@Sanguine Rose

Thankfully, the kid wasn't bawling for losing the battle. "It's fine miss. Pa says that this how it goes. Still sucks though." The kid went off to go watch the remaining matches taking place.

Well, at least Faye wasn't feeling to hung up about beating little kids in a Pokemon battle. Also, she isn't getting money from these battles because taking money kindergarteners after beating their Pokemon is even more fucked up. Now to the battle at hand.

Not only did Sage's Growl lower its attack stat, but it also intimidated the Dark-Type so much that it could not even to have even missed its moves because it froze in place out of sheer fear. Apparently, Sage made an expression so fierce and a growl so guttural that no one would have expected it to come from something as adorable as an Eevee that it scared the Nicket that it could not follow through with its trainer's orders nor did it seem to be in a state of mind that it could listen to orders at the moment.

If Faye were to order Sage to use a move, the next one would land automatically unless the Nicket broke out of this state next turn. However, the Nicket failed and got dirt and sand kicked into its eyes from Sage's Sand Attack. The Pokemon yipped and as it pawed at its eyes to get the debris out of its eyes Sage steamrolled in and tackles it with a very hard hit, sending it flying back and skidding on its feet. It looked like it took some hefty damage, but it looked like it could go still.

"Don't give up! Just keep using Tail Whip and Quick Attack!" Second verse same as the first. What does Faye order Sage to do?

---

@Zarkun

The bug-maniac saw the confusion on Jason's face and said, "The Scyther population was hit the hardest in Starbor. Very few people see the potential that Bug-Types such as Ariados and Beedrill hold, but I must admit, Scyther and their evolutions are incredibly powerful. In fact, in terms of stats they average out to the same total, but their utility is totally different."

Meanwhile, as Connor looked around the area it was plain to see his discomfort looking at the webs and the occasional yellow incarnate of rage with needles for hands flying by. For a guy that looked like he was ripped out of John Ford western, he sure didn't seem to match the way he appeared.

By the way, as Jason looked at the trees closer around him, he actually found quite a few deep cuts. Actually, on closer inspection they look fresh and not fresh as in they were cut like a few hours ago, but as in there was actually still wood dust clinging around these marks. If he were to take a guess, they must've flown through this area only a few minutes ago or perhaps, even still here.

---

@samreaper

Tristan was led to what could be described as a large shed with a couple of windows. The farmhand tapped on the glass of one of the windows and soon followed by the sound of the door unlocked. When it opened up, a friendly looking man with a bulbous nose and a pretty hefty stomach was standing there. He was dressed pretty similarly to everyone else on the farm as well.

"Hey Billy, what can I do you for?" He asked.

"Hey Hurly, the boss hired someone to investigate what's going on and he wants to see the camera footage."

The man arched his brow as he looked down at the fashionably dressed young man with boots that do not match the rest of his dress. "He hired a kid? Things must be pretty desperate if he's going that far, but hey, if you want to look I'll show you. Don't expect it to help though." He motioned for both Billy and Tristan to come in.

Surprisingly, the inside of the shed was pretty okay. The temperature was well regulated, so it was comfortably cool inside, it was well lit, and there were some amenities such as a mini fridge in the area, but the main interest was what was on the other side of the room. There were five flat screen monitors on a desk; three on the desk itself and two on the shelf it came with. On the screens there was footage of currently what was happening on the farm.

Hurly motioned for the two to come over to the set up. "Alright, I'll show you, but uh, I don't think you'll find much." What he shows was footage of the nights when the eggs were stolen, which ranged from the fields to the barns and other buildings around the farm. A few weeks' worth of footage. What exactly does Tristan look for in the footage?

---

@Lunarlord34

Yeah, those anger issues definitely run in the family although compared to Freya's icy rage, Kapoc's was much more expressive visually and far more violent if that kick was any indication. At least she didn't get that annoyed look from Freya when Steph caught herself from calling her elder brother a quack.

Basil actually was gently leading the two girls away from the scene of what would appear to be a violent crime perpetrated by a certain bogan redhead. The people who were watching what happened gave her a wide berth, whispering and muttering to each other about the strangeness of the scene though they were referring to Cedric, who is better known as Professor Kapoc, was taking care of the scene. While they walked away, he took the Sneasel off Freya's hands and carried the poor thing himself. He had actually taken off his jacket and had it draped over the Pokemon in an attempt to make it more comfortable.

Without that jacket though, Steph would see that this guy was heavily tatted. He didn't just have a few tattoos, but two sleeves of black geometric tattoos contrasting his fair skin that went from his wrists to what she could assume to be his shoulder. Along with his many piercings, and white hair he looked like someone's edgy OC except he had a very friendly demeanor and those yellow doe eyes made him look much softer. Actually, now that she got a good look at him, she would probably realize that he really wasn't that much older than her and yet, he had an air of experience around him for someone his age.

"Pokemon are pretty resilient. Under normal circumstances, it probably would've been okay, but uh, judging by the burn marks and the smell of smog it was already weakened." He glanced at the Litwick sitting on Steph's shoulder with a knowing look, but also wondering how the fire on its head hasn't set her hair on fire yet. "It's really not as uncommon as you would think. There are a lot of people that treat Pokemon as if they are disposable if they think they are no longer usable or if a specific kind becomes out of fashion. Not just teams like Cypher or petty criminals, but normal people are capable of being monsters."

His face darkened as if he spoke from experience though it wasn't something like the pure rage that Kapoc had demonstrated earlier. It was a bit more complicated than that, something that went beyond anger or sadness though it seemed like he forced it back with a smile. "But I'm thankful that there are people like you two that can get angry and actually do something about it.

Freya shrugged in response to the compliment. "Nah, the one who deserves the credit is Steph. She's the one who actually caught the guy though God damn, I didn't expect you to be that brutal. Then again, Cedric soccer kicked his head so I can't really say that it's just you."

What was it about her that violent people seem to just appear in her life?

Eventually they arrive at one of the many parks at the city since it seemed like there was no Pokemon Center in this area. Basil laid the Sneasel down on a bench and slung down his backpack, which really looked like it had reached the end of its life but was being held together by a bunch of patches. It looked like it was begging for the sweet release of death.

He turned to the tall girl and said, "Okay, can you bandage her knuckles, Fre-" Even before he could finish his sentence, she was already wrapping bandages around Steph's hands. He had completely forgotten how much of a busy body she actually was. Meanwhile, he turned his attention to the unconscious Sneasel and examined its head. From what he could tell, there was no severe damage and that it was simply knocked out. He rummaged through his bag to pull out a spiky yellow capsule.

"Funny thing about Revives, they don't really heal Pokemon., said Basil, "They're adrenergic drugs, basically capsules meant to mimic the functions of sympathetic nervous system. If a human consumes one, they'll probably die of a heart attack due to the potency, but Pokemon have been shown to have such a high resistance that it will simply wake up. Still, don't feed your Pokemon more than one unless you want to rush them to an ER." While this came out of nowhere, it was more advice to Steph to be careful with these things.

He propped the Sneasel's head up and opened its mouth, dropping the Max Revive in its mouth and luckily it swallowed it. The next thing they knew, the Sneasel's eyes shot open, and its pupils were dilated from the stimulation of the medicine. It looked at Basil and then saw the two very familiar girls with a look of absolute panic and confusion.

Spotting the fresh gash marks on the bark, Jason carefully approaches it and kneels down to run his fingers along them, getting some sawdust on his fingers for the test. Standing straight again, it also occurs to the newer trainer that there is significantly less webbing here than in the area they were in earlier. Smiling to himself, he gets closer to the other pair before speaking. "Fresh gashes in the trees here, still got sawdust. The webbing is also vastly reduced compared to earlier. We're either very close to the Scythers or we're right on top of them if I had to guess." Having shared his discovery, he resumes looking for the green colored scythe-armed bug types, watching carefully for their movement.

Slayer, conversely, was keeping an eye on the poison types flitting around in the trees, daring the Spinaraks and the barely seen shadows of the Ariados to try something on his watch. The psychic type was nervous, however, as these were also bug types and he knew that if they used something like Bug Bite or Pin Missile, he would be in trouble. Regardless, to keep the humans safe, he put on a tough act, hoping he wouldn't have to back it up any time soon.

"I'm late, I'm late, I'm so late!" A young girl muttered to herself as she ran through the streets of Grand Glory City. The girl made sure to pace herself, as she didn't want to collapse in the middle of the street due to her heart acting up. The last thing she wanted was to cause a scene, that was for certain. So, while she moved faster than what she normally would, she made sure that she slowed down for periods of time to keep herself healthy.

The girl had woken up later then she had planned, on account of her natural sleeping habit of staying up late and sleeping in from her time back home. One top of that, the unfamiliar city was so large and she found herself getting lost several times. It took all she had just to approach strangers to ask for help to find her destination. Even then, she found their directions confusing, which resulted in her being delayed longer. Eventually though, she did make it to the Pokemon League's administration building, pretty much bursting through the front door, where she placed her hands on her knees and caught her breath. She couldn't recall the last time she had ran so much and she could hear her heart pounding in her ears.

When approached by a member of staff, the girl would wordlessly hold out a letter for them to look at, explaining why she was there.

@Zarkun

"Huh, you've got a good eye. Well, we better find any tracks to follow!"

There was something strange though. Upon investigation, Jason would realize that the slash marks stopped in this exact location and the webbing onward was much thicker. What was stranger if they were on top of these things, they should have been able to spot at least one of them by now. It was as if they just upped and vanished to his and the rest of the group's confusion.

"The heck? How can they just disappear just like that?", asked a very puzzled and frustrated Connor. The cowboy's brow was furrowed, not knowing how to piece this all together.

The Bug Maniac suggested, "Maybe they had already noticed our presence and fled back the path they came?"

Actually, while their companions were racking their brains for answers, both Slayer and Jason would notice something odd out from the corner of their eyes just at the very top of their peripheral vision. The glint of something, something that Jason would very much recognize; it was the gleam of blades. Jason and Slayer could feel something was watching them from above though Connor and the Maniac did not seem to take any notice. Perhaps, Jason was not entirely correct that they were on top of them.

Do you look up?

---

@Joshua Tamashii

-Earlier That Day-

What Amelia had just unceremoniously rushed into was an impressively large, spacious lobby though given the size of the building it should have been no surprise. It would not be fair to call it ostentatious, but it definitely was a celebration of stylish modern architecture and a lot of comfy furniture. That and there was a big fuck off fountain in the middle of the room. Amelia specifically would notice that there also flowers and plants that would most definitely recognize originating from Florasong about as well.

The staff person, who very much had an arched brow at the sudden appearance of the girl, took the letter and read it to themself mentally. It was then that they actually understood the situation. "I see. You're a bit late, but it shouldn't be a problem. I just need to make a quick call to the boss to let her know you're here." They handed her letter back and spoke on the phone for a very brief moment. "She'll be right here in a moment. Please, make yourself comfortable." They motioned to any of the open seats though they soon had to get back to whatever they were doing before so she would have been left alone there.

It was only actually a few minutes until someone approached her; a woman of above average height approaching her mid-twenties with long, straight orange hair, dark green eyes, and freckles. She wore a black pantsuit with the jacket opened to show a white collared shirt underneath. There was an air of confidence, self-respect, and strength surrounding this woman and yet, she gave the pre-teen the gentlest of smiles. She extended her hand for a handshake.

"You must be Amelia. I'm Evelyn Beck, the Head League Administer." She did notice that this girl seemed to have pushed herself past her limit. It did not take long to realize that this poor girl sprinted through this big city so she wouldn't miss her opportunity. "Are you doing okay sweetie? Do you need a glass of water?"

Stella Lumite

If she thought about it, she'd never really heard of a trainer doing things quite like this. It was always one-on-one or some such. In a battle with another trainer, sure, you should have rules or it'll surely become chaos. Especially for something like a tournament. Could the rules be more interesting? Maybe. But the league will be as the league will be. Perhaps strict rules were best for this kind of thing.

But Stella wasn't really interested in the league, or battling. She wanted to study Pokemon, and battling was just a means to that end. To catch a Pokemon, and have the chance to really examine it, she'd fight just a little dirty, too.

With a dramatic point of her finger, "Tail Whip that Struggle Bug!" She didn't want to give away Ocul's presence any sooner than she had to, but had to give the order at the same time. With the both of her team suffering electric paralysis, this could be difficult. Her only other option was a wounded Yamper. Though, she did have that potion...

Amelia took her time to catch her breath as the secretary read her letter before giving her instructions to wait while they got the person in charge. Amelia took one of the seats that had been pointed out to her, taking off her backpack and the hooded shirt she had on, wearing a black tank top underneath. As she waited, she took some time to look around her and take in the majesty of the building she was in. She recognized many of the flowers they had, since they grew back home and the fountain in the center fascinated her.

When Evelyn arrived, she would find the young girl examining the fountain more closely. Amelia was so focused, she didn't notice the older woman until she spoke, causing her to jump as she turned to face rhe head of the League.
"I-it's nice to meet you." She said nervously while accepting the handshake. "I'm doing fine. A glass of water would be great, thank you."

---

Tristan would find himself surprised yet again when reaching the security room. The cameras and tech inside really did not match the plain appearance of the shed or even the fact they had such quality gear. The owners of the ranch definitely were not the type to be stuck in the old ways and yet, even with such cameras they have not caught any sign of these thieves? There was something fishy going on her, then again being looked over by a guy named Hurly gave him doubts on whether he was trustworthy when it came to using these cameras.

Once again being shown of having little faith by the staff of this ranch. He was already in a bad mood and to have ranchers looking down on him after he went out of his way to help; not his fault none of these people bore any fruit towards the case and he intends make them regret looking down at him. The only unfortunate thing was that it also meant having to look through a few week's worth of footage; thankfully the room was well regulated and air-condition so he wouldn't have to endure sitting in a hot box.

" Hmph, we will see about that." After a few minutes figuring out and getting used to the controls he shifted forward in the chair to start his inspection. There were a few things Tristan was good at; fashion, shopping and social media and with it had dipped his hands into posting videos where he had learned about video editing. Of course, he wouldn't go saying he was an expert, but editing taught him to look for a few things and it was here he planned to put it to use. Starting with checking the first night the thieves appeared." If there is any time the thieves would make mistakes it is the first few attempt." He spoke aloud though mostly to himself in musing as he scanned through the footage observing each of the camera in turn, turning the wheel slowly checking the time stamp for any varying time differences that don't match or clipping to see if any tampering was done or to see if anything in the images shown changed at all in between before and after the eggs were taken.

@CitrusArms

To just state for future reference, only Kaebe was paralyzed. Electoweb only lower's a Pokemon's speed and is incapable of actually paralyzing.

Anyway, there were two reactions based on her order. Kaebe would turn to her and look at her in absolute confusion due to the fact that there was no attack coming its way. Luckily though, Ocul was able to make sense of the order and attacked the unsuspecting Joltik with its Struggle Bug attack. Its aim was true, and the electric tick was hit with projectiles that the player is allowed to flavor in its appearance in their own way, and its Special Attack was lowered.

However, now that the Joltik was all too aware of Ocul's presence, it crackled with electricity and shot a sphere of electricity that soon unfurled into a web.

What does Stella do?

---

@Joshua Tamashii

Evelyn smiled kindly at the nervous child. "I'll go get you something." The Head League Administrator walked off and, in a few minutes, arrived with one of those plastic cups one would find from a water cooler. The cup was cool the touch and had a faint scent of lemon.

"Now if you follow me to the lab, we'll get your starter and everything else you'll need for your journey." She motioned her to follow her and led her up an escalator and then down a hallway past several offices of people managing all official League business that keep the entire thing functioning. Eventually, they arrive at an automatic sliding glass door and when it opens, they would be hit by an almost overpowering scent of coffee. In this room was a man with long, messing black hair that was loosely tied into a ponytail, but still had bangs long enough to cover one of his crimson eyes. He wore a dark grey turtleneck underneath his lab coat with matching slacks and dress shoes. The scientist looked like sleep was a foreign concept to him; he had deep circles under his eyes and had scruffy facial hair that made him look way older than he actually was. At this moment, he looked like he wanted to strangle the woman across from him.

This woman was dark-skinned with sharp, gold eyes and gunmetal blue hair with a short cut that was buzzed on the sides. She wore a white tee with a black jacket over it and a muslin scarf wrapped around her neck and blue jeans with matching black boots. If Amelia ever paid attention to the news, pop culture, or any bit of history relating to the rebellion against Cipher ten-years-ago, she would know exactly who this woman was. This was Adriane Brand, the Hero of Evig and the current champion of the League. The woman that her teacher worked with to get Amelia to this point.

"Adriane, I swear to God I will-!" He yelled at what appeared to be a very smug looking champ before his attention was turned to the latest arrival. The scientist arched his brow and asked Adriane, "So, this is the kid you were telling me about? Aksel's apprentice?"

She nodded in confirmation. "Yeah, that's her." The Champion turned her attention to the girl and had a big, friendly grin on her face. If Evelyn exuded a commanding confidence, then Adriane exuded pure goofy self-assuredness. "Heya, Amelia. I was worried when I didn't see you with everyone else. Were you so excited that you couldn't sleep?"

The scientist smirked at her and said, "Says the woman that was late because she overslept." In response, she just narrowed her eyes at him in a death stare that was very much ignored. He walked over to Amelia, but not too close to make her feel uncomfortable. "I'm Cedric Kapoc, the Pokemon Professor appointed by the League. Adriane told me about your situation, and I just want to ask you if this is what you really want. In the end it's your choice, but I want to know if you felt pressured to do this or not. "

---

@samreaper

Well, Tristan's theory was not exactly off the mark. Upon just a normal glance, one would not notice any discrepancies with the footage, but upon closer inspection there was a discrepancy that would be impossible to ignore. For each night the robberies took place, the timestamp on the footage would skip by a minute. There was a minute long gap of footage missing.

There was something else of note though. While one of the cameras did not pick up a person perse, they caught the shadow of a person running by the camera as fast as they could. While this did indeed show that there was indeed robbing the farm, it wasn't important. What was important was the date. It was last night's footage.

"Thank you." Amelia said gently as she accepted the cup of water, smiling as she caught the lemon scent before drinking from it. When told to follow the older woman, she got up from her seat and did as she was told, keeping a bit behind Evelyn as they walked through the building. As they walked through the hall, Amelia couldn't help but look at all the other people who were hard at work for the League, a bit surprised at the how many there actually were. She had heard running such a thing took a lot of people but the closest thing she knew of were the Florasong music festivals but the committees for those seemed small by comparison.

When they arrived at the lab, the strong smell of coffee caused Amelia to gag for a second. It was a smell she was used to but not to such a degree, as it overpowered everything. It was like she was drinking a cup herself, though she knew better than to do so for her own health. By the time she recovered, she caught the man who seemed to be desperately in need of sleep mentioning her mentor. She was then addressed by the Champion, who's question caused the girl to blush a bit and look at the ground.
"N-no. I just... usually stay up late so... I slept in." She admitted in a quiet and nervous tone, wishing she still had her hoodie on to cover her face.

When the Professor asked his question though, the girl's head shot up, looking the man in the eye. Her expression changed to a serious one and when she spoke, there was a resolve in her tone that had previously been absent.
"I did choose to do this. Sensei gave me the option to come here and I gladly accepted. I will not let my parents keep me caged up forever and dictate my life for me!" She said. "I'll prove to them that my health won't hold me back and that I can do more then they think, with or without their approval. I'm not going back there and you can't make me!"

Slayer saw them first, already moving behind his trainer as Jason caught the gleam above them as well. And while he'd seen enough horror and action movies to have an idea of how this was going to end if he wasn't ready to move at a split seconds notice, he didn't have much choice. "Look up, you two." And as he spoke it, he did it, ready to throw himself out of the way of a potentially dangerous attack if needed, along with his partner.

Stella Lumite

The hard-to-envision Struggle Bug hit its mark, dealing... Normal damage. Even though Joltic was clearly bug-type, it wouldn't be resistant to a bug-type move. More electric sparks from the grass cued her from any thoughts wandering around in her head.

"Ocul, dodge! Look out!" Stella plucked another empty PokeBall from her waist. She could see the center of the sparks and electricity, and could even see where the electro webs were coming from. The way the webs crackle in the air, had she mistaken that for paralysis before? Ocul might be alright, actually.

Kaebe hadn't understood what she'd commanded earlier, either, he looked at her with confusion. "Tail Whip, buddy. Use Tail Whip. It's in there somewhere, draw it out with your tail." She tossed the PokeBall into the tall grass, trusting her logic and the evidence in front of her to target the Joltic. If it was launching more webs, would it be able to move at the same time? "Probably too late for it, now, no doubt it's focused on Ocul. You can't see it in there, can you?"

"Just cause ih' ineh' uncawmmaon doesn't myke ih' any laess scummy naow does ih'." Came the annoyed grumble from Steph. She was still fuming. Stealing from her was one thing. Attacking her with a pokemon was scummy but once again, it was one thing. But then to backstab your partner like that and just book it? Steph had half a mind to go back and pummel him again just for good measure. Though she did feel quite satisfied, there was no such thing as beating a scumbag like him too much now was there? Ok, maybe there is but not the point.

But damn, this Basil was it? She thinks thats what Kapoc called him but he hadn't introduced himself. To be fair, neither had she yet so she should probably get on that. But anyway, damn this Basil guy had some sick tats didn't he? Like just overall he seemed like one of the lead love interests in some soppy love drama series. Even had a contrasting personality to match; the one that looked like a bad boy but was actually a gentle, kind individual once someone got to know them. Not like Steph was an expert on this types of things of course. She would never be caught dead reading or watching that stuff...ever. Yep. Never. Not once has she ever done that. Wait, now wasn't the type to fangirl over potential favourite character archetypes from something she definitely never read or watched.

"Eh the fuckwih' hahd ih' comin, Oy deedn't do much except bein the one he desoided t' tahgeh'. Oh and Steph's the nyme boy the why, noice t' mayt ya Oy suppose...uh Basil was ih'?" Steph said with a roll of her shoulders as Freya began to bandage up her fists without so much as even asking first. Not that Steph was going to stop her from doing it of course, but damn once she got to know someone she just did it without even asking huh? She really was a kind individual.

Which just made her scary side even scarier.

Oh this wannabe edgelord was now giving a lecture on revives? Actually, now that she paid closer attention he seemed oddly familiar. Had she seen him before? She was racking her brain for answers before shrugging. He was probably some experienced trainer, seeing as he had the air of one, but she knew a lot of famous ones but this one was currently escaping her. Eh it would come at some point.

"Yayh, heahd somethin abeow' hahvin t' be caff'l weeth em buh' thyah good in a peench." The redhead commented, flexing and stretching her fingers to test how tight the bandages were before nodding. Freya was scarily good at this kind of stuff. "Evah thaw' of becomin a nuhss aw somethin Freya? naevah sayn someone sao good at fuhst ide." She would add offhandly without much thought as her attention turned to the Sneasal.

Now, she was still somewhat mad with this pokemon but most of that had evaporated due to its pitiful state and the rage that had been directed towards its previous partner. Thief or no thief, it didnt deserve to be abandoned like that now did it?

"Yah ok theah bud? thaht was ruff. Fuhst yah hahd t' foigh' Dusk heah thaen yah gawt abahndoned boy yoah 'buddy', buh' daon't wohry Oy took caeh of thaht fuckwih' rayl good."

---

Looking over videos was a timely activity and for a good bit he got no result nor saw anything that stood out. Rewind then forward, rewind then forward, the process repeated in dull repetition which was starting to bore and lull him to sleep. Tristan let out a yawn as he rested his chin against his palm, arm propped up by the elbow when the drowsiness made his head slip down. Snapping out of the bored haze to find his face close to the screen and it was here that he actually took notice of the minute long skip. It was so small and brief that actually spotting it would be near impossible unless one was meticulously watching the time. And he stumbled upon it by accident; a stroke of luck as he pondered if the other robbery attempts had the minute long skip and after watching over a few of them would see that they did indeed.

How peculiar that every robbery had this same issue and seeing how Hurly or the rancher never mentioned anything about this had him assume they had not discovered the missing recording. He thought to bring it up and ask the man, but remember the farmhand's advice; with no way to rule the man out as one of the thieves he decided against it. As he continued his search he would discover the shadow zooming past the camera.* Strange...it can't be coincidence that such an issue would occur on every night of robbery. And a minute? No way someone could sneak in grab some eggs and get out in under a minute.* Musing this to himself which led him to think two possibilities; a hacker and someone working on the inside, possibly two." Excuse me...Hurly was it? How many people on this ranch has access to this security shed? And when was the most recent robbery incident?" He asked while keeping his eyes on the screen trying to see if he could slow down the footage to get even a smidge better look at the shadow.

@Joshua Tamashii

Amelia would feel Professor Kapoc lay his hand on top of her head and gently ruffled her hair. There wasn't a smile on his face, and yet one could tell that he was trying to make an effort to show some kindness towards the girl."That's all I needed to know." He would walk away towards what looked like a rather secure, yet small safe where he appeared to be punching in a long string of code before they heard a beep and then a deep 'cha-chunk' sound. The professor pulled the door open and then retrieved a briefcase that he laid out on the table. He motioned for Amelia to walk over to the table with his hand.

The latches were flicked down and he lifted the lid to reveal the contents to her. Inside was a smartphone-like device that had a card slot in the back, five empty Pokeballs in a satchel, and a single Pokeball in the middle of the case. With her curious gifts, she would sense a ghostly presence contained within the Pokeball.



Kapoc held the items out to her. "Here, take them. It's yours."

Amelia received a Pokedex!
Amelia received 5x Pokeballs!

She also received the Pokeball that contained her starter, but she would feel the object shake in her palm as if it was trying to force its way out followed by a beam of white light erupting from the ball. Said light would begin to form into a floating, spectral being with a black body and a head made of petrified wood. It looked up at Amelia curiously. Her Pokedex suddenly sprung to life and recited the creature's entry with its robotic, yet friendly voice.

---

@Zarkun

"Look up?" Both Connor and the Bug Maniac look above them and saw through the haze the silhouettes of three very large bugs above them. "Fuck." The figures soon turned into blurs. The Bug-Maniac was completely frozen in fear and in just the last second, the cowboy pulled him away from the overhead blade that nearly bisected. Connor sent out his Scraggy and the Bug Maniac sent out his own Beedrill to combat against these assailants.

Due to expecting the ambush, Jason and Slayer were able to dodge out of the way of a fucking glaive nearly cleaving the man in half. Jason was standing on solid rock and when the blade clashed with the rock, sparks flew from the collision. This nearly five-foot tall bipedal insect with blades for hands was glaring at Jason and Slayer for evading its attack. It growled at him and swiped its massive claw to shake off the dust.

Scyther, the Mantis Pokemon. As Scyther fights more and more battles, its scythes become sharper and sharper. With a single slice, Scyther can fell a massive tree. If you come across an area in a forest where a lot of the trees have been cut down, what you've found is a Scyther's territory.

Connor and the Maniac were too focused on their own fights to be of any help to Jason. He was completely on his own for this fight and compared to when he caught Murus, it was obviously going to be a much more difficult to subdue this creature.

What does Jason do?

---

@CitrusArms

Yeah, it actually wasn't hard to see where the Joltic was due to the bloody sparks of electricity that crackled in the spot it was located. Unlucky for Ocul, it could not dodge the attack and is just barely holding on after being electrocuted. This poor bug would just be knocked over if a gentle breeze just blew over him.

Kaebe charged where to the electricity had crackled and swiped its tail across the grass. The Joltik jumped up to avoid the Tail Whip, thinking that it was quick to avoid the attack only see its face was inches away from a Pokeball flying towards it. It collided with the Pokeball and was absorbed in a beam of red light.

It rolled once... it rolled twice... it rolled thrice!



What does Stella do now?

Connected Areas:

Grand Glory City
Florasong City
Unmarked Woods

---

@Lunarlord34

"Oh, um, that is correct. It is a pleasure to meet you as well, Steph." Basil gave her a smile, albeit a bit of a sheepish one though there was also... relief? Also, he did feel a bit silly explaining how Revives worked since she already seemed to have an idea how they actually worked. All he was trying to do was be a bit helpful to a new trainer and now he just made himself like a know it all. Mentally, he was cursing himself even though he was smiling on the outside trying to hide his embarrassment. So much for being helpful.

Freya had for just the briefest moment of confusion in regard to Basil understanding Steph's thick as oatmeal accent without a single trace of confusion though it was turned back to Steph who made quite the interesting comment. "Well, you're not the first to say that." She said with a smile, but her attention too was turned to the Sneasel that just woke up with pupils the size of dinner plates.

The Sneasel tried to stand up with the intention to just bolt mainly out of fear of any retribution that Steph and Freya may have sought against it though it grabbed the back of its throbbing head where it had been kicked.

Basil gently said, "Easy there, easy there. You're safe. Nothing is going to happen." He made sure to keep his body low to keep it from scaring the poor thing even more than it already was.

It looked at the white-haired youth and then to Steph and... it could not understand a word she was saying. Freya, who quickly caught in, said, "Your previous partner was arrested earlier." It looked like the Sneasel was going to attempt to bolt again hearing that, but she quickly followed up with, "But you aren't in trouble! I noticed it when you and Steph, but you didn't want to follow his orders, did you? "

The Sneasel paused and looked away from Steph guiltily.

---

@samreaper

"Well, there are three others who have access to the shed, counting the boss as well." said the large man, rubbing his chin in thought as he pondered on the next question. "Well, there was a robbery last night. For once, someone saw them and we gave chase, but somehow, they were able to get away from us. It was too dark to actually get a good look at them, but I did hear someone yell out in pain last night. I assume that it was the thief, but I have no idea why that would be the case. No one came up with anything."

The farmhand shot Tristan a look after what Hurley just said.

Stella Lumite

"Good job, buddy! Lemme grab Ocul." The PokeBall was still shaking as she held the appropriate ball out. "Return." The light reached out and drew in the familiar creature before the ball was tucked away in her belt. "You worked really hard, too. Rest."

The third shake ended it a click! She'd caught the Joltic! She was on a hot streak on her first day, three pokemon caught so far. She should have bought a potion or two. Stella pet her ancient as she went to retrieve her PokeBall. The young lady checked her Pokedex for a status update on her Pokemon, and as she entered the nickname an idea came to her. There was one more Pokemon she wanted to get, that she'd seen around here, but she wasn't sure her team was ready for it. If she could take care of Kaebe, she could go in with confidence.

She sat in front of her jaw Pokemon, "sit with me, buddy. I've got an idea. Niblet, I have a request." She let her new Joltic out and looked at Kaebe, "you eat electricity, can you eat his electric paralysis?"

Amelia immediately seemed to lose her confidence when Kapoc pat her head, the young girl's face turning completely red as she looked down at the ground, a small smile on her face. When he walked away, she watched him curiously, only walking forward when he motioned her to do so. She paid close attention to what he said, nodding her head when he was finished explaining the pokedex to show that she understood.

When the Professor handed her some pokeballs along with the pokedex, she quickly put the latter in her pocket while the pokeballs made their way onto her waist. The main thing that her her attention though was the one that was shaking. She reached out and gently cupped the ball before it suddenly burst open... and the girl's face broke out in a grin as the pokemon inside looked around.
"Tump?" It asked, looking around.

"A PHANTUMP! And a shiny one too!" Amelia said, her expression one of join as she looked at the tiny floaty ghostie. Shiny Phantumps were among her favorite Ghost-types.

"Tump?" The little ghost said curiously, moving over to the clearly excited girl.

"Hello there. I'm Amelia. We're going to be traveling together from now on. It's nice to meet you." She said, holding a hand out to her new partner.

Phantump watched her for a bit before smiling and reaching out with it's stubby little arm, placing it in its trainer's hand.
"Tump! Phantump!" He said happily.

"And no worrying about going into that little ball again. You'll stay out here with me, okay?" She said

Phaaaantump!" He replied happily.

Giggling a bit, Amelia turned towards the members of the Pokemon League Commitee.
"Thank you so much for the opportunity." She said, bowing a bit to show her gratitude.

---

Hurly's answer to his question had Tristan blinking incredulously at the man." You said three others?" Excluding the boss, that meant four people that have plenty chances to alter and manipulate the recordings or cameras. His mention of having heard the thief cry out in pain also caught his attention." Did this happen near the barbed fence perhaps?" The question alluding to the possibility that the piece of stained fabric came about from the thief getting snagged on it." And the last robbery happened last night."He stated this to confirm what Hurly said.

He drummed his finger against the panel while pondering to himself." How long exactly has these thieves been stealing the ranch's eggs?" Turning his attention to Hurly this time as he spoke.

Jason sighed in relief as the Scyther's attack missed, recalling Slayer and instead throwing out Murus, the Golett not having difficulty figuring out the situation. While the bug types tended to be powerful attackers, Golett had a powerful defense, plus any normal type moves the Scyther knew wouldn't affect it due to the Ghost typing. After taking a moment to appraise his situation and remembering that Mud Slap didn't work that well against the poacher, he opted for Astonish instead. "Alright, Murus, time to shine buddy. Use Astonish and follow it up with Defense Curl." His plan was to up Murus' defensive power while whittling away at the Scyther, hopefully weakening it enough to catch it and help the others.

@CitrusArms

With the command to try and absorb the electricity from the rocky dino dragon, the aptly named Niblet latched itself onto it, and proceeded to attempt to such the electricity out of it to cure its paralysis. Fortunately, it worked and Kaebe was cured of its paralysis.

What does Stella do now?

Connected Areas:

Grand Glory City
Florasong City
Unmarked Woods

---

@Joshua Tamashii

While Amelia was interacting with her newest friend, Evlyn just looked at Kapoc with an expression that was a mixture of surprise, curiousness, and confusion. "Where have you been getting all of these shiny Pokemon?"

Kapoc in response shrugged. "You can blame Ruey for that."

Their attention was soon brought back to the excited preteen thanking them with a bow.

"Don't thank us just yet. You've been given a very big opportunity and with that comes responsibility.", said Evelyn with a smile, yet there was a bit of sternness in her tone. While she was happy to give this child the chance, she would be lying if she said she was not feeling a bit hesitant about sending a child with a weak heart out into the world and deceiving her parents.

Adriane however, rolled her eyes to this stick in the mud. "Way to be a downer Ev. Let her enjoy the moment a bit." The Champion of Evig walked over and bent her knees so that she was eye level with Amelia and placed her hand on her shoulder. "I'll let your teacher know that everything went off without a hitch, and uh, hopefully he'll tell your parents', so they don't file for a missing person's report. I doubt your parents are going to be very enthusiastic about this, but don't worry. You go have fun and let the grownups handle it." She said as she flashed a grin.

"Grownup. You? Sure, let's go with that." And that grin turned into a scowl and looked as if she was about to throw down with Kapoc.

Seeing what was about to transpire, Evelyn gently pushed Amelia to move. She looked tired, but not surprised anymore. "Okay, let's get you out of here." She led the girl back down to the entrance of the building. "Well, I'd like to be able to help your more, but I've got to make sure those two don't kill each other. Good luck!" And she was gone in a rush.

Amelia was now free to explore Grand Glory City to her hearts content.

---

@samreaper

"Well, yeah. Surely you didn't think that only one person managed the security system?" He arched his brow when asked if it happened near the barbed wire fencing as if it was one of the dumbest questions he ever heard. "Do you realize how much barbed wiring there is? You are going to have to be way more specific and yes, the last robbery happened last night."

"Almost a month now. We did have the police investigate and they interviewed us. They probably suspect it was one of us who did it, but I guess everyone had rock solid alibies because no one was arrested. At this point they just ignore us if we try to call for help because they couldn't find any clues."

---

@Zarkun

The Scyther charged straight towards the Golett with an amazingly fast dash with its scythe like arms and with a Fury Cutter, slashed the automaton. Due to its ghost-typing and the defense buff, the damage was not as severe as it could've been. Now Jason would not know this, but Fury Cutter's power increases the more it is used so

Okay, so the Astonish landed. Murus threw out however the player wishes to flavor it and made contact with the Scyther. Unlucky for Murus, due to the Scyther completely out speeding the Golett, it was unlikely that Astonish would ever cause this bug-type to flinch. Jason was going to need to think of another way to whittle it down before it knocked his team out or had the figure out a way to stop its succession of Fury Cutters.

Jason grimaced as the strike hit Murus and frowned. That wasn't much of an attack...but it definitely wasn't a normal type, because his Golett wouldn't have been phased at if it were. And he definitely couldn't outspeed the bug type, which meant Astonish would never really be able to flinch it, no matter how much he wanted it to. Come on...come on...I can beat this and catch it...what have I got in the environment to use? Looking around, Jason realized he had the trees and webbing to use, as well as the Beedrills and Ariados amongst them. But even that wouldn't do him much good.

"Murus, use Defense Roll again and avoid the next attack. Head for the webbing behind you!" Jason had a very rough idea of what he was going to do, but he needed to get the Scyther over to the trees and webs for it to work, and hope that Sable was up for a fight.