@Zarkun

Celebi looked at Jason, past his shoulder to look at Helga, and then back to Jason. It tilted its head and arched a puzzle brow at his question. "What do I mean? Those who pass my trials are able to become my champion. Surely my acolyte explained it to you. Her ancestors have guarded this shrine for centuries and would only bring someone if they thought they were truly worthy."

Helga stood there, arms crossed with her eyes averting Jason's and Celebi's like a child that was caught with their hand in a cookie jar. It was very plain the see that she had not actually thought he was worthy and certainly had not expected this to be the outcome of helping him. "Look, I expected you to lose. If you did, I was going to knock you out and tell you that it was all just a dream. Who the heck would've thought that you would actually beat that thing?" said Helga as if that was a valid explanation to a kid that she potentially could've killed and the literal time traveling forest deity that floated there.

"I see... If you do not mind, I am going to take a peek into you." Celebi floated towards Jason and touched his head gently with its hand. All at once, Jason's entire life flashed before his eyes. The first time he ever opened his eyes, his first words, his first steps, and more and more memories until they all led up to his current situation. All of this happened in less than a split second and all of it was seen by this being.

The deity removed its hands from Jason and floated back to where it was before. "Ah, your name is Jason. A Seeker of Strength, yet a noble soul. You hale from Hoenn and yet you stand here before me on Evig soil. And there are more chosen children like you. How interesting," it said, pondering on what it had seen. Jason though needed a moment to recover from having his own brain flooded by memories long ago forgotten or repressed. The normal human typically would need it after experiencing their brain being ddossed.

"My apologies, I needed to assess if you are to be trusted. Something is very wrong, very, very wrong." It explained apologetically.

---

@Sanguine Rose

With many questions for later, Faye finally had her head in the fight. Luckily, Sage was a speedy little genetically unstable pup, cat thing and leapt out of the way of a gust of sparkly, pink wind. With its hind legs, Sage kicked up a mound of dirt that hit the metal fairy square in the face. However, Sand Attack was a move that when used in a double battle it could hit two targets at once. The Tinkatink that charged towards Tilia with its mouth wide open literally ate clump of dirt. It understandably gagged, which gave the Rowlet to fly up in the air and dive bomb in retaliation.

The Tinkatink that had charged Tilia was smacked by though the damage it looked like it was barely scuffed from the blow. It glared at its annoying feathery opponent that kept to the air. A pink wind gathered around its club and the Tinkatink swung it, sending a gust of Fairy Wind up towards the Rowlet.

Meanwhile, the other Tinkatink leapt forward and swung its club down at Sage, except it missed. And it missed again, and again. This typically would've been ideal, but in reality, it wasn't. The fairy-type was attacking wildly with complete disregard for its surroundings. If not stopped, it may accidentally smash up the engine.

What does Faye do?

Amelia didn't get much time to be lost in her thoughts before she was suddenly grabbed and gently pulled away and to the side by Freya. Surprised, Amelia didn't put up any fight and could only look up at Freya but was unable to look the girl in the eye once she knelt down to speak to Amelia. Thankfully, it seemed to just be words of encouragement and advice, bringing a small smile to the little medium's face. Once Freya was done speaking, she did manage to look her in the eye again before speaking.
"I... know how others feel or might feel about what I can do." She said in a soft voice, making it hard to hear her from a distance. "I know some will find it creepy. I know some might try to use me in some way. I know some might not care and I know some will think it's amazing or something like that. I know it's safer not to say. I didn't mean to tell you but it just... kind of came out. I haven't said or hinted anything to Steph yet and I'm... scared to do so. She seems nice and like someone I could tell it to but... I'm not sure how she'll react. So I'll... try not to say anything about it for a little while longer."

Their conversation was then interrupted by the entrance of a what could be called an eccentric older gentleman but what she was mattered little to Amelia as much as what the old man felt like to her. Just the fact that the old man felt like death was enough to make her move behind Freya out of nervousness alone. No person should feel like that and the fact he did didn't sit right with her. Her focus on the old man, she didn't hear most of what Bo was saying to Steph but the mention of a 'Forest Deity' did catch her attention, if only for a passing second before the old man began speaking about someone falling from a crack in the sky. Then shortly after that, came the man raising his hand to show a black crescent moon mark on the back of it.

The moon was fascinating as once again, it felt of death, but this scared Amelia less as this she understood was not something human. Did it still scare her a bit? Yes, it definitely did, and she was going to stay behind Freya that much was for sure. Did it also seem to call to her and make her want to get closer to look at it? Also, yes but with something like this popping up less than twenty-four hours after encountering those eldritch horrors in the tombs, she was in no way ready to try and investigate something remotely similar. So, behind Freya she would stay.

If he wasn't so shell-shocked by having his memories jacked and forcibly resurfaced with essentially no warning, Jason would have been more than a bit angry with Helga. After all, gambling both his and his Pokemon's lives like that on the possibility of a loss was not OK in his book, but right then, he felt more woozy and dizzy than anything, having to lay back for a minute, he didn't immediately respond to the mythic Pokemon. Many of those memories were from his infancy, which, to the aspiring champion's knowledge, no body remembered, or at least so few that the number was basically zero. But others, well, they brought a smile to his face. Some of it reminded him he had been slacking on his training and, when he was done helping Helga and talking to...oh right, Celebi had mentioned something was wrong. Sitting up with a groan, Jason then stood up, Lucha helping him balance the best she could.

"Right, you said something was wrong. I...how is it wrong? I know Evig was...well, basically destroyed by Cipher, but...it's healing right? Unless you mean something else."

(Lucha and Murus will be passing on their new moves.)

Stella Lumite

The little creature gave her a seed. Her Pokedex told her it was a Wonder Seed, something for grass types. A type of pokemon she doesn't have, currently. So what should she do with it? Plant it, maybe... She'd keep an eye out for a good spot.

In the meantime, she should drop these flowers off before something else happens. To the graveyard.

---

It would become easily apparent that Tristan was not explaining nor handling himself the best. If not for Princess's comforting touch, the inexperienced teen would have become a ball of anxiety and nerves. Solving an egg thievery case was one thing but attempting to explain and reason such a story to two important individuals proved to be far more tense inducing.

And to make matters worse; needing to be comforted by the old man, now revealed to be Ramos and the former grass gym leader (only adding to his humiliation.* Well, this is just great. A mess...all of this is just a mess.* Tristan groaned to himself as he took Ramos advice, albeit a sharp inhale, done to cover said groan while pinching the base of his nose.

This being the spoiled teen's first attempt on top of anxiety and excitement were all that likely lead to this and Tristan himself knew as well.

* Alright, calm down now. You got this far and have their attention. Now..just stop screwing it up like everything else!* Mentally rebuking and pep-talking.

That, along with Princess (truly coming in crutch as the empathy mon) helped him to realize his approach was all wrong and out of order.

As such, listening to Ramos continue and finish with the introductions as the time to think and rework his approach.

His attention then turned to the gentleman and owner of this research center, Louis Osman. Learning of what happened to the Osman family made him frown briefly, the though of a big, renown family crumbling to nothing was a horrifying thought. Arceus forbids anything were to happen to the Glory family legacy.

A small shake of the head dismissing the new bud of anxiety off, he would bend down to gently pick up the small bipedal canine then stand back up with her placed comfortably on his shoulder.

" Ahem, yes. First, let me start with an apology." Tristan started followed with a throat-clearing cough into his fist." An apology for my horrible handling of this situation. In order to explain, starting with introduction will probably do best." Nodding his head; voice a bit more confident this time as he glanced over in Princess's direction, receiving a reassuring smile from the blue canine.

Briefly turning his attention to the flowers; reminding himself what he was here for." My name is Tristan Glory, a rookie pokemon trainer and this here, is Princess." Motioning toward the riolu. resting cutely on his shoulder. A friendly." Rao lu!- Hi, I'm Princess!" An almost tiny blush as if bit embarrassed by the name.

" And it is with great pleasure to meet both of you, Mr. Ramos, Mr Lois." His thought to call him by his last name, but from the man's mood on the family made it appear a sore spot, one he had no wish to worsen anymore than already done. If there was one saving grace in all this, Lois was distracted on him; hopefully allowing the staff the much-needed breathing room to actually think.

" To continue, I am a rookie trainer who had come to witness the strange phenomena of the forest, said curiosity of it led me to this research center. I have learned a number of things with this grand party of yours which could be shaping up to be a wondrous party. Whoever this vip must surely be quite important." Especially so to have even an experienced owner like Lois stressing out.

He took a quick glance around the mass scrambling to get everything in order." So it is clear that everything must go right for this VIP. As such, this leads back to my proposal. In exchange for a Gracidia flower, I offer to not only help solve the mystery of both the forest and Lady Aria and her involvement. But, being a trainer I can retrieve an item to be brought back."

The teen paused there to let them take in what he said." To have this vip around with such mysteries not only solved after all these years but with a gorgeous never before seen treasure? Could certainly do wonders in getting in their good graces and recognition. Just wanted to throw that out there." He finished with a nervous chuckle; left hand wiping sweat from his brow.

@Joshua Tamashii@hatakekuro
Damn right, we were tempting fate, that's what life was about! With the comedic timing of an anime character, old Bazza made his entrance almost the moment the question left her lips. what a curious bloke he was, Steph keeping an eye and ear on him while the other was on the shopkeep.

So weird slash marks in the forest. Probably some sort of bug or other type mon, but if it had the interest of bug trainers then it was a safe assumption it was most likely that. The mention of the Marsh certainly drew a...reaction from the girl, lets put it that way. And it probably wasn't one that Freya liked from what she knew of Steph so far. Her eyes almost seemed to become starry and sparkle at that one, so yep she was definitely excited about that one. She would have her work cut out for her to have her avoid throwing herself into the deep end of some trouble.

She didn't really get this whole shrine thing, and honest the Marsh was currently occupying her mind and the potential uh...lets put it as 'fun' that she could have, yeah fun. Nothing said fun like nearly dying, right? But after the man finished, Bazza screeched out something about a person falling from the sky? Now, to most people this sounded insane. Utter, completely insane right? No way could a person fall out of the sky. Let alone from a *crack* that appeared in it.

But Steph wasn't normal, now was she? So of course, her reaction was....

"Taell me moah abeow' thiies skoy and bloke thaht faell eow' of ih'. Was ih' loike, mawnin? aftuhnoon? noigh'? was he old? young? wheah diied yah say thiies? haow diied yah geh' thiies mahk? whaht hahve yah gawt t' do weeth adrienne? whoy was she theah? was thiies in the puyst? fuchah? was ih' a current event? if yah gawt thiies, could yah say uhthah theengs?"

And so began her bombardment upon the old man. There were other questions of course, but she was getting faster and faster and now it was nearly impossible to understand her.

@Zarkun

The forest deity looked at Jason with not distrust, but apprehension. Knowledge was a funny thing. At times, it may be considered more of a curse than a blessing. Once its heard, it could never be truly forgotten. That was what it was thinking as it painfully mulled it over, not like Jason would have been able to know that. Well, except that it was deep in thought because it made a face as it agonized over it. However, it looked to have come to a decision though not with great confidence.

"I travel through the ages. The concepts of past, present, and future are meaningless to me. I am untethered to the shackles of time and space like you are, or so I thought," explained Celebi. It had a grim look upon its face though in its eyes was an anxiety. This being, a creature that skipped through time, had no idea what was going on. It was scared. "I can no longer travel through Evig at any point of time. The only reason I can appear in front of you is because these shrines are my domain. The moment I try to leave I am thrusted to another point in time outside of the region," admitted Celebi.

Now time was a wibbly wobbly subject though we could only hope that Jason understood the concept of time. It was understood that time travel was essentially impossible. Time only moved forward, but one could not just jump forward through time either. Lame, yes, but the exception to the rule floated right in front of him. This thing had the power to defy the laws of nature and yet, Celebi was not allowed to exist in Evig's past, future, or present.

Helga scowled as she began to put the pieces together. "I know where this is going, and I am against it," said Helga. The Amazonian crossed her arms in disapproval. "It was already a mistake on my behalf to bring him here but involving him even further is unfair to him. Let him be on his journey. He's not ready."

"And yet he has the potential. You cannot leave the forest without protection, and I cannot travel Evig. If he is here, then it is because he was meant to be here."

Helga clicked her tongue and stared angrily at Celebi.

What does Jason do?

---

@CitrusArms

So, Stella received the Miracle Seed from that Oddish as a thank you gift and made her way to the Mellow Grove. It was actually quite close by; all she needed to do was take right turn not far from the entrance of the route and walked up a hill overtaken by wildflowers. Eventually she would approach a wrought iron gate with a sign that said 'Mellow Grove Graveyards.' That was the destination.

---

@samreaper

The two men stood there and listened to what Tristan had to say sans panic attack. Well, Louis interjected while Tristan spoke. "Louis, my name is Louis," he corrected Tristan followed by a click of his tongue. Sometimes it paid to check spelling. Anyway, both men were aware of the Elusive Woods and the strange connection that Aria Eberg had with it. They were also aware that people who went in typically were never seen again, and this kid strolled in with the wild claim that he could solve that mystery all for the reward of a flower.

Ramos rubbed his chin and had a glint of recognition in his very much closed eyes. "Oho, Glory huh? And a rookie trainer? Well, that clarifies some things. A pleasure to meet you Tristan, Princess." The elderly man knelt down and patted the Riolu gently on the head with a gloved hand.

"I see you're someone of some importance," said an arm crossed Louise. He stared Tristan down trying to figure out what the kid's angle was because frankly speaking he did not buy a word the boy said. It all sounded like some charade for some bigger aim though he would never say it aloud. "Well, you're not wrong about the VIP. The mystery of that forest is eerie, but frankly, as long as no one enters that forest then I don't see why we should accept your offer. If we make an exception for you then we-"

"We'll do it," interjected Ramos.

"Wait, what?" He looked down towards the old man as if his head was one a swivel. "You can't make that decision on your own you know! We can't give them away to anyone that just asks!" Shouted the estate manager with indignance.

Ramos chuckled at the man's little temper tantrum. One could almost imagine that behind his close lids he rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on Louis. It's not like we don't have a reason not to help him. Besides, I think we could find a solution that will satisfy both sides." He turned his attention back to the rookie trainer. "Tristan, let's have a battle. I have something to ask, but I need to see if you are wheat or chaff."

What does Tristan do?

---

@Joshua Tamashii@Lunarlord34

"I think you can tell her. Out of all the things to worry about with her, being creeped isn't one." Freya said with an amused smile. This was the same girl that chased after a thief that attacked her and threw hands. Hell, Steph went to explore in a sewer. She glanced over to the Bogan whose eyes lit up like Wyndon when it was not covered in classic Galarian fog. "I fear the thing we have to worry about is her shortening her lifespan." Something told her she that if she took her eye off Steph then she would be even more unhinged.

Meanwhile, that unhinged girl just asked question after question and each one was less unintelligible than the last. He started to step away from her, his one good eye on the door as he looked for a chance to escape from this strange creature. Steph would feel a hand cover her mouth and of course it was Freya who had to stop her from the unrelenting bombardment of questions. "How about we let him answer your questions?"

She then turned her gaze to the old man "Can you answer?"

The old man's posture relaxed as his fight or flight instincts died. He said, "Uh, I'll do my best" and cleared his throat. "Ya see, I was up before the sun to do some early mornin' fishin' at Lake Charity. I was mindin' my business when I heard a 'BOOM,' He motioned his hands wide to mimic the sound of an explosion, "Crack in the sky high above. I saw the damn sky crack open! There was a hole of white light! I could not believe my eyes, but I saw someone fall out of it!"

It was in fact incredibly unbelievable. Freya stood there listening with an understandably skeptical look and Bo had looked like he heard the story one too many times already.

"I thought the kid died from that height, but he managed to swim to shore. From where I was, I could at least see that he was your age, sandy blonde hair. He just paced along the shore for a solid twenty, no, twenty-five minutes before anything happened. The portal had closed as soon as he fell out, so he was probably in a pickle." He rubbed his chin in thought as he did his best to recall the details. "My memory is a bit shaky, but Adrianne didn't arrive immediately. When she did she flew over with her Volcarona. I was too far to hear their conversation, but I saw her whisk him away towards Grand Glory City."

Bo said as if imploring the man to see reason, "Bary, if what you said was real then there would've been others that had seen it. Heck, it would've made the news."

"I'm tellin' you I saw what I saw! They're coverin' it up! Something blew a damn hole in the sky and that kid fell out!" He slammed his hands against the counter with a loud and very angry bang.

By this point, Jason had recovered enough to stand back up after the memory jacking and he listened to Celebi, the quintessential deity of time, explain that here in the Evig region, it had essentially been told to fuck off and not try. However, before he could even speak up, Helga did, protesting his involvement further than had already happened. Celebi, in classic fashion, retorted logically and reasonably, however, the aspiring champion's mind was finally finished processing everything said up to that point and, before all else, he rounded on the Amazonian woman, anger flashing in his eyes. "You already involved me by keeping the truth of what this whole thing was to yourself and planning to club me over the head if I lost. I've already come this far, I might as well see it through." He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose and started to ask if Celebi had any ideas and then froze as one of the rumors he'd heard on his way to Starbor came to mind.

"Wait, could it be tied to something I heard on my way to the forest? Some kid fell out of a crack in the sky is what it's saying."

Stella Lumite

Right, a cemetery. She'd almost forgotten one was her destination. And she was even here at night, extra creepy. Ghost pokemon could also be particularly dangerous, if they wanted to be. The Pokedex gave her some information on common pokemon in the area, none of which comforted her. But, she'd already arrived. She shouldn't turn back now. "Keep a sharp eye out, Niblet." "Jol!"

It didn't take her long at all to spy the shack. Wandering the cemetery without knowing where to even start looking did not sound appealing in the slightest, so she needed research, or a guide. Her decision to approach was swift, she scanned for any information outside. A map for guests, more... Pamphlets, perhaps? If there was a guide book, it was probably inside, which was probably locked. Hmm. If there was a night shift, maybe not. Could go either way.

@Zarkun

"Again, you underestimate-" she was saying before until Jason said something very, very interesting. The woodswoman fell silent and looked at Jason as if he had Claunchers crawling out of his ears. "I'm sorry what?" Was all she could say.

"Right, there was something in your memories about that. The ramblings of a Night Touched, but even the mad are right once in a while. It is... concerning." Celebi scrunched its brow. It definitely knew something though for one reason or another it withheld whatever information it could have shared with Jason. The forest deity gave Helga a knowing look which she returned back to it before they brought their attention back to Jason. "When you touched the flute part, you saw glimpse of the Great Fire of Starbor Forest. I know what you saw near the end, that great hole in the sky."

How does Jason respond?

---

@CitrusArms

For as pretty as a graveyard as it was, it was still a graveyard. It was not exactly a place where tourists came to visit. However, the only way to find out was to go and approach the shack. The door was shut so if she did approach it, she would have to knock on it to make her presence known to whoever was inside it. However, her presence was already quite acknowledged by the residents of the graveyard.

Now she was someone that was quite eager to learn about Pokemon as much as she could. However, learning was gained by experience, and she was about to get a lesson in ghost-types. There were very sneaky, sneaky creatures. After all, ghost types needed to be able to sneak up on their prey or else they would starve to actual death. Stella and Niblet could smell something faintly sweet in the air and out of the corner of their eyes they would see a shadow dash around though it was too easy to lose track.

Eventually she would feel something breath against her neck, but before she could turn around, she heard a great and loud "BOO!" Behind her was a very jolly and self-satisfied Gastly.

---

Tristan was left at the mercy of the two gentlemen at this point and could do naught else but wait with a nervous gulp.

The elder gentleman, to his relief was kind and understanding. The most willing to hear him out, unlike the more stingy companion. Princess would let out a happy yip with a wave of her paw, the wagging of her tail clearly sign she enjoyed the patting." I... we appreciate the kind words. Mr. Ramos." The bit of recognition felt nice, boosting his morale.

Until he heard the way Lois correct him in a way that felt unabashedly petty making it go crashing into spiteful annoyance. The silver-haired teen gave the esteemed sir a 'this mofo serious?' face. An albeit, brief expression relaxing as it was best to simply move on.

Tristan would remember this. He would rue the day.

The compliment of being of import; at least helped softened his ire towards the man, if only a tad for a Glory's spite was unending. Not that things would get much better after hearing the way Lois was talking leaving his mood disheartened. Just when he was thinking to turn to leave to save himself and his team any further embarrassment.

"We'll do it," interjected Ramos.

" Wait, what?! Exclaimed the befuddled rich teen mirroring Lois's at the same time much to Tristan's Chagrin, save in a more surprised manner.

He simply remained silent; listening on as the two had their dispute, waiting to see what would become of this. His hope to uncover Lady Aria's mystery relit.

"Oh, come on Lois. It's not like we don't have a reason not to help him. Besides, I think we could find a solution that will satisfy both sides."

This brought a confident smile to Tristan's face for the first time this day.* Ah-hah! Looks like we might have pulled it off. Seems I got our access to the forest... and... hmph, meanwhile Faye probably off fumbling around in the woods.* Tristan snidly snickered to himself. Budding thoughts of bragging next they met popped into his head. This was just Tristan's little cherry on top. He really felt he needed a good win right now.

"Tristan, let's have a battle. I have something to ask, but I need to see if you are wheat or chaff."

A spiteful victory cutshort.* Ugh...should have known.* This left a sour hint to this still very feasible victory. Besides, only made sense to do battle, considering the fact all of this leads to a highly dangerous forest.

And, while annoyed; Tristan was actually grateful for this chance to battle an ex-gym leader. So far none of his trainer battles felt right or ended bitterly. This gave him the chance to hopefully give King their much, deserved redemption after failing him as the inexperienced trainer he is.

Plus, the knowledge of typing still fresh on his mind, Tristan found himself actually eager to try to strategize." An offer I graciously accept... as anything else at this point would be considered pointlessly." He accepted with an akward chuckle to finish.

Jason nods after a moments consideration. "Yeah, I did. Did the thing that flame apparition was imitating come from it?" Every region had it's crazy rumors and stories and unsurprisingly, Evig was no different, but something like holes in the sky was...pretty crazy. He vaguely remembered someone on a forum he used to frequent saying Alola had some crazy stuff going on, but he'd never paid it any mind, didn't even read the thread.

@samreaper

Ramos had a pleased smile when Tristan accepted the offer. "Good, good. You catch on quick." The old gardener turned his head towards Louis who definitely did notice the look that Tristan gave the esteemed gentleman. "Louis, would you kindly ref our match?"

"Are you for real? We only have a day left before the guest arrives and you-?" The finely dressed man looked like he was about to go on a tirade though realization came upon his face quickly that this was not going to be negotiable followed by bitter acceptance. With a click of his tongue Louis said, "Fine, I'll do it. The sooner we finish this the sooner we can get back to work." He clapped his hands together loudly and in a pavlovian response the workers stopped what they were doing and turned their attention to their boss who announced "Everyone, take a twenty-minute break."

There was a collective audible sigh of relief from the workers. Yeah, they were definitely a little stressed. Just a tad. Anyway!

Ramos turned to Tristan and said, "Okay, Tristan. Since this is just a test, this will be a three versus three battle. Don't worry, I'm going to only use a few sprouts that I brought along. Are you ready?"

What does Tristan do?

(GM Note: If you feel that you aren't ready, you can challenge Ramos another time.)

---

@Zarkun

Yes, Jason looked at internet forums and Not Discord for answers about strange holes in the sky. Next time, let the GM roll for knowledge.

Anyway!

"Yes, they were. They were Pokemon from another time and place far beyond the reaches of this world. What you fought earlier was a manifestation of a time long past though for simplicity's sake we can call an Echo. I drew upon that time and gave it shape and intention to act as a guardian for my shrines," explained Celebi. It looked concerned"Truthfully speaking, I hope that Night Touched's claim is only that, but I can't even begin to investigate without your help."

Helga gritted her teeth and shouted out at the deity, "And I said that he shouldn't get involved! You know better!" The Houndstone by her side barked in agreement with its partner.

"And you should've known better than to bring him here. I didn't expect you to be so reckless," chastised Celebi, earning the burning gaze of Helga.

The giantess stomped up towards Celebi and angrily jabbed a finger in its chest. "You and I both know that nothing would've happened to him. You don't kill. That's why you have me." She hissed venomously between her teeth while her Houndstone growled with a deep and gravelly voice. It looked like it was ready to pounce though Celebi remained unphased by this woman towering behemoth of a woman or her dog.

Celebi asked not angrily, but curiously, "Why did you bring him here?"

Helga glanced back to Jason before she focused on Celebi. "He needed to be humbled. I would've told him that it was all just a dream, maybe a warning. Anything to get him to stop and think about his actions," said Helga dourly. She looked weirdly tired as if this was not exactly the first time she had dealt with someone like Jason and perhaps he may not be the last. "The kid walks face first into danger because he's young and naive enough to think that he can just tough his way through it with pure determination and selfish and stupid enough to think his consequences are his own. Maybe he can brute force it for a little bit, but there's always a reckoning. We all pay a price, but it is never ours alone. It's a ripple and that ripple turns into a wave that swallows and drags everything else down with it. Hell, we're all standing here today because of the sins of men three thousand years ago."

There was a silence that hung in the air because Celebit knew exactly what she was talking about, Jason could see it on its face. It focused on Jason and asked, "What is it that you want to do?"

Well? What does he want to do?

Amelia could only giggle when Freya expressed the notion of worrying about Steph shortening her own life with her recklessness.
"I have to agree with you there. She'd charge a raging Gyrados if she thought she could take it, or it had something she wanted." The young girl said before turning her attention to old man as he told his story. The preteen fell silent in thought as she mulled over the story about a crack in the sky and mulled it over. While some of those around her were highly skeptical, to her it actually came across as plausible. Though it scared her, she felt like she had to speak her thoughts on the story. "It... might not be entirely impossible though. Suppose the crack did appear in the sky. If it was small, not a lot of people might have noticed. If you're wondering about the boom, it can be easily dismissed as thunder or possibly a pokemon using self-destruct or explosion. Earthquake is also plausible. Besides, it's not like we don't have examples of similar phenomena. Hoopa can open up portals to bring forth pokemon, objects, or people over great distances. I'm from Florasong and we get a fair amount of tourists there for music festivals or the opera house, and I've heard some of Alola mention similar occurances, though I never heard details. So, while unlikely, I do not think this story is impossible."

---

This was not exactly the kind of end result he was hoping for, though Tristan figured that he simply had not adjusted to how trainers handled everything. Which, as expected results in a battle. Not that he was annoyed; especially not after seeing Lois inconvenienced and he would hardly be lying if he didn't enjoy the gentleman's annyed expression.

The relief on the staffs face was a nice little bonus. Pleased to see he was able to give the workers the much needed and long overdue break. Just for them, the silver-haired teen saw no reason to rush this battle.

Plus, this would give him the opportunity to have his first proper match. The unpleasant memories of how his battles have been so far were less than....a pleasing start even for a rookie. But, Tristan has changed since yesterday.

For he did the one thing he dared never thought possible...study.

With his recent acquiring of types and match-ups and after some thinking with obvious clues all around him and considering his location. As even to Tristan, the type this ex-gym leader, Ramos likely specialized in was grass or bug, possibly a mix but mainly grass. As luck would have it, he already had two mons perfect for this.

"Okay, Tristan. Since this is just a test, this will be a three versus three battle. Don't worry, I'm going to only use a few sprouts that I brought along. Are you ready?"

" Ah, yes! Uno momento, good sir!" He exclaimed with a bit of flair and flash of a dazzling smile, his luxurious hair waving like silver silk. Taking out his pokedex, where he would look over his current team as he took a typical thinking pose.

He was unsure how to go with the third pokemon with his current line-up, as he pondered over which one might work best. It did not help he was going off guesswork on what Ramos actually might use and find himself in another situation with Freya. A most unpleasant expression upon being reminded of the memory.

The option to ask could be there, but he felt it might have cheapened his first battle with a gym leader..albeit an retired one. Still, Tristan wanted to experience a real battle and after a quick internal check of his plans." Alright, Sir Ramos." Moving into battle position with pokeball in hand." I challenge you to a duel wait, that doesn't sound right. Battle!...er something like that?" Hoping his quick correction there helped.

Tristan found himself a bit thrown off, fretting over how he messed up his first challenge intro and...crap, the hair flip! How could he have forgot the frick-

To spare us a mental breakdown....

"Gah! Darn it all! It's a work in progress, let's just battle!" Exclaimed Tristan, face red and fuming; embarrassed, but the silver-haired teen is fired up!

"Tilia, try to block the Tinkatink's wind attack with Leafage and Tackle it again."

Faye knew her Rowlet was of little match for the fairy pokemon, but there was only so much she could do to deal with it. If Tilia got too hurt, she'd have to leave everything up to Sage. That poor Eevee wasn't going to fair much better. So she just had to hope the two could tough it out. At least until her friend could handle that third Tinkatink and turn her pokemon to help.

Her attention turned back to Sage and the now blinded Tinkatink. It was swinging wildly. Too wildly. They were fighting in the old farmhouse and that not only put the structure in danger, but it put the engine in even greater danger than it was before. There were no good options.

Which left only desperate, bad ones.

"Sage, dodge around the hammer. Use your speed, Growl, and Tackle to it toward the door. Then Tackle it outside. We cannot have it hit that engine."

@Joshua Tamashii[@hatakekuro]
Cut off by Freya, a sheepish grin crept over Steph as if only just realising what she was doing to poor Ol' Barry, taking a step back as she listened to the answers the old man. Lake Charity? Crack in the sky? An explosion of sorts? Someone then fell out of it, for the champion to arrive and take them back to Grand Glory City. In all honesty, this sounded like the sort of story you would hear from someone after they had a few too many edibles. And maybe too much to drink on top of that. Absolutely absurd really, only a madman would believe this sort of story.

So naturally, Steph did also. Where Feya showed skepticism, Steph nodded along enthusiastically with Amelia.

"Ye, whaht Amelia heah said. Aw mybee someone else did see ih', buh' ine't nao one believin thaem uythah. Oy've heahd of cruyzier theengs hahppenin, plus Pokemon cahn do ooll sohts of insyne stuff sao whoy wouldn't thiies be pawssible oolsao? If Giratina cahn hawp betwayn doimaensions, thaen mybee theah's uhthah Pokemon who cahn do soimilah." Citing an example she read in a book at one point, and yes real shock horror Steph could read so long as it wasn't a danger sign, she paused for a moment before thoughtfully looking out the window. Or if no window, then the door.

"Hy, thaht Lyke Charity ine't fah frawm heah roigh'? Theenk yah cahn nahraow daown wheah yah saw ih'? Oy moigh' gao chaeck ih' eow' on moy why puyst. Oy wahnna gao chaeck eow' the woods and the veellage oolsao, sao its on the why. could mybee foind a clue aw two even. Aw if nawt, thaen ih' moigh' at layst geeve me a chahnce t' taest eow' the rawd! Heh."

Stella Lumite

She could only hope that the grave keeper hut would be occupied, but before she could discover, a voice from quite close behind her gave her a good spook. Honestly, she was expecting as much, here in a graveyard, but that didn't stop her from being very, very surprised. She let out a small shriek as she whipped herself around, taking a few steps away from whatever had been behind her.

Yeah, it was just a... A Gastly. The breath on her neck had been particularly unsettling, she rubbed where she'd felt it, thoroughly creeped. "Ehgk, did you have to breath on me like that? Ehghghgh." She writhed unpleasantly a little, trying to shake the feeling from her head before she remembered suddenly and checked on the hyacinths she was holding with her other arm. Somehow, she'd remembered not to crush them. Whew.

"Maybe you can help me, since you've had your fun?" Stella looked up from the flowers she held, "do you know the old man who lives in the mansion in town? I think he's buried here, or at least... He asked me to leave these flowers at his wife's grave, who should be here. Can you show me when she is?"

Jason listened to Celebi and Helga argue and felt more than a bit attacked when Helga said he needed to be humbled. I'm sorry, humbled?! He knew that she didn't have a very positive opinion of him, but he'd attributed it to the fact that he was both from Hoenn and didn't live what had happened with Cipher, but to hear she thought he was a total idiot...that was enough to anger him further. But he didn't get a chance to argue with the giant of a woman, who's size no longer intimidated the infuriated Hoenn native for the moment, because in response to the giant's last statement, the mythic Pokemon of Time turned to him and asked "What is it that you want to do?"

For the second time in the last twenty-four hours, someone had asked what it was he wanted to do. Looking at the time travelling Pokemon and, without missing a beat, he answered. "I want to help. I want to prove I'm strong enough to stand alongside Adriane and protect not just Evig, but other regions. I want to see this region recover, and I want to help it happen." He fixed Helga with a hard look. "I didn't realize that made me someone who needed humbled because I dare to fucking dream of making a difference."

@Lunarlord34@Joshua Tamashii

Well, turned out that everyone could learn about things from books or the internet. Who knew?
 
The strange old man looked at the owner of the fish shop. "Hey Bo, ya got any of those tourist maps for this area? The ones you give to people looking for spots to fish. Can I borrow one? And a pen?"

"Uh, yeah sure. I've got some in the back. Give me a minute" After a bit of rummaging around in some back cabinets, Bo came back with a map in one of those traveling pamphlets one would find in a shop like this, designed to look old and faded even though the edges were as sharp as a knife and a pen. He spread it along the counter for all to see. For something that was free to tourists, it was actually quite a decent map of the known fishing spots from all over the region. Keyword, known fishing spots, but there would have been another time for an actual deep dive because Bary had commandeered the map and marked the location of where he saw the crack in the sky.



"It was there, by Vastille on Route 5. Ya can keep the map since you were so curious." Bary rolled up the map and handed it off to Steph.



Bo, unsure of what else to say, said, "Well, good luck to you kids. Can I get you anything else before you go?"

Old Rod: 500P
Good Rod: 5000P
Super Rod: 7500P
Bait: 250
Good Bait: 750
Superb Bait: 1000

If not, now what?

---

@samreaper

Ramos hardily laughed with approval and said, "That's the spirit! Now, I hope yer ready because just like these plants, my Pokemon and I are made of sturdy stuff! Now, may you do the honors Louis?"

Louis grumbled some words to himself, nothing that anyone else would be able to hear, but one would correctly assume that they were the complaints. "Alright fine," he said and pulled out two different handkerchiefs from his pocket that would serve to indicate which side was which. Don't ask why he had two, he just did. "This is a three vs three battle between Tristan and Ramos. The first one to run out of Pokemon or to surrender loses! Now, begin!"

Tristan would watch as Ramos grabbed a Pokeball from his tool belt and threw it into the air. "Yer up, Skiddo!" A beam of white light erupted from the ball and materialized in this rather adorable goat like Pokemon with a pelt of leaves and brown and white fur. It bleated out with excitement as it stood ready for battle.



There was something else though; the Skiddo's leafy pelt was glowing green. Tristan's Pokedex popped up with another message.

Flower power! The garden's terrain has activated Skiddo's Grassy Pelt. Its defense stat has increased by 50%.

What does Tristan do?

---

@Sanguine Rose

Leaf and whimsical winds clashed, and the leaves broke through and smashed against the Tinkatink, which caused it to skid back. Luckily, Rowlet's physical attack stat was much higher than a Tinkatink's special attack stat so each collision would end in Tillia's favor though the damage done wasn't significant. However, the Tinkatink was a quick Pokemon and used its speed to run up the wall and then leapt straight towards Rowlet in the air to attempt to bring its club down on the leafy owl, except that had not happened.

"Tink!" The Tinkatink that Faye convinced to stand down leapt up and smacked its friend down with its club to help Tilia.

Meanwhile, the Tinkatink kept flailing about like a deranged Makigarp, swinging its club about with reckless abandon. Luckily, Growl indeed lowered the fairy-type's attack stat because when Sage went to tackle it he got smacked in the face with a metal club though if Sage tried again the Eevee would not only hit the Tinkatink, but it was a critical hit. The Tinkatink was sent tumbling back out the door of the farm.

What does Faye do?

---

@CitrusArms

"Gas!" The Gastly looked at her with the most offended of expressions. Just because it was a ghost or had the properties of a ghost did not mean it knew every undead being around. Not all ghosts knew each other! How rude! How uncouth! Gastly had never heard such abhorrent stereotypes in all of its time being alive(?). Except the purple gassy ball then nodded that it actually did know indeed where the cold and most likely very skeletal remains were buried.

"Gastly!" It bobbled in the air as if to tell her to follow it and since she asked, it was safe to assume that she would follow it through the graveyard. It would have been an uneventful stroll; an eerie silence hung in the night air, which very understandable. After all, the dead were not great conversationalists.

There was something strange off in the distance, a pair flickering lights moved around followed by shifty movement of two shadowy figures. They weren't particularly good at being sneaky though because Stella could here not very hushed whispers of two men. Like, seriously for a pair that tried to be stealthy they were absolutely awful at keeping their indoor voices. It was a wonder how the grave keeper did not hear it from their shack.

"Hey, we got the right grave?" One of them asked with a weaselly, nasally sort of voice.

The other responded like a gruff lug, "Yeah, dis duh right one. Duh dead biddy was buried with a while bunch'a jewelry. By the end of the night, we'll be rich men."

Luckily, they had not heard Stella's footsteps.

What does Stella do?

---

@Zarkun

The only thing that Helga could do was look at Jason with complete bewilderment before it molded into her own outrage. Her body almost seemed to physically swell in anger. "You really think it's about that? I'm trying to tell you to stop and think before you get yourself killed! About making a difference? Of all the... Why are you so much like hi-?!" She had cut herself off when she realized what she was about to say. Helga was no longer really looking at Jason. She was looking in his general direction, but she wasn't there. All that there was on her face wasn't shock per se, but what she was about to evidently caught her off guard and it shook her.

When she finally came back to reality she shakily said, "I'm going to wait outside." The titan of a woman walked out of the room; her steps echoed in the silence before they faded off into the background.

Celebi sighed with a look of understanding. "Forgive her, Jason. Grief undoes us all," it said vaguely though it was not its story to tell. "We have more pressing matters. Jason, hold out your hand."

Once Jason did what he was told, Celebi floated down and used both of its hands to grab his. Green light radiated from its tiny palms and wrapped and twisted around his wrist until the light scattered into dust to reveal a bracelet made of intertwining branches though they were smooth and cold to the touch like metal. A green diamond with an ethereal shine was held in place between the branches. Jason could feel a power pulsating from the gem as if it was syncing with own heartbeat.



The forest deity removed its hands from Jason and hovered back. "That will allow me to contact you throughout the region and help guide you when I can. However, it has another ability; it will allow you to borrow a little of my power to look into the past so to speak though it only has enough of a charge for twice a day. Be sure to use it wisely," said Celebi.

"Your first order is to become stronger, so continue your journey as you were. When you are ready, I will call upon your aid. Now, I'm sure you have many questions, but I cannot stay for much longer. I feel something is pulling me back. If you have anything to ask, ask now."

You only have time for one question. What do you ask?

Also, hopefully Jason remembered the original reason why he was there. It would be pretty awkward otherwise.