Amelia was certain that Basil would take her words and leave, probably happy to continue on his journey without question. So, it was rather surprising to the young girl when the older boy knelt down to her height and said he did not mind changing his plans slight to help her. The surprise was evident on the girl's face and she quickly looked away and at the ground again, biting her lip as she mulled over Basil's words. After several seconds, she slowly nodded to herself before looking back up at Basil.
"If... if you're going to help me, then all I ask is that you put your wants first. I had no real destination in mind to begin with. I simply planned on wondering around and going where my whims took me." She admitted. "So, if you're going to help me with something I want, I would rather you doing the things you want while we make our way there. If you want to do the gyms, then we can stop by the gyms in the order you want. If you want to do contests, we can stop by the competitions however you want. I think that's fair, so even if it takes longer to get to my goal, I do not mind, as I still get to do what I originally wanted to do to begin with: Simply wander around and see the world. I only ask that we avoid Witchpeak."

With her proposal now on the table, she would watch Basil closely, wondering how he would react. It was a deal that possibly favored him more, but she didn't mind. When she got the possibility to travel with all her pokemon might be delayed but it was not even guaranteed that she would get what she wanted. Also, if she took longer to get there, maybe her view would change. The only way to know was see how she would feel after an extended period of time. On top of that, she might be able to ask others their opinion on the matter.

---

---

Watching the... rather determined Nincada attempt to blind Forge was a spectacle. One the larger beast was particularly not fond of, but at the same time... they didn't fight back against it. They just watched the Nincada keep doing one thing and one thing alone - Sand Attack. That's all it did, and Forge just watched in annoyance. Eventually, Skylar took notice and stepped over, crouching to watch the Nincada as it kept doing the one thing it knew - Sand Attack.

"Brroooo."
"Ca! Da! Ca! Da!"

Forge stared at Skylar, still sanded. The trainer chuckled. "Alright, alright. Jeebs, Stun Spore."
"Vivivivivivivillon!"

Bejeebs flapped his wings quickly and shed a bunch of scales and spores out onto the Nincada while Skylar pulled out one of his Great Balls. Once the Nincada was paralyzed, Skylar would chuck the ball and hopefully catch in a one-and-done maneuver. If he hit. The sand was starting to get into the trainer's eyes, despite the sunglasses.

Regardless on how that turned out, Skylar gave a high-five to Mac after the Flame Charge training was concluded. "Good job, Mac! We'll get the hang of that in no time flat, at this rate. Once we do some battling and get you more accustomed with Flame Charge, we'll give it a bit more of a shot."
"Busken!" Mac gave an affirmative fist-pump.

Seabreeze floated down and perched atop Paradise's head, watching Skylar as he considered the group's next options. Pretzl also sat idly by, waiting for directions, though it was clear he looked hungry again.

"Alright, team. We've got maybe three more things to do here before I think we could move onto the next town." Skylar unfolded his hand and put up fingers as he talked. "We have to beat Kristy, that's non-negotiable. We have to stop by the Freecape Ferrymen and see if we can get a ride back to Pureplain, I wanna talk to that pirate guy about another friend. Lastly, I wanna see if there's anymore places we could train around here before Kristy. I'm thinking the Stone Shore, any opposed?"

After a moment, Pretzl raised his... wing/hand.

"Food was already on the way to the last one."

Pretzl lowered his wing/hand.

"Awesome. Well, for now... Jeebs, Mac, and Pretzl, back into your Pokeballs." Skylar called his pals back, leaving Forge and Seabreeze slightly confused. Paradise simply turned and started to lead the way with Skylar in tow. "Forge hasn't been free like this in a long time, I imagine, so they can stay out for now. Seabreeze you live outside the Pokeball basically always, and Paradise right there with you. I only wanna put you two up if I absolutely have to."

The two nodded in understanding, and Skylar happily hummed. "First, a stop to the center for a pick-me-up and some grub, then to the Stone Shore!"

That warm smile unfurled as he listened to this little girl speak. He heaved a sigh and looked at her with narrowed eyes before shaking his head. His words went in one ear and out the other. Weren't kids her age meant to be a bit more selfish instead of self-sacrificing or was he just used to the spoiled noble brats he was surrounded by? Amelia certainly wasn't like them; she tried so hard to be a good girl, someone that made absolutely no trouble, that she was her own worst enemy.

"Why do you insist on playing second fiddle? You can't put your journey on the backburner like that. If you want to do something, then say it." Basil unbent his knees and stood straight again. He absolutely refused to let this kid sideline herself out of some morbid sense of guilt though he also needed to follow his own advice. For all of his good intentions, his own adventure was something that he could not push to the side either. After all, it would have been in bad form to cancel his own prior commitments.

"That being said, we'll head to Stillwood Village when we conclude our own business here. That's where I am supposed to meet my companion, Anise, to follow a lead that the gym leader of Highhill gave us though we should have a bit of time before she arrives. She went home to Redcoast to prepare for her journey. We probably shouldn't get there late though. I'll explain on the way over." Basil glanced over to Lesley who was thankfully waiting ever so patiently for him to have the conversation that he insisted on having with her before it returned to Amelia. "However, I have my own business before we set off. Are you going to be okay waiting for me?"

❄Erika Olson❄

---

---

Erika took her eyes off of Sno, who was still fluttering and flowing about, to rejoin the conversation. "I"m sure Bigfjord isn't that scary and we can handle it like Maple said." Erika interjected, raising a finger to the group. "But nobody has to go with so Worldedge City is better because everyone can decide where their journey takes them next. After we eat, of course!"

One last wave to Machamp from both Erika, and Sno did they depart. Elana lead the way with Erika quick on her heels as the rest of the group followed. As the topic of traveling together came up, Erika added, "As for me, Joshua and Ewan were so kind to help me out. Numerous times, in fact! We faced the Trial Master and triumphed! _{I would like to go back and try another one for fun.} And then my Dawn Stone quest which we also succeeded in! Turns out we can overcome anything as a team! Hehe!"

As the group caught the light at the end of the tunnel, Sno whimsically hovered ahead to reach outside. Erika and the rest followed. "Whew! What a relief to finally be out in the fresh air! Right, Sno?" Sno easily flipped and looked pleased. "Fros!"

Erika approached Elana's side as she was leading them. "Thanks for your help navigating, Elana. If you want to join us for lunch, I'd love to have your company.. !-I mean WE! and it'd be really fun to all sit down and relax before everyone kind of splits off." Erika rubbed anxiously rubbed the back of her head, a slightly forced laugh to try and cover her poor pick-up skills. "..But you don't have to if you are busy. You might have other people to guide and I wouldn't want to take all your time. But it has been nice seeing you again. ! Not that I am trying to say you have to go but I... uhh, well you have a spot with us for lunch." Erika shifted and scooted away, a little redder in the cheeks as she finished her babbling. Sno snickered, giggling as she flew hovered in between them before slipping away with Erika.

"Well anyway... On to Worldedge City!" Erika pointed, Sno spun up over Erika's shoulder "Froslass!", their attention aimed at road leading to Route 13, and onto their next adventure!

---

^{Frozen Cave || Afternoon}
“Yes please! Thank you,” Eryn said, putting Dei down and taking one of the offered coats. She made a mental note to remember to return the coat later as she rubbed her hands together and blew warm air onto them.

The revelation that even the miners didn’t know how the Lord got there made Eryn’s eyes sparkle. What other mysteries lay frozen in the ice? So much of the world seemed full of mysteries. Her meeting with Azelf and Palkia proved that not everything was as it seemed, but natural phenomenon were everywhere. One only had to look.

Eryn took the offered Escape Rope with a “thank you.” Braith’s warning not to go deeper into the Frozen Caves was brought to mind, and she already had an Escape Rope in her bag, but better safe than sorry. She wasn’t planning on making it through the cave for a while, but she’d hoped to get a good look despite the dangers. Now, hearing about the Glalie and other strong, aggressive Pokemon, she realized that she should have more realistic expectations.

“I’ll give it a shot, yeah,” Eryn said, surprised but again grateful to be loaned equipment for free. The caves were a community, she was beginning to realize, and giving back was probably the least she could do.

She glanced over the equipment available. Since she had both Dei and Atha, she had a decent amount of firepower to go by, she figured. Not so much that she’d be carving through cave faces, but enough to sate some light curiosity.

“Let’s try the old fashioned way,” she said, picking up the pickaxe and giving it an experimental heft. Not particularly heavy, but she was sure she’d feel different after some actual ice work.

“Any tips on mining in the ice?” she asked. What she’d find, she’d find out, she figured. “Also, is there an inn or somewhere to stay the night here? Paid?”

She checked her Pokedex for time, hoping the miner would say yes. Exploring the Frozen Caves at night only sounded fun if she had a place to crash right after.

---

"Because playing second fiddle is better than not playing any fiddle at all." Amelia replied to Basil's question. Afterall, before she had started this journey she had very little say in what she did or how her life was going to go with the way her parents had oppressed her due to her health. So no, she did not mind playing second fiddle and she could always stop whenever she got tired of playing that fiddle.

When he asked her if she was fine with them taking care of something before they left, she shook her head.
"As I said, I do not mind doing what you want to do first. I'm fine playing second fiddle. So, let's do what you want or need to do. Who knows, maybe I can be of some help in some way." She said, adjusting her backpack before looking back up at him, ready to follow. "Besides, it might be nice to have someone to talk to while traveling. I don't mind talking to my friends but sometimes they can be too protective."

"Well, alright. If it's more convenient for you that way. Do as you will," was Basil's response. Clearly there was no point in pushing the issue when she was dead set on just being his sidekick for the time being. It was not exactly what he was hoping for though. Frankly, it felt weird to have anyone be a sidekick let alone someone who looked like they just barely turned eleven.

He turned his attention towards Lesley who thankfully just stood there waiting on him and probably listened in on their conversation. Well, hopefully they would have been able speak to one another without any interruption. "I'm sorry for the wait even though I was the one who asked for your time. Amelia and I just needed to have a talk, but you have my undivided attention now."

@hatakekuro

‘Do I now? Well, that's nice,’ Lesley chuckled a bit. ‘Don't worry about it. Talks need to happen, and that sounded pretty important. Anyway, you wanted to "walk and talk", or otherwise just talk to me. So, what's up?’

Walking and talking is optional. Lesley needs to fly where she needs to go.

@PlatinumSkink

---

The training, went surprisingly well. By having her other pokemon assist Jade, the Sprigatito was able to easily pick up some tricks and fighting ability on her own. Granted, this was no place to train a baby pokemon, but she wasn't also about to head all the way back to pureplain just for training. A few close calls were probably fine...and after a few hours of battling, a small break for some lunch, Ralia and Jade definitely getting along and not fighting according to her own intuition, Claire moved on, zipping across Route 8 towards Freecape town.

What did she expect when she got to Freecape town? Certainly not whatever was currently in front of her.

"Wooooah..." They didn't have anything like this sight back in Kalos. The entire city looked like it might have just been one giant skyscraper. "Jeez this place is HUUUUGE!" Claire stood at the edge of the city, craned neck looking up at the large buildings that seemed to run along the entire cliffside. Now, she could continue on towards her destination, but for now...she probably should relax, see the sights, and you know, tackle the thing every trainer worth their salt should do.

Gyms!

A flying type gym? She had a distinct disadvantage here a bit, but who cared. She could probably handle it.

"No, no, standing is, un, fine. Maybe it's better like this anyway." Basil nervously scratched his neck with the full realization of what he was doing. He would have liked to have more time to figure out what he was going to say to this woman to lower his chance of being dragon feed if she didn't personally headbutt him to death with her helmet, but that was no longer in the cards. He was standing there with her full attention, and he doubted that he would get that chance again anytime soon.

"I, um, well, er..." He felt like dying. It was hard to tell what was more terrifying, standing before Landorus or standing in front of this armored woman beloved by dragons. What he really wanted to do was apologize for wasting her time and just do crawl to a corner, but then he would be a hypocrite. Amelia was right there. All that talk about being a little bit selfish and saying what you want would have looked like he was just full of it. If he wanted to her to learn then he needed to learn by example. He took a breath, cleared his throat, and said with a bit more assertiveness, "I'm going to ask something, and I understand the weight of it. More than you would think." Of course he knew, everyone knew. Team Amethyst's best clients were nobles, and their most popular 'product' were dragon types and there he was. That guilt, even though it wasn't his fault, was still branded on him.

All he could do was stand there and poke the dragon. "I want to befriend a dragon, but I know they are under your protection, and I understand why. However, I want to prove that I earnestly mean to befriend them. All that I ask is you take a chance on me and let me show my worth as a trainer and a person." Basil looked directly in her eyes, scared out of his mind, but still made eye contact with her. He couldn't back down now. If he did not show some spine then he would be crushed by her.

@Gardevoiran

The Nincada was successfully paralyzed by Jeebs, and then Skylar threw the Great Ball.

The ball absorbed the bug within it. The ball then rolled once. It rolled twice…



After that, Skylar decided to head off. Did he see a sign? Did he overhear someone talking about it? Either way, he suddenly found himself heading directly west. From Raremine Town there was a desire path leading off from the main road, leading towards the southern ocean. A stone stair led down the cliff, and from there there was a view of a vast ocean and a sandy beach with a bunch of rocks sticking out of it…



Training his Pokémon a bit, against the various crabs that are here. During training he’d find his Pokémon to be suddenly randomly shot at from various corners. There are Claunchers hiding among the rocks!



So, training here, most the things he’s facing are Water Gun, Bubble and Vice Grip. Do beware the fact the Binacles know Shell Smash on level 1, combined with Slash and Water Gun.

With other words, Mac and Pretzl might find it difficult to train here, and the Claunchers sure did like trying to shoot Jeebs out of the sky, but that did mean it was a location for some alertness training if nothing else. That said, the Pokémon here aren’t that much stronger than where he was just previously. Paradise had a great time here.



So, what now?

__________________________

@Pirouette

‘Sounds like you’ve had fun! Good!’ Maple seemed satisfied hearing everyone had a good time traveling.

So, they came out to Route 12, and Erika turned around to address Elana. Elana stood and merely stared as Erika fumbled with her words, the guide putting her hands in her pockets and grabbed a sweet from her pocket to unwrap and stuff in her mouth.

‘My Pokémon all fainted in that battle before. I’m not getting anywhere until we get to a Pokémon Center, so I may as well come with you for now,’ she said, shrugging somewhat. ‘Food doesn’t sound half-bad, either. But after that I must be heading back, I have a job in Lakewatch Town, after all. Unless you hire me again, I suppose,’ she continued, ready to then start wandering on.

With that, they wandered on through Route 12, with all its tall cliffs and friendly plains of grass.

They were walking along Route 12… when Joshua suddenly froze.

‘What’s wrong?’ Ewan asked, frowning a little as he stopped by his suddenly unmoving companion.

‘I detect…’ Joshua said, his eyes suddenly gleaming, raising his neck to sniff at the air. ‘Friend?’ he asked… then his head turned with blazing speed to stare directly left. ‘Friend!’

If you were to follow his gaze, you’d find there was a tiny fox-like creature that was just idly wandering by in the nearby grass.



… And then Joshua took off, flailing his arms wildly and exaggeratedly as he dashed directly for the little creature. The Eevee, seemingly detecting something was wrong, turned to look towards them and then screamed in abject terror at the rapidly approaching unidentified large person. As Eevee screamed, Joshua jumped into the air in a diving motion and the most excited expression imaginable.

‘FRIIIIIEEEEND….!’

As Joshua fell down on the screaming Eevee a smoke-cloud of conflict arose, along with the sounds of numerous hard hits. At times Eevee almost jumped out but Joshua’s arms came out of the smoke-cloud to drag the little creature back into the smoke.

Eventually, the smoke settled…

Revealing a moderately beat-up looking Joshua smiling happily with at least one tooth missing as he was gently patting the suddenly very happy Eevee who was at present eating some Pokémon candy out of his hand.

‘Friend!’ Joshua called happily with satisfied finality, and Ewan couldn’t help but just sigh a little at the scene that had just presented itself.

They wandered on, eventually arriving to a new route.



__________________________

@Typical

‘If you don’t know what to do with what you mine out, you can sell them to us. Oh, and sometimes you might come across Pokémon. These Pokémon are very old, from an age long past, but if freed from the ice they still come alive. Be aware, they’re usually aggressive when they come out of the ice. Anyway, I figure you can go over here,’ he pointed at a place on the map on the wall. ‘And you should be able to mine decently safely and without being disturbed. That wall is relatively untapped. Go for it,’ said the
head miner. Note that the map was only a map of the mines, there was nothing about how the tunnels that led past the mines looked.

So, with that, Eryn was eventually off and heading for the place she was pointed to (or maybe she felt like a rulebreaker and went somewhere else, do tell me so). This led her past a couple more miners who here and there had little Pokémon helping them, like Machop, Ponyta, Litleo or Geodude. She headed on, and found the particular wall that the miner had indicted for her. Then, it was time to mine!

The ice was much nicer to mine than rock. It broke up with just a few swings, piece for piece, and with Dei and Atha helping her out it was going pretty fast. In fact, couldn’t she see something in the ice already? Past the ice, and with her getting deeper into it, a form became more and more visible as she approached…

Eventually, she found herself face to face with a frozen Pokémon.



… Well, it sure looked like it had lost all its energy. It was up to Eryn if she wanted to free the Pokémon or not.

There was something else. An odd rock that somewhat felt like it just fell out of the ice on its own? It has an odd carving on the front of it. Very odd.



Oh, and there was something else in here! It’s a Pokéball! Wait, no. An ancient Pokéball? … Hold on…





The above was what the Pokédex showed. Yet, what was in front of her, right here inside the ice was…



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.



__________________________

@Rune_Alchemist

Claire immediately went climbing up various stairs to get up the Pokémon Gym that, of course, was on the very top of the towering structure that was the town. It was perhaps like the whole place was a single giant building. While the total population of Freecape Town wasn’t enough to properly describe the place as a “city”, it was still quite impressive, and from on high there was a great view over the cliffs and seas of the waters east of Freecape and also of Worldedge City practically floating around Mt. Edge further north.

That all aside, Pokémon Gym!

The Pokémon was a huge, modern structure with silver windows and giant letters spelling out “G”, “Y” and “M” on it. It was a dome-structure, indicating the probable presence of a battle stadium on the inside.

In front of it stood a simple sign.

Freecape Pokémon Gym - Minor League
Gym Leader: Lowell
“The Prince of the Skies!”

‘Welcome to Freecape Town! I see our newest champ-to-be is quick to find the gym of the new town!’ said a person Claire might recognize, stepping out from next to said sign to speak to her. Or maybe she completely forgot. Either way, it’s the same dude who stood in front of the other two Gyms she’d entered.





Regardless of if Claire listened to him this time or not, she eventually entered. What awaited her was an honest stadium. Surrounding the field were the stands where people could sit and watch, and there were in fact those who were doing just that. On the field itself, comprised of that kind of floor where people are expecting to run a lot, Pokémon were contending with each other… but not in battle.

A Pikachu Quick Attacked across the stadium, smashing its head into a ball to send flying towards a goal-net. A Pidgeotto flew in with its own Quick Attack to slam it off-course. A Dodrio caught the ball with its side, and it started kicking the ball in front of it heading towards the other side at a massive speed. That’s when a Diglett suddenly struck out from the ground beneath the ball and knocked it straight into the air, and a Hitmonlee jumped into the air, seemingly intending to kicking the ball with massive power straight across the field at the goal on the other side…! … When a massive Whirlwind blew both the alarmed Hitmonlee and the ball straight into the goal on the other side! The Sigilyph that unleashed the Whirlwind however down to beside its trainer, just as the voice of an announcer called and the challenger on the other side bawled in despair.

‘0-3! And that's a match! That’s another challenger down to the Gym Leader! Is the world out of worthy challengers!? Or is he just that good!? Either way, give it up for the Prince of the Sky, Gym Leader of Freecape Town, Lowell!’ the announcer called, and those chosen few who were in the audience erupted in cheer. They were clearly just there to see their favorite Gym Leader. The man himself gave a charming smile and held a hand up in greeting, which just made them go even more crazy…



Now, Claire wasn’t the only challenger here that wanted to challenge Lowell. Right in front of her…

‘I will be the best… Like nobody ever was…!’

Stood a small boy with blue hair. He was looking like he was pumping himself up. The boy was someone that Claire might recognize. Did she recognize Simon from, you know, back on day 1?



‘Hey, new challengers!’ the announcer walked back down to them. It was a big guy in a suit looking mighty jolly smiling at them. ‘Welcome to Freecape Town Pokémon Gym! The Gym Challenge is to win against the Gym Leader in a game of Pokémon Soccer! The teams are 3-on-3! Either the first one to 3 goals or the one with the most goals after 15 minutes wins! In case of a tie, the house wins! No Pokémon may grab the ball, even with telekinesis, but they may use any other move on the ball! It’s hardy, it can take it. But, targeting the Pokémon on the opposing team is a foul. Hitting the ball out-of-bounds gives the ball to the opposing team. Pretty simple, eh? Any questions? Would anyone like to take on the Gym Leader at once, or would you like to practice first?’ He gained a little smirk. ‘Perhaps against each other? And the one who wins gets to challenge the Gym Leader first?’

‘Practice! I have practiced so much already! I won’t lose to- Huh, wait…’ Simon suddenly blinked, turning his head to realize Claire was there, and he peered at her a bit as if trying to remember if he’s ever seen her before.

What will Claire do?





Connected areas:
Route 8. A hilly landside descending quickly down towards Route 6, populated by many birds.
Route 10. A calm farm-land leading up to the massive Worldedge City.
Route 17. Water-route crossing to the northern landmass. Going down through the Maintenance Levels is required.



__________________________

@hatakekuro@Joshua Tamashii

Lesley held her arms crossed as Basil came to terms with what he wanted to say. It did appear like she was getting an idea before he managed to say anything, on account of that her smile was waning. Especially after his statement about understanding the weight of his next statement. She did not reply, but her expression had gone to that of complete seriousness. Then, finally, he asked the question. With that, Lesley momentarily closed her eyes, tightened her crossed arms and grunted the slightest.

‘Do you, now?’ Lesley asked, the usual excitement in her voice having disappeared. She didn’t sound particularly pleased. ‘Darn it. Have I been making too many exceptions, lately? I mean, I guess this is better than that they try to steal them for themselves, but…’ Lesley muttered to herself. ‘I just let her get away with one, today’s “let kids run off with dragons”-quota has been met already,’ she grunted. Then, her eyes opened again and she glared at Basil.

‘… I can tell you’re honest. So I will allow it, on one condition,’ Lesley said, holding out a single finger. ‘I’ll drop you off in the middle of Dragon Lake. Don’t worry, there’s an island there. An island of dragons. On that island, convince one of the young dragons to come with you… and also convince that dragon’s mother to let you have the little tyke. I warn you, they’re typically not as forgiving of weakness as humans,’ she said, looking not entirely pleased but still saying it this.

‘Of course, I will be watching, and if you do anything I don’t like, like unjustly attacking the dragons or throwing Pokéballs like an idiot or something, I will challenge you to a Pokémon battle on the spot,’ she said, matter-of-factly. She also probably didn’t need to mention how that battle would end.

‘Are you willing to give it a try?’ she asked, glaring at him.

If not, they could get going.





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.

Yup, she's pissed. Now that was not surprising. Basil had completely expected her demeanor to do a complete 180 as soon as he made his request, but what he did not expect was her to actually agree to his request. Frankly, he expected to be turned into paste against the concrete, but that was probably not off the table. Basil really wanted to return that same energy that she was giving him though he was already on thin ice enough as it was. Anything he could say could cause the gym leader to change her mind, so he held his tongue.

He glanced over to Amelia and said, "Amelia, go explore a bit. I won't be long." Basil turned to the very reluctant Lake Watcher with a determined gaze. "Lead the way."

@hatakekuro

So he was. Lesley had failed to scare him off.

The Gym Leader sighed.

‘Very well. Come with me,’ Lesley said, and walked. She led her to outside the Pokémon Center, where random people were walking by and a few of them waving at her. Clearly, she was a pretty beloved individual here. The Gym Leader took a sharp breath… and then took a hand in her mouth and whistled. A sharp and loud whistle, which sounded like it carried across the town and past it, meant for a single pair of ears. Lesley breathed in again and smiled back at Basil.

‘You might want to brace yourself,’ she said, and numerous citizens nearby were keeping stepping away, ducking away from where the Gym Leader was standing, definitely knowing what would happen next.

There. A flash in the sky, red and blue in color. Rapidly growing in size, as it was approaching at a violent speed. That’s when Lesley just grabbed around Basil with a single really strong arm and leapt into the air with him, and a dragon swept in underneath them. Lesley caught onto the dragon and placed Basil down behind her just as they accelerated up into the air, and Basil was clearly expected to hold on.

He was now on top of a Salamence.



‘Are ya hanging on?’ Lesley asked with a smirk as they soared up above water, heading straight over the lake. From here, they could see the various routes on the west and east of the lake, the mighty Mt. Strength in the north and the gigantic frozen spire that was Mt. Chill in the east, the forest that contained Stillwood Village in the north-east and the massive rain-clouds over Route 3 and Northern Silent Forest to the north-west… but their destination was a couple islands in the north-west of the lake. They didn’t go very high over the waters, but there just wasn’t a lot to block the view as they soared across Route 14 at tremendous speed.

Then, finally, they were approaching a couple very pointy islands…

@PlatinumSkink

---

She of course, absentmindedly listened to the info. And by that, the information went in one ear and out the other while she merely nodded along, staring up at the building with a determined gaze. Flying types were the bane of her existence...but it'd probably be fine. She only had one loss under her belt so far, and she wasn't going to keep up the losing streak. She wasn't a jobber, no sir!

"Yeah thanks for the info, see ya when I am the owner of a new badge!"

She'd say, confidently heading into the stadium, expecting the trial to be your standard battle...only to be met with something quite different.

"Soccer...match?" Claire hummed, a bit impressed, intrigued, and definitely into the idea of it. She'd walk towards where Simon was. "Oh. Hey I remember you. Claire. One of Kalmia's trainers." She'd say to Simon, giving him a winning grin. "Anyways, less small talk more battling. I'll accept the challenge!" She'd give him a thumbs up. She had the perfect team in mind already. Well, mostly.

Ralia, Zeal, and Laurel.

"I've already got a team all ready so lets start!" She'd head out onto the field, without even seeing if Simon even accepted the challenge in the first place.

Basil followed Lesley without question out of the Pokemon Center. It had not escaped his notice that she was indeed quite popular with the townsfolk though they really loved her for her. Lesley, for as terrifying as she was when she really wanted to be, was a genuine person that cared for the townsfolk of Lakewatch Town and the dragons of the lake. Could I ever be someone like her? Or is that ideal out of my reach for someone like me? He thought to himself.

His train of thought was interrupted Leslie's loud, high-pitched whistle... And she turned back at him with a smile? "What do you mean?" It did not escape his notice that the people around him gave them a great berth as if they knew what was coming. That's when he noticed something in the sky, something approached them at blinding speeds. The next thing he knew, Lesley had grabbed him and jumped. They landed on something, and he held on for dear life on whatever he could as they rocketed up into the air though they eventually leveled out. This gave him enough time to frantically pull out his Pokedex and scanned the creature he rode on.

Pokédex Entry #373 – Salamence, the Dragon Pokémon. Bagon’s dream of flying finally comes true, and it celebrates by flying all over and sometimes spouting flames at random. While associated with the joy of flying, if enraged Salamence is known to go uncontrollably berserk, rampaging and scorching all in its way.

Basil thought to himself with great admiration, What an amazing Pokemon. It was one thing to read the entry or even see them on TV used by trainers overseas, but it was another to experience it himself.

Now that there was a moment of calm, he finally looked around and had his breath taken away from the view. Of course, one would think that it would be odd for someone who lived in a floating city to be taken with a view though there was something else to it. To feel the breeze upon one's skin as they raced through the skies and see the bounty of nature was incomparable. In response to Lesley's question, he said without thinking with the biggest grin on his face, "This is incredible!"

However, it would have to come to an end. From the distance he could see that they were rapidly approaching two very pointing islands, so they must have been landing soon. Any moment, except they weren't. "What're you doing?" asked Basil when he felt Lesley's grip, but before he could even protest he was pulled off the speeding Salamance with the armored woman who skidded with her feet while holding him. Was she superhuman?

Anyway, their very stylish entrance attracted quite the crowd of dragons. Lesley really was loved by the dragons. She eventually did let him go and pushed him away like an unwanted pest which in the current context was not entirely incorrect so she could play with the dragons while he went upon his business. "Believe me, I couldn't forget even if I wanted to."

Basil could feel the gazes of the Lakewatchers burn a hole in him. He turned his attention towards them and gave them all a polite bow of his head to acknowledge that he was indeed aware of them. Hopefully they would figure out that he had no intention to cause any more trouble than he already had though it was better to ask for forgiveness than approval.

With that it was his time to now explore the island.

Obviously, Basil had never seen so many dragon-types before in his life, but it was incredible, nonetheless. Of course, he read the entries of whatever little scaly and sometimes furry critter he came upon from a safe distance. "God they're so cute..." He mumbled to himself. Well, not the Druddigon, but Druddigon was pretty cool. In particular he found himself quite taken with the Dratini and Deino that wandered around though he knew he couldn't be greedy. He could only take along one young dragon if its mother agreed to it. That was the deal after all.

Still, he could not let himself get carried away too quickly. There may not ever be a chance where he could explore the island as uninhibited now. He decided that he needed to explore the caves within the protrusions that pierced the sky. Basil looked up at one of the spires and said, "Fortune favors the bold." Well, hopefully it did.

❄Erika Olson❄

---

---

They made good time through Route 12. Erika couldn't help but giggle at Joshua's antics with Eevee. Sno was less than impressed at his antics, however, and gave him a glare. Even though Erika did the same with Gibs. For now, Erika was fine with her team as they were quite diverse but she did consider an Eevee. She did not have a Fairy type and Eevee was versatile but she wasn't sure how to encourage a Sylveon evolution. Then again a Glaceon would be fitting for her. Oh but then there was the appeal of having a pure Grass or Dark type... Maybe she'd know if she came back through.

Moving on, Route 13 was something that Erika had not known about despite being from here. She probably heard it growing up but this was the first time she was seeing it firsthand. It was so wild to see the perpetual night caused by the environment. The stars shined overhead only interrupted by the stalking dark clouds that would send a bolt of lightning down. It was like the sun decided this area would never see its direct rays but instead only the deflection of those rays from the moon. Erika thought it might have been desolate but the grass here seemed hardy as she stepped over it. It had to be given that the lightning that struck the ground frequently and a true grassland would be burned down easily. Yet off in the distance, Erika could see one of the dark clouds drizzle rain across the plain, rewarding and likely strengthening the grass to prevent it from going up in flames.

If Erika were a betting trainer, she'd guess that maybe a legendary Pokemon might have made this place dark for Pokemon who prefer it, but she couldn't figure out which one.

Oh well, as the group moved through a little more sluggish than Route 12, Erika took the opportunity to have a few battles with Gibs, Tara, and Eep. Gibs and Eep were used against Electric types and Tara against Normal or Flying types until they grew Tired, being returned to their Pokeballs.

Erika and the group continued the last leg until they arrived finally at their destination. Worldedge City!

First stop in the Information District was the PokeCenter where Erika would heal up her team. The others would likely too and then it was off to the entertainment area to eat!

---

---

"Haha, cool. Welcome aboard, Greg." Skylar named his Nincada and noticed the item that was on it. Odd. Tunnel Mail seems kind of odd thing to carry around for no reason. He pat Jeebs on the head, following up to pet Forge. "Good work you two. Let's get to the shore."

Back in the present(?), the training went fairly well and Skylar congratulated each of his team members. "Good job, y'all! We'll show Kristy what for in just a little bit!" He looked out at the vast sea and smiled. "Gonna be honest, wasn't actually expecting this place to exist. I thought I just misread the sign, which would be pretty easy to do since... well... can't see that great, haha." After the giggle, Skylar placed a hand on his chin and pulled his Super Potions out of his bag with the other, spritzing Mac and Pretzl with them.

"Well, now that we're here, I guess there's no better time to try and see what kinda rare Pokemon we could find, eh? I've heard about a kind of gorging bird from Galar that I could reasonably bet might be here." Skylar chuckled. He doubted it, since the region had pretty restrictive control, but he could never be too sure!

"Guwingull!" Seabreeze soared back down to the ground and sat on Skylar's head, gesturing a little to Forge. Speaking of the chimaera-esque monster, they were happily basking on the sand in a spot clear of some rocks. Seemed Forge quite liked the sun.

"... oh yeah! I doubt that the pirate would be here, but could be fun to see if he was further down the beach! Let's go check!" Skylar stepped over to Paradise and clambered onto her back, the rest of the team following behind as Skylar and co. made their way down the beach in search of Rare Pokemon and Pirates. Forge also got up, albeit not happy to leave the basking spot.

... and while he was riding, maybe it would be a good time to check that Mail, eh?

---

^{Frozen Cave || Afternoon}
Seeing that Geodude was among the Pokemon helping to mine, Eryn called out Peri as well, explaining the mining basics she’d heard to the Onix. Peri, though, wasn’t too interested in what she had to say. Instead, the Onix glanced repeatedly at the newest member of the team, prompting Eryn to stop to make introductions.

“Peri, meet Atha. Atha, Peri.”

Atha looked up and gave the towering Onix a cautious grin. Peri, however, looked down with some amount of contempt, glancing between Atha and Dei. Eryn got the feeling that she wasn’t too impressed by the addition of yet another small Pokemon to the team.

Between that, Dei’s sour expression, and the growing uncertainty in Atha’s, Eryn figured she had her work cut out for her.

“Alright, let’s get to mining, you three,” she said, herding them over to a free face of ice. She rapped her knuckles on the ice, noting that it was hard and cold enough to attempt to freeze her knuckles to it rather than melt. “Atha and Dei, get started with Embers. When they let up, go in with a Dig, Peri.”

Her Pokemon got started, then fell into a rhythm of sorts. Peri made a lot more progress with every swipe than Atha and Dei as it was faster to cast aside ice than it was to melt it. Together, though, the group made respectable progress, and they quickly came across their first frozen Pokemon, which her Pokedex identified as a Numel.

“Huh, wonder how it got frozen.” Eryn looked the quadrapedal fire-type up and down.

As she circled it, her feet knocked into a rock that was quite out of place, least of all because it was surrounded by a landscape of ice. The strange markings on it prompted Eryn to pick it up, and after looking over it, she pocketed it, figuring that she’d ask the miners about it later.

Further digging uncovered an orange and tan sphere, which seemed like it was made of wood at closer examination. The strange groove on its surface, as well as its size, made Eryn suspect that it may be a Pokemon, but the Pokedex entry that popped up didn’t match at all.

“A wooden Voltorb?” She looked between the screen and frozen sphere, frowning. It wasn’t like the Pokedex to make an identification error though. “All right, that warrants some digging. Let’s get it out—but be careful now!”

Dei and Atha did most of the work here, spewing controlled flames to lick off all the ice surrounding the sphere. Peri watched mildly from the side after being repeatedly shooed off by Eryn when she tried to “help.”

Soon enough the sphere was freed, and it sat on the icy floor, barely moving. But, when its eyes opened, Eryn grinneed.

“Alright, you got me. This is too interesting to pass up,” she said, whipping out a Pokeball. “Hopefully the professor likes gifts!”

She tossed the Pokeball at the ‘Voltorb’, watching as it was absorbed by the ensuing beam. The frozen Pokemon seemed relatively dazed already, but if a fight was necessary, a fight it would be.

---

"Alright then." Amelia said, waving goodbye as Basil left with the woman who had never introduced herself. Once the two where far enough away, Amelia lowered her arm and sighed to herself. She was free to go back to what she was originally doing and while the thought of just going about her journey on her own afterward did cross her mind, she pushed the thought away as she didn't want to cause Basil to panic. He seemed like a very nice person after all and she didn't want to betray his trust. So, she made it a point that after her small task, she would return to town rather than continue on.

So, with her plan set, she would go around town, stopping at various shops to look for a flashlight, lantern, or anything that she could use to light up the darker areas of a cave, since that was what she was planning on doing, as well as an Escape Rope to get out of the cave as quickly as possible and incase she ended up getting lost in the darkness.

@Rune_Alchemist

‘Oh, and I forgot to say. Albeit the teams are 3-on-3, you can switch out your Pokémon after any goal, or during a single time-out that you can call at any time!’ the announcer continued. So you’re not locked to the team you have currently the whole time if you want to switch it up.

‘Oooh! Yeah, I remember you!’ Simon suddenly spun and pointed towards her with a confident pose. ‘And I am Simon! I am the one that one day will be the best, like no one ever was! It- it’s not been going that well so far, but that’s about to change! I accept your challenge!’ he said… but Claire had already moved on. ‘Hey, wait!’

Simon dashed after, to his side of the field. A referee was standing with the ball at the ready. Simon got into position, grabbing three Pokéballs. ‘Alright! I chose you, Simon, Simon and Simon!’ With that, Simon called out his Pokémon… all named Simon.

They were an oblong fish manifesting in the little floating bubble that Water-Pokémon get on land if they can’t walk, a little mammal wielding a bone-club and a skull on her head… and a Ralts.



As soon as Claire had sent out her team and probably explained the rules to them, too, Simon probably has to tell his Pokémon what they’re doing as well, the announcer would start speaking. With that, Simon had his formation. Simon (Barboach) and Simon (Cubone) was standing forward and ready, with Simon (Ralts) standing a bit further behind by the goal.

‘Alright! So we have Pokémon Trainer Claire facing Pokémon Trainer Simon! The winner will move on to face the Gym Leader in the same sport! This is Pokémon Soccer! First to three goals or most goals within 15 minutes wins! This show starts NOW!’ he called, and the ball was hit into the air by the referee. No, nothing about who starts with the ball here, this is more fun. With that, the whistle is blown, and the game is on.

Now, Simon is immediately going to start barking orders, maybe most relevant that Barboach is going to do a quick swim directly at the ball to strike at it, but perhaps Claire wants to take the initiative? Or does she want to hear what Simon is ordering first?

… Oh, and it would seem someone’s calling her. Assuming she registered her as a contact, it’s Maple, who she once shared contact information with. Maybe not the best time, but she sure is calling.

__________________________

@Remram

Basil ventured into the caves… and was immediately greeted by the sounds of conflict. Two large dragons were currently striking at one another, battling it out while a crowd of smaller dragons looked on in awe. Seems like there may be a territorial dispute going on in here.

The two Pokémon in conflict were a pair of dragons…





Watching them were a bunch of their pre-evolved forms.





There’s definitely a bunch of marks all over the cavern walls where Axews have been trying to mark their territory. Kind of hard to determine which mark is left by what Pokémon, though.



Besides that, there are more Deinos here, and some Druddigons flying past.





There were more tunnels that Basil could walk through, but there was a single tunnel that it seemed like all other dragons were keeping a distance from. In fact, if Basil tried to go there, an Axew was going to step in his way, fear in the little dragon’s eyes. Even so, he could potentially get a peek inside…



So, what now?





Connected areas:
Route 14. The lake surrounding Dragon Lake is also known as Route 14.



__________________________

@Pirouette

Erika trained her Pokémon for a bit. With Gibs and Eep there were plenty of Electric-types to battle, and for Gibs that meant resisting electricity but taking their Tackle and Quick Attacks from Electrike while Shinx came with the occasional Bite in addition to Tackle. For Eep, he could resist both their electricity and their normal strikes, no problem.

For Tara against Normal or Flying types it was more equal. All the Meowths here have Fake Out, guaranteeing some damage against each one of them, Hoothoot has Hypnosis, Murkrow is pretty strong and Bunnelby… yeah, Bunnelby is a good mark. As she trained, she could find another cat on this route, a slightly rarer one but absolutely one that still exists.



Glameow knows Hypnosis and sometimes Faint Attack, might be a good idea to stay clear.

Erika trained her Pokémon, and so did her companions because what else were they going to do (minus Elana)… when she heard something unexpected. In various patches of grass around here, there were small Pokémon cheering the wild Pokémon on. They weren’t joining the battle themselves, but the small yellow creatures seemed just compelled to cheer on their fellow wild Pokémon and cry when they lost…



So that’s something. In any case, some training got done eventually.





With that, they moved on!

They arrived at Worldedge City, a magnificent sight, maybe hampered a little by the fact every single one of the people aside from maybe Erika has been there before. Still, many smiles could be seen looking around at the bewildering cityscape.

They transported themselves to the Entertainment District, where they could find themselves a nice place to eat that where they then could talk and such. It was a cozy little place, albeit with a lot of shining lights and happy happenstances. Psychic-type servers delivered their food in a timely fashion and then moved about their day.

So they could talk about what they wanted to do after this.

‘For our journey, we started by… spending a significant amount of time at the Pokémon Contests in Pureplain City! We then headed east, and we had a bunch of fun adventures in Wet Caverns, Frozen Cave, and more! We headed north and collected the Treetop Badge from Stillwood Village! Come to think of it, most of our journey has been shared with lovely Erika here!’ Joshua summarized.

‘Me and Maple…’ Ellyn started talking, as Maple was still chewing down a bunch of food. ‘… That is, Maple basically dragged me all the way to Magmagulf because she wanted to catch fire-types. So we did, straight across the ocean of Route 27, too. We collected the badge there while we could. The Gym Leader was surprised it was our first badge, the Magmagulf Town badge is usually among the latter Minor League badges a trainer takes. Pretty sure he went very easy on us…’ Ellyn lamented a little…

‘But then we headed straight south again!’ Maple shone up with shining excited eyes. She then pulled out her Trainer Card, showing off the fact it was displaying four badges. ‘We got the badge of Magmagulf Town, then went south and took Redcoast City badge, then all the way down to Highhill Town, finally east to Stillwood Village! We trained in Mt. Strength in there a bit before, too, that’s when we ran into Claire…’ Her eyes suddenly shone up.

‘Ah! That’s right! I got Claire’s number! I want to go call her right now!’

Maple’s just gonna go over and call. Claire might be preoccupied with a soccer match, though.

‘It seems we might be a bit behind with only a single badge,’ Ewan said, not necessarily looking like he had any trouble with it. ‘But I think, if we were to match strength, we’d come out roughly equal. We’ve been training our Pokémon, after all,’ he said.

‘Ah! That’s right!’ Maple came back from having tried calling Claire a little later. ‘We still must go get the Freecape Town and Raremine Town badges! Let’s see… what types do they use…’ Maple considered.

‘Flying and Ground-type,’ Ellyn said, not missing a beat.

‘Ah! And for that…’ Maple looked like she deflated a little. ‘… my team of Fire and Electric might not be the best against Ground, hehe,’ she chuckled a bit… then her eyes trailed to Sno, and her eyes shone wide again.

‘… Ellyn. Ice is strong against both Flying and Ground,’ Maple remarked.

‘Uh… yeah…?’ Ellyn asked, looking a bit uneasy. That’s when Maple gripped Ellyn’s both shoulders and pulled her over to stare so wide-eyed at her from way too close a range.

‘If we go to Mt. Chill and get a team of Ice-types, both Freecape Town and Raremine Town will fall before us! Come, we must go!’ Maple was half-way standing up to leave her half-eaten meal to go directly running to the mountain by Erika’s hometown, but Ellyn firmly pushed her back into her seat.

‘Yeah, not now. Let’s not be unpleasant to our host and actually finish the conversation, first,’ Ellyn commented.

‘Such speed! I am in awe of this dazzling energy extruding constantly from lady Maple!’ Joshua chuckled a bit while feeding his new Eevee some treats from the dinner he ordered. Eevee looked pretty happy.

‘It does seem we, too, are missing some badges in comparison,’ Ewan said. ‘We are missing a couple on the Southern Landmass. Redcoast, Highhill, Freecape and Raremine…’ he surmised.

‘Ah, but we cannot let this only be about the badges we want to collect! This journey of ours must be adventurous, not methodical! We are not heading from badge to badge, we’re journeying for experiences and sights! With that in mind, I’d also like to look around Worldedge City some more! Also, the nearby Power Station interests me, and Erika has made me curious about Bigfjord City as well!’ Joshua said.

‘But you wanted to become a Coordinator as well, right? If so, you need to head to Redcoast City to the Pokémon Contest Hall there to take the first step, don’t you? Might as well, seeing how we have a badge to collect there…’ Ewan said, giving a little smile to his companion.

‘All in due time, my friend!’ Joshua smiled happily. ‘It’s true I wish nothing less than to get there one day, but the road there need not be straight! I value Erika’s opinion as well and wouldn’t mind heading with her some more!’ And that’s about that.

‘…’ Unless spoken to, Elana didn’t say much. She just looked at the rest while drinking some drink through a straw. She’d quite noticeably gone for the cheapest options at the restaurant, as well.

The meal came down to 2,400 P, roughly 400 per person. 6 people. Erika, Joshua, Ewan, Maple, Ellyn and Elana.

So? What are Erika’s thoughts?



The city is comprised of six different districts. Three districts on each side of Mt. Edge, stapled on top of one another by the way of leaning on the cliff sides and mountain as well as giant pillars, taking advantage of the strange physics around Mt. Edge. Exits out of the city are on the middle districts of each side. Each district has their own Pokémon Center and Pokémart, but otherwise have their own unique features.

The following applies regardless of where in Worldedge City you are.

Connected areas:
Route 10. South of Worldedge. A farmland employing multiple psychic Pokémon from Mt. Edge to help with the crops.
Route 13. West of Worldedge. A slightly disturbed route, which attracts electric Pokémon due to the proximity of the power plant.
Mt. Edge. The mystical mountain at the heart of Worldedge’s unnatural existence. Few people actually cross its fabled tunnels, most just teleport past.
Route 18. East of Worldedge. A calm stretch of land going from Worldedge to Witchpeak, part of the Allmass Cycling Circuit.





Currently in the Entertainment District.









To reach the Southern Districts, you’ll need an Abra to teleport you or walk through the tunnels of Mt. Edge. Costs 350P.







__________________________

@Gardevoiran

They decided to look for rare Pokémon and pirates!

Looking among the rocks of this beach resulted in finding a lot more crabs. Skylar might want to be careful, because quite a few of the crabs are quite pinchy and seek to attack, and the Claunchers commonly seek to take pot-shots at travelers and their Pokémon using the water-pistols in their claws!

Regardless, a while of picking up rocks and seeking Pokémon did eventually turn up results, as a rare yellow creature in a red shell looked back at Skylar in confusion.



There was something else, though, spotted only because of Seabreeze and his Keen Eye, there was a shelled creature swimming underwater inspecting them from a distance. And there, it poked its small blue head up from the water, looking at them probably wondering what’s up.





Further down the beach, they suddenly came across an odd sight. A giant ship anchored to the beach, looking very old-fashioned in its design, and flying a crossbone flag… hold on. It’s the pirates!

Out on the beach stood a couple individuals, clearly having left the ship behind. At the front stood the captain, holding up a Shuckle with his one hand.

‘To treasure, or not to treasure, that is the question…’

And then he slammed his foot down on the rock in front of him and grinned forward with eagerness.

‘The answer is OF COURSE and we’re gonna find every treasure swept ashore by the seas! Get to it, men!’

‘Yes, captain!’
‘Yes, captain!’

With that, his crew members kept pulling rocks and seeking underneath them, combing the beach starting close to their ship.



So that’s going on over there, if Skylar wanted to approach them.

Then there was that mail…







Connected areas:
Route 6. If you can climb the cliffs up north.
Raremine Town. Directly east.



__________________________

@Typical

Eryn decided to throw a Pokéball after just precisely thawing the Pokémon out of the ice. Good thing, too, because the Voltorb was about to charge a Thunder Shock from its sudden revival into a new world. The ball was hit by the similarly-sized ball and absorbed into it, and the Pokéball then fell down to the floor of the mine.

It rolled once.







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



__________________________

@Joshua Tamashii

It would absolutely be possible to purchase such things in order to prepare for some spelunking. A flashlight and/or lantern would absolutely be available, along with some cute little waterproof clothes suitable to delving into Wet Caverns with if she wanted them. They’re right next to the cave, after all. The Escape Rope is 550P, which turned out to be more expensive than the rest of Amelia’s preparations that came out to 400P in total. So that’s 950P total.

With that done, there was nothing else to it but to head back to the Wet Caverns, was there?

A short trip back west would reveal to her a hole in the mountain leading to…



The first thing that would meet her was going to be a pool of water she’d have to wade through, with a couple Goldeens in the water there with her. Besides that, she’d have to be prepared for that the air would soon be filled with a substantial amount of Zubats that wanted nothing less than to pester her. Maybe get some blood. Maybe.





But that aside, she would know the way back to the dark area. The question is, would she go about her search in any specific way?



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