@hatakekuro

‘Hm? Ooooh, you’re looking for a Pinsir, basically the pinnacle of bug catching?’ the Bug Maniac had a cheeky grin on his face as Basil inquired him about the bug. ‘It’s a really rare Pokémon, I wouldn’t be surprised if you’d never find it on your own… but I COULD be persuaded to give you a tip… but what would you give me in return…?’ the Bug Maniac asked, ever the charitable individual, grinning and with a hand on his chin.

We can return to this conversation depending on what Basil replies to him.

Then there was the guy by the souvenir store over there.

‘Oh, if you’d like to learn all about it, there’s a whole book about it here! It’s mostly superstition, though, not based on real facts,’ the guy in the shop said, waving a book about the legend of the silent shrine around. ‘Truth is, we don’t even know if that legend is real. The trainer walked alone into Silent Forest, and came out with the guardian Pokémon, fending off the monster. How many of these guardians there were, how we even know he was blessed by the fairy, we don’t know. Yet, so the legend states. He walked into the Silent Forest, prayed to the fairies for help, and something heard his plea. The guardians came to help, and the monster was defeated. In movies and such, the “fairy” is usually represented by a Floette, but who knows what it really is?’

Yeah, not too much information to gleam from this guy.

Regardless, Basil now went north, stepping into the forest. The rain started coming down and with the clouds gathering overhead, the air got darker despite that it was daytime. Yet, instead, something inside the forest lit up instead…

Amelia jumped at Kalmia seemed to suddenly materialize next to her, causing her ghostly companions to gather around her, save Honedge who simply watched the see what was going to happen. Amelia remained silent as Kalmia gave her idea, a brief summary of the why and how this might go down, and then ending with what was probably a compliment? Either way, she understood what she had to do and why it had to be done if she wanted the possibility of getting what she currently desired. Rising to her feet, the girl took Kalmia's permit from the Professor while nodding her head.
"Thank you very much Professor. I'll get to work on it right away." She said. She glanced over at the others who were still there but decided against saying good-bye to any of them. Returning her current party of six to their pokeballs, she turned to her companions who would be left behind and managed to give them a smile. When she spoke, she tried to keep her voice steady but there was still a small tremble despite her efforts. "I'm sorry I'll be leaving you all behind again. It hurts a lot you know. But I'll try and make it so we can all journey together, like I promised. Until then, wait here and try to stay out of trouble, okay?"

Her pokemon, sensing her reluctance, all gave out encouraging cries and moved closer, allowing her to at least give each of them one more hug before she set off once again. She quickly found a map of Isson and planned out her route of travel before setting out and heading down the now familiar to her, Route 2.

Dawkin considered reaching for a potion but.... if he used it these miners might consider it cheating, and the two of them probably had more items than he did so it wouldn't help much anyway. At this point he could only commit to his plan. "Keep going Tyrunt, you can still win!" Just a little bit more, and he could do it! He had to do it!

---

Ever the generous soul this bug maniac was. Well, nothing in this world really came for free so he couldn't complain if he was being asked for something in return. That being said, what the heck could he even offer to this guy? Money was definitely not something he had in spades and he sure as hell was not going to use his family name to get what he wanted. Actually, he doubted this guy would have been swayed by money, but what if he could tempt him with something far more valuable?

"Alright, how about information in-exchange for information? There's a very strong trainer by the name of Zachery, going around selling Pokemon that are not native naturally to Isson and despite his appearance, he is quite legit. He even gave me a rare Pokemon egg from Galar for free." As he said that, he pulled the egg out of his bag to show that he was not making this up because really, why should he take his words at face value? But hey, it's up to the maniac to believe him or not. "I can imagine that he has any number of foreign bug types that you wouldn't have the means to obtain normally. He travels by ship so you'd find him around harbors, but if you rush now you can probably catch him at Pureplain still."

And then there was the guy at the souvenir stand. What a fountain of information! If only that information was actually useful. To be fair, it did specify something; the guardian Pokemon weren't spirits, but fairies. There was always some hint of truth to these legends, but otherwise not of much substance. "Well, thanks anyway. Good luck with your stand."

Back into the woods he went and the rain was beating down on him with almost no warning. Basil fumbled about to get his umbrella out though he was already looking pretty drenched before he got it over his head. "Can't say I'm a fan of the never ending rain." He muttered to himself as he kept walking, his surroundings were just getting darker as the forest just grew thicker... And then light? Blue lanterns were strewn about everywhere and there were gates placed in random locations that lead to nowhere. There was definitely some other worldly power at play here though he could not help, but wonder if this was related to the guardian Pokemon. He had heard rumors, but he never really expected this places to truly be a fairy forest. What a strange, wonderous place.

Basil had sat down on a tree route and just took everything in around him, finding some sort of peace in the melancholy, mystical wood as well as intrigue. What else could he find in this wood? Of course his main objective was to still find the abandoned shrine, but there was no rush. Those Floettes were certainly all too tempting to catch, but considering how many were around, they had the advantage in numbers so he had a thought; he could lure one over to him.

He whipped out his mandolin and begun to play a calm, atmospheric tune in hopes of luring one over though it was possible that other Pokemon would get curious about it too.

---

---

"Jeez, how many trainers did Kalmia give Pokedexes too? If it's another one, then we better get back in case we need to support him." Skylar looked vaguely back at the battle. "I mean, he might just have this in the bag."



As soon as Seabreeze was healed, Skylar sent him back out and the Wingull perched affectionately on his head. "Wingull!"

Alright, so the Gym was on Route 7 and you might've needed Go-Goggles for it. Probably wouldn't hurt to buy a pair from the shop in any case, but Skylar wasn't too worried about his eyesight, especially with his sunglasses providing him some... minor, at worst, protection. Might not be a great idea to rely on them.

As Skylar stepped back out to the main area of Raremine Town to... 'watch' Dawkin's fight, he started to think vaguely of a gameplan for his strategies here. He had one solid idea so far, and that was to go and train his heart out at Stone Shore. There he could search for the two fossils that were on his radar, or maybe just any fossil that he could come across. It'd be a fun new odd addition to the team if it wasn't the two that he was looking for.

Before he'd leave to go and train, though, he'd at least stop by the Pokemart to buy a few Pokeballs, maybe some potions, and the Go-Goggles for the Gym Challenge if he so needed them.

So... just for his clarification, Shop, Shore, Schientists, Schallenge. Schomething like that, anyway.

"Think he's got this covered, Vivia? I'm not sure how good of a trainer he is?" Skylar commented, rubbing JoJo's head and absentmindedly watching from the crowd of miners that had formed, completely ignorant that this grunt could totally spot him out from the crowd with the Wingull sitting on his head.

"Ralal! Ralts!" JoJo tried in vain to tell Skylar of his mistake, but it seemingly went unnoticed. Seemed like Skylar was listening in hard on this fight.

@Joshua Tamashii

‘Excellent! Good luck on your way!’ Kalmia said to her, and then Amelia was on the way again!

It didn’t take long before she arrived to



__________________________

@Eklispe

There was a headbutt contest, between a normal-type and a debuffed rock-type. The miners was supremely excited to see them strike one another, one with Pound and the other with Stomp. Ultimately, however, the winner was the one with the type-advantage. Tyrunt managed to stomp down the Minccino eventually, with a bit of a sheer from the audience. He was considerably hurt, though.

‘That’s fine! I just need to take you both out… with my partner! Ducklett, go!’ Mia called, excited, and the duck waved his wings to dart onto the battlefield, and…! ‘Ducklett, use Water Pulse! And keep Water Pulsing even if the yellow rat comes out! Take them out before they can hurt you…!’

Mia has made her move. How would Dawkin counter?

There is the possibility he’d catch a glimpse of Vivia peeking over a shoulder of a miner at the battle over there, and could potentially recognize her as one of the trainers Jacques had given Pokémon to and Kalmia’s former assistant. If he’s too busy with the fight to notice or otherwise too preoccupied to acknowledge, that is totally fair.

__________________________

@hatakekuro

‘Oh?’ the Bug Maniac looked curiously at Basil as he began speaking of travelling trainer, and there was a strong gleam in his bespectacled eyes as he smirked at the egg. ‘So, if you’re speaking the truth, I could be among the first bug enthusiasts of Isson to…’ He snickered a bit. ‘This is valuable information. Very well. Let me tell you what I know.’

‘The big mistake of most would-be Pinsir hunters is that they’re looking at ground level. Thing is, they’re either underground or high up in the treetops. If you have something that can dig, look among the roots of trees. If you have something that can fly, have them check the tops of the trees. And, the deeper you are into the forest, the more likely you are to find one. They like the dampness here where it rains, so Northern Silent Forest is where it’s at! Good luck on your hunt!’ so the Bug Maniac said, before he was suddenly off in a hurry, because, foreign bugs.

Then, he went over to the forest. He decided eventually to pick out his mandolin and start playing.

He played his little bardic tones for a couple moments… and then the effect was immediate and very obvious. He was drawing fairies from around the otherwise relatively silent forest that came out of curiosity to inspect what was making such pretty noises. Hope he wasn’t hoping to only lure over ONE fairy…

‘Fla?’ ‘Bé?’ ‘Bé?’

… Asked three separate fairies as they drifted close to inspect him.



Then, on his left on his right, some (ugly?) pink heads stuck out of some bushes to stare at him a bit.

‘Snubb?’ ‘Snub-bull!’



There was also the slightest glance of something green hiding behind a tree somewhere to the left…



There was something a bit curious about this Ralts, though. As in, it was wearing a miniature version of a traditional priestess outfit. You know, the kind a shrine priestess would wear? White top, red under? The Ralts was wearing a tiny such. Yupp.

Before he reacted to any of his visitors… something else skipped in. It was staring up at him in awe for playing music, like if he was a dream come true. The round, pink thing happily opened its mouth, looking like it wanted to sing along the music.



… What does Basil do?





Connected areas:
Route 3. To the east.
Route 11. If you head directly north for a while.
Silent Shrine. Go south, you should be able to find the road there.



__________________________

@Gardevoiran

‘… It was around nine the first time, then four more the second… so thirteen trainers???’ Vivia guessed on how many trainers Kalmia had sent out, not entirely sure about her own accuracy. That aside!

Later on. Since he wasn’t actually doing much, Vivia’s response to if Dawkin was a good trainer. ‘I’m not sure. He did win his first battle, but we all were just on level 5 then, and we don’t know who he’s battling…’ Vivia said, as she got up on her toes to peek over the shoulders of a couple big dudes, miners surrounding the battle.

What now?

There, now everyone was going to be happy; Zachery got a new customer, the bug maniac was going to be one of the first among Isson to have foreign bug types in his collection, and Basil got some crucial information on where to find Pinsirs. All roads seemed to lead to the Northern Silent Forest.

Now back to the present!

Basil had completely underestimated how much attention his music would bring, but honestly, it was his own fault for not thinking this through. He was playing his mandolin in the Silent Forest so of course playing his mandolin would draw attention to every single creature within earshot. It was not unwelcomed, don't get him wrong. There were many fairies around him though he caught a strange little green Mon wearing what appeared to be Shinto garb hiding behind a tree.

Before he could even react to them all, a Jigglypuff came upon the scene starry eyed as if it had found the one to realize its dream and was beginning to open its mouth as if to...Oh no.

In a desperate attempt to avoid being put under its lullaby, Basil fingers began to fly across the board as he played an exotic song that could be danced to which was pretty much Chick Corea's Spain if played on a mandolin and at a higher tempo. The hope was that perhaps the Jigglypuff would have a hard time keeping up with him due to the speed and improvisation he would use.

@hatakekuro

Right as Jigglypuff tried to sing her signature first tones, Basil changed the style of music. Jigglypuff looked remarkably displeased with this, but a songstress would never back down from a challenge! Not remiss to let go of this opportunity, Jigglypuff still sang… but she ALSO changed the style of her song!

‘♫Ji-ji-ji-jiggly-ji-ji-ji-ji-puff-puff~♫’ The impossibility of writing down the tones of the following song aside, she went with a more fast-paced tone to try to follow along and suit the rhythm that Basil was setting. It could hardly be called a lullaby anymore, but the eager little fairy still did her best to try to sing along…!

Now, it was still the soft tones of a Jigglifuff’s sleep-inducing voice that came along, but something about the change in style meant Basil found he wasn’t really falling asleep, just as long as he kept on improvising and kept Jigglypuff on her toes!

Perhaps Basil would like to do something extra with the Jigglypuff trying to keep up?







Connected areas:
Route 3. To the east.
Route 11. If you head directly north for a while.
Silent Shrine. Go south, you should be able to find the road there.

Holy hell he never played as hard as he did in his life before. Seriously, his mandolin was going to need a smoke after the way he had been playing, but he wasn't falling asleep! Perhaps the style change and constant improvising kept it finding the frequency that its lullaby was known for? Whatever the case, it worked and as his hands came to a stop, the fairies around him erupt in cheers for the little performance. The Jigglypuff really was happy to have a performance and fell asleep with a smile on its face.

He packed his mandolin back in its case and slung it over his shoulder. Just as he was about to walk away, he turned back to the sleeping Pokemon and approached it. Basil knelt down to the Jigglypuff and placed his hand on top of her head, rubbing it gentle to coerce her awake. As soon as she woke, he held out a Pokeball to her and said with a soft smile smile, "There's a greater audience beyond this forest for you. Would you like to come with me?"

Regardless of what happened, Basil would approach the little odd Ralts. Was it from the wild? It would be pretty odd for a Ralts dressed up in Shinto garb to be an actual wild Pokemon, but there were stranger things than this. He knelt down and spoke ever so gently to the tiny creature before him. "Now where are you from, little one? Do you have a trainer or do you live somewhere close by?" Who knows, maybe it would help him find some answers in this eternally dark wood.

Well, so much for catching a Flabebe, but he did not want to startle the Ralts so he would probably catch one on the way back if he didn't catch something else that caught his eye on the way out of the forest.

One of the first things Amelia noticed upon venturing out onto the oh so familiar Route 2 was the large amount of water that seemed to have accumulated there. While it did lend a certain kind of beauty to the route she knew something like this wasn't natural and needed to be looked into. While she loathed the idea of being separated from her partners any longer, she also knew that if she didn't try and figure out what was wrong and try to help, it would weigh down on her. So with that, she began wondering around the Route, hoping to find something.

Thankfully, she didn't have to look far. It wasn't long before she heard the shouts of other trainers and then the cries of a Pokemon. Moving in their direction, she saw three other trainers running away from an oddly shaped blue creature with odd protrusions around it's head. A quick scan with her pokedex told her all she needed to know. A Water and Ground type pokemon was going to be her opponent. While she had Phantump and Pumpkaboo, neither of them knew any Grass-type moves that did actual damage. But she did have that so maybe...

Taking a deep breathe, she pulled out two of her pokeballs and walked towards the Palpitoad. She hoped it would be peaceful if she approached it slowly but she wasn't willing to bet on it. It wasn't a Ghost-type after all, so her special kind of charm wouldn't work here.

@hatakekuro

With the fairies cheering around, Basil went over to rub the little Jigglypuff. As it wasn’t sleep induced by a Pokémon move, Jigglypuff quickly awoke, blinking up at him looking still a bit tired and also very curious.

‘Jig?’ she asked, staring up at him, and then Basil mentioned the greater audience out there… ‘… Gig!’



Then, Basil walked over towards the Ralts. The tiny feelings-Pokémon stepped slightly behind the tree it was beside as Basil approached, raising its head to stare at him, even though its eyes were still squarely behind the cap. Basil knelt and asked the question…

and then Ralts teleported. Whisked away from the place where it was standing as if it was never there.

Seemed like it wasn’t willing to converse with Basil… or so one could have thought, until Basil caught sight of it a bit further away, behind a different tree, deeper into the forest. It raised a tiny arm, and gestured towards it. As in, “this way”.

Would Basil follow?



Otherwise, he’s still in Northern Silent Forest.





Connected areas:
Route 3. To the east.
Route 11. If you head directly north for a while.
Silent Shrine. Go south, you should be able to find the road there.

YES! "Good job Tyrunt!" Dawkin cheered, for once sounding ecstatic, energized both by the crowd and Tyrunt's success. With his Stealth Rocks already on the field, and Pichu's electric moves, this match was as good as won! "Tyrunt, just one more Stomp if you can!" Tyrunt had already done enough, but Dawkin needed to make sure Pichu had as good a chance as possible of roasting this bird. Tyrunt staggered on his feet a bit, looking a little dopey after that many collisions, but seemingly as pumped as Dawkin was about the battle, and he eagerly charged his new foe.

It was unlikely he would do anything but take one hit and finally fall unconscious, but aftewards Dawkin would send Pichu out and use Thundershock until the battle ended, one way or the other.

Actions: Have Tyrunt stomp to his bitter end, have Pichu Thundershock until the end ~~for victory!~~

---

@Joshua Tamashii

Amelia headed out towards the Palpitoad to ask it to calm down. The Palpitoad gave her a stern glare, and then laughed. After having laughed, it then pointed with a tiny shiny bit on its side at the three trainers stuck on a bridge with the water pouring around them.



‘Wait, what? Us?’ the Bug Catcher asked, looking confused.



‘We didn’t do anything! We even left behind the blasted Water Stone that it was guarding earlier!’ the Lass said, frowning and nodding, looking convinced.



‘Uuuh… actually…’ the Backpacked started to say, with the other two looking somewhat stunned at her.

‘Papapapapapapapa!’ the Palpitoad laughed again, before blasting another shock-wave through the water to cause another wave to blast by the bridge and flood the route, forcing the three to hold on.

‘What did you do!? We said to leave the Water Stone alone as to not anger the Palpitoad…!’ the Bug Catcher said.

‘Nothing! I didn’t do anything! I was just collecting rocks, other rocks by the lakeside, and then I came back upon the site and the Water Stone was gone!’ the Backpacker said with some desperation.

‘Between the time we made the agreement and when she found it missing, me and her were together the whole time…’ the Lass said. ‘… that means, it must have been you, who were alone!’ she concluded, pointing at the Bug Catcher.

‘What, ME!?’ the Bug Catcher shook his head. ‘I’m a Bug Catcher, what use do I have of a Water Stone! I was busy training my bugs! I didn’t stop until suddenly there was flooding and I joined up with you two on the bridge!’ He then got a thinking expression. ‘Now that I think about it, it doesn’t have to be any of us who stole it in person! Didn’t you have a Murkrow!?’ he asked, pointing at the Lass. ‘That’s it! While she,’ the Backpacker, ‘was distracted by picking rocks, you let your Murkrow out to fly and take the Water Stone, and then stealthily come back with none of us the wiser!’

‘I was just relaxing by the water! How is that story more likely than that you just went and took it!?’ the Lass asked with a frown. ‘That is, unless you…’ the Lass glanced at the Backpacker… ‘That is, unless you just simply lied about it being gone when you got there, and you picked it up on the spot!’

‘What!? No! I’d never do that!’ the Backpacker tried, looking flustered. ‘I may be a collector of rocks, but I wouldn’t go so far as to steal to add to my collection! Collector’s honour!’ she said, putting a hand on her heart.

‘Really…?’
‘Hmmn.’
‘I-I’m telling you!’

The three trainers were giving each other some serious side-eyes.

Uh. That aside.

What’s Amelia’s take on this?



Connected areas:
Pureplain City. You can get back without complication.
Infested Woods. You’re right next to it.
Wet Caverns. May need to cross a bridge or two to get there.

@Eklispe_@Gardevoiran

Ducklett flew into the battle…! … And promptly ran its head into the floating Stealth Rocks flying about the battlefield, making Mia flinch considerably behind him. Regardless of the Super-Effective Damage that he’d just taken, Ducklett flew on and started off shooting a Water Pulse down at Tyrunt! Tyrunt unfortunately wasn’t able to dodge it, and having taken a considerable amount of damage beforehand, it was too much. Tyrunt fainted!

Ducklett flew a lap as the miners realized both trainers were down to their final Pokémon.

‘Don’t hesitate! WATER PULSE!’ Mia commanded, pointing forward as Pichu came out.

‘Duckeeeeeeeeeee-!’ the duck cried out, waved its wings and flew forth, calling out a powerful pulse of water to course forward at Pichu. Pichu, meanwhile, determined to come out the victor, unleashed his Thundershock which zapped forward, coursed straight through the emitted Water Pulse and into the Ducklett on the other side, Ducklett twisting in a comical fashion becoming briefly see-through for a glance at the bird-skeleton under as it howled!

However, the Water Pulse didn’t stop just because Thundershock went through it, and the full force of the pulse rushed forward and burst with full power on Pichu’s little body, knocking him backwards and back to Dawkin, just as Ducklett collapsed on the opposite side of the battlefield by Mia!

‘Ducklett!’ Mia called, running up to her companion. She promptly grabbed him and shook him considerably. ‘Come on, you blue feathered creature! You got more fight in you, right!? Stand up-!’ she called… but instead Ducklett’s tongue just fell out his beak. He was properly fainted. ‘Ooooh…!’

Meanwhile, in Dawkin’s corner…

Pichu was highly damaged… but with some encouragement from Dawkin (insert your own little scene here), Pichu got back on his feet! The wall of miners erupted into manly cheers!




With that, he also obtained the bag he’d taken. If he later checked inside it, he’d find a vial, within which there was a small, weird mass of… something blue and gooey. Looked sciency.



‘I… I lost?’ Mia asked, blinking in light shock at Dawkin. She then frowned something fierce. ‘Th-this isn’t over! I’ll be back! Count on it!’ she yelled, before turning around and showing off remarkable athleticism as she suddenly jumped at a miner, who raised an arm to defend himself from her, and she promptly jumped on said arm, then over the wall of miners, landing on the other side of him and bolted, the wall of miners convinced she was now the villain because she lost and took after her, albeit they’d likely not catch her.

Now Dawkin’s on his own again, seemingly safe. There’s also Skylar and Vivia over there, not that he’d know Skylar, but he’d seen Vivia before, one of Jacques’ trainers. Anyways, other than that, he’s in Raremine Town.





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.

Basil smiled and looked down at the Pokeball now containing the Jigglypuff. "Welcome to the team, Aria."

Back to the actual moment, Basil jumped a bit from the Ralts teleporting and sighed. Well, it looked like it did not want to answer his questions, or so he thought. There was a familiar dot of green up ahead behind a tree motioning with its stubby little arms to follow it so Basil did what any sensible trainer would do; he followed the Ralts down the path of oddly placed gates that quite literally lit the way.

It was a deep trek, far longer than he actually anticipated, but he only grew ever more curious where the Ralts was leading him. There were a few moments where he lost it, but the little Pokemon would always make itself known if he was just clueless though through all that they arrived at whatever the Ralts was leading the young trainer.

"A shrine this deep in the woods?" He scratched his chin as he looked up at the red arch. Wait a minute, a shrine deep in Northern Silent Forest? Didn't he hear about something like that when he was inquiring about any local rumors and legends back in High Hill? That the endless rain centered on a shrine? So there was some truth to it after all.

Perhaps even more puzzling were the many little green capped attendees maintaining the temple. Some fled and some stood there with curious gazes as they tried to get a read on Basil. He just waved at them with slight smile just to show that he wasn't a threat.

His eyes trailed about until they fell upon an unexpected sight; a young girl was just sitting on the stairs up the shrine among the little attendants. Basil would have greeted her, but the Ralts that he was following teleported by her side and pointed at him. Turns out this girl was the gym leader of High Hill and the Shrine Maiden of the Silent Shrine! Well, she certainly was ready to throw down if he was, but Basil was just unprepared physically and mentally,

He shook his head vigorously and kept making a hand waving motion as if he was dismissing the idea. "Uh, no, no not yet! I didn't even know you were away from the gym. That Ralts lead me here..." He trailed off as he glanced around the shrine. If it were not for the Ralts, this place would just be completely abandoned though they had to be here for a specific reason. There had to be some importance to this place.

It was then Basil realized that he was perhaps not being the most courteous of guests of this shrine "My apologies, I'm being rude! My name is Basil and I, well, just started my journey as a trainer today." He said in a bit of panic, his words almost running into each other and his face lit up red. Inside, he was screaming at himself.

Basil cleared his throat and tried to play it off as if it didn't happen. "What is this place? It's so out of the way that I didn't expect to find another person here."

@hatakekuro

‘Tihi. Don't worry about it,’ Lorette said, sounding a bit amused about his little panic. ‘This here is the Deepforest Shrine, also known as the Shrine of the Center, visited regularly only by Pokémon these days... and by me,’ she said, gesturing behind herself at the shrine, and also at the little Raltses that were cowering around her.

‘It's been taken care of by the Ralts since humans left it. I enjoy it here, it's just me and the fairies,’ she said, kicking just a bit with her legs. ‘Of course, eventually trainers show up to pick me up since I spend too much time here. I thought you were another of those, sorry about that. Did you come into this rainy forest for any particular reason?’ Lorette asked, tilting her head a bit as she looked at him.

Shrine of the Center? Well, that either was a coincidence or the shrine was really in the center of the rain like the rumors said though it was strange. How could there be so little information on this place when it's just a stones throw away from Highhill Town? It must have been abandoned long before the town was established that the history behind it was lost through the generations or there wasn't much information on it to begin with.

"Oh! Um, this is gonna sound a little silly, but I asked around town for rumors and such that I could investigate because, well, being a trainer is about adventuring and investigating. Right?" Basil said with a sheepish smile. "So I settled on investigating this endless rain and the Silent Shrine, but I ended up with more questions than answers." And did those questions come in spades! There was that strange experience at the Silent Shrine, the forest of fae with those oddly placed arches, and now this abandoned shrine. Were the Silent Shrine and the Deepforest Shine related somehow just because of how close they were? There had to be some crossover if they were built around the same time, assuming if they were.

Maybe Lorrette had some answers? "Uh... This is gonna sound really weird, but whenever you prayed at the Silent Shrine did you ever get the impression that something was listening to you? Not like in the metaphorical, religious sense of having faith that something heard me, but as in something actually heard me?"

@hatakekuro

‘Oho,’ Lorette made an interested noise with a little smirk as Basil recounted his reasons for arriving here, investigating. When he then asked if it was like something had actually heard him, if she ever got the impression something was listening to her... she gave a gentle little sigh. ‘Only the first time,’ she answered. ‘Maybe I should have prayed for something a bit more ambitious than just becoming a fine Gym Leader, heh,’ she followed up with along with a little giggle.

‘You know? These things are supposed to be secret, but I'm feeling generous,’ she gave him a little smirk, and then put her hands together and leaned forward a bit. ‘Help me out a bit, will you? I need someone to find and examine the lost shrine for me. Could you do that? Examine it, and bring what you find there back to me here. I suggest you start by looking into Route 11. After finding what you need here, and remembering what I referred to this shrine as, the next part shouldn't be terribly difficult,’ she said, the Raltses around her looking at her curiously.

‘Would you do that for me?’ she asked, smiling sweetly at him, and the various Raltses turned to look at him as well.

Okay, so he wasn't going crazy. Something actually did hear him though they only listened the first prayer. Basil did not know whether or not he should take comfort that something actually heard him or terrified because something heard him. Lorette did not share those thoughts and chuckled nervously "I'm afraid to ask for more than I already have."

Okay, maybe he could have asked more because it looked like Basil was not going to get any information from her for free. Ever the generous soul she was to help him on his quest! Well it's not like he was actually surprised, but a guy could hope. Besides, if he investigated the lost shrine then maybe he could find some info for his own investigation. "Sounds like a fair enough exchange. I'll do it." He nodded in affirmation.

"Find and examine the lost shrine. Is there something specific I should keep my eye out for?" He asked inquisitively. If he was going to go search some abandoned shrine, he may as well have an idea of what he was looking for.

If there was nothing else important to note, Basil would give his goodbyes to the gym leader and Raltses and make his way through the forest to route 11.

@hatakekuro

‘It should be pretty evident. Still, what you’re looking for is not on Route 11, but you won’t find it without first finding what you need, there,’ Lorette added. She smiled to what else Basil had to say, nodding a little excitedly. ‘Great. I look forward to your return~’

With that, Basil could wave his goodbyes, Lorette and the whole crowd of Ralts also waving back to him, and then he headed off north.

There was still a decently long trek to get where he wanted, the Deepforest Shrine was at the center, after all, but the Northern Silent Forest is by no means a dangerous forest. While perhaps witnessing a variety of Flabébé, Snubbull, Bellsprouts and Shroomish enjoying the rainy forest, he headed northwards…

Anything more he wanted to do here? If so, here’s Northern Silent Forest.





Connected areas:
Route 3. To the east.
Route 11. If you head directly north for a while.
Silent Shrine. Go south, you should be able to find the road there.



Still, if he walked for long enough, his unopposed wandering would eventually bring him out on a new route. The sky broke up so the sun may gaze through the clouds, shining upon the road and farmland below…



So, what would Basil do from here?