Jason thought on what he had to offer them in terms of information, humming thoughtfully. In terms of rumors, he doubted it was anything that they hadn't already heard themselves, unless they spent all their time out here chasing the slash marks on the trees, so there was those. There was the story about the Forest Deity that the fishing shop owner had told him about, but these guys came here to chase bugs fairly frequently he'd imagine, so they'd likely already heard the story. Skills though..."What skills would you need, exactly?" It was odd that they'd need anyone's help with anything considering Jason knew enough about bug types to know that they evolved quick and were decently versatile in most situations.

Realistically, as he waited for a response, there was only a handful of things that Jason could think of that might fluster the bug maniacs and none of them were something he had a direct counter to, though with Murus and Sable, he was a lot more confident in his ability to face and take attacks that would have left Slayer hurting. Perhaps getting another Pokemon before continuing on might not hurt either, but first he would find out what it was that these guys needed help with, or if they were just looking for something more to do with their day than chase the bug types out here all the time.

Being as small and fragile as he was; a person who very much watched his weight that the unexpected powerful pat to his back had indeed knocked him from the chair he sat in. He would have been sent flying to the ground had Neil not caught him, but did nothing to hep the fact every bit of air was blown from his lungs leaving Tristan to cough and wheeze, even feeling as if he was going to vomit only to gulp it down along with a mouthful of oxygen burning down his throat, struggling to catch his breath.

Tristan pushed himself back up onto shaky legs, blinking away the bit of tears that had formed in his eyes; barely catching what the two said, but the gist of it which meant the deal was wholly accepted and settled." W-wonderful...I'm glad *gasps* we could come to agreement." Speaking through small wheezing coughs, still trying to keep his soul from leaving him as he rubbed at his throat hearing Neil asking to follow him in order to begin the investigations. He nodded in turn while coughing in an attempt to clear his throat." Yes, by all means. Please lead the way." His words coming out a bit wheezy and raspy still; turning his head to Mrs. Frida." I'll...do my best to take care of this for you and greatly look forward to partake of your cooking." He finished with a bit of cracking to his voice as he nodded to the woman before following after her husband where along the way wondered why all the women in this region were so strong and dangerous. At this rate it was becoming far more likely a woman would kill him he feared and was thankful that his instincts warned him not to say something stupid which the incident with Freya and Steph more than likely had a big hand in.

Stella Lumite

She was about to give up. It had been a while... If there had been one, had it already run away? If there had even been one. She was just going on an assumption that there might be. She was considering just going and looking for that Rookidee when she heard Kaebe yelp and thrash about a bit.

When she saw the Joltic attached to her Pokemon, she couldn't help but grin. It had worked! Now to capture it. "Kaebe, use tail whip and smack it on the ground once, then hold it still. Ocul, get ready to jump on it with Struggle Bug, if it tries to get away." She'd be ready with a PokeBall, aware that her little jaw dinosaur might have to struggle against the paralysis. Just the one hit from Kaebe should do it, though she couldn't say she'd ever heard of tail whip being used offensively.

It would seem that Steph was finding out first-hand the difference between a high-level fight of pokemon of exceptional power and level, and the abilities of a Litwick she's owned for like an hour. Perhaps she had expected a bit much from her partner, but it seemed like even though he wasn't able to hold a candle to what she had hoped to accomplish, she had achieved a small win regardless! As the sneasal came back down, it seemed to be struggling a bit. Without her pokedex, Steph racked her brain for a moment before it clicked. Right, Smog had a high chance to poison an opponent; not just deal damage! She had forgotten that part, but it seemed to give her an idea as Dusk hovered back down to face the poisoned sneasal. He didn't seem too keen on staying in there, as one would expect.

It hadn't escaped Steph that the smog was still lingering above, not that she had much time to think it over as the sneasal began a new barrage. However now, Steph knew the odds were well and truly in her favour. "Ok Dusk, you gottem on the ropes partner! Blast every single one of those shards out of the air with Ember!" If it came down to a battle of attrition, then Dusk resisting his moves meant even if a stray ice shard or two got through to hit him, the damage would be minimal. Meanwhile, any of his attacks that snuck though would be the opposite; a super-effective hit. Let alone the fact that sneasal would slowly weaken over time...

Still, the gears in her mind turned as she sought a way to end this fight quicker. If patience was a virtue, then Steph was the embodiment of sin for she had little to none at all. After a few exchanges of moves, she decided to change up gears.

"Change of plans, use Smog to try and pin it down then follow up with ember!" If she could reduce the areas the sneasal could move into with smog, then it would become far easier to land a blow on the sneasal. Of course, this carried the caveat that it would be easier to land a blow on Dusk, but she had a surprising amount of faith in her partner of such a short time. For the solid reason of being able to resist the shards if nothing else, well that and what other choice did she have if she wanted to knock this cunts fucking block off?

@Zarkun

Lordy this guy wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed.

The bug-maniac narrowed his eyes, as if he was trying to see through that thick headed skull of Jason's. "Do I really need to spell it out for you? You're trainers, aren't you? You go headlong into danger for the sake of adventure and battle anything that has a pulse. You're adrenaline junkies."

"Do you want me to punch you?", Connor piped in. In reaction to that, the bug-maniac stepped out of arms reach.

"We have reason to believe that what we are searching for is deeper in the forest. Problem is we aren't skilled trainers, and the Deep Woods are not exactly a place where we want to go unless we absolutely know for certain that it's there." He sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of his nose. At this point he was just ready to cut straight to the point. At least before he gets socked in the face. "Look, you have to understand that what we are looking for is one of the rarest bug-types out there, even before Cipher. It's considered to be one the pinnacle achievements of bug-collectors, so we trade for things that are of equal value, which I can gather you don't have.

He eyed the two of them and silently, from what the duo could tell, assess them. "I'll help you two, only if you guide me through the Deep Woods. Fair enough?"

One of the other bug-maniacs called out, "Why you?"

"Because I'm the one leading this project!"

What does Jason do?

---

@samreaper

"Er, uh, sorry about that. She tends to forget her own strength.", said Neil while he led the very much winded Tristan down the hall. Judging by the way he said it, he seemed to know all too well just how strong his wife so there was definitely some sympathy for the scrawny lad even though he just took what would be considered a casual pat on the back. If she had put more into that, well, it would not be an exaggeration that Tristan's feeble body would crumple from the sheer force. Thankfully, that reality is one that Tristan nor the narrator, need to deal with.

Eventually, Neil would lead Tristan back out at the farm though this time he motioned him to follow him to the pens. "Alright, I'm going to inform my workers that you are allowed access in the pens so you can investigate. I wish I had more to tell you, but this thing has somehow evaded every security measure I've taken. If you do have any questions about the farm, or if you find something, let me know."

He looked like he was just about to leave before his face lit up as if he remembered something. "I'll be right back." He ran back inside his house and after a few minutes he came back out.

"Take these." Tristan was handed a pair of very faded, yet sturdy black boots. They were a size larger than what Tristan could wear, but it was better than nothing. It was pretty obvious what these were for if he were to go in the pen.

"Well I better get back to work. Good luck." And with that, he went back to do his farming duties.

The investigation is afoot! What does Tristan do now?

---

@CitrusArms

So, uh, for being a tick, Joltik wasn't exactly very good at being one. As soon as Kaebe tried to slam the Joltik in the ground with its tail, it lost its grip so instead of being smacked onto the ground, it was sent flying in the air horizontally. The electric tick did land on its feet, a bit disoriented and that disorientation allowed for the green projectiles of energy to land on it. However, due to its superior bulk despite being literally .2 inches, it was able to withstand the blows though its special attack did fall.

Unlucky for Stella and her team, the Joltik was hidden in the grass due to its absurdly small size. However, what they could see was the crackle of electricity where it landed and then it used Electro Web. The electrified webs flew straight both towards Kaebe and Ocul.

What does Stella do?

---

@Lunarlord34

Freya was watching this whole thing go down and the only thing that ran through her mind was, Why did her accent just disappear? I'm not imagining this, right?

She really was overestimating how skilled her opponent was, but hey, it was good of her to acknowledge her own inexperience.

While Dusk's Embers did indeed shoot down a majority of the Ice Shards that flew towards it, a couple did indeed manage to sneak through and collided with Dusk though given the fact that Litwicks resist ice, the damage was not severe. The little candle tanked it like a champ, but even he would give in if he ate too many of them.

Yes, while a battle of attrition would have been the most solid strategy, it wasn't exactly necessary. The Smog did indeed limit the Sneasel's movement as this toxic haze was now lingering against the left side of the alley, hugging the wall and even floating along the ground a bit. While yes, it did limit Dusk's movement options as well, it actually didn't matter.

The Ember that followed the Smog flew with great force and in fact, the Sneasel was still struggling to get its bearings due to its now limited movement. In fact, it was so caught up with the Smog that it did not even have the time to react to the sparks of fire flying towards it much to his trainer's dismay. The attack met its mark with such a ferocious force that it knocked the Sneasel off its feet and sent it tumbling back. It was a critical hit!

With a great amount of stubbornness and effort, the Sneasel did stand back up before it fell on its knee with a haggard breath. It was unable to battle!

Petty Thief Arnold was defeated!
Dusk is now level 6!
Steph received 800P!

The greasy petty thief looked upon with shock that he was defeated so easily and so quickly. He looked back at the girls, to the exhausted Sneasel, and back to them with a now eerie grin. "Well that happened. I guess I should return this now..." He said, holding the Pokedex out with a loose grip, sauntering over. Well, he was. "Like hell I will!" Arnold kicked the back of the Sneasel who had a look of complete and utter shock and disbelief, sending it flying forward towards the girls.

It was all too clear that he was using the Sneasel as a distraction as he quickly turned tail and dashed. He knew what would happen if he got close to them and he was sure as hell that he was not going to get caught.

Freya ran towards the Sneasel and knelt down to check the wound. She turned to Steph and yelled out, "Don't let him get away!"

Deeper into the forest huh...Well, they aren't even sure, so that'll prevent double crossing us and leaving us lost in there for days...Not got a better choice. Nodding to himself and putting a hand on Connor's shoulder to try and calm him down, Jason steps forward and offers his hand. "I'll be happy to escort you into the Deep Woods, though I can't speak for my compatriot here, but first lets just clarify a few things. Trainers aren't adrenaline junkies. Well, most of us anyways. The easiest way to make sure the populations are recovering right now is to be out doing the field work and that's dangerous work. Also, wouldn't kill you to loose the attitude, we're not here to pull the rug out from under you. We understand this is important to you as well and wouldn't dream of taking your chance at it away."

He holds up a hand to shake, a sideways smile on his face. "So, if you're good with all that, then I'm good to escort you." This was probably their best bet at finding out exactly what it was that these maniacs were chasing and that the rumors were talking about. Knowing this was a rare bug type even before Cipher's crimes...that sincerely raised the stakes and just getting visual confirmation would be great, with catching it being something of a bonus.

Tristan followed after Neil; still wheeling from the so-called casual pat to the back when the rancher offered an apology in place of his wife. He gave a small dismissive wave of the hand." No need for apologies as no harm was done." He said that while rubbing at his chest. Before long saw that they had arrived just outside the pens where he was then told that he would be free to look around and investigate and while he doesn't exactly have experience in investigations, in fact none just about but figured it shouldn't be too difficult.

The rich teen was preparing to make for the pens when Neil mentioned that he would be back as if planning to fetch something." By all means. Take your time." A time well spent catching his breath and fixing his hair and by the time the rancher return had recomposed himself only to see those ugly faded boots being offered. It took biting his tongue to keep from cringing in distaste from these gaudy soles that no one should be forced to wear. The mere thought of putting his elegant feet in such dirty and smelly boots nearly had him gag which he forced down with a gulp." Those are...nice boots, yes. I Graciously accept." He finished with a forced smile while taking the boots that he would normally have refused outright, but the couple have been nothing but kind and accepted his offer for a Torchic when they had no reason to. And as such, he had no intention of rude to refuse this offering done to help him.

" Ahem. Well, it's only right that I offer my thanks and please be assured that I shall take care of these horrid thieves. So be at ease and take care of your business as usual." Waving to the departing rancher then turned his attention to the boots and found himself reeling from the smell emanating from their insides. He would normally never even contemplate wearing worn down, old boots but taking into consideration that he was about to investigate pens likely to be dirty. For the sake of keeping his loafers from being ruined he was willing to endure wearing these stinky boots...for a short time at least.

Begrudgingly, Tristan put on the boots and after putting his loafers in bag after a quick dusting then made his way into the pen. Upon stepping inside, found that he could not hold back the gag this time as the smell of manure and other unpleasant smells lingering in the air assaulted his poor, sensitive nose. Pinching his nostrils shut, the spoiled teen peered around the pen to investigate.

What does Tristan see inside the pens?

She had won her first official battle as a trainer! While it wasn't the win some might've imagined or the opponent one mightn't have imagined, it was still something to hang her hat on. The taste of victory was sweet as the Sneasal fell to a knee, struggling to move as Steph moved to scoop up Dusk. The Litwick for the most part seemed keen to go on, and a little disappointed the fight was over. Not that Dusk got to mop for long before finding himself hugged tightly against Steph.

"Fuck yayh! We diied ih' Dusk!" And there we go, she seemed to be back to her usual gibberish sounding accent. With the excitement of her first win still coursing through her, she now turned her attention to the petty thief. He seemed to be taking the loss somewhat admirably at least, so maybe he wasn't too bad-oh son of a protestant whore!

Now if he thought Steph was mad before, oh boy. Freya had barely looked up from the Sneasal she was attending to and Steph was already giving chase to this man. Like a woman possessed, she was moving faster than a freight train; and she was probably going to hurt more when she caught up to this man. "Geh' bahck heah yah fuckin gutless twaht! Oy'm gaowin t' bryke yoah fuckin sheens!" She would yell after him as she stopped for a moment, winding back her arm as she chucked a pokeball at the mans legs the moment she got a straight line shot at him. It was Dusk's pokeball, she thinks anyway but she kinda just reached to her belt so could be an empty one, and even if she didnt stop him it would hopefully give her the time to catch up to him.

Because oh boy, if she did she was planning on spear tackling this man to the ground and beating him within an inch of his life.

@Zarkun

"Very well then. Let us depart."

The bug-maniac lead the duo away from the group of his compatriots. They went down another path and the further they went, not only darker did it become, the more of a mist cloaked the surroundings. What's more was that it was obvious that they were walking up a steep incline, the terrain itself was becoming rocky with sharp cliffs and running waterfalls crashing down to rivers below.




Deep Starbor Woods was a place that many actively avoided and perhaps for good reason. The mist that permeated the area cutdown the visibility within the woods and somehow, the canopy above was thicker than before, making it darker. This was a tad big dangerous as there were some drops that if someone were not paying attention, they would find themselves with some very broken limbs or fall in a river down below. That is if they don't fall in some webs and find themselves on the wrong end of a hungry bug-type. Actually, people just needed to be careful of these webs in general as they were littered all over the place.

Due to the lack of people travelling and lack of people volunteering to enter, the path that led to the Deep Woods was essentially now just a dirt, rocky path covered with moss. Yes, this place was not exactly a place that experienced a lot of foot-traffic in general, but that meant that there were possibly encounters that people had limited experience about or never had seen before.

From what can be seen, the Pokemon responsible for all of the webs in the area were these green spiders with markings meant to scare predators away from them.

Pokédex Entry #167 – Spinarak, the String Spit Pokémon. With threads from its mouth, it fashions sturdy webs that won't break even if you set a rock on them. Although the poison from its fangs isn't that strong, it's potent enough to weaken prey that gets caught in its web.

There were also these horned caterpillar things with big, pink, round noses and every now and again, sentient yellow cocoons could be seen hanging above from strings of white.

Pokédex Entry #013 – Weedle, the Hairy Bug Pokémon. Weedle has an extremely acute sense of smell. It is capable of distinguishing its favorite kinds of leaves from those it dislikes just by sniffing with its big red proboscis (nose).

Pokédex Entry #014 – Kakuna, the Cocoon Pokémon. Kakuna remains virtually immobile as it clings to a tree. However, on the inside, it is extremely busy as it prepares for its coming evolution. This is evident from how hot the shell becomes to the touch.

However, the main reason as to why many people avoided took the form of very angry bees with drills for arms. You know what they are.

Pokédex Entry #015 – Beedrill, the Poison Bee Pokémon. Beedrill is extremely territorial. No one should ever approach its nest—this is for their own safety. If angered, they will attack in a furious swarm.

---

@samreaper

For once, the dice gods smiled upon Tristan.

The pen that he entered was the one that contained the Wooloo and Mareep. Now, understandably, these pens were quite big to give these Pokemon to roam comfortably. In fact, they were less pens and more very segregated pastures, no doubt to keep his different cattle from mixing with cattle the neighboring farms. It would not be an easy feat to walk cover the entire area by himself on foot on his own as they covered quite a few acres. He would also note that there was barbed wiring around the fencing itself with the obvious intention of keeping thieves out. What he would also note were the livestock cameras set around the perimeter. For such a large space, things like this were necessary to keep an eye on the cattle and any suspicious individuals. It would be safe to assume that there were also security cameras in the barn as well.

What was strange however, was that there seemed to be a piece of torn denim dangling listless from the barbed wire. Upon inspection, carefully removing the denim from the wire, he would notice that there was a dark red stain on it. Quite out of place.

Tristan was just a rich boy that had no understanding the inner workings of a farm, so he was a bit out of his depth, but that was something that could be easily fixed by talking to Neil, something that he should have done initially, or the workers on the farm, after finishing up whatever he wishes to do. Who knows, maybe he'd find something out about the piece of denim?

What does Tristan wish to do?

---

@Lunarlord34

This bastard was actually laughing while he was running, pushing people aside to move his way through the streets. The idea that this girl would even catch him was so completely absurd to him since he was so confident in his ability to get away from just about anyone. He was as slippery to catch as he was greasy though uh, he actually wasn't getting away. Quite the opposite in fact. Arold glanced back behind him to check if he had lost her and to his own terror, she was not only keeping up with him, but she was also catching up to him at such breakneck speeds that his eyes looked like they would have bulged out of his skull and picked up the pace.

Unluckily for him though luckily for Steph, the Pokeball somehow went through the gap between his legs and as soon as he stepped on it, it rolled and threw off his balance, which was aided by the fierce tackle causing him to eat concrete as his face slightly skidded on it. With a scuffed-up face, he lifted himself up on the ground to his butt and turned back to see the raging redhead had now caught up to him. With the fear of God instilled in him, he tried crawling back with one arm while the other was held up outward to her.

"W-wait! Let's talk about this!" Violence is never the answer. It's a question, and in this case, the answer was a resounding yes.

The petty thief was somehow pinned down by this hell beast of a woman and was beaten mercilessly. It was actually a terrible sight to behold; the man's face was a swollen, bloody mess and the people watching could only watch in absolute shock and horror. Even Freya, who had finally just caught up with her, carrying the Sneasel in toe, froze in place.

"Oh my god.", said Freya with that same shock and horror... then there was an aura of bone chilling rage radiating from behind her. A very familiar figure with a sloppy black ponytail and a lab coat walked from behind Freya along with a white-haired young man with piercings. "Wait, what are you two-?!"

Kapoc grabbed Steph by her arm and yanked her off the now bloodied thief. Yup, he looked livid. "What the hell is going on?!"

Surpringingly, the man was somehow still conscious and pointed at Steph accusingly with a shaky arm. Tears were running down his ballooned cheeks. "T-this bitch assaulted me! I want her arrested!"

Kapoc's companion shook his head and sighed. "I'll call an ambulance."

God it was satisfying, hearing the crunch of bone on bone, as she wailed on this absolute piece of shit scumbag. If one didn't know any better, they might've mistaken him for a punching bag in a gym. At least that's how she was treating him as she brought her fists down on him again and again. "Tohk abeow' ih'? Faht fuckin chahnce yah absolute poile of shiieh'! Thiies is faw staylin frawm me, thiies is faw attahckin me, thiies is faw-" As she went to hit him again, bringing her arm back to land another painful blow on the scum of the earth beneath her she suddenly felt something, or rather someone grab her and pull her back.

In the heat of the moment, she almost went to swing at the person who had done so till she looked up and saw it was Kapoc. Wait, why was he so mad? Unless he found out that she had lost the pokedex? Nah surely he couldn't have known. Speaking of which....

"Yayh and Oy'll fuckin do ih' aguyn yah payce of uttah rawtten Growlithe shiieh'! Ahrest me? Yah fuckin attahcked me weeth a Sneasal aftah fuckin tykin moy pokaedex yah fuckin diied! Naow geeve ih' bahck and mybee Oy'll theenk abeow' nawt baytin yah intao the naext fuckin saenturay!" Assuming Kapoc even understood a word of it, it might answer his question otherwise she just seemed to be ignoring him for now. If one paid attention, they could almost see the steam coming out of her ears, the killing intent in her eyes as she glared at the petty thief.

Though finally, after a moment she finally spared Kapoc a glance as she went to push him away or try to slip her arm away from him to go have another crack at the man.

"And yah, fuckin laeh' gao of me oolraydy! Oy ine't dun taychin thiies crook a fuckin laessawn yaeh'!"

Stella Lumite

Damn! There it went! She could still see where it was vaguely, but it was so small, she was liable to lose it! It could easily run away, so she had to be careful. "Ocul, get down." She crouched and held her arm to the side, letting the bug descend from her shoulder and sneak off into the grass.

She had to keep an eye on the sky. Birds would likely take an interest in Ocul, she had to be sure he didn't get attacked by something else still without her knowing. She needed an item for paralysis, is what she needed... Could the Joltic suck the paralysis from Kaebe, though? She'd have to try it and find out.

Before she could issue another order, something electric shot out from the grass. It wasn't the bug, it was a net! "Kaebe, Ocul, split up and circle around!" She needed to get out of the way, too. With Kaebe and Ocul separating, she went to circle around with Kaebe. They were both considerably larger than Ocul, which might give the bug an opportunity to get under the Joltic's radar. Hopefully, Kaebe could move well enough.

---

The pen he entered proved to be far bigger than expected and was more akin to a pasture or field where wooloo's and mareeps grazed about. The sheer size of the pasture would certainly make investigating take all day were he to search every part of it; time that he did not have nor intended to spend trudging around a pen. A good thing that he donned the boots seeing that there were patches of waste scattered about leaving Tristan to be careful where he placed his feet as he searched around. With inspecting the entire pen simply not viable, the rich teen decided to check around for anything that seemed out of place and while looking around took notice of the security cameras. Their mere presence surprised him as he did not expect a ranch like this to have such security or any kind of tech, but this meant they had recorded videos and likely the next place to checkout for his investigation.

Leaving the pokemon be as he went about though if a wooloo or mareep wandered over out of curiosity he saw no harm in giving them some pets before moving on. His lack of general knowledge of ranches made investigating difficult as expected and unable to discern if any footprints were made by ranchers or thieves since he had no idea if said thieves were human or pokemon in fact, but then a stroke of luck finally came as he came upon the piece of denim fabric stuck to the barbed wire fence lining the perimeter. Carefully pulling it free from the wire; both to avoid cutting himself and ripping the evidence and upon close inspection took notice of a dark red stain that has set." Hm, this is likely blood, but best not go jumping to assumptions." Taking a few long looks at the fabric thinking that either a rancher had accidentally bumped against the wire, or it belonged to the unknown thieves and if this stain were to indeed be blood then the possibility of it belonging to one of the ranch's staff became less likely.

Seeing that he was likely to get much else from the pen, Tristan chose to make his way out of the pen and would glance around until he spotted a farmhand and made his way over while waving his hand." Excuse me. I have need of your assistance." Pulling up to the individual as the strong smell of dirt and sweat made his nose crinkle but pushed through as he inspected the worker's clothes for a moment." I apologize for the interruptions though I am sure your boss, Mr. Neil has told the staff about me investigating this case concerning the egg thieves, yes?" Waiting for the person to confirm this before continuing on." First, I musk ask you regarding your work clothes. They are denim? Do all of the staff wear the same or of similar outfits?" Holding up the torned fabric close to the side of the farmhand's pants; intending to use his eyes and knowledge of types of fabric and cloth material to discern if they matched or not.

Looking around as they walked, the transition from the outer woods to the Deep Woods was practically impossible to miss as the lighting around them slowly faded. After a while, it was only just bright enough for them to barely see and, as a precaution, Jason let Slayer out of his ball, keeping the Ralts close by. His Pokedex continued to outline which of the visible 'mon were which and when it was done, all it did was put him on edge. All these bug types...fortunately, Slayer has his Fairy typing to help resist, but still... Nevermind that he knew enough about Spinarak to know that its larger evolution, Ariados, was likely lurking somewhere nearby as well. Couple that with the angry Beedrill, the myriad of webs, the many pitfalls and the poor lighting and it was hardly a surprise this guy didn't want to come in here alone.

Glancing around again, he eventually sighs. "I'm going to guess this thing has some incredible cutting power with all the webs floating around in here. What exactly is it you're all thinking it is? Scyther comes to mind if we're talking cutting power."

@Lunarlord34
Oh, right. Her accent.

Kapoc sighed and loosened his grip on Steph's arm. It hasn't even been a full day since this girl became a trainer and she's already gotten herself in this mess.

Upon looking around, he noticed the injured Sneasel that his little sister was holding. His eyes narrowed as he looked back at the assault victim and then back to the Pokemon. It looked like he was starting to put some pieces together on what exactly was going on, albeit he was missing some vital pieces of information. "Freya, what exactly happened?"

Due to the laziness of the GM, Freya recounted the entire series of events that led to this moment from Steph's Pokedex being stolen to the thief injuring his own Pokemon as a distraction in an attempt to get away. The more he heard, the more contorted with rage his face became until one would think that this man looked more demonic than human.

"So that's what happened... And he did that to his own Sneasel." He said through gritted teeth, his eyes were now trailing back to the thief and stepped towards the criminal.

There was a loud crack. The professor had swung his leg in a low roundhouse kick against the thief's head, which then smacked against the pavement hard and was now completely out cold. Kapoc glared at the unconscious thief and spat in his general direction. His messy, long black hair was somehow even more disheveled now. The white-haired young man and Freya just looked at the professor in complete wide-eyed, mouth gaping shock as they watched him now pick up Steph's Pokedex and handed it back to her.

"Don't lose it again." He said so nonchalantly that one would not think he just cave some dude's head in like it was a football (or a soccer ball).

"What the hell Cedric?!", exclaimed both the white haired young man and Freya at the perpetually tired looking professor. It was less of surprise and more on the along the lines of, 'God dammit, not again.'

In response, he simply shrugged. "I'll deal with it. Besides, I'd rather not stop her journey when it's just beginning.", he said while pulling his own smartphone out. It looked like he made a call to the proper authorities for this matter. Judging by the way he spoke, it seemed like he had some pull within the law enforcement. Professor Kapoc sighed and looked back towards the person that was accompanied by when they entered the scene.

"Sorry Basil, we'll catch up later." He pushed his hair back from his face and did his best to at least look somewhat presentable for when at least the cops arrived.

"It's fine. There's always next time, whenever that is." said Basil who didn't seem annoyed, but more disappointed. He turned his attention to the two girls. "Come on, let's make ourselves scarce. You and that Sneasel need some patching up." It was probably no surprise to Steph, but her knuckles were very raw from beating that guy down.

---

@samreaper

The person that Tristan approached was a man that seemed to be in his mid-forties. His messy short, black hair was showing signs of graying early and his skin in a perpetual state of farmer's tan. He wore a very durable looking button-down shirt and dark brown pants that also looked like they could take a beating. In comparison to Neil, he was far scrawnier, but one would expect that this guy's body was pretty damn strong from all of the farm work. That and he was one arming an entire bale of hay.

His attention was turned to the kid wearing nice clothes and yet, was also wearing some very worn, dirty black boots. "Yup, we heard from the boss. Not sure why he'd offer the job to a kid like you, but these are desperate times I s'pose." He said, tossing a bale of hay onto a truck. It did not escape his notice that the kid's nose crinkled up though he didn't blame him. No one is going to come out of a far smelling like a rose. Tristan examining the worker's clothes also did not escape his notice, but he let it slide.

The kid then asked a pretty odd question, but okay then.

"Well, it's more to personal preference than an actual uniform. Some of us prefer denim, some prefer canvas, but it must be something that is durable enough for all seasons and protect us from the sun. You also don't have to mind getting a little bit of mess on it too."

Now the man wasn't dumb. This line of questioning and the context lined up way too perfectly. He narrowed his eyes and asked ever suspiciously, "Is there a reason why you are enquiring about our work clothes?"

---

@Zarkun

Considering the level that Spinarak evolved into Ariados, perhaps it would be a good idea to finish their business before they ended up on the wrong side of a web.

The bug-maniac arched his brow in a mix of what could be described as surprised and somewhat impressed that Jason actually knew about Scythers.

"How astute of you. I didn't think that you would know what they are considering their rarity." In fact, it was even more surprising that Jason would know what they are because the only regions that they do not appear in was Hoenn and Unova and even then, in the regions they live in they are hard to find. Then again, the internet was a thing and there were shows and battles that air on television or streamed through many services, so it wasn't that farfetched if that's how learned about it.

But yes, you would be correct in your assumption. We have strong evidence to believe that Scythers are beginning to repopulate the area. They used to be more abundant and cleared out the webs though due to their decreased numbers the Spinarak have had the run of the place since. He said, motioning to the myriad collection of webs that littered the woods.

Meanwhile, uh, Connor looked a little self-conscious as it dawned on him that between the three of them, he looked like he had no idea what they were talking. The bug maniac made sense, but Jason started around the same time as he did, so he just felt a bit behind the curve. "Y'all are making feel kinda dumb. What the heck is Scyther?"

"If we're lucky, you'll find out soon. That is if they don't find us first." Responded the bug-maniac. While they walked, the maniac would observe things such as footprints, slash marks in the trees, and... uh, actual shit to see if there were any of these bugs nearby. Connor too was looking for similar things as well.

What does Jason do?

The young detective wannabe was in the middle of inspecting and comparing the stained fabric with that of the farmhand's when the man spoke up. Pulling his hand away as he listened to him explain that they didn't wear clothes and were more of personal choice." So you would say that most the staff working this ranch wears denim then?" He asked to get final confirmation. Inspecting the sample once more when he the man inquired as to why he was asking about their clothes; studying the individual for a moment then held up the torn fabric." Because I have found this upon happenstance stuck to the wired fence surrounding the perimeter of the pen that looks to be stained with blood. As such, I thought it prudence to discern if it could belong to one of the staff that had an accidental scrape during an check-up and if not then could very well have come from one of them egg thieves." Offering it to the farmhand to examine if he so wished after giving his explanation.

Tristan then dusted his hands before folding his arms." And speaking of said thieves. I would also like to know how long the egg snatching has been happening. And if you might have any idea as to the number of these unknown thieves? And seeing as I have taken noticed of the camera, that none have been properly recorded, yes? Though I would like to check the recordings too if possible." Nodding his head as he waited to see if this man could give him the answers he sought." And mind, good sir that I am taking time out of my schedule to help handle this case for this ranch. I would prefer to not be looked at with such suspicions, thank you." A huff of annoyance from his nostrils after stating such. He already took such insults back at the Pokemon center and as such, refused to let some dirty farmhand scrutinize him with that accusing stare when he was the one who offered his help.

@CitrusArms

Stella was incredibly unlucky, the Electrowebs that she ordered he Pokemon to avoid met their mark. These webs wrapped around their targets and proceeded to electrocute them though Kaebe did not suffer that much damage due to its dragon-typing and Ocul, while managing to survive the attack, looked like if it ate a couple more or faced a critical hit that it would faint. However, due to the effects of Electroweb, their speed dropped a stage, which would be rough for Kaebe especially due to the paralysis making this a whole lot worse for him.

Meanwhile, the Joltik was cautiously observing the dinosaur and the girl running around with it, but it had lost track of the Blipbug due to its attention being brought to the larger beings. It looked like it would not make a move until they did, but it was also now vulnerable for a sneak attack.

The only thing she didn't need to worry about were the bird Pokemon. They all cleared the area as soon as they saw electricity crackling.

---

@samreaper

"Yes, I'd say most of us do." said the man in response to Tristan's inquiry about what kind of pants that most of the workers normally wear. The boy would in turn, answer his question in return. His face scrunched up with absolute disgust at the very thought of any of the workers on this farm were the thief in question.

"So you thought it was a good idea to show potential evidence to someone who could possibly be the criminal. You really aren't that bright, are you?" Clearly, the farm hand was really starting to question whether or not Tristan was the right person for the job if he so willingly shared his evidence and theories with possible suspects. That soon changed though into a look of deep contemplation. "But that is odd. As far as I know, no one on the farm had an incident like that. We'd all know if something like that happened. Got my leg caught on them once after we installed them. Hurts enough to make a man scream."

He was just going to ignore Tristan's self-important comment.

"This whole thing has been going on for a few weeks now and we know just about nothing, let alone if there is more than one. If you want to see the camera footage, then follow me. Can't imagine it will help much though.", said the farmhand, motioning him to follow.

Did she feel bad about beating a kid that was about half her age? Absolutely. Did it diminish her first Pokémon battle and, by extension, first win? A little, yeah - as long as she was being honest with herself. On the outside, she did her best to remain calm though. "Don't be discouraged. Sage just got a lucky hit. Keep training and some day you'll be on your own journey to take on the Evig gyms and Elite 4." When Sage trotted over after the battle was over, she crouched and scritched the fur on his cheeks and behind his ears. "You did great. But one easy fight doesn't mean they all will be," she murmured to him. "Though that was a good warm up, and soon we'll have more on our team to help us get stronger." Sage yipped in response.

She looked over and watched the other battle nearby. It was a good way to see what other Pokémon she'd be putting Sage up against, and try to figure out a strategy for moving forward. One lucky hit didn't mean every fight would go that easily. Sage seemed to be better at fighting other normal types, and the odds were in her favor the kids would all have normal types, but that wasn't a guarantee.

Like now. She knew only a little of the fox Pokémon summoned. A little more than just the pokédex entry, enough to know it wasn't normal type, but couldn't remember what type it actually was. It didn't matter; Sage was it and he'd face it just the same. But her Nickit was faster than the Rattata. That required a different strategy.

"Sage, growl as fierce and loud as you can then kick up sand to distract it. Then hit it with a tackle." It wasn't likely to go as quickly as the first fight, considering Sage got a lucky hit, but hopefully it wouldn't drag out. But that was her basic strategy - distract and intimidate the Nickit into weaker attacks or missing all together, then go in for a hit.

Noting that the others were looking for markers of Scyther around them, Jason joined the pair, though he also regularly kept an eye out for any unexpected pitfalls they could fall into. He would have answered Connor's question, but if the green slice and dice bugs were really repopulating the area, then he would definitely have his answer soon enough. Specifically, he looked for slash marks on the trees that were grouped up. If he had to guess, odds were that the rising population of flying, cutting bugs likely were keeping close to each other to avoid becoming a meal for the Spinaraks and Ariados, working in pairs at the least.

Though, as he looked around, he did find it odd that the spider pokemon and the Beedrills were doing so well already. Comparatively speaking, the Scyther would have already been hard to find, but these guys were literally everywhere in here. So why would they recover faster? Sighing, Jason filed it away to look into when he made it back to Starbor proper to rest up for the day.

Tristan instantly felt stupid upon hearing what the farmhand said, having just made one of the first mistakes a rookie investigator could make. He turned his head rebuking himself for being stupid enough to go showing the only piece of evident he got his hands on though hearing the farmhand mention having caught himself on the fence before meant that it could also just belong to the staff who had an unlucky scrape.

Taking a moment to gather himself while making a mental note to be more careful in the future." ahem...yes, well. You seem like a trustworthy fellow and if you were one of these thieves you would be more reserved with your answers, no?" Trying to recover from his blunder while nodding his head as he let the man carry on with explaining the length the egg thieveries have been occurring.

And what the man stated struck him as peculiar." so, you're saying these thieves have been active for weeks and yet even with cameras that none of their activities been caught and recorded?" There were a number of possibilities. That there was a blind spot or that they indeed had a partner among the staff turning the cameras off during robbing attempts then there was the possibility of this unknown group having a skilled hacker among them. Any one of these could be their method, but he lacked clues and information to bother musing on this any further and put such thoughts aside for now." Let us be off then and with the perspective of a person not involved with the ranch may lead to gaining some new results from these videos." With a nod of his head, Tristan followed after the farmhand, his curiosity and intrigue for the case growing by the second.

Shaking her arm away from Kapoc, she shot him an annoyed look before turning to glare at the petty thief. There was still burning rage in that look but she was at least beginning to calm down...maybe. At least she wasn't just immediately jumping right back on him to continue the pounding she had been giving him, so that was a start. Tapping her foot impatiently as Kapoc sought an answer from Freya and the girl obliged in explaining the situation, you know since he could actually understand his sister as opposed to whatever gypsy tongued nonsense Steph sprouted.

Oh? What was that look on Kapocs face? He just seemed to have an eternal resting bitch face and eternally annoyed at everything thus far from what Steph had witnessed. So to see him so...livid was a change. Wait. Why did this look and sensation that accompanied it felt so familiar?

Oh right. This was similar to Freya before she snapped-well fuck.

"Oh come on naow, thaht's just nawt fuckin faeh is ih'?" The other two seemed bewildered by Kapoc for his sudden perfectly executed kick to the side of this thiefs head, which if Steph was a judge she was giving him 10/10 for like holy fuck was that a perfect technique and execution! Steph? Her exclamation of her annoyance came about because she was just pried off the man and forced to stop hitting him...only for Kapoc to immediately knock the fucker out.

"Eh whuytevah...fuckah desuhved ih'. Oy should thighnk yah at any ruyte, would be rude nawt t' thighnk those who haelp yah and ooll, buh' its nawt loike Oy lawst in the fuhst plyce yah qua-uh Kapoc." Came a final grumble of annoyance before she took her pokedex back from Kapoc and turning back to Freya and Basil-wait who the fuck was this other guy? She hadn't seen him before at all, when did he get here? Oh his name was Basil? The name rung something of a bell in her head, but at the moment she didn't care.

Looking down at her fists at the mention of being patched up, she also looked over at Dusk. "Nawt just me Oy guess, Dusk took a couple blaows in thaht bahttle. buh' he tuffed ih' eow' and wawn loike the chahmp he is, ine't ya?" Grinning she reached up to the Litwick that had somehow stayed on her shoulder that entire time and gave him a little chin scratch, which the Litwick seemed to appreciate. The best thing Steph had done for Dusk other than the battle after all! At any rate, she would just follow after Basil and Freya wherever they went.

"Oh and haow is thaht Sneasal fahin anywhy? Cahn't believe thaht scumbahg diied thaht."