---

^{Wet Caverns || Afternoon}
During the last face-off, Eryn found herself holding her breath. The Bagon were evenly matched, but they only seemed to fight harder because of it, and Eryn admired them for it. That was the ideal she wanted to live up to: to fight harder in the face of the insurmountable. For what was a trainer to do in the face of such a long, daunting path as the one they started except fight harder?

Eryn jumped to her feet when the last Bagon stumbled, dashing forward. “Hey, it’s okay,” she said, holding out a hand as she approached the scale, slowing her steps so that the Bagon didn’t feel threatened. “I’m just—there.” She crouched, pushing the scale so that it skittered across the ground towards the dragon-type. “It’s yours. You earned it.”

She paused, watching, then steeled herself. This one. She had the most to offer this one.

“How would you like to come with me?” Eryn stared at the Bagon—stared at the potential the Bagon had. “We’d leave this cave and travel the region, explore mysteries and discover the unknown.”

Eryn paused, then pulled an empty Pokeball from her bag, grinning. “I hope you don’t think I’m taking no for an answer, though.”

---

"Oh." Dawkin said, his expression turning a bit more serious. It turned out it was important. "Well, the battle in question was with some Team Amethyst goons. I'm not really sure about much, but they did say the package was *meant* to go to Bigfjord City before I liberated it. Does that help at all?" He definitely wanted to help handle this however he could. Somehow the things he kept running into ran far beyond the scope of what he'd imagined himself encountering on his journey.

---

Amelia was slowly beginning to get frustrated with this whole situation, the lack of any progress finally beginning to wear away at her patience. She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down as she turned the sun stone she had been given around in her hand. As she did so, she noticed that the stone was oddly sticky. Looking down at it, it dawned on her that that was not the only odd thing about the stone. It didn't sparkle in the sun like one would expect. Most evolution stones were crystalline in nature and despite being a sun stone, this one lacked spikes. Moving it to her other hand, she saw some orange now sticking to her palm and fingers.

Glancing over at Smeargle, she moved to the edge of the lake and put the sun stone in the water, rubbing it with her fingers until the paint came off, revealing the missing water stone underneath. Standing up, she showed it to the trainers before moving over to Palpitoad and held out the stone to it.
"I think this is yours. Take good care of it." She said to it. Once the stone was taken back by it's owner, she stood up before looking at Smeargle, Ledyba, Leila, Eric, and Annica. "I think you got some explaining to do Smeargle. But, I think my work here is done. I wish the three of you luck."

With that, she would walk away, her pokemon following after her as she made her way towards the Wet Caverns, trying to actually get further away from Pureplain City now.

@Gardevoiran

Skylar dropped down from the second floor and landed onto the ground floor in front of Type: Null. Of course he was decently fine, he’s a Pokémon Protagonist. Really, it is quite shocking how resilient his kind is.

Regardless, he landed ready to do combat with his multiple Pokémon. He made his little speech…

‘What the-’ the male grunt stumbled a bit as the new adversary showed up. ‘How’d you find us!? How’d you get in here!? Eh, doesn’t matter! Excadrill! At him!’

Excadrill is taking a nap!

‘DARN IT!’

‘You’re pretty confident, taking on Team Amethyst on your own…’ the female grunt glared at him, quite intent and not looking like she was about to back down. ‘We’ll see how well that confidence holds up to- BEHIND YOU!’ the grunt’s look and demeanor suddenly completely changed to panic at a realization of what she saw and pointed, as useless as that might be.

That warning might have just spared Skylar from a sudden strike, because Type: Null needed a bit more than that to be convinced. It fully expected Skylar to, just like those before him, to be nice for now and then just use him for war as everyone else, without actually caring. So it attempted to strike at him with its helmet, swinging its head and giant helmet from behind him.

Regardless of how that went…

‘Wow, that thing’s a monster!’ the female grunt called. ‘Alright, that’s it, we gotta get it. ATTACK! Both of you, ANCIENT POWER THE LEAF-THING!’

‘Er, Mankey, Leer! Vulpix, Ember the same thing!’

And so they did, Archen and Tirtouga sending a wave of flying rocks at Paradise (though neither of them got the omni-boost), joined by Vulpix’s burst of fire, while Mankey Leered at anyone who would look its way.

Now Skylar had to both brace for the attack on him by Type: Null… AND the attack by the Team Amethyst members. How would he and his Pokémon handle this?

Type: Null glared angrily. It figured that, even this trainer, probably just wanted to use him for something. Now that he’d shown his anger towards him, he’d change how he acted towards him, Type: Null figured…

__________________________

@hatakekuro

The Magikarp showed no signs of resistance whatsoever as Basil took out a Pokéball and tapped the fish into it. The ball shook once, twice, thrice.

click




Gender: ♂
Type: Water
Personality: (Up to player.)
Quirks/Talents/Aspirations/Other: (Up to player.)
Level: 5
Moves: Splash
Ability: Rattled. Boosts speed if hit by a Dark, Bug or Ghost-type move.
Held Item: None.



With that, Basil ordered one ticket to Lakewatch Town for 750P, and he was soon away. The ferry was a decently sized vessel, notably it was reinforced with steel plates underneath. There was a large area where passengers could walk around and look out over the waters of the lake, and sure enough, there was a decent subset of people whom Basil could ask about their destination.

‘You know Dragon Lake we’re currently on? The Lake’s still growing. Lakewatch is currently on water because Dragon Lake is growing. Highhill Town didn’t use to be by the lakeside. I wonder why that is? Sure, there’s the eternal rain of Route 3… but could there be another reason?’
‘You know, not a lot of people go to Lakewatch Town! Most that go to Raremine Town does so by Route 8, not 6, because Route 6 is so dangerous, and those who go to Pureplain City obviously would rather go over Route 1 than Wet Caverns. That makes Lakewatch Town a town of Pokémon Trainers! You can go to the Explorer’s Guide Service to make use of that experience, for a fee!’
‘The Gym Leader, Lesley, is the “Hunter of Dragon Hunters”. Back when Team Amethyst was at large, so many preyed on the dragon-types of Dragon Lake… But Lesley and the Lakewatchers started guarding them. Now they hunt down the ones who hunt dragons, regularly patrolling here and in the Wet Caverns. If you want a dragon of your own, I’d give up on that…’ The guy shudders knowingly.
‘The Gym here’s a Major League Gym! That means, you better not take it on until you’re an elite yourself! I’d suggest heading for Stillwood Village for the gym there, or maybe the one in Raremine Town… uh, but maybe not via Route 6, the Vast Plains are unforgiving…’
‘Close to Lakewatch Town, past Route 5, is the Frozen Cavern. We mine for old fossils and frozen Pokémon there! It’s really fun! It’s also supposedly a passage to Cooldome City… but, uh. I wouldn’t recommend it, not with all the Glalies. The Tunnel on the other side of the mountain is definitely safer. You can get there via the Mountain Valley past Stillwood Village for a safer path.’
‘Just south-east of Lakewatch Town is the Endless Forest… No matter what, you always get lost there. It’s filled to the brim with illusion-producing Pokémon and the like. Creepy place. Nobody has ever reached the ending… wait, no. Apparently the Gym Leader of Stillwood Village did. Nobody knows how, though.’
‘Hehe, you know this ferry has steel plating under it because of the Carvanha in the water, right? Should have been called Carvanha Lake, hahaha! Still, there’s a bunch more interesting things to be found under the waves. One can swim down Descent Tower to reach Flooded Lakewatch… and there’s bound to be some secrets down there, eh? Who knows what…’

So went the idle musings of numerous individuals.

Eventually, the ferry arrived at its destination.



__________________________

@Typical

The Bagon looked a bit startled when Eryn started moving. She then stared at her intently as the Dragon Scale was sent rolling along to her, and she cautiously picked it up. The little dragon then glared at Eryn as she made her offer to escape this cavern. The Bagon… smirked at her.

‘BAGON!’ she called, bracing herself, standing and tensing up like the brave little warrior she was. It translated to “go ahead and try!”, and she clearly intended as many Pokéballs that Eryn had as possible.

With that, Eryn had no choice but to start chucking balls at the little dragon. The first ball hit…!

‘Ba…’ the Bagon made small call from the impact of the ball, before being absorbed into it.

The ball landed onto the ground, and…!



__________________________

@Joshua Tamashii

‘Wait, what are you-’ Annica asked as Amelia was heading over toward the lake, and then dipped it.

‘Huh? What is she doing?’ Leila asked, looking very confused.

‘I think she’s… wait, it’s coming off…?’ Eric asked, very surprised. Then she revealed the Water Stone…

‘The… Sun Stone was the Water Stone!?’ Eric remarked, shocked.

‘Waaait,’ Leila blinked a bit. ‘Annica, you insisted that stone belonged to you…!’

‘G-’ Annica visibly recoiled, and her Smergle also recoiled, in such a way that the tail snapped like a whip and somehow sent a huge wave of orange paint that just suddenly all came falling down on Annica, who simply braced and accepted her charge.

‘Gah,’ she muttered, all orange beside a Smeargle that had fainted itself, her plot revealed. ‘I… wanted it as a present for Amy… Why would anyone care if I stole it from a wild Pokémon? We were going to leave Isson anyway, nobody would have to know…’

… Now, this wasn’t actually a court of law, and as such there was no guilty verdict for the criminal. But Ledyba was officially Not Guilty, and looked very happy about it over there.

Palpitoad gave a happy noise at being given back his Water Stone, and immediately dove. Then, he came back with something. He gave Amelia… a blue whistle?



So that was that. Amelia headed on across Route 2, and eventually found her way to its end. There was an incline leading up towards the mountain, but reaching there she’d find a hole in the mountain. If she were to wander in…

@PlatinumSkink

---

"Great!" Nodding, Claire would prove at least that she had met Uxie to Cathia by showing her the completed pokedex entry as she'd walk and talk towards Dunstans' lab. She had worried that she might not be able to meet Dunstan again, but after this at least, she felt she needed to. If nothing else, it might help Cathia get in touch with someone that might help more.

"Hey! Its me again!" Claire would rather unceremoniously interrupt Dunstan and Dawkin, having caught the tail end of their conversation as she had approached. "Okay, okay, hold up I know something that might be useful." Claire would make a rather comical pose, crouching slightly, bending her legs and pointing her arms towards Cathia, announcing her like some sort of royalty. "Sorry to barge in like this, Dunstan," No, she actually wasn't. "But we-er, Cathia raided an Amethyst base here in town and has information regarding some cells. Something about being done and having sent multiple messengers to Bigfjord."

Should she mention her...affinity to be under cover right now? Maybe best to wait and see how everyone reacted to this information first...

@Eklispe@Rune_Alchemist

‘Team Amethyst…’ Dunstan sighed at what Dawkin said, but nodded. ‘It does, albeit I don’t know what exactly to do about it. Thank you, for bringing this to my attention…’

And then Claire had come at some point. During the journey here, she’d found that Cathia isn’t actually very talkative unless she has something to say, and during the trip she didn’t have a lot to say, so she mostly just looked curiously at Claire and responded to what she was told. She was pretty amazed at the Uxie Pokémon dex entry, however.

When they arrived. To Dawkin, Claire just arrived with Cathia, the same trainer of Jacques that had previously barred the way out of Wet Caverns some time back, that he and Martin had fought together.



‘I’m-’ Cathia suddenly stopped short when Dunstan looked over towards Claire and Cathia as they came in.



‘I’m honored to meet you. Okay, so. I invaded the Team Amethyst base here, and found their research,’ she said, holding forth the papers she’d procured. Dunstan snapped up the papers and started reading intently. ‘They were stealing ancient Pokémon, in order to find the cells of the immortal Pokémon among those that may have been blessed by it in the past… and they succeeded. They found the cells of the lifegiving Pokémon, and they’re sending multiple packages to Bigfjord City as we speak. Unfortunately, it doesn’t say what they’ll be used for…’ Cathia responded.

‘I…’ Dunstan looked a bit stunned, and slumped down in one of his chairs. ‘I see. That… that makes sense. However, how the blazes did they know to look for the cells in ancient Pokémon!?’ Dunstan asked, looking quite upset at this. He picked up the vial of blue cells. ‘Well, thanks to Dawkin, we have one of the deliveries right here. But apparently, there was more than one…’

‘Right. Usually, we’d send the Pokémon League’s trainers to root out our foes and stop whatever plan they have… but unfortunately, whenever we do that it’s like Amethyst knows we’re coming. Even when we’re trying to send our best trainers undercover, even when we do it in secrecy, it’s like they know. Our only other option is…’ Dunstan took a moment, then looked towards Dawkin, Claire, and Cathia. He had an odd look in his eyes.

‘Well. I could say… Welcome to the unofficial HQ of people trying to stop what’s going wrong in Isson. If you ever learn something that you want to share with those who fight for a better world, this should be a safe place to do so.’ As in, the GM says this is a safe place.

‘It’s clear these people have interest in doing stuff with Legendary Pokémon, since they shattered Zygarde. We already put you on that,’ he nodded to Dawkin, but now looked at Claire and Cathia. ‘Zygarde is the Legendary Pokémon that normally responds whenever someone tries to mess with nature. He usually resides in the Desert Mines, but not anymore. Seeing how someone had the foresight shatter Zygarde into small clumps of cells, we know they’re likely doing something Zygarde would respond to. We do have the ability to put him back together, but if we do so without foresight of our own they might just come back and do it again,’ Dunstan slumped his shoulders a bit.

‘I… actually already know where a lot of the Legendary Pokémon are. I have trainers I trust guarding their locations… Now, excuse me while I don’t disclose their locations to you immediately… but know that, in the case someone does strike, I am as prepared as I can be. Albeit they seem to always be a step ahead. Can I randomly call you in case one of these places is suddenly under attack? It’d possibly help,’ Dunstan asked something that could potentially be very important later.

‘As for the current situation… I really can’t ask this of you, but… Would you go to Bigfjord City and see if you can find what’s going on? I, and any of the strong trainers I know, would probably be recognized immediately. You are new, and might stand a better chance slipping in unnoticed…’ He looked up at the ceiling. ‘… Though, maybe you want to grow a bit stronger first. Just, you know, a little bit. I get this strange feeling they won’t be ready for a while.’

as in, the plot will wait for you
_{‘I… I just wish she was here… where could she have gone…?’}
‘Of course, you don’t have to do this.’ After muttering something under his breath, Dunstan immediately turned to you three again. ‘You don’t owe us anything. Frankly, it’s kind of dumb that I, an adult, is asking this of kids. That said, I am out of options… What do you say?’

So, that was that. Now, Cathia will answer, but maybe you guys want to do so first. Feels more appropriate that way.

And, of course, you could leave after that, or maybe you have more questions.





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

---

---

"Behind m-OH SHOOT-!" Skylar turned around just in time to see Type: Null charging at him headfirst, just barely rolling out of the way to avoid the damage he would've taken, albeit not all of him was unscathed. Caught in the crossfire was the side of his bag, which held up decently but the cane that was on it was snapped in twain, two pieces clanking against the floor.

"Crap, my cane!" Skylar looked back at the blurry outlines of his cane, then to the raging Pokemon itself, before realizing he still had a job to do. He needed to lead his friends to victory, or else this effort would all be in twain.

As the grunts called out their attacks, Skylar rushed to his feet and started to guide his team. "Paradise, Magical Leaf Tirtouga before you get hit! Seabreeze, Pretzlcoatl, take down that Archen with a Water Pulse and Rock Throw!" Skylar rushed to his feet and charged towards the middle of the fight. "Mac, block that Ember from Paradise and try to Double Kick the Vulp-ECK!"

Skylar's movements weren't in vain, as he intercepted one of the Ancient Powers heading straight towards Seabreeze, the rocks decking him right in the gut and knocking the wind out of him. His team looked on in fear, and they conversed among themselves as Skylar tried to pull himself together.

"Skylar! What were you thinking?!"
"Taking a hit... to make sure we're not hurt...!"
"Why would he do that?! That wrecked him!"
"We need to hurry before we're the ones taking him to a doctor!"
"Whassa docta?"
"Don't worry, let's just hit that Archen, Pretzl!"
"Gotta rock, gonna tawss!"

We're doing this again, for the sake of a breakdown.

Paradise is aiming to hit Tirtouga with a Magical Leaf, since Razor Leaf has a chance of missing and I think it would be better to try and take down the Tirtouga as soon as possible before Paradise also falls seeing as she's the bulkiest team member we have right now. Skylar taking an Ancient Power was intentional to minimize damage, and also to try and illustrate this kid is wild and happy to keep his friends safe if he can help it. That, plus I want to create a situation after this that shows Skylar needing help, in case all his team members go down and the only nearby Pokemon is Type: Null. (Full disclosure, Skylar would not take a hit like this during an official gym battle. This is a desperate fight to save a Pokemon from some bad dudes, and things are on the table here. Plus he loves Paradise, she's a great pal.)

Pretzl and Seabreeze going for the Archen simultaneously is hopefully meant to take it out swiftly, as well. Archens are no joke, and while Ancient Power from one isn't as strong as something like a Rock Throw, leaving it around might not be good for the long run, or at least leaving it around before Defeatist activates isn't a good idea. Once Defeatist is going, then we can take a breather.

Mac blocking the Vulpix's Ember serves to minimize damage to Paradise, as usual, but also serves to try and close the distance between Mac and the Vulpix. Vulpix is usually somewhat frail, so a Double Kick might be able to do it in. Keyword is might, since I don't know what level it is to guess on any calculations. I'm just hoping it does good damage if it hits, but priority one is blocking the incoming attack.

Mankey does not pose an active threat right now. So I'm hoping leaving it alone will be fine for now.

As always, interpret how you see fit. If Skylar blocks the weaker Ancient Power, that's fine, if a move doesn't go through because of reasons, that's also fine, this is just my rough idea for how the round goes.

---

^{Wet Caverns || Afternoon}
Eryn chuckled when she caught the challenging glint in the Bagon’s eyes, then nodded, throwing the ball. It arced through the air, landing on the Bagon and absorbing it with a pop, then landed onto the floor with a click.

The whole thing was so shockingly underwhelming that Eryn ended up staring at the Pokeball on the cave floor for a few seconds, not quite processing what had just happened.

“Huh,” she said when too much time had passed for something else to happen. “Well.” She walked over and picked up the Pokeball, examining it. “Welcome to the team, Atha.”

“Hey, who goes there?”

Eryn fumbled the Pokeball for a moment, then recollected herself, her stomach sinking as she looked around. This was bad. If the voice was a Lakewatch local, this was very, very bad, especially since she was, now that she was trying, unable to call out her newly caught Bagon to explain things. Had Atha fainted upon being caught? That would make for a funny story at a later date, but right now, that left her in a very precarious spot.

“Oh!” Eryn turned on Eri. Some skills truly were useful. “Turn into a Bagon, would you? We’re going to pretend that you’re Atha!”

Eri looked a bit confused but did as she bid, and she patted him on the head, doing her best to get used to the way her hand phased through his disguise when she pet him.

With five Pokemon including an anxious Bagon at her side, she cleared her throat, then called out to the approaching figure. “I’m Eryn! A trainer. I was just exploring when I came across these three Bagon fighting over some sort of blue scale. Two of them got knocked out in the scuffle, but I ended up convincing the last one standing to come with me…”

She paused. Perhaps that was too much information, but it was too late now.Instead, she scrutinized the shadows, trying to make out either a friend or a foe.

---

Titus the Magikarp was transferred to the PC.

So, Basil found some information and it was useful though some of it was definitely concerning. How in the world was a lake expanding? It was possible that the eternal rain of Route 3 contributed, but it was up for debate if even the consistent rain would have been enough for the expansion though on the map there were rivers that branched off from the lake. They should've acted as a natural drainage system to carry away the excess water, but they had done nothing to stop the flooding. It was another mystery worth investigating, but it was not why he was going to Lakewatch, originally at least.

The original intent was to find himself a dragon-type, but there was not a snowball's chance in Mt. Chimney that he would be able to capture one by normal means. Lesley and her band of hunters would've run him out of town before he could even catch one though that was to be expected. He had a plan, but by his own admission he needed to maybe just be a little stronger. Luckily, however, he was going to the place described as a 'town of Pokemon Trainers.'

Basil had a lot to think over while he waited to reach his destination. As the ferry got closer though he began to notice that the buildings were not on land, but in the middle of the water.

"What in the world?" He said to himself as the architectural nightmare came closer into view.

Eventually, the ferry came to a halt and Basil just stood in complete awe. Well, mainly he was in awe at the complete absurdity of it, but then again, he came from a place where people thought it was a good to build a city on floating rocks so he could not talk. Still, there was a sense of wonder that was a bit different than Worldedge, a different kind of energy. It wasn't pristine like the upper levels of Worldedge. Lakewatch was a bit rougher, unrefined, and yet was all the more beautiful for it.

Now, the first order of Basil's business? He needed to head to a Pokemon Center. He needed to heal Cecil after their fight with Pamina, his newly acquired Pinsir. He looked down at one of the free gondolas and with a great leap he landed on one and the momentum carried it forward. The only thing was that he did not stick the landing. His arms flailed about as he tried to find his balance only to fall on his back. The only thing that hurt was just his pride.

Eventually he would find a Pokemon Center to heal Cecil and after that he sat on a gondola debating on his next course of action until he decided that he needed some training. Since this was basically a hub for trainers, Basil figured that he could paddle around the town and look for any areas that had an abundance of trainers battling each other because that's what they do. While there were probably many trainers that were way out of his league, there were surely some that had to be around his level as well.

@Gardevoiran

Firstly, Skylar barely dodged the Type: Null’s attack, shattering his cane in the process…

‘Wait, hold on, he’s BLIND!?’ the male grunt suddenly called.

‘Seems so!’ the female one replied.

‘Wait, I don’t know if I like this. Picking on the blind kid is such a bad guy thing to do,’ the guy said.

‘Oh, grow up, we’re criminals! We’re already bad guys, darn it!’ the lady called, exasperated.

Then, when Skylar moved in the way of the Ancient Power…

Right, that whole part about Pokémon protagonists being durable? That does not extend to enduring actual Pokémon moves. There is a reason why humans use Pokémon for battle.

So, those are actual rocks slamming into Skylar from the front, definitely knocking him over. That took a good 78% of his HP, and unlike Pokémon, human performance decreases with health. Skylar’s not going to be able to get up for a little while. The grunts, meanwhile…

‘WHAT THE-!’ the guy staggered.

‘I… didn’t mean to do that…’ the girl commanding the ancient Pokémon to use Ancient Power said.

There was someone else who was surprised. Type: Null stood staggered, glaring at Skylar with a stunned look under the metal mask. It didn’t expect that.

Regardless, the battle continued! And I will say, because of the thing with Type: Null, the enemy got a little bit of a time-advantage.

Skylar was only able to block one Ancient Power, the other struck Paradise for damage! It wasn’t enough to take her down, but it was substantial!

Paradise sent a Magical Leaf at Tirtouga, and the opponent TA grunt grit her teeth. ‘Tirtouga, Aqua Jet the Archen!’

With that command, suddenly launched itself into the air with a blast of water heading after it, flying straight past the Magical Leaf and striking Pretzl before he got off the Rock Throw! It was just Seabreeze that headed for Archen! ‘Archen, strike back! Rock Throw!’

The Archen spun to throw a rock at Seabreeze… who struck first with Water Pulse, easily doing more than half of Archen’s health in damage. There was something defeated appearing in its eyes… yet it still managed to Rock Throw and hit Seabreeze, which still did substantial Super Effective damage…!

However, that Tirtouga who had just pinned Pretzl that thought itself so strong, about to fire a Water Gun into the newly reawoken ancient Pokémon… was then suddenly struck by a flutter of Magical Leaves that had spun around and struck from behind! Nobody dodges Magical Leaf! Times 4 Super Effective! The stunned-looking turtle fainted!

‘My Pokémon…!’ the grunt staggered.

Meanwhile, Mac successfully blocked the Ember heading for Paradise, and then headed for Vulpix… but something came in the way!

‘Mankey, AT THEM!’ the guy commanded, and a very angry monkey suddenly leapt at Mac, preparing a Karate Chop! Mac wouldn’t be able to get to Vulpix with this thing here! He could Double Kick the Mankey, thereby trading with a Karate Chop if we wanted to, but…

‘Vulpix, Confuse Ray!’

Too fast to actually dodge while Mankey was there (though after the Double Kick if he wanted to kick the monkey), the Vulpix shot out an orb of ghastly power that hit Mac from the side after circling Mankey ominously. There was very little that could be done to dodge that one! Two-on-one is definitely harder!

What would Skylar’s Pokémon do now?

No, not Skylar, he’s going to need some more time to recover from those rocks. He might, though, find Type: Null staring at him.

__________________________

@Typical

Eryn decided to attempt to trick whoever was coming into view by having Eri change into Atha. Eri did so, and just in time, too. Someone approached… and that someone was accompanied by the sound of armor?



A blonde woman, wearing red armor, walked out into view, holding her own little lantern. She looked curiously at Eryn, as Eryn immediately started making her case.

‘Oh, hey, I know these three! Always fighting one another for things they find, always trying to one-up one another…’ the trainer said, smiling decently widely. She crouched down, looking towards Eri. ‘So, you decided to head with this trainer? It’s what you truly want?’ the woman asked Eri, seemingly not having realized this wasn’t, in fact, not actually a Bagon.

‘Well, if it’s what you want, then I don’t mind! I wish you luck on your journey! One last headbutt for the ride?’ the woman asked Eri with a smirk, reaching into her bag and retrieving a helmet to complete the armor…

Yes, this woman is 100% wanting to have a friendly headbutt with Eri. What will Eryn/Eri do?





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



__________________________

@hatakekuro

Basil did get a couple locals happily walking over to tell him all the tricks to how to do that gondola trick when he fell over, probably just adding to his embarrassment, but still.

Anyways, yes, this is a town of Pokémon Trainers… which probably means there’s some places where you could fight… for instance. While he had to walk up a stair and get to the roof of a building to get there, he found an arena for Pokémon battling on the roof of a building. Here a bunch of younglings and low-strength trainers were testing their mettle against one another, probably the level of strength that was actually safe to do battle on top of a building.

Basil approached, and he was allowed to do battle freely! They gladly invited him to it! His Pokémon would be healed between each battle.


‘Hello. I’m Boey. I like shorts and Rollout.’

Youngster Boey would like to battle!




‘Hey, my Abra just evolved! I’d like to give it a try!’

Schoolkid Victor would like to battle!




‘I went over Route 6 and back, and caught some Pokémon! I want to show them off to you!’

Picnicker Ella would like to battle!







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

@PlatinumSkink

---

Okay, so this seemed to go well. Dunstan seemed a bit more talkative now. Claire glanced towards Cathia, considering her options. The more people she told...the safer it'd be if she went a head with the idea. But that also meant more of a chance for someone to rat her out as well...a rat. Snitches get stitches, as they say. But at the same time, going in without any support of any kind would be...well, that'd but her between a rock and a lady that was definitely 100% her type.

So only about 50% bad.

"So uh...I may have something that may...help-weh!" Ralia decided at this specific point, to release herself from her pokeball, and ended up sitting on Claire's head. "Weh hey who said you could come out!" Claire said, grabbing the pokemon and giving her a small bemused glare. "Okay so uh, Heeey, Cathia, we actually met a bit earlier then the park bench. I was in the hideout, too. You might remember me as the gal who totally almost kicked your butt." Claire said with a sigh. "I don't wanna get into details but I was doing a bit of a...lets say I stumbled onto team Amethyst and was scoping their hideout myself and then I got roped into well, battling you with them or else my cover might have been blown."

As long as she played this cool this would be good, no?

"Anyways, uh, this lady, Isabella, gave me her card and specific instructions on who to talk to in Bigfjord. As in, I could...go in and see what all they're up to." Ralia waved to Cathia in a friendly manner.

---

---

"... ohhhh... yep, not my best idea..." Skylar groaned, clutching his shirt where the rocks hit and hiding the tears that it caused. He was gonna feel that in a little bit, but he looked over towards the battle and grunted, trying to pull himself up to his feet before falling over once again.

"G-good job guys! Breeze, the Archen's gotta go. Paradise, help Mac with the Mankey, and Pretzl... ghh... the Vulpix! Rocks!" Skylar rolled over onto his other side as his team jumped into action.

"Ten-Four! That Archen's going down!" Seabreeze called as he prepared one more Water Pulse to launch at the Archen, firing it off and trying to get some distance from the Archen before it could counterattack with a Rock (if it could).

Mac swiftly blocked the incoming Mankey Chop with one of his kicks, swinging his other leg around to deck it. "Don't worry, Skylar! We've got this in theeeEEEEehehehehehh?!" The Confuse Ray got off! Mac started to dance around dizzily and struggled to keep his footing. "Whyyy are thereee... five Mankey...?" About that time, Paradise rushed forward and flapped her wings for a huge Gust, sending it spiraling at the Mankey and hoping to finish it off after Mac's Double Kick!

"Pretzel not so good, but he rock the puppy!" Pretzl, despite being heavily winded from defeatist, rushed forward with one of the rocks on the ground and threw it! Pretzl used Rock Throw! Hopefully given the little distance there was, it could collide with the Vulpix and send it down hard!

While all that was happening, Skylar winced from the pain still fresh on his body, and his blurry vision cracked to settle on the surprised Type: Null. Behind cloudy eyes, the trainer watched the helmeted beast and offered a smile through grit teeth. "D-don't worry... we're... not b-bad people..."

---

^{Wet Caverns || Afternoon}
Eryn couldn’t help but stare at the woman as she spoke, enamored with the bright platemail that coated her arms. To go around wearing such a getup meant she was either a very eccentric trainer, or a very important one. Sure trainers could be strange at times, but they usually weren’t that out of the ordinary—unless they had a reason to be.

But, perhaps she was both, Eryn realized as the woman slipped on a helmet and readied herself for a headbutt with a Pokemon. Sure a young Bagon probably wasn’t that strong yet, but Pokemon resilience was still very different from that of a human. Eryn herself would be hesitant to take up such a challenge, and that realization sparked admiration for the armored woman, but that was a thought for later. Right now, she had a grave to dig herself out of.

“Oh, I don’t know if that would be the best idea,” Eryn said, thinking fast. “She just got out of a showdown with two other Bagon, and honestly she’s not in the best of health. In fact, she’s probably on her last legs as is.”

She looked pointedly at Eri, and she was met with immediate confusion. Still, Eri rolled with it, nodding and stumbling a little where he stood. Eryn gave him a very small, hopefully imperceptible tilt of her head, and he tripped over a foot, collapsing into an inelegant pile on the floor.

“Oh you poor thing,” she said dramatically as she rummaged around her bag for his Pokeball, recalling him without retrieving his ball from her bag, then pulling out Atha’s Pokeball instead. “Maybe she’ll be more up for it after a trip to the Pokemon Center.”

---

Yes, yes it did add to his embarrassment.

Anyway, Basil was allowed to join in this group of kids/low leveled trainer's test of mettle. "May the best trainer win."

@Typical

‘Hahahaha! Nonsense! Any little dragon I know is always ready for-’ the woman in armor laughed at Eryn’s statement that the Bagon was out of it, thereby coincidentally not looking at Eri during Eri’s little confused moment. Then she looked back down at Eri just in time to see the Bagon-shape stumble over into a pile. The woman’s expression dropped to a bit of startled realization.

‘- oh, I guess she was pretty out of it,’ she said. She then shrugged and smiled at Eryn once again. ‘Eh, that’s fine with me,’ she said, and immediately fished up the two fainted Bagons, one in each arm. This is with the consideration that the Bagons weigh 93 pounds / 42 kg each.

‘I’m gonna take these to the Lakewatch Town Pokémon Center, heal them up, and then let them back out into the wild again. Let’s walk together! I insist.’ … For some reason, there was something in the tone she said that with which signaled that “no” wasn’t an applicable answer.

Should Eryn not pull any particular tricks to try to get away, the woman would have another set of questions.

‘Hey, can you tell me about yourself? Why’d you decide to become a Pokémon trainer? Oh, and can I see your trainer card?’ the woman said with a wide smile, jolly tone, and for some reason Eryn probably felt like she was in a courtroom.

Would she comply?




Connected areas:
Route 2. ‘Nope.’
Lakewatch Town. ‘This way!’

---

^{Wet Caverns || Afternoon}
Eryn watched as the woman hoisted the two fainted Bagon up, rather impressed at how effortlessness it looked. She herself was carrying Tula at the moment, and while the Magikarp was rather light, she wasn’t sure if she could throw two over her shoulders with the same ease.

“Let’s walk together! I insist.”

Eryn blinked. “Oh, um, okay.” Now that she was essentially off the hook with her little deception, she wasn’t as concerned, but the woman’s pushiness was at least a bit suspicious. Were all Lakewatch locals this protective over their dragons?

“Um, yeah! Like I said, I’m Eryn, and I’m honestly a pretty new trainer, but I think I've made a good start with all the Pokemon I've caught so far,” she said, gesturing at her team around her. “I'm helping Professor Kalmia with her Pokedex project, but honestly it's probably helping me more than I'm helping it. As for why I decided to become a Pokemon, trainer well, it’s honestly been a lifelong dream of mine,” she said with a grin. “I would’ve started way earlier if it weren’t for my parents pushing me to go to school and all, but I’m here now and that’s all that matters.”

She pulled out her trainer card when prompted, offering it to the woman in case she wanted to see it up close.

“So, what about you? Are you from around here?” she asked, rather unsure of the whole situation now. The woman didn’t exactly strike her as a shady figure, but she’d answered an awful lot of questions in the last few minutes. “Also, I don’t think I ever got your name.”

---

Of course Dawkin wouldn't say no to something like that. Although he was surprised to hear just how much information was here. They knew about and were guarding several legendary pokemon? He didn't even know legendary pokemon were guarded by anything other than themselves. Although seeing how well that had gone for Zygarde, perhaps the bodyguards made sense.

He glanced at Claire as she gave her own recount. She'd ended up battling for team Amethyst undercover? Maybe that was something a Team Amethyst agent would say? Argh, not a useful train of thought, he would just end up seeing agents everywhere he went. With what he knew about this organization, they could handle themselves. Still he'd keep Claire in mind.

To Dustan he said confidently, "Of course if you ever need help with Team Amethyst, I'm always ready to take them down a peg. Give me a call and I'll see what I can do. As for Bigfjord city, I was a bit curious anyway, so I'll check it out when I have the chance. Of course my team takes priority."

---

@Gardevoiran

Under its mask, Type: Null’s eyes twitched a little at Skylar’s statement, but still just gazed at him.

Seabreeze easily blasted off another Water Pulse at the opponent’s Archen before it got off another Rock Throw, and it fainted, collapsing to the ground. The female Amethyst grunt grunted (heh) as she recalled both her Pokémon, and she was all of a sudden left with no Pokémon at all. She glared around for something she could do anyway…

Mac blocked Mankey’s Karate Chop with one of Double Kick’s two kicks! That… still hurt! Karate Chop is a stronger move than a single Double Kick is, and this isn’t a badly trained Mankey, either! So damage was taken to Mac’s leg… but he was still able to kick Mankey with the other leg for a clean hit, sending Mankey staggering away a bit. Far enough for Paradise to hit it with a Gust! Powerful winds decked the Mankey, sending it rolling over for Super Effective damage… but the angry monkey refused to give in! It leapt back onto its feet, its eyes shaking in anger! Highly damaged, though.

‘Okay! Vulpix, Ember the Tropius! Mankey, take advantage of the confusion and Karate Chop that Combusken’s head!’ the male grunt pointed forward, and his Pokémon did so, Mankey leaping forward at Mac to Karate Chop, while Vulpix sent a blast of fire (not a fire blast) at Paradise, clearly with hope to take them out…

But Vulpix then took a rock from the side, yelping a bit in damage from Pretzl’s Rock Throw that did some Super Effective damage, and then there was Seabreeze who was likely circling around to end the fight…

‘We’re not winning,’ the female grunt observed, and her eyes quickly scanned for something that could help them… and they locked onto Excadrill. Now, sure, it was true that the big metal mole wouldn’t do anything for this dofus over here, but wasn’t there something else that had motivated him, earlier?

‘Hey, Excadrill!’ the girl shouted at the mole, who didn’t even bother reacting to being addressed. ‘If you help us claim that quadruped Pokémon in the big mask, Isabella will LOVE you!’

‘Ex-CAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!’ the Excadrill suddenly screamed out, smashing down its feet into the ground with enough force to crack the floor, getting onto its feet and taking a fighting stance, the fire of passion burning brightly in his eyes.


‘Alright!’ the female grunt grinned victoriously while the male grunt once again stared at Excadrill with just a “seriously?” kind of look, but the girl was just too excited to mind him. ‘Use-’

‘EXCA-!’ … And the Pokémon dashed forward, unceremoniously knocked the female grunt aside for no other reason than that she was slightly in his way, sending her ‘ACK-!’ flying aside, not that hurt but very surprised.

Also in his way were Mankey, Mac and Vulpix, who unless they moved also would be knocked aside as the Excadrill rampaged forward like an unstoppable force through the warehouse, dashing towards a singular target.

Type: Null turned its head as it realized it had a giant high-level rampaging metal mole dashing directly at it, metal blade imbued in its arm raised to strike. For whatever reason, the masked wasn’t moving.

What would Skylar and his Pokémon do?

__________________________

@hatakekuro

Roxanne VS Venipede! Venipede and Nosepass has the exact same HP and Attack stats. That is somewhat amusing.

Albeit, Defense is then way in Roxanne’s favour, not to mention the typing. Venipede Defense Curled, but was then swiftly paralyzed by Roxanne’s Thunder Wave. Then, with the Venipede being too unlucky to get a move in from paralyzation, Roxanne Rock Throwed until her opponent fainted.



Crocus VS Geodude! Interestingly enough, Geodude’s defense is high enough that it survives a single Vine Whip, but because it used Defense Curl on the first turn instead of trying to strike back, the point is moot.



In the Crocus VS Marill fight, Marill started with Defense Curl! That’s when Crocus sent out Sleep Powder… which failed to take effect! Perhaps being curled up like that protected Marill from the effect of the powder? … How does a Marill “curl up”?

Regardless, it meant that Marill could start rolling next turn! Rollout was powered up, rushing towards the Bulbasaur! Crocus hit it with Vine Whip as it approached, doing Super Effective damage… but not enough to 2-hit-KO, not with Defense Curl increasing defense! That said, Marill’s hit to Crocus did substantial damage due to Defense Curl and Huge Power combined, and he could faint with the next one, since it’d have double the firepower! And then… then Rollout would be really scary.

Would Basil like to reconsider his strategy?

Next battle!

Crocus VS Pikachu. Unfortunately, Pikachu used Quick Attack and managed to dodge the Sleep Powder pretty cleanly. It struck Crocus with its body, doing slight damage. Crocus Vine Whip back actually didn’t do that much damage either, but it did MORE damage. After numerous exchanges, where neither side managed to do critical hits or anything of the following, Crocus eventually ended up on top.

Lancer and Paras were sent out, and proceeded to have a super-slow charge towards one another as a base speed 20 and a base speed 25 dashed for one another… albeit when they arrived the battle was swift and one-sided. Paras managed to hit with two Fury Cutters, doing miniscule damage both times despite the second being more powerful, but one Peck from Lancer left Paras almost fainted, and the second finished the job.



Then there was Lupin the Sneasel VS Kadabra. In a moment, it looked completely hopeless for the Kadabra. That’s when Victor the Schoolkid focused his mind, and…

‘Hey, you’re Psychic, right!? Use your powers to send rocks from the earlier fights at him!’ Victor commanded, and since Confusion is described as “a telekinetic force”…

‘Kadabra!’ the Pokémon charged its psychic powers, picking up small pieces of debris that had been torn from the stage from earlier fights (especially Rollouts from Boey) at Lupin!

Fortunately for Basil, Sneasels are agile creatures and the small pieces of debris didn’t really do a lot of damage, so while it might have been a tougher battle than he’d initially expected because of his opponent going for unconventional strategies, his level 11 Sneasel still beat the level 16 Kadabra. That’s a bunch of exp.



‘Aw,’ Victor just gave a disappointed little noise.



Next battle!

Roxanne VS Ponyta. Ponyta doesn’t have any effective moves and instead kept ramming into Roxanne with Flame Wheel, which didn’t do a whole lot of damage. Roxanne handedly won the battle with several Rock Throws.



Rhyhorn, with that Pokédex entry, is basically one of the most abusable Pokémon ever and Crocus easily outmaneuvered it to Vine Whip the thing to fainting with impunity. Rhyhorn eventually fainted.



Lancer VS Cacnea. Lancer got himself Leech Seeded! Which caused him to take some damage twice before having Pecked the Cacnea twice, fainting the little cactus, taking an insignificant Absorb on the way.



‘Ouch. Well, I think you’re going to be just fine if you head that way!’ Ella said, smiling cheerfully.



Right, one battle more that needs to be dealt with, but what would Basil want to do afterwards?





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



__________________________

@Typical

As they walked, the woman in armor smiled happily as they kept walking, also taking Eryn’s Trainer Card as she offered it, looking at it closely before handing it back.

‘I see, I see. A trainer that got a Pokédex from Professor Kalmia, huh? Well, that makes you easy to find,’ she commented as they kept walking. ‘School, haha. I never needed school, and I did pretty well for myself, I think!’ she said, chuckling a bit.

@Joshua Tamashii If you two would like, Eryn and her current armored companion is going to pass by the entrance of the Wet Caverns.



Amelia could hang onto them to head to Lakewatch Town, if she so wishes, or just talk to Eryn.

That all aside, what happens should there not be such an encounter.

‘Oh, me? I’m just some dragon breeder. The dragons of Dragon Lake were very few due to poaching some time ago, but I’m helping with growing the population again! It’s nothing special, but it does make me happy,’ the woman replied, specifically ignoring the question of what her name was.

After wading a certain amount of water and going through the caves strangely unbothered by Pokémon, they’d eventually be back to Lakewatch Town.



There were numerous inhabitants of Lakewatch Town that randomly waved the woman walking with Eryn, and she happily waved back. Regardless, Eryn found herself led to the Pokémon Center.

‘Now, heal up the dragon, and let me talk to her!’ the woman requested. Eryn could decide to do so, or perhaps not. Will she?





__________________________

@Eklispe@Rune_Alchemist

‘I’m willing,’ Cathia replied to Dunstan. ‘I already despise Team Amethyst, I want nothing more than to help you end whoever these villains are,’ Cathia said, looking more focused than she did before.

Then, though, Claire told her little thing, and Cathia looked towards her with a bit of alarm. She let Claire speak until she was done, and…

‘That… does explain something. I thought that was a strangely strong grunt. I was wondering if I’d have encountered one of the elites without knowing it…’ she commented. ‘But you were not winning. Had we not been interrupted, I would have won,’ she so simply claimed.

‘You got what-’ Dunstan, instead, reacted to the later part of what Claire was saying. He took a moment to think about that. ‘Okay. If you decide to make use of that, do keep me informed. I’m not sure I trust all the backup I could give you, but I could buy you some items. If nothing else, I could be your backup. I’m at least moderately strong,’ Dunstan said.

‘I could help. Though, if it’s Isabella… Isabella is one of the Admins of Team Amethyst. A cruel lady, she’s not afraid of commanding her Pokémon to attack the opposing trainer in battle. The fact her Golbat is not a Crobat says something about how she treats her Pokémon, too. If she’s going to be there, it’s probably a good idea to get somewhat stronger, first…’ Cathia said, and in the background of that Dunstan grabbed a pen, started writing down some notes, then looked at Cathia like “how do you know that”, but didn’t actually ask it. Right now, anyway.

Then with what Dawkin said…

‘I deeply appreciate that. Give me a call whenever you decide to go, and I’ll see how I can help,’ Dunstan said. With that, they could share communication info if they didn’t last time.

‘With that, I guess that’s all I got for now. Do you have any questions?’ Dunstan asked. If not, they could be on their way.





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

---

---

"Ahh... crap...!" Skylar turned to try and rush to his feet but staggered momentarily. Nope, he wasn't getting up from that, and even if he did, this wasn't gonna end well either. None of his team could take something like that on, nor could he convince Null to work with him like this to dodge that hit... what could they do? How could they help?

Skylar got up to his knees, looked over at Seabreeze, and back to Excadrill. It was a gamble, sure, but if it helped Null out then they could afford the risk. Meanwhile, he held up Mac's Pokeball, calling the Combusken back. "Mac, return! We're not letting you get hit with that!" He pointed to the Excadrill with Seabreeze in mind. Time to use a technique the group hadn't for a little while.

"Paradise, Sweet Scent! Seabreeze, Supersonic!"
"Right!"
"On it!"

With the scent wafting through the area, Seabreeze's Keen Eye, and some help from a pair of Wise Glasses, Skylar was hoping that the move was going to land! If it did, surely the gamble might pay out with the Excadrill hitting itself! Even so, there were still two Pokemon that needed to be handled for sure.

"Pretzl, prepare a Rock Throw! If that Vulpix is still around, we've gotta make sure it doesn't hurt Paradise!" Hopefully that worked to finish off what the Excadrill friendly fired! If not, the group should be fine? Should be?

And if all else failed… no! He wouldn’t let it happen! Skylar stood and rushed over towards Type: Null and Excadrill, looking to push Null out of the way. ”Don’t let that hurt you!”

Whatever he threw in would be absolutely wrecked by that Marill's Rollout, so he was just going to commit to using Sleep Powder again and then Vine Whip. What were the odds of Sleep Powder missing again?

Well, after that Basil would decide to take his team to the Pokemon Center to go and heal them. After that maybe he would do some planning while he was there. So, he again traversed the town via gondola and this time he did fall on his back when he landed. Basil paddled through the floating town and took in the sights and sounds. Frankly, it was incredible it was actually as busy as it was. One would think that people would just high tail it out considering that the lake was supposedly increasing in size. Were they just going to repeat what they did before? It was still easier than navigating Worldedge though.

Basil eventually arrived at the Pokemon Center and would offer his Pokemon to Nurse Joy to heal. After that he would have planned out his next course of action, except he saw something very, very odd; a woman wearing red plated armor.

Holy Mysteries and Dungeon. First pirates and now knights? Basil found himself unknowingly staring at the woman in armor in a combination of confusion and just straight up admiration because holy hell she looked so cool.