

As they teleported away, the Mr. Mimes behind them gave them some happy grins and enthusiastic waves. Really, they’d just been part of the trial, to see how trainers would react to a neutral party / use their knowledge of their capabilities, they otherwise live here happily with the rest of the Pokémon in the Drain, just because.

So, later, they were taken along the ride homewards.

‘Um, every town and city in Isson has a gym, it’s just a matter if it’s Minor or Major, but yes, Raremine Town has a Minor Gym,’ Vivia commented to Skylar, looking like she was a little worried about being interpreted as a know-it-all. ‘Yeah, we could go there. Route 6 is a bit of an unbeaten path, though.’

They arrived back at the surface, and no sooner had they arrived, than…

‘Well, time for me to leave,’ Lin said, shrugging a bit. ‘Thanks for the adventure, you showed me something interesting,’ she told Skylar, and then looked to Eryn. ‘And don’t worry, I’m not about to go tell people you lost your twin somewhere along the way or something, heh. Have a happy adventure…’ Lin said, returning Cutiecruel to her Pokéball and then started walking idly away into Lakewatch town…

‘Quaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagsiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiire!’ Quagsire happily called to Eryn’s thanks, looking as happy and goofy as ever.

‘Oh, but thank you for finding Quagsire and spurring me onto actually going! Who knows how far I’d actually come, if I’d actually have found what I did without you! Thank you! I’ll certainly tell you if I find something!’ Wilhelm told, enthusiastic and happy about this particular visit. Now, then.

Oaken looked Eryn, inspecting her as she suggested the battle. It took a moment longer than one would be usually known to have someone stare at you.

‘Very well. I will use that opportunity to gauge how far you’ve come and what you need to work on, seeing that it’s now relevant to the success of our mission. I warn that I am likely way ahead of you in the growth of my Pokémon, but if you are fine with that, then I accept your challenge,’ Oaken said, adjusting his glasses. ‘The south plain of Route 5, 8 A.M., tomorrow. Don’t be late,’ he simply states before he turns and wanders out towards the route, because as he said, he has a Pokémon to catch on Route 6. He can do that before the end of the day, he figures.

So with that, we have Skylar in Lakewatch Town.





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.



And Eryn heading to the back entrance of Wet Caverns.



She specifically wanted to go back to the Onix tunnels, so she ignored the main tunnel and went left to the specific wall where she once came out of. Peri, though, instinctively saw the place to dig through, and could drill through without effort. Not going to let her dig through more than that without Dig, however.

Past that, they were in the tunnels again. Long tunnels, not all of them horizontal but could be quite the drop, dug out by Pokémon in various directions, and with a tiny brown mole Pokémon staring at her curiously.



‘Diglett!’ it then called happily. It’s the same Diglett.

Sooooooo. Nothing’s going to happen just hanging around here. Remember what caused all the Onix to show up last time?



Connected areas:
Route 2. Feel free to fast-travel.
Lakewatch Town. Behind you.



__________________________

@hatakekuro

‘Whoa-’ Lewis made a noise of amazement as Cecil leapt along with the vine-pull, the red ball of energy letting herself be flung straight into Tangela. Now, a thing to consider is that while a Darumaka is 2 feet/0.6 meters, a Tangela is 3 feet/1 meter tall, and ingrained into the ground. Cecil slammed into the bundle of tentacles, but actually didn’t do that much damage, a Tangela’s physical defense superior. Tangela’s vines bound around her and held her in place as Sleep Powder started scattering, but having taken Tangela by surprise she got off an Incinerate first, blasting fire straight into the core of the vine-covered Pokémon… but despite all of that, Tangela refused to faint! Ingrain had healed it enough to make it not fall just yet! Then the Sleep Powder settled… and Cecil fell asleep!

‘Yeah, we got her!’ Lewis called out excitedly.

So, what’s Lewis and Tangela’s next action?

‘Huh?’

I asked, what’s Lewis and Tangela’s next action?

‘W-wait, didn’t I just-’

Cecil is going to wake up next turn and Tangela’s not going to survive one more Incinerate. What do you do?

‘V-vine Whip!’

Cecil is currently embedded inside Tangela’s vines. Tangela can’t Vine Whip her without whipping itself.

‘Then, uh, Constrict…?’

Tangela tightened its vines around Cecil, doing barely any damage! Cecil then readily woke up next turn, and blasted another Incinerate directly into Tangela! The vine-covered Pokémon growled from its burns, before all the vines loosened from Cecil, freeing her as Tangela toppled backwards, revealing that under the vines was… more vines. Tangela fainted!



‘… Nnghgnngh-GUH!’ Lewis first made an unhappy noise because he’d 100% thought hitting the Sleep Powder would have been the key to victory, then he recoiled as if taken a blow to his shoulder, and fell down onto one knee, as if actually struck.

‘Big bro- I mean, my king! Are you alright!?’ the little girl skipped over to the defeated youngster king. Donald also looked over with a worried look. Lewis held up a hand to say that it was alright, and then gave Basil and Cecil a smile.

‘Finally, another traveller has been able to defeat me!’ Lewis claimed, like it was a rare occasion. ‘We originally started this tournament because a rare beast was sighted in the far reaches of Drainage Kingdom, and we wanted to check who’d earn the right to confront it… but a Dark Knight went and defeated it, so there was no more reason to hold our tournament. But then, lo and behold, another just like it appeared, and we were overjoyed to once again have a reason to hold our tournaments! But, you have now earned the right! Should you choose to, please proceed in this direction, confront the beast, and then… do as you wish! You have earned the honours!’ Lewis said with a great smile.

The choice was now up to Basil what he wished to do.



Otherwise. He’s still on Route 1.





Connected areas:
Pureplain City. A bit south.
Highhill Town. A bit north-north-east.

Well, that happened. It was great that they won, but as soon as Cecil was out of the Tengela's vines she had the expression that she had seen something that she was never supposed to have seen while she was wedged in it."You did well Cecil, take a nice rest." Basil recalled her back into her Pokeball as well as Lupin, who had been standing by his side watching the battle.

Jeez these kids were quite dramatic though he had to admire their dedication to play their roles. They even made their little tournament some big thing about determining who was worthy to go catch an apparently rare Pokemon from the drain.

Of course he was interested in what this mystery creature could be. Of course, it could have been that the kids were being dramatic and at the end of the drain is a really fat Rattata or something, but what did he have to lose?

"Thank you, my lord." Basil smiled and gave him a polite bow before he went further ahead into the drain.

So he had set off to search for the supposed rare Pokemon and boy, did the trek feel awfully long though there was definitely something relaxing about going down this path. Still, he must've crossed into Highhill Town at some point.

After awhile, he stumbled upon something quite odd; a Pokemon with a giant bulb on its back with vines from its body latched onto a bridge."What in the?" He took out his Pokedex and it said in its polite robotic voice:

Pokédex Entry #1 – Bulbasaur, the Seed Pokémon. It is born with a seed planted on its back. At first, it survives on the nutrients from the seed, but then the seed and Pokémon starts growing side-by-side, taking in food and sunlight. Typically likes napping in bright sunlight.

Wait a minute? Wasn't this one of those really rare Pokemon that are given out to trainers as starters in Kanto? Even there it's been said to be extremely hard to find and it was just hanging there helplessly in front of him. It would have been too easy to catch it, but Basil wasn't that kind of person.

"Don't worry little one, I'm not gonna hurt you." He smiled gently as he looked up at the bridge it was clinging onto. Well, it certainly wasn't going to be able to get up there on its own. "Do you want some help?" Well, it actually was not in any position to object so Basil had just gone ahead and grabbed the Bulbasaur delicately before he gave it a boost up to the bridge.

Basil had soon followed by scaling the walls with some effort, but he was out of the drainage.

@hatakekuro

Lewis and the other kids of the Drainage Kingdom waved Basil good-bye, and then he was off to see what this rare beast was.

Now, Bulbasaur wasn’t actually quite as helpless as Basil had interpreted him to be, he could easily have retracted his vines, dropped back to all-fours and been ready to battle. But Basil quickly assured the Pokémon that he had no such intention, and at the question if he wanted help, Bulbasaur took a moment before giving a small, embarrassed nod. A Bulbasaur weighs… 15 pounds or 7 kg, lifting him up was a piece of cake, despite him being two feet tall and just about even longer horizontally than that. Very light for his decently large size. A Darumaka is just about the same size, slightly smaller even, but weighs like five times that. Huh.

Still, Basil successfully lifted him up on the bridge, and the grass-type was quick to skip a couple of meters into the wild grass to the side. After Basil climbed up, though, he could see that the Bulbasaur was still there, peeking out of the grass at him, momentarily analyzing him. If Basil wants anything more to do with this Pokémon, here’s a chance to do that.



Basil is on Route 1.





Connected areas:
Pureplain City. A bit south.
Highhill Town. A bit north-north-east.

It only occurred to Basil that he may had screwed himself out of the chance to get the Bulbasaur; by the time he would climb out of the drain it would have probably ran off somewhere so when he saw it peeking its head out of the grass he was pleasantly surprised, but also slightly nervous about what to do. He couldn't go and stupidly toss out his Pokemon or else he'd probably scare it away! Maybe he could bribe it with food or maybe he could just be forward. Actually, maybe being forward was the better idea.

"Would you like to have a battle with me?" said Basil, smiling gently, yet a little nervously at the creature as it analyzed him. Hopefully, his action of kindness earlier would have persuaded it to agree to battle him and hopefully catch it.

---

---

"Thanks, Eryn. We appreciate it." Skylar smiled, taking the Dawn Stone given to him and placing it in his bag. If JoJo wanted to use it, then he'd have it for the future. Now the choice was... really just up to JoJo. Regardless, as Eryn left the scene to go back to the Wet Caverns, Skylar waved her off, and he actually managed to get the correct direction that time! "Good luck on your journey! See you soon, Eryn!"

Welp, it was just Vivia and Skylar again. But, as always, Skylar fished around in his bag before the group headed back into Lakewatch proper and pulled out two more Pokeballs, out popping Seabreeze once again (who promply landed back on Skylar's head) alongside Little Mac, who looked up at the two trainers with as much of a smile as his little beak could muster.

"Wingull!" "Chiii~!"

"I'll leave Paradise, Celebrity, and Smiley in their Pokeballs for now. Let's keep the team out in shifts, for just a little while." Skylar noted to the group. He looked down at Mac in particular, though, before kneeling to gently push Mac towards Vivia. "Hey, Mac? Vivia and I got a little wet, do you think you could help keep Vivia warm as we go further?"

"Chichichic!" Mac sputtered with excitement as he bounded over to Vivia, looking up at her with his beady little eyes. If she wanted to pick him up and dry off due to his heat, she was more than welcome to do just that.

Skylar looked off towards the eastern side of the town. "If we're gonna get to Raremine, might wanna try and do that before night falls. We'll be back here eventually, so we don't have to do everything this town has right now. I think our best bet is to do that, unless we need to buy some items at the Pokemart or heal up at the Pokecenter." Skylar rubbed his Ralts head as he thought, the cloudy gray of his eyes shining against the sunlight while JoJo wore the boy's sunglasses again. "Ready to get going?" He asked Vivia. If she wanted to do some prep, they could certainly do that before setting out. There wasn't any major rush aside from nightfall, anyway.