@Typical@Joshua Tamashii@hatakekuro

Lesley looked from kid to kid as they weren’t exactly talking to her all the time, but Eryn sure was, and she smiled at Eryn’s reaction.

‘What, you know the guy? Heh, small world, I guess,’ Lesley said with a little chuckle. And then about not minding being interrogated. ‘Good, you’re an understanding one. Good girl,’ she nodded with satisfaction at them.

Then there was Basil taking a call. Kalmia on the other side spoke her part, and when Basil replied…

‘I’m so happy you’ll help! I was a bit worried about sending just Amelia. If you ever have a favor or so to ask me, I’ll definitely see if I can do something in turn… Wait, she’s there?’ Kalmia looked a bit stunned. ‘Oh, hi, Amelia! I wanted to give some backup, in case you’d want it! And hi, Eryn!’ That was probably enough, before Basil turned the dex back. ‘Tell me how it goes! I’ll see you later!’ Kalmia reported before the call ended.

Lesley stood there looking amused until Basil made his request…

‘You want me to ref your battle?’ Lesley asked, then smirked. ‘Sure. Then let’s head to the back! Pokémon Centers have places in the back where one can fight if one absolutely has to!’ I am just going to insert that the battle arenas for link cables are canon for convenience.

---

---

A strange force kept Skylar from walking out, and he turned to watch the scene in front of him with his cloudy eyes. He offered a pat to Forge as the two gym leaders reconnected, but he would decline the offer for a battle anyway. "I'll get around to challenging Sylvia soon. I wanna make sure your badge is next in my case, Kristy." He pointed a finger towards her (or was it Dunstan, he kind of split the difference there). He considered for a moment asking for Kristy to just fight him in the middle of town, but... that wasn't an authentic challenge. He wanted to earn that badge.

As for help, Skylar nodded affirmatively. "Honestly? That'd be great. Though I need the cane more than the glasses." Forge looked over at the trainer with a curious glance before... barking? at Seabreeze.

"Why does the boy need a cane."
"Look at his eyes. He's mostly blind."
"That is peculiar."
"Ehh, he manages pretty well. It's why I'm always around, though."

"Once I get that cane, though, I'm comin' to take you on, Kristy!" Skylar pumped his fist before un-pumping it. "... once my team and I do a little trainin- oh! Right! I need to get someone!" Skylar darted over to the PC and started to fiddle with it, retrieving a friend and subsequently letting him out.

Skylar retrieved Jeebs from the PC.

"Vivivi!"

"Welcome back, Jeebs." While the bug, the gull, and the dog-thing all got acquainted, Skylar turned back to Sylvia and Kristy. "Alrighty! So... where would we even get a cane here? Or a cane substitute?"

@Gardevoiran

Kristy brightened up substantially as Skylar accepted their help.

‘Great! You saved my bacon from being arrested by my best friend, so I’m more than happy to help!’ the gym-leader was quite eager. Then, for that last question… ‘Don’t you worry about that! Let me just make a few calls…’ Kristy said, retrieving a phone and starting to talk.

‘… Hm. I’ll be right back,’ Sylvia said before suddenly darting off, leaving Kristy a little stunned but she was on the phone so she wasn’t able to question it too much. Sylvia’s Seviper slithered after her. The snake was pretty fast.

‘No, I don’t need another doll, not right now, anyway, I want a white cane, roughly… how long?’ Kristy asked, looking to Skylar. Assumingly he could answer, so Kristy turned back and said it. Eventually she got some reply and brightened up. ‘Excellent. We’ll come pick it up right away!’

With that, Kristy was quick to end the call, say ‘This way!’ and lead Skylar along the town, assumingly helped along by his Pokémon. Kristy escorted him to a warehouse, where after discussing something with a couple dudes, they’d retrieved something from their storages somewhere and Kristy eventually came back to him.

‘How about this one?’ Kristy offered him a cane. For the sake of convenience, let’s say it’s perfect.

Then Sylvia came walking, Seviper still sliding along behind her. She offered something to Skylar. ‘Here you go. Glasses your size,’ Sylvia said, offering a couple.

‘Hehehe, of course the cool girl knows where to get cool glasses. Nicely done Sylvia!’ Kristy chuckled.

‘I, um, need them for disguises, sometimes,’ replies the slightly embarrassed Sylvia.

Anyways, that was that. What would Skylar do now?





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.

@PlatinumSkink

---

The trek, was uneventful. Well, as uneventful as the red blur named Claire zoomed across the plains, route sixteen and towards the dock with Ralia holding onto her head for dear life as she zipped and zoomed, taking a few detours to make sure she didn't leave Dawkin behind too far. She was both surprised and amused to see a literal pirate ship of all things at the dock. Who still had one of those in this day and age?

"Eeeh? If I buy a pokemon I'm keeping it buddy." Claire said with a small frown as the nobleman passed her while she was putting her bike away. Regardless of his response, Calire would soon move through the crowd and the line, giving a friendly wave to Eugene, almost wanting to go pester him for another flight and if that Skarmory she had totally become besties with was around, but thankfully for the Skarmory and Eugene Railia managed to keep her focused until it was her turn.

"Heeey! Names' Claire! I heard about you from Kalmia." Claire said with an excited grin. "Heard you deal in exotic mons and she said we get a free one, right! Well...sign me the heck up fam. I'm looking for something stylish and speedy, but tricky and cute as I am. Not super picky. Free is free." Ralia gave a friendly wave to the pirate, and if she needed to prove her Identity she was ready to pull out the dex and also pester Kalmia.

---

---

"Oh, sweet." Skylar tested out the cane for a few steps before nodding and giving it a twirl. "A perfect fit. Awesome. Thank you, Kristy!" After another few seconds, Skylar turned to look towards Sylvia, as if he heard her coming already. When prompted to receive a pair of glasses, Skylar took one and nodded once more. "Already a great fit. It's almost like nothing of mine broke in that scuffle!" He laughed it off. Great! That handled the replacing of his old equipment. Now, back to business. After a quick series of thank-yous and see-yous, Skylar and co. left to go training, picking up a pizza and some other food before Skylar stopped in thought.

"Alright, training, training. We've gotta be totally ready for the upcoming battle versus Kristy. Let's get some work done, yeah?" At first, Forge backed down a little at the thought of a fight. Skylar immediately raised his hands up to try and calm the new addition to the team. "No no, it's not like that. These are friendly competitions, not fights against impossible odds."

"Groo..."

"I'm not gonna make you fight if you don't want to, but I would at least like you to watch so you could learn something, okay."

"... gro."

"Good, glad we can agree, then. Let's go to the edge of town, guys." Skylar let out his entire team once again as the group walked towards the side of Raremine. Hopefully there the group could do some training against wild Pokemon from both the nearby route and from within the town proper, get an idea of what was really around.

❄Erika Olson❄

---

---

Erika eased, feeling as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. It was done, the battle and everything was done. "I'm so relieved that everyone is okay and it all worked out." Erika gave Chic a pat on her head, knowing she was a bit disappointed that she couldn't plunge into the Battle for the Mountain. She'd have to find a way to thank everyone involved at some point since she couldn't have done this without them.

She felt nervous as her eyes settled on the offered Dawn Stone. It was her first goal in life to achieve and it feels like ages since she set out from Pureplain City. "Thank you, everyone!" She straightened her posture and gave a respectful bow at the hips to Machamp. She took the Dawn Stone from Machamp's hands and admired the stone before her, light glittering off of the stone and possibly Erika's eyes as well!

"Five years and not a day goes by that I don't think of you, Froslass... How you saved me and gave me a chance." Erika muttered as she felt her eyes water in emotion, feeling a wave of it crash against her heart. She was only a girl then, alone on the mountain and desperately lost. How afraid she had been then, but how relieved she was to see the one of the ghosts of Mount Chill was not like the scary stories told.

Erika turned and knelt down to Sno, regarding her first Pokemon with pride. "You did great today, Sno. Are you ready to grow into the Pokemon you were always meant to be?" Erika stretched out the Dawn Stone for a moment before hesitating. "But you don't have to. I vowed I would be partnered with a Froslass someday but I don't mean to make this decision for you. You can be a Glalie, too." Erika confided wanting Sno to choose the Dawn Stone but she didn't want to make the decision for her.

Yet Sno could see it in Erika's eyes. She shivered and stepped up. "Snooo, she nodded ready to take the transformation.

Erika felt a lump in her throat and she swallowed, extending the Dawn Stone out, touching it to Sno's head. Lights and energy flowed from the stone and it quickly evaporated and flowed into Sno who was a Snorunt, was now a Frolass!

"Froosss!" Sno lifted off the ground gleefully and started weaving freely around in the air.

"Amazing..." Erika gleamed as she watched in awe. She finally did it. She had a Froslass!

Erika rose to her feet and gave her eyes a wipe. She was happy and now they were ready for the next part of their adventure.

"Well..." She turned to address everyone else. "I'm really grateful for everyone's help, really! So can I make it up to you all? Hungry? I don't mind buying!" She smiled but considered their location.

"We should maybe consider our way forward through the mountain. It'd be nice to see more of Isson and I think..." She pulled out her PokeDex PDA thing and glanced at the map. "Bigfjord City shouldn't be too far away once we are clear. What do you guys think?"

@PlatinumSkink

Basil accepted the challenge, which was rather unsurprising considering they were more evenly matched than he was with Lesley. Though, it would’ve been interesting to see who was the better arm wrestler between Lesley and a Hawlucha.

Basil’s Pokedex rang then, and he picked up a call from none other than Professor Kalmia.

“Hi Professor!” Eryn called from the background when he mentioned her being there over the phone.

Eryn looked between Basil and Amelia when Basil mentioned wanting to talk after the battle, and between Basil and Lesley when he mentioned coming to speak with her. Lots of secrets today, it seemed. But, Eryn didn’t exactly want to pry. She had a whole new Pokemon to get to know now, after all, so she could worry about other things later.

At Lesley’s comment about Pokemon Centers having battle arenas out back, Eryn blinked. “Oh huh, convenient,” she said, heading to the back with the others.

In the back of the Pokemon Center was indeed a battle arena, modestly sized with a large screen overhead too.

“Alright, Atha.” Eryn got into position on one side of the arena, waving the Bagon over as she pulled a Pokeball from her belt. “You remember Dei right?” she asked, calling out said Charmander.

Dei looked around, noting Basil and his Hawlucha as well as Lesley.

“Dei, you up for a double battle with Atha here? Against Basil and his Hawlucha,” Eryn said. “I’m going to need you to show Atha the ropes here.”

Dei eyed Atha, then snorted. Atha huffed back, but with a grin Dei didn’t mirror.

“Alright, well,” Eryn said, looking to Basil across the field, “ready when you are.”

"Then I better not keep you waiting," said Basil. He tossed a Pokeball from his belt and a Darumaka appeared from a flash of white light.

The little round gal looked up at Basil and then towards Eryn and her two lizards. A grin formed as she started to get a better idea of what was going on.

"Alright Cecil, Glory. Ready to show your stuff?"

He did not need an answer. Their battle-ready stances were all the answers that he needed.

Eryn nodded, glancing at Dei and Atha and noting the glints in their eyes. “Okay. Dei, let’s start with a Growl! Atha, Ember!”

The Charmander's growls caused the duo to tense up, which lowered their physical attacking power. Basil, undeterred by this, quickly retaliated. "Cecil use Rollout to punch through the Embers and hit that Bagon! Glory, into the air and use Karate Chop on the Charmander."

The Darumaka's armed popped into its body and rolled at high speeds towards the Embers with the intention of just smashing through it. Meanwhile. the Hawlucha leapt into the air and maneuvered gracefully before diving down to bring its hand down to chop Dei's head.

The Darumaka’s Rollout shredded through the Ember fairly easily, leaving Atha’s eyes wide. Eryn, though, had expected something similar given the Bagon’s inexperience.

“Atha, Rage!”

Her voice prompted the Bagon into action. Atha’s eyes glazed over, and she let out a roar, charging headfirst at the rolling Darumaka in an imitation of a headbutt. A lifetime of ramming into opponents, driven by instinct, showed its head.

Basil’s Hawlucha, on the other hand, seemed to have the speed advantage, closing the distance despite some additional aerial acrobatics.

“Dei, tank the hit and retaliate with a Smokescreen!” Eryn called, clenching her fist as she watched the Hawlucha dive.

The Hawlucha’s Karate Chop made impact, knocking Dei’s head to the floor briefly, but Dei’s eyes were open quickly, smoke in his jaws.

A belch of dark smog was spat at the Hawlucha’s face as Dei sprang out of the bird’s immediate range, giving his head a shake.

The Darumaka’s Rollout did not slow down after smashing through the sparks of flame. She just barreled down towards the Bagon that charged towards her.

Meanwhile, the Hawlucha smirked at the Charmander that briefly ate floor though it did not last for long. Its vision was soon obscured by smoke and coughed a lung out.

“Back into the air again and then use Detect!” ordered Basil. The Hawlucha jumped back up and moved nimbly in the air. That bird looked like it was about to give Dei the bird for that little trick. Its eyes glowed a gentle blue.

Atha and the Darumaka made impact. The Darumaka barely moved, but Atha was sent reeling back. The wince on her face, however, didnt stop Eryn making out the grin across her features. Her eyes, in particular, were alight with excitement, and seeing that made Eryn grin as well.

“Keep it up, Atha!” Eryn called. “And Dei, let’s switch targets. Smokescreen!”

Dei complied, spewing smoke at the Darumaka as Atha charged the balled-up fire-type again.

The Darumaka won that collision and made a sharp turn to come around towards the Bagon again though there was now a plump of smoke that made its way towards the red wrecking ball.

"Cecil, don't stop! Glory, use Aerial Ace on the the Charmander!" called out Basil.

The Hawlucha dived down towards the fire lizard again with white streaks of air coursing around it before it vanished from sight and then reappeared to dive kick Dei's head.

“Use the smoke to dodge, Atha!” Eryn called to the charging Bagon who, mid-charge, slowed for a second, then veered to the left before charging at where the Darumaka was rolling.

Dei, on the other hand, took another hit, skidding to the side. He rose with heavy breaths, scratched up but still determined to finish the fight.

Atha made impact again. Unfortunately, the nature of Rollout meant that there was no way to attack without taking damage, and Atha was left heavily damaged as well, panting where she fell.

“Alright,” Eryn said, looking between her Pokemon. “Good job you two. Let’s finish off strong. Dei, Ember! Atha, Rage!”

Dei rose first, planting himself and swelling with air before he spewed forth a stream of flame. Atha, not to be outdone, rose quickly afterwards, pawing at the ground once with each foot before running at the Darumaka anew.

“Let’s return their efforts in kind,” said Basil with a smile. “Glory, use Detect followed by Aerial Ace! Cecil keep on rolling!”

The Hawlucha’s eyes glowed blue once again and dashed towards Dei. It maneuvered around each spark of flame that came his way before he vanished in front of the charmander’s eyes and then reappeared to drop kick it. Meanwhile, the Darumaka continued to play chicken with the Bagon, but her attack only increased in power as time went on.

This clash was the last. Hawlucha’s build seemed innately stronger by a good margin than the unevolved Charmander’s, and where Dei’s injuries seemed substantial, the Hawlucha’s seemed almost manageable. Evolution, Eryn noted, would probably be a good thing to work towards, and soon.

Similarly, Atha’s injuries seemed quite substantial as well, but given her inexperience, that much was guaranteed. Eryn’s Pokedex told her that Rollout was a move that increased in damage with successive hits, much like Rage. On a stronger Pokemon, the move was rather like a countdown.

Still, her Pokemon had held out well despite the odds, and she recalled them from where they fell with a small smile. “Good job, you two,” she whispered, then looked to Basil and his Pokemon. “Good job to you all too! We’ll have to do this again sometime.”

Basil smiled and returned both of his Pokémon to their respective Pokeballs. “Well done. Rest well you two.”

He looked up at Eryn and nodded. “I look forward to it.”

@Gardevoiran

‘I’ll see you when you come to pick up that challenge again!’ Kristy called happily, Sylvia gave him a nod, and then the two Gym Leaders were off to discuss things.

Since he stayed close, he found a bunch of the usual around here. Since he stayed close to town, the deep-sand and the far-plains Pokémon stayed away, but he did find some Pokémon around the trees. Unsurprising, perhaps, were the ground-type Pokémon, but there was also a surprising number of bugs. Oh, and a bunch of rabbits. Or hares. One of them.













Training against the ground- and bug-types was, unsurprisingly, not very problematic for Skylar’s bird-team. Minus maybe Sandshrew’s Rollout. However, he did find most of his team a little overleveled for the Pokémon he had to contend with. So much so that quite a few of his Pokémon weren’t able to gain any levels.

That said, there were some here that could get levels. Especially Forge, who while maybe they needed to go back to the Pokémon Center to heal after repeated Mud-Slaps from Bunnelbys and Drilburs, plus perhaps some paralyzation from the Scatterbug Stun Spores, managed to level up a respectable amount.



So, what would Skylar do now?





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.



__________________________

@Pirouette

The rest stood and watched as Erika took her price. From Joshua’s bright smile, Ewan’s gentle gaze, Julian’s defeated expression, Ellyn’s little pleased look and Elana’s satisfied exhaustion to Maple still not satisfied that the giant metal machine wasn’t a puddle of hot metal yet so she was still raining fire-attacks on it. Machamp smirked happily as Erika got what she wanted, and before her eyes the Dawn Stone touched Sno’s head.

Oh?

Light shone out, and the stone evaporated. Sno grew in size, gained the ability to float and became significantly more feminine.




_{‘Hear that? Better watch out, Ewan!’
‘What?’}





‘WOOOO! You did it!’ Joshua called, pulling off an impromptu victory spin and posing bent over with both hands pointing towards Erika.

‘Well done,’ Ewan simply nodded towards her. ‘And it was no problem. We benefited from the experience.’

‘Whew. Good to know I did my job,’ Elana commented with a light chuckle over there.

‘Congratulations. You deserve it,’ Ellyn said over there, smirking.

‘... I guess I’m done here. I’ll just… pick up my men and escape. I still have Kadabra with his Teleport…’ Julian said, wandering over to his small army of nerdy servants currently cowering with their fainted Psychic-types because they were surrounded by happy-looking burly Fighting-types.

Machamp was just standing looking proud.

‘Wow, all the Fighting-types came back! Cool! So, what’s going on here? Oh, wow! A Froslass! That’s cool,’ Maple came over all wide-eyed, and apparently hadn’t really been following what was going on.

‘Erika used a Dawn Stone to evolve her Snorunt into a Froslass,’ Ellyn gently explained.

‘Aaah. That is cool. Good job!’ Maple beamed happily.

Then Erika suggested eating… in Bigfjord City.

‘Oh, food! Yeah, I’m in!’ Maple called. Though, the others looked kinda…

‘In Bigfjord City? You got guts, I’ll give you that,’ Elana chuckled a little.
‘Nooooot sure that’s the best place,’ Joshua said.
‘I… don’t really want to go there,’ Ellyn mumbled.
‘That city’s going to eat you alive,’ Julian muttered audibly over there as he took out his Kadabra, preparing to Teleport.
‘Worldedge City is right next to it?’ Joshua followed up his previous statement with a suggestion, visibly trying to keep his smile up.
‘Bigfjord City is pretty famous as a place to avoid,’ Ewan told. ‘That said, I’m not opposed. Certainly safer than going alone.’

Now, as a citizen of Isson, Erika probably should have heard about the various stories of Bigfjord City, and the reputation it has due to gangs hanging around in there. Basically, there’s a reason why it is massively associated with the Dark-type.

That said, they totally could still go that way. What does Erika think?









__________________________

@Rune_Alchemist@Eklispe

_{‘Hmpf, fine, turn down free money,’} the noble muttered to Claire’s reply. Still, he turned to Dawkin, to see if he was more receptive. _{‘How about you? Get me a Galarian Corsola, I get you 10,000P. It’s way more than the 2,000 you’d have to pay for it,’} he tried again.

Eugene didn’t notice Claire. He was too busy happily staring at Corviknight. One of the Skarmories did, however, notice her. It stepped a little uneasily.

‘Oh, wait, Kalmia?’ Zachery raised his eyebrows when the professor’s name was dropped, and walked over and picked up a notebook. He looked it through briefly, to a page with a couple photos that he’d apparently been sent. ‘Oh, yeah! You’re one of Kalmia’s trainers! Got it, then one free donation, coming right up!’ Zachery chuckled, before coming over again and listening to Claire’s request.

‘Stylish and speedy… but tricky and cute?’ Zachery’s one-eyed gaze steeled itself, as he gained a level of seriousness. Then, he smirked. ‘I know just the one.’

‘ELMA! MILA!’ Zachery turned and shouted to his two companions who were walking in and out of the ship to get Pokémon. ‘WE’RE HUNTING THE GREEN ONE!’

‘Ah, geesh,’ the more serious-one said, looking bothered. ‘At least we only need to do it one more time.’
‘Aw, I kinda liked having her around,’ the more playful-looking one said. ‘Oh, well. At least she should get a fun adventure!’

The three of them ran off into the ship. For a bit, there was no noise other than them running around below deck… until…

‘THERE SHE IS!’ there was suddenly a shout under deck, and then chaos ensued. There were noise of people throwing themselves and their Pokémon left and right, numerous cries of sudden pain, and a couple shouts of ‘SHE’S GOING THAT WAY!’

This went under several minutes, until finally Zachery was heard.

‘RIGHT, THAT’S IT’ … Quickly followed by the enormous roar of what definitely sounded like a dragon of some sort and then a quick smash.

A couple seconds later the three of them came out again. The serious girl looked bothered, the more playful one looked like she was in a giggling fit. Both of them looked a bit exhausted and had a couple of scratch-marks here and there. In the lead Zachery stepped forward towards Claire, his expression content, his clothes had tears from tiny claws here and there.

‘How about this one?’ he asked, and lifted up a living creature with his non-hook hand. In his hand he was holding a green cat around its torso, which stared with the most innocent expression imaginable towards Claire, despite the havoc it just caused.



@Eklispe

After Claire, it was Dawkin’s turn!

‘Now then! What will it be for the next young man?’ Zachery asked, turning to Dawkin, who was just behind Claire in the queue.





Connected areas:
Route 6. The Vast Plains beckon.
Route 16. Their haunted waters also beckon.
_{I roll a random.org for every Pokémon to see if they’re shiny with very unlikely odds. If I roll a 1, they’re shiny. This one rolled a 2. Hah.}

__________________________

@Typical@hatakekuro@Joshua Tamashii







‘And that’s match! Good job, the both of you!’ Lesley called happily.


_{Eryn didn’t lose anything.}

‘Well, I think it’ll be a while before you’re ready to challenge me, Major League Gym Leader and all, but maybe try your luck in Stillwood Village? Maybe Highhill Town? Raremine Town? Redcoast City? Freecape Town? Haha, that should be all the Minor League Gyms of the Southern Landmass,’ Lesley chuckled a bit. ‘Anyway, I actually do have other things I need to worry about. This has been fun, but unless you got any further questions for me, I should be off!’ Lesley said, and did wait a bit to see if they did have anything else to say to her.

With that done, they would be ready to move again.





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.

"Stillwood huh?" Basil mused to himself. All roads led to that village apparently, but it was good to know that there was a Minor League Gym that he could challenge to get gym badge number two while investigating the fruit that Landorus gave him. Heck, if things went to plan maybe badge number three in Raremine Town if he were to be so lucky. Maybe he should have followed Anise to Redcoast, but in a way it was fortuitous that he was in the same location as Amelia since Kalmia asked for his assistance.

Still, he had no idea how he was going to actually convince that man to help her. He had no doubt that David would have been able to make something happen, but it was a matter of incentive. What would a noble that already had everything he would ever want in return? Well, it was a problem for future Basil to deal with.

Present Basil looked at Lesley and nodded understandingly. She was a busy woman with plenty of responsibilities after all with being a gym leader of the town and the leader of a guard that protected dragons while also giving tours, so it was not like he could hold it against her. Surely, he had no need for anything else from her. "Oh, um, okay. Thanks for reffing the match." Basil said with a smile followed by a few moments of silence before his eyes widened when he remembered why he was even in Lakewatch to begin with.

"Sorry, I actually still do need to talk to you. For the sake of convenience can we walk and talk?" The young noble said hopefully before she left, otherwise he would have had to run after her. If Amelia was still there, Basil would ask, "Uh, do you want to tag along since I'm helping you out or do you have anything you want to do?"

---

^{Lakewatch || Afternoon}
“Yep, nice meeting all of you! We’ll see each other again someday, I’m sure,” Eryn said with a grin and a wave, and then she was off to the Pokemon Center to get her Pokemon healed.

Further training was on her mind as she wandered towards Route 5, the high of a lost battle keeping her in silent thought. She was fairly overdue for a gym battle, as Lesley had pointed out, but she’d also caught one Pokemon after another. How was one expected to challenge gyms with Pokemon as fresh to the team as hers?

More importantly, though, was the matter of her battle with Oaken tomorrow morning. Her loss to Basil had reminded her that battling wasn’t light work, and Atha needed a win now. No Pokemon of hers was going to suffer two losses in a row, not on her watch.

After some time consulting the map on her Pokedex, she settled on training in the Frozen Caves, and she kept a brisk pace there, throwing out Pokemon to battle wilds she came across on the way. Ember was Atha’s main move right now, as was it Dei’s, so she was looking forward to seeing what sort of ice-types they’d be able to hone their skills against.

Plus, the Frozen Cave had such an ominous name. Hopefully there would be lodging there, or she’d have to make the trek back early—or in the dark.

---

Amelia overheard the call between Basil and Kalmia and the immediate thing the young girl felt was guilt. She didn't know why Basil was being asked to help her with her selfish desire. She didn't like the idea of someone possibly putting aside their own journey and desires for something that she knew was selfish and unreasonable, even if she still desired it despite that. With that in mind, she watched as Basil walked away with someone she didn't know, apparently to have a battle against them. Now, a part of Amelia was tempted to turn around, find something she could use as a light for the caves, and leave Basil behind, but she knew that might make things worse on the older boy as he might try to chase after her, which would delay his journey more.

So, with those thoughts in mind, she followed after the two trainers to the arena they would be battling in. She would find somewhere to sit, letting her partners stay out of their pokeballs for now as she observed the spectacle in front of her with interest. Sadly, that interest did not last very long.
"No good. Neither is really making this a double battle. It's just two single battles going on at the same time." She mumbled to herself as she watched the battle turn into an affair of mostly brute force. There were no combo moves or switching of targets or wider strategies. It was just throwing one move against another. Sure, the occasional smokescreen or detect got thrown out and that might have made the difference in the end but that still didn't stop her from thinking that there could have been more to the affair.

Still, with the battle over, she made her way back to the entrance of the building they were in, waiting there until Basil showed up. She didn't have to wait long for the older boy to show up and he immediately questioned her in concerns to her joining him with the journey. The young girl shook her head slowly in response before speaking.
"I... don't think it's fair that you might have to give up your journey, even if only temporarily, to help me with something so selfish. There's no real benefit in it for you and I'm more likely to be a burden than anything. So, I think it's best if you continue as you were before the request. Unless, of course, you're absolutely certain you won't mind helping." She said quietly, managing to keep herself from stuttering.

❄Erika Olson❄

---

---

Sno fluttered and floated around excitedly until the adrenaline finally wore off. She began to dip, falling but only for a moment before Erika caught her. Cradling Sno in her arms, Erika turned back and blinked a few times before she jumped, startled at the revelation. "Oh! Yeah.... I guess I kind of forgot about the things I heard about BigFjord." She had just picked it due to proximity as it should be a closer trip. In truth, Erika still had no qualms with going to BigFjord as she wasn't scared. Unless there were bugs. There wouldn't be any there, though, and she never liked rumors causing damage to the image of things. She was sure BigFjord was okay, just like Froslass was friendly and not a soul-sucking ghost.

"To be honest, I don't think BigFjord City is scary just because of dark types and a reputation. So I don't mind going there but we would have better options in Worldedge and it is central to everything so we can all figure out what we want to do next!" Erika smiled, convinced that Worldedge City would be the next place to set out to. She'd get to BigFjord eventually just to prove that it wasn't so bad.

"Oh speaking of, first things to do, let's you get a little patched up Snowy!" Erika said, making up a new nickname on the spot even though it was longer than Sno's actual name. Still supporting Sno with one hand, Erika dug into her pack and withdrew one of her potions. "It'll sting for a bit but you'll be better~" She gave Sno a spray. Sno winced but took it like the winner she was. Erika moved the empty potion bottle into her pack to throw away later.

"Frosslaass~" Sno floated up off of Erika's arm, seemingly better than before. "And I'll return you, Chic, but..." She glanced at Machamp. "Chic and I will be back to give you a proper challenge. I know Chic is wanting that sometime so her and I will train extra hard. Consider it a bonus for helping me!" Erika bowed at the hips, respectfully. "Combusken!" Chic mirrored the bow. With that Erika returned Chic and only left Sno to freely float around her.

"Alright Elana! Take us on to the other side of Mount Strength!"

Basil stood there and let Amelia say her piece. It was not like he did not expect some rebuttal about having him tag along on her journey, but what he had not expected was the self-degradation. He saw a lot of himself in this little girl; someone afraid to want and afraid to be trouble for others. She solved her problems by herself and lived only to be useful to others, but if someone offered their hand she would look away. To live isolated like this was not to live at all.

"You know, it's okay to be a little selfish." He knelt down to Amelia to be around her eye level. "It doesn't make you a bad person and it certainly doesn't make you a burden. It's easy for me to say, but even I have to remind myself of the same thing. Sure, my plans have now altered slightly, but again that is also okay because I want to help. That's more than reason enough." said the older trainer with a gentle smile.

"Besides, I don't want to leave you alone with David Strickland. It's not like he's a bad person, but he's a bit... much." He could only remember the rare times when he met the man himself during the rare times when David was away from work, or in actuality they were still work, for charity events, galas, and the like that he was dragged to and found him to be a lot. Actually, his son was also a lot too. Maybe it ran in the family.

---

---

"Alriiight, good work everybody." Skylar said, quickly returning everyone to their Pokeballs and making a quick run back to the Pokemon Center (which we can gloss over because he's coming right back to where he was anyway). With his team properly healed up, Skylar wanted to find some more wild Pokemon, maybe of the rarer variety. Even with that in the back of his mind, Skylar let his team out again and set his eyes particularly on two Pokemon - Seabreeze and Mac. Namely the latter.

"So, I had an idea for your new Flame Charge, Mac. I wondered if we could maybe see about aiming it skyward and allowing you to get some extra air from that. Sort of like a... a double jump! In video games!"
"Combu?"
"You jump off the ground, then you jump in the air using Flame Charge's speed boost to get some air time." Skylar scratched his chin for a second. "We could call it a Fire Drive, maybe? Or a Flame Jump? I just thought it might help you contend against some other flying Pokemon in the future if you could close that distance." Skylar then looked over to Seabreeze. "Breeze, mind helping us out? Fly a little ways up, and we'll see if Mac can get some extra distance with a jump to give you a tap of sorts."
"Wingullwingullwingull! Wiwiwing!"
"Not a hit, just a tap. Just to see if he could make it." Skylar reassured his worrying buddy. "You two got that? With that under our belt, versus Kristy's ground types, we won't have anything to worry about. Now, let's give it a shot!"
"Combuskeeeen!" "Wingull!"

While Seabreeze flew upwards and Mac followed on the ground behind, trying to get a feel for Flame Charge, Skylar turned to the rest of his team. "We're gonna keep training just a little more for you guys. I wonder if there's any rarer Pokemon around here... and a Nincada wouldn't be a bad thing to try and catch, if we find one willing to come along. So keep an eye out! We'll try and get you guys ready for Kristy, too!"
"Vivivilli!"
"Groooo!"
... Paradise nodded.
"Arrrchennnn!"

@Typical

‘Alright!’ Lesley says, waving a bit as Eryn takes off. ‘Take care of my girl’s girl, will you?’

With that, Eryn could get her Pokémon healed and ready, she went off towards Route 5. She’d been on Route 5 before, so it wasn’t a sight that was that foreign to her.





Connected areas:
Lakewatch Town. Right behind you.
Stillwood Village. In the north lies the forest which hides the village, Mt. Strength lying behind it..
Route 6. Vast plains start in the south-east, this route leads towards Raremine Town.
Frozen Cavern. After an incline up to the ridge of Mt. Chill, a cavern of ice could guide the way to Route 9 and Cooldome City.
Endless Forest. To the south, a dark forest looms. There are no indications as to why you’d ever want to go there.



Here she could train against Caterpie, Deerling and Scatterbug, sometimes even seeing the somewhat rarer Pikachu, Bonsly and Emolga. This is assuming she kept her distance from the high-level Sawsbucks that were just walking around here and there on the route.



As long as she kept wary of Scatterbug’s Stun Spore, she did have some Pokémon well suited for training on this route. If she aimed specifically for the electric-types, she could train Peri pretty well, and the load of grass and bug-types made training Atha a breeze. The Pokémon here weren’t quite up to par with her higher-level Pokémon, but they got some experience in, too.



Dei felt something inside him. Now, he can contain it if he wishes, to be released at a more appropriate moment. _{doing so mid-battle will immediately heal to full and give an increased likelihood of a moment of awesomeness}

That, or he could release it right now.



But training here wasn’t her goal. She was aiming for a different, far colder place. As she headed closer to the mountain-range, Mt. Chill towered above her. There was a hill to climb before she could reach her destination, and the temperature quickly decreased with each step. As she stood before the maw, it was as if the cave itself was spewing out cold at her. Yet, she advanced. The cavern never really got dark, because there was light from the other side of the entrance, inviting her. At first, it was a bit of a normal cave, with some ice here and there showing purpose for the cave’s name. And then… the cave opened up.



__________________________

@Pirouette

Back there, Julian gathered his troops and called out his Kadabra. He looked back at Erika celebrating with her new Froslass… and then shook his head. ‘I guess… I’ll ask you if you want an adventure later… or something,’ Julian told the Pokéball containing Pitri. ‘I’m leaving. Take us home, Kadabra,’ he said, and then his whole team was teleported away. Ellyn took a moment to simply gaze at him as he disappeared… then just ‘hmpf’ed and looked back to the current conversation.

‘What? We can totally go to Bigfjord City. You think that city’s more than we can handle?’ Maple asked, frowning a bit at what the rest of them were talking about.

‘That’s beside the point… I don’t want to go there,’ Ellyn muttered.

‘Ah! Such a brilliant pure maiden to see the good in everywhere, and not listen to foul rumors!’ Joshua held a fist up in triumph, crying a small stream of tears of delight, or something. ‘I’m fine with anywhere! If you wish to prove the streets of Bigfjord City aren’t that bad, I’ll happily come along!’ he continued.

‘… That said, the point about Worldedge City being at the center is accurate. Any which works,’ Ewan said, looking ready to go.

Erika promised Machamp a future battle with Chic, and he just grinned happily and gave a thumbs up with one of his four hands. And they were ready to go.

‘Alright. One exit, this way,’ Elana said, pointing the way and the group started moving. She knew the way by heart, and as such simply walked ahead and they could walk on.

‘Hey, how come you guys are traveling together!? Also, me and Ellyn definitely need to head south to get to Freecape and Raremine, we haven’t gotten the badges from those!’ Maple was happy to speak on the way.

‘Oh, yes! In the height of everything, I forgot to say so, but thank you so much for your timely aid! Had you not been there, the villain would certainly have put his hands on the price! Thank you, my sweet bubbly maiden and cool noble lady!’ Joshua called back to Maple.

‘Aw, gee! It’s no problem! He’d chased off all the Fighting-types I was gonna fight!’ Maple promptly forgot what she’d asked about. She then came to a sudden stop. ‘Wait, I was supposed to fight Fighting-types! I totally forgot!’

Ellyn then walked into Maple from behind and gently pushed her walking forward. ‘You got to fight a giant metal death machine. How many can say that? Keep walking, you can fry Fighting-types some other time,’ she said. Then she also glanced partly towards Joshua… ‘… and… if you would forget you heard that part, I’d appreciate it.’

‘Ah, the class of a lady undercover! It would be my honor to protect your secret!’ Joshua said, and Ellyn just sighed.

‘Right, but as to why we’re traveling together… we ran into each other and decided to, I suppose,’ Ewan reply.

Random chatter aside, they walked through the rocky tunnels and eventually reached an opening. Light shone through, and as they stepped through, once again sunlight shone down on them. They’d arrived on a massive, green plain.



I do like the touch of the -1 you put on the Potion you used, hehe.

__________________________

@hatakekuro@Joshua Tamashii

Lesley was a bit surprised to have Basil ask to talk to her more, but she was quick to smile to him again.

‘Oh, you got something else? Sure! I was sort of intending on flying, but we could talk on the way, sure!’ Lesley said. Still, it appeared that Basil was a little delayed by talking to Amelia, but it seemed to be a decently important conversation so Lesley was more than happy to wait for a bit. They could walk when they were done talking.





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.



__________________________

@Gardevoiran

There wasn’t exactly anything particularly rare around here. As a rule, rare things don’t really live in towns. Otherwise there wouldn’t be much reason to leave towns. That said, Skylar insistently searched for something rare, and he found…



… an ancient Pokémon, crawling out of the grass over here, staring up at Skylar with a questioning gaze. Turns out, they have reanimated so many ancient Pokémon, there’s now some of them in the wild. How’s that for invasive species? Across time and space.

So, about finding a spunky Nincada. As long as he was spending around here, it was just a matter of time. Forge was training, when he suddenly faced a stubborn Nincada that started out by bursting out a Sand Attack while hidden within a tuft of grass. It then proceeded to continue throwing sand that got into Forge’s helmet and was really annoying, like the Nincada had found a weakness or something. Now, it was only level 12, so it’d obviously lose to Forge eventually… but it did pretty well and stood bravely against him, if that counts as being spunky enough.



Was that enough for Skylar to want one?

That aside, he had no problem training his remaining Pokémon on the other creatures that lived here. So, Paradise was too high a level, but for the rest…



Skylar gets the feeling his team cannot grow any stronger here.

That is, unless they come up with more creative ways to become stronger, like what Mac was trying! Flame Charge is a move that cloaks the user in fire and propels them, albeit it is usually assumed they are also propelling themselves. So it definitely wasn’t as easy as just jumping into the air and then triggering Flame Charge to change direction or providing an extra jump.

That said, it wasn’t nothing. Albeit Mac was unable to burst up into the air to touch Seabreeze, he was able to jump higher than normal by bursting it just as he jumped, and he could somewhat change his direction, especially if he also helped out with his would-be wings that definitely look more like arms. What they were attempting wouldn’t be achieved with a single day’s training, but there was something there. There was the basis for something that could be amazing in the future. Learning a new move that doesn’t come with the basic level-ups takes longer than a day of training.

There was something there. If they kept at it, they could make it into something.

For now, though, they’d probably gotten as far as they could for one session.

So, what would Skylar and co do now?





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.

A pirate ship. How fun. Dawkin was still mulling over the captains announcement when Valfredo approached him. [color=gray]"Only 10,000? Judging from what mister Zachery said you could be a lot more convincing." Dawkin said, with a mischievous glint. He wasn't neccesarily opposed, it was a good deal for him. But he did stand the risk of getting on the captain's bad side and wanted to see if he could get a bit of a better judge of this guy before helping him.

---

@PlatinumSkink

---

Claire wasn't sure what she was expecting. With the sounds coming from the ship, she couldn't help but to grimace a bit from what she was hearing. Were they subduing some super ultra legendary pokemon? A troublesome pokemon that she was going to have annoy her? She already had one of those - Lure was already more of enough of a handful for her, but what she wasn't expecting was something so...so...

Claire inhaled, practically teleported over to the green kitten causing Ralia to lose her footing on Claires head and tumble to the ground, with a mildly annoyed expression.

"Perfect!" Claire's eyes lit up upon seeing the Sprigatitio. "Gah its so cute I'm gonna die." Claire swiped the Sprigatito from the arms of the pirate, a wide, huge grin plastered on her features. Ralia walked up to Claire, turning her head up to the cat currently being cuddled by the trainer.

The Sprigatito looked back, the pairs eyes meeting.

A Cheshire like grin spread across the kittens face, earning a shocked expression from Ralia followed by a glare from the psychic type.

Claire, was of course oblivious to this budding rivalry as the Sprigatito meowed innocently, cuddling its apparent new trainer in return.

"Hmm...lets see...you'll need a good name...Verdue? Ah, I know, Jade. How do you like that?"

"Spriii~"

"Atta girl, I knew you had a great sense of style." Claire giggled, setting the cat down next to Ralia as Claire turned back to Zachary. "I'll take her. Thanks a bunch! Oh, I'll need to send someone back...hm..." Gah, she hated doing this. Why couldn't she just bring everyone with her? Hmph...well...Jade was a grass type. "Sorry Pip, go back for now 'kay? Welcome to the team, Jade."

Jade proceeded to rub up against Claire's feet as Ralia teleported to the top of Claire's head, patting her trainers red hair with her little arms in an apparent display of displeasure at having this new addition to the team.

"Alright well...first things first then. Getting you trained and up to par with the rest of our crew, huh?" Claire grin, pulling out her mach bike. Supposing there was nothing else for Zachary and crew to say to her, Claire would speed off to Route Six again for a little training.

@Eklispe

Valfredo stared a couple seconds towards Dawkin, before shrugging.

_{‘Sure. Suppose I can throw in a couple-’} the noble then suddenly shut up, because something had walked in on them. Staring down between them sat a pink fox-like feline or something that stared up at them with two deep eyes and a red gem on its forehead. It had a forked tail that was currently directed at them.



‘Geh,’ the noble made an annoyed noise before turning and marching away. The Espeon watched him leave, and then turned around and skipped back… to the more serious of the two pirate girls that had come with Zachery, who bent down to pat the happy-looking Espeon. She then proceeded to just shoot a warning glare towards Dawkin. Just a warning. She didn’t actually know what they had been talking about, but she sure could send a Pokémon to just prevent whatever it might have been.

‘So what will it be for you?’ Zachery asked Dawkin when it was his turn.

The guy with a bunch of Skarmories and a new Corviknight was still standing over there, admiring his new metal bird.





Connected areas:
Route 6. The Vast Plains beckon.
Route 16. Their haunted waters also beckon.

__________________________

@Rune_Alchemist

‘Good to know you like her!’ Zachery chuckled to Claire. ‘So what will it be for you?’ he then turned to ask Dawkin as Claire ran off.

So, with that Claire went off back to Route 6, and came across an immediate problem.





Connected areas:
More Route 6. West is a vast plain that seem to stretch on endlessly, locked between the mountains of Mt. Chill and the cliffs of the southern sea. Eventually leads to Lakewatch Town.
Route 8. In the north lies a comparatively pleasant cliffside walkway with hilly terrain and wondrous view, leading to Freecape Town.
Stalford’s Ferry. North-east, to take a ferry across Route 16 towards Witchpeak City. The only pleasant way across Route 16 is onboard a ferry, but even then…
Raremine Town. A town of miners and researchers that study what the miners find. Also a stop for those who want to travel the desert!



Nothing on Route 6 is around level 5. In addition, the weakest creatures on Route 6 are Litleo, Ponyta, Starly, Doduo, Fletchling and Bunnelby… all but the bunny being good against grass-types, and not even that one is Ground-type yet. Not only that, but there’s a spree of stronger Pokémon on this route, the Tauros and bigger all being higher level. It would be very hard to train Jade here without assistance… so let’s go with the assumption she did not do so without assistance.

With Zeal to resist Litleo and Ponyta flames and Laurel + Tez to resist various birds, they could assist Jade with getting stronger. With that, plus that she’d eventually be able to take down Bunnelby’s by herself, eventually her Pokémon could get some nice training in.



With that, that was probably enough training for now!

So now she could do that thing she intended on doing a while ago and head for Freecape Town!

To do so, she could head north through Route 8…



But this wasn’t her destination. She was heading for the town sitting here between Worldedge City and Raremine Town.

What she came across was a city that looked like it was built into the air.

---

^{Frozen Cave || Afternoon}
Mt. Chill lived up to its name, and Eryn quickly realized that she was a bit underdressed for the occasion—as were some of her Pokemon. After her team had shivered for a few minutes, she’d ended up recalling everyone except Dei. Instead, she scooped up the Charmander and marched forth, patting him on the head.

The cave started out dark, and her eyes had to adjust to the darkness, but the ice soon opened up, and Eryn couldn’t help a quiet “wow.” Ice towered above her, huge and jagged, forming everything from floor to ceiling. While she’d expected a good amount of ice in the Frozen Cave, she certainly hadn’t expected everything around her to be made of ice.

A cold breeze encouraged her to squeeze Dei tighter as she stared at the huge creature frozen in ice overhead. “Well, glad we aren’t fighting that,” she said, then paused. “How… did it get there anyway?”

A Delibird came up to her, holding a berry up to her with a cry. Eryn stared at it for a second, then realized she was being offered something.

“Thank you!” she said, taking it with a grateful smile.

The Delibird left after that, and Eryn headeed towards the settlement under the frozen Wailord. To the largest one she went, hoping that she could buy some environment-appropriate clothing and shoes. She’d managed to avoid slipping thus far, but the close calls hadn’t been pleasant.

---

@Typical

Eryn headed up to the large building placed high in the large frozen mine, where a bunch of happy-looking miners came to greet her before she’d ever gotten into the building.

‘Oh, you look positively frozen! Do borrow some warm clothes, we have a bunch of spares!’ One of them said, looking super bubbly as he held out a couple thick jackets for her. The Pokémon world is sometimes a very friendly place. She then went ahead and asked about the frozen Pokémon and the Pokémon deeper into the cave…

‘Oh, the Lord has been there for as long as we can remember, and many thousands of years before that! Was the sea-level higher at that time? We don’t know! But it must have been really cold to have frozen such a creature there! It’s not the only thing frozen in here, this whole operation is to unearth what else has been encased in ice!’ one miner chuckled.

‘The mines are the safest area of the Frozen Cave. Heading deeper you will encounter more wild Pokémon… albeit the only creatures you must really watch out for are Glalies. They are higher level than other Pokémon you can find, and they’re aggressive. The rest are, as you might have guessed, just regular Ice-types,’ another suggested.

‘Do also watch your footing. Even careful travelers sometimes slip and find themselves sliding deeper into the Frozen Cave than they intended with no way back. I definitely suggest bringing an Escape Rope. Here,’ one cautious-looking miner said, and handed Eryn a rope.



‘If you reach the other side of the Frozen Cave, you’ll reach Route 9! A frozen route surrounded by mountains. On said route, Cooldome City is built! It’s home to the Battle Dome, where experienced trainers can take on challenges over and over. I came from Sinnoh, and we have a Battle Frontier there. It’s basically that! You might not be strong enough to compete there just yet, maybe get a couple more badges first, but you sure could watch the battles at least!’ said one energetic miner.

‘So, do you want to mine?’ A large miner that looked in-charge asked her. ‘We’ve got all the equipment right here, pickaxes and drills and saws to get through the ice, feel free to borrow them. Some Pokémon, like Fighting or Fire-types, also help a lot. Ice is relatively easy to mine, but do it a little at a time, it’s resources we all share, after all. Lots of interesting things are frozen into the walls. We have maps with markers telling where people are already working, so you can tell me and I’ll send you somewhere we think might be productive with whatever equipment you want. Anything you find is yours to keep, or you can sell it to us and we’ll sell it in the Miner’s Shop in turn. What isn’t sold there is usually sent to Raremine Town. So how about it?’

Yep, she could pick up equipment to try her hand at mining here if she wanted.

What would Eryn do?





Connected areas:
Route 5. Exit the mines and you’ll be right there.
Frozen Cave. The Frozen Cave proper awaits beyond the mine.