Amelia continued to watch the races as they went on, finding it a bit odd but somewhat amusing that a Slowpoke decided to join them. She had to wonder if the use of abilities was allowed, as the only way she could see the pink hippo winning was through the use of its psychic abilities. Something told her it wasn't allowed to do so however, otherwise there was an actual chance of Sableye winning, if it could use Shadow Sneak.

She didn't get much of a chance to think on it though, as she soon found herself surrounded by some of the natives of the cave from Digletts to some Geodudes and even an Onix. Normally, she would have been more than happy to move but even putting the slightest weight on her ankle was enough to put a stop to that idea. So, she instead turned her attention to the pokemon in front of her, figuring that they seemed friendly enough. She wasn't as confident as she would be if they were Ghosts but that didn't mean she couldn't be friends with them.
"Hello there. What's are you all up too?" She asked the Digletts and Psyduck.

Meanwhile, Litwick angrily turned towards the Geodudes.
"LIT! LITWICK, LIT LIT LITWICK!" He said angrily, telling the Geodudes that it was because of them and a Graveler rolling around that Amelia had gotten hurt.

"Shu, Shuppet. Petpet, Shupet." Shuppet said, pointing out that it might not have been these Geodudes and trying to keep things calm, as Shuppet knew Amelia was probably not in the mood to battle right now.

@Joshua Tamashii

The race continued over there. Slowpoke was not winning. The Onix did win once, though.

‘Dig!’ ‘Dig, dig!’ ‘Diglett!’ The Digletts happily replied to being asked what they were up to. For Amelia’s Pokémon, it translated to that they were curious and investigating the new presence in their cave.

Psyduck shook its head. ‘Psy-ay-ay-ay…’ It told, basically that it just saw a gathering of Pokémon and hoped for some kind of food.

‘Geo…!’ one Geodude looked upset at being shouted at, but the other Geodude looked more appreciative. ‘Geodude,’ the other Geodude said, and then looked towards the Digletts. ‘Geo, dude!’

‘Diglett!’ one Diglett called, and suddenly all the Digletts went into the ground and the Geodudes floated away. Of course, Amelia’s Pokémon had understood what they were saying, but…

A couple seconds later, the Pokémon returned. The Geodudes were holding out something for Amelia. An Oran Berry and a Super Potion. The Digletts had recovered some random stuff they’d found in the ground, looking way happy. ‘Geodude,’ Sorry, basically. Of course, it didn’t know if these things worked on humans, too.



So, that happened.

What now?





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

---

---

"Crap, he's not here." Skylar groaned, looking at the mail once again. Well... darn. What was he to do about that now? He was here at Stalfords, he could look for the guy some more, but... man, this stunk. Skylar looked around once again for a man with... wait.

"Hey, Breeze? One more look around for a man with a guitar case." Skylar asked his pal, who gave a nod and flew upwards to the skies and started to search around for any sign of the man they were looking for. Skylar himself meanwhile ran his hands through his hair in thought, staring at the ferry.

"... alriiight, um. We can't take the ferry without Kristy's badge, but I don't wanna leave unless we're absolutely sure this guy isn't here. So... hmm... let's go down towards Route 16's shore? We'll train a little if we can and pass the time waiting for another ferry to come in, maybe that guy will be on that one?" Skylar gave a smile, though it was clear he was a little worried. If the man wasn't there, he'd have to go to Witchpeak after getting Kristy's badge most likely. Not that he couldn't do that, but...

"Rowlowl?" Owlfred chirped in Skylar's arms, reminding the boy of their goal. "R-right. Let's go train."

Unless Seabreeze found anything or anyone, that was the plan. Down towards the shore, maybe do some training while they waited. Once that was over, well... time to actually finish tackling the Gym.

Basil had turned around and opened his mouth to say something, but the Hydreigon's mighty roar ripped through the air and echoed throughout the cave. "What is she-?" Quickly he understood and ducked under as the dragon flew with a thunderous flap of her wings out of the cave and braced himself to withstand the gusts of wind that ripped the stony surface off of the cave. "Well, I think she's excited." Whether or not that was a good or bad thing was a problem for future Basil to deal with. Right now, he needed to get out of this cave.

Much gentler than before, he was helped saddling up on the Salamance and they flew a bit slower than before. That was when he asked the question. He should've felt relieved when she said she did not hear a thing. So why was there still a weight in his chest? "No, it's nothing important." The young trainer averted his gaze from hers though attempted to play it off as him looking at the scenery passing by. Coward.

Well, eventually they arrived at the local hospital, and it was an... interesting experience.

"I'm sorry, you did what?" The doctor asked trying to process what he just heard.

Basil blinked and said, "I, uh, played a game of Torchic with a mother Hydreigon to convince it to let me take on of her kids and used my arm as an offering for what is now my Deino. Honestly, saying out loud really hammers home how stupid that actually was."

The nurse assisting the doctor just stared at Lesley with murder in her eyes and tapped her on the shoulder. "Can we talk outside?" The moment they went out to the hallway he heard a slew of profanities that would have made a sailor like Zachary and his two very pg-13 coworkers blush.

"I feel like I should be taking notes." Basil said, looking at the door while he was being looked over.

Well, eventually he was released. Luckily, doctor-patient confidentiality was a thing or else he would have had to figure how to explain to his parents why their son used his arm as a chew toy. He saw while he signed himself out Lesley approaching him carrying a couple of objects. His eyes lit up when he saw the forearm guard, well, bracer. "This is so cool." He put it on his arm over his sleeve, the one that was not covered in blood, and admired it. It was simple, but the metal plating matched his piercings, so it coordinated with his aesthetic. Oh, and the toy was cool too.

"Well, I can't say that I won't take any risks, but I'll try not to worry you." Basil smiled though he could not help but feel that weight in his chest. "Thank you for everything, and I'm sorry." It was better not to tell. The less people that knew, the better. That's what he told himself. "I'll be back to fight you one day too. Takecare."

Once again, he was back on the watery streets of Lakewatch. Basil would walk around for a bit and sit down because he felt the urge to check on the egg he was carrying. It felt like a long time since he had actually last checked on it. Who knows, maybe it hatched in his bag while he was not looking.

@Gardevoiran

Skylar went down to the shore and-

and nothing. There was not a single thing here at the shore. He might have heard rumors about Route 16, not living too far from it. It was called “Isson’s most dangerous route” and that you’re absolutely not allowed to play around there. There were actually fences if you went down the cliff at Freecape City and then tried going south via the shore. As he’s not actually on top of Route 16, you’re not getting the image. That said, there sure were some shores here, and then out over the ocean there was some distant light from the Eerie Lighthouse. The shore itself was just a stretch of sand that there didn’t appear to be anything on…

Or, wait, what was that. There was someone running over this way! It’s a swimmer?


‘I SWEAR THOSE DIDN’T USE TO BE THERE…!!!’

It was a positively panicked swimmer that was going to run straight past Skylar in terror. So, that wasn’t something you saw every day. So, what was that going on further down the beach? It did seem like…

Oh, there he is.





__________________________

@Remram

‘Alright, then,’ Lesley simply responded in response to the nothing Basil had to say.

Then, one eventful hospital-scene later. He got his bracer and Lesley nodded to his thanks for everything.

‘I’m counting on that you’ll be back. I need to see how well you’ve raised your dragon. You might just find that I’ve come to check up on you before you’ve come to visit me,’ Lesley said, giving a chuckle as she took a couple steps back. She then took a deep breath and whistled in front of the hospital, and people around who knew what that meant moved out of the way as Lesley stepped out into the open. ‘I’ll see you later!’

With that, she leapt up into the air, and just as the Salamence once again blew through the streets she landed on top of it and was carried off into the distance.

Then Basil was once again on his own. He walked a bit, and then sat down to take a look at the egg…

…

Hey, how about you take 3 + 4 steps more?











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.

Well, the egg was still indeed an egg.

For some reason, he felt compelled to walk around with the egg in hand and for some even weirder he felt compelled to walk around a certain number of steps. Specifically, 3+4 steps. Weird. Was this the will of some almighty God taking the piss, the blood loss he experienced earlier, or the fact that he was from Worldedge and the whole floating part messed with his brain? It could have been anything of those things.

Alright, he'd play along.

Basil took the path of least resistance and took walked seven steps. Easy enough. Now for some reason he felt like he was being told to take 3-2 steps. He looked up towards whatever force there was in the sky questioning what kind of game it was playing, but he did take a single step forward. Now he was being told to take 5+4 steps. "Seriously?" Why was this so extremely specific? Okay, fine he would just go with it. He took the nine steps in any random direction, not realizing how weird that he must've looked to anyone else that passed by him.

That's when the egg suddenly twitched in his arms, and he heard a cracking sound. "Huh?" Basil looked down to receive a flood of absolutely blinding light directly in the face. He squinted to watch as the energy within the egg shifted and gave itself shape until what he had in his hands was this strange, sparkly frog thing with electricity crackling on its forehead. "Welcome to the world. I'm glad you're here." All he could do was smile at the new breath of life that quite literally came into being in his very hands.

Its half-slit eyes stared up at Basil expressionlessly. "Blep." It stuck its tongue out at him.

Oh my god it's so cute. Internally, he was squealing. For the moment, he went back to the bench and placed the Toxel on his lap so he could check out its Pokedex entry and... why was it a different color? Basil looked at the photo from the Pokedex and then at the live specimen on his lap.

Out of confusion, he decided that there was only one person that could actually answer this. He flicked through his contacts and clicked on Kalmia's name and waited for her to pick up for a facetimed call. "Hi Professor Kalmia, I'm sorry to bother you. I'm still in Lakewatch Town. We're just wrapping up our own business before we head off. Uh, anyway that's not what I wanted to talk to you about though. You see, I just hatched an egg that the Pirate Zachary gave me, and it hatched into a Toxel. It's just he's..." He lowered his phone to show the very not normal colored, sparkly lizard who just stared at the phone screen in silence with its tongue poking out before Basil brought it back up to his face. "Why is he a different color?"

Amelia watched the interactions between her pokemon and the while ones. It seemed like something had been said to upset one of the Geodudes and she worried that there might be a battle but thankfully no such thing occured. Instead, all the wild pokemon, sans the Psyduck, left them and returned a few minutes later with several items, which they gave to Amelia. The young girl couldn't help but laugh before reaching out to give each of the Geodudes and Digletts a pat on the head.
"Thank you very much." She said to them, taking the items and putting them in her bag for the time being. She massaged her ankle for a few seconds, hoping to make it feel a little better while still watching the races, especially Sabeleye before an idea struck her. "Hey, Diglett, do you know where I can find some gems? I want to befriend the Sableye there but I don't want to interupt the races. If that's not possible, could you maybe take me to where I can find more Sableye to talk to?"

She asked, certain that this was her best course of action for the time being. Sure, walking was going to be hard, but she had to get used to it. Afterall, it was a very far walk from the cave to the town, even with the Escape Rope. So, she would need to get used to it, painful or not. In the back of her head, she wondered how Basil's trip was going along and if he was okay.

@Remram

Being out on the streets when his egg hatched, Basil had a number of people look his way when the hatching took place, looking happy enough to watch the miracle of life… but then none of them had any idea what this weirdo creature that just hatched from it was. They couldn’t even tell it wasn’t its regular coloration. So they wandered on, none the wiser…

Basil, however, had a handy tool that could tell him something was off! In fact, there was even a tiny marker on the spot in the Pokédex keeping track of his team that told him so! Not that it said what it meant. It was just a couple stars!

Still. He called Kalmia, opting for the option that allowed a video-feed. It took a couple rings, then the screen opened up.

‘Hello! Professor Kalmia speaking! Oh, hey, Basil!’ Kalmia waved, she was clearly in her laboratory. ‘I just got the notification you sent something new into the box! So, guess you caught something new, eh? What is it?’ she excitedly asked. So, Basil showed off what he’d gained, and…

‘Ohmigosh,’ Kalmia made a noise as she saw the newly born little fella. Basil kept talking, and the professor’s eyes sparkled, kinda like the effect this new Pokémon was going to give when it emerged from a Pokéball from now on. ‘Basil, this is…’ Kalmia spent a little time smiling widely and excitedly bouncing a little on the other side.

‘He’s shiny!’ she eventually said, happy awe in her voice. ‘Caused by an especially rare mutation in the Pokémon, it’s born with a different coloration than regular. This phenomenon is very rare and just seeing one is considered extremely lucky, nevermind hatching one! Congratulations!’ She clapped a little for him.

‘He’s a cute little thing, isn’t he? Does the color match my Slowpoke?’ she asked, and picked up her Slowpoke to hold it in front of the camera. It stared blankly and non-responsively into the screen at Basil and the Toxel. And to answer her question, kinda.

‘To perhaps ease your possible worries, there’s nothing different between him and a regular Toxel otherwise, it’s just the color!’ she continued, and that’s about it, really.

How would Basil respond?





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.



__________________________

@Joshua Tamashii

Amelia asked her question… and the various Digletts looked at one another.

‘Digidig!’ One said.
‘Diglett?’ Another asked in reply.
‘Diglett!’ A third confirmed.

With that, they turned away and wanted to head down into the cave, but turned to call for Amelia.

‘Dig?’ It seemed they wanted her to follow them.









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

Never could Basil have had imagined that a human being could make the sort of sound that Professor Kalmia made. Of course he was excited to have hatched his Toxel, but he could not comprehend why the good professor was literally bouncing with excitement. Well, that was until it was explained to him.

"Shiny?" Basil looked down at the hatchling who in turn looked up at him with its half lidded relaxed stare. "Huh, so it's like winning the lottery in a way. I've probably used up all of my luck." The young noble chuckled though he was only half joking. Surviving and obtaining a Deino and now this? There was no way that the universe was going to keep going to keep rewarding him. It was only a matter of time before it happened.

Those thoughts were broken though when he was met face to face with the vacant stare of Slowpoke. "I suppose they do." He cracked an amused smile. Who would've thought that I'd hatch something so rare. Maybe that's a sign of...wait.

His widened with realization as something dawned over Basil as he glanced back down at the shiny Toxel. "Oh my god." This little bundle of electric, toxic joy was one of the rarest Pokemon in all of Isson. If the shiny phenomenon was as rare occurrence as Kalmia said it was, then that meant they were highly sought after, but this was also a Pokemon not native to the region. In other words, it was a one of a kind. His only saving grace was that there had to be only a handful of people in this region that knew what Toxels were typically meant to look like, otherwise he may have attracted some very much unwanted attention from unsavory crowds.

Suddenly, he felt very tired. "Well, thank you very much Professor. I can certainly say that this has been eventful." His face lit up as he remembered something. "Oh, uh, before I go, I really need to give you a heads up. Long story short, Ms. Lesley brought me to that island on Dragon Lake to catch a dragon, and I have a Deino now. You may want to stock up on protective gear and a sturdy chew toy." It was probably better that she never learned what he did. She'd probably have a heart attack. "I better let you go. I'll let you know what happens with Amelia. Talk to you later."

Well, with that phone call out of the way he decided that he should probably let Amelia know that he was done with his business, wherever she was. Luckily, he already had her contact info courtesy of Professor Kalmia.



Was the emote a bit much? He had a feeling that Amelia was a bit tense around him, so he thought maybe that would've made her warmup to him a bit. Or maybe it had the opposite effect.

The Toxel on his lap yawned and struggled to keep its eyes open. "It's been a big day for you, hasn't it? You can take a nap in your ball." Basil used one of his Pokeballs to house the baby Pokemon. There would be time to introduce the newest members to the rest of his team.

"Now we wait." All he could do right now was just sit on that bench and do absolutely nothing. Well, actually there was something he could do. From his bag he took out his mandolin case and clicked it open. He placed the case down on the ground with the opening pointed towards anyone passing by and just started to play. The songs he played were probably old Issonian folk songs. Either someone would throw some change into his case, or the universe would throw something else at him.

---

---

Skylar's head turned slowly to watch the swimmer run away from whatever was going on at the shoreline here. All he could really see from where he stood was just a bunch of sandy piles and red specks along the top of them. That said, he approached cautiously in any case. He was still waiting for Breeze to report back if he found anything, and if he was going to get some training in this was probably a good opportunity if he could help.

"Howdy, sir! Do you need a hand?" Skylar rode Paradise closer towards the man, though the Tropius seemed a little hesitant to get much closer as she could actually see the Sandygasts and Palossand. Enough for his Pokedex to prattle off the entries. The hesitation wasn't lost on Skylar, though, and Forge also noted it and stepped in front of Paradise to stand at the ready in case this man wasn't as good as the group hoped.

"What's up, Paradise? We'll be fine, don't worry." Skylar pat the dinosaur's neck. Owlfred waddled off the boy's arms and flew up to his big friend's head, standing atop to watch the situation. "So anyway, are those your Sandygasts? They're not native to Isson, so seeing them here is a little odd."

Forge and Paradise both stood prepared, in case this turned sour real fast.

Amelia did indeed follow the Digletts, as she knew she needed to get used to walking like this. She very much appreciated the help of her little guides and the Geodudes who acted as bodyguards for her, making sure there wasn't another accident. As they left, Amelia would take a second to wave good-bye to the Onix that wasn't racing, figuring that it was only polite and that it was thankful to see them go so it could resume napping.

Amelia's progress was slow and a little painful, but she slowly figured out how to walk at a decent pace while minimizing the pain it caused her. As they walked, her Pokemon made small talk with the Geodudes and Digletts, with even Litwick apologizing for its earlier outburst to show its appreciation towards the effort the Geodudes where making. Eventually they would reach a dead end, at which point the Digletts did what they did best and began digging. It did not take long before one popped up with a gem that it handed to her, then another, and another, and another until she had a small pile in front of her. Amelia sat down and dug through the pile, looking at each gem to see if they were regular gemstones or those gems that could power up certain pokemon moves. She was well aware of the Sableye that had followed them and once she had gone through the pile, she held out a gem towards the ghostly gremlin.
"Hello there. Are you hungry? I'll off4er you this one if you give me a moment of your time." She said kindly, watching the possible new friend closely.

@Remram

‘Aw, don’t say that! I don’t think luck’s something that can be “used up”! I bet you still got plenty!’ Kalmia encouraged him happily, eventually placing down her Slowpoke again. She was happy enough that he’d taken the time to call her.

‘Oh! Huh. I’ll make sure to stock up…!’ Kalmia looked a little startled with Basil’s cautioning words about the Deino he’d just obtained. With that, Basil prepared to take his leave. ‘Alright. Do keep me posted. I wish you continued luck!’ Kalmia waved from the other side of the call until Basil ended the call.

Basil sent the text-message to Amelia, and then just sat down on a bench doing nothing. Well, almost nothing. He started playing some music on the streets. Probably a common enough occurrence.

So yes, he played some nice little tunes, and the occasional passerby threw in some money. Some even stopped to listen to him play. Numerous of those who stopped to listen to him were Woopers. Money wasn’t the only thing they threw in, however. In fact, they threw in a variety of stuff. One particularly rich-looking guy threw in what appeared to be a stone.



… And that would do for now.

Eventually, Basil would probably attempt standing up…

… and found that he couldn’t move. Well, not too far, at any rate. He could still look around to try to figure out why, and that’s when he saw it. A tiny little Pokémon, standing squarely on his shadow, staring up at him with tiny but very wide little eyes.



How would Basil respond?





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



__________________________

@Gardevoiran

Skylar stopped by the man currently bent over picking up more sand, asking if he needed help. The man seemed unable to turn to look at him, but he sure had multiple Sandygasts turning in his direction without changing their expressions. Skylar had time to say his second part as well. After that, it took a couple seconds… then the man spoke.

‘It would seem I am not in control of my actions,’ said the man, pouring another helping of sand over a ghostly sand-pile. ‘I might require help.’

That claim might have triggered the ghosts around him.

‘SANDYGAST!’ called the living sand-beings, and they together summoned their powers, and the powerful swirl of sand known as Sand Tomb manifested to attempt to trap Skylar and his Pokémon…!

That is, it would. If Paradise wasn’t able to just fly above it. Because Ground-type move against flying-types.

The Palossand hadn’t reacted yet.

What would Skylar do now?



__________________________

@Joshua Tamashii

The Onix continued resting, peaceful enough where it remained partly inside the wall.

When Litwick apologized, the Geodudes gave the Pokémon equivalent of a thumbs up. They had redeemed their race. Their purpose is now complete.

They arrived at the wall, as the Digletts dug forth the gems a question arose. Were these the kind of gems that could be sold for a lot of money or the kind that can be used once to boost a Pokémon move?

Well, duh. It’s the Pokémon World. Of course it’s the Pokémon kind.



Pick one to feed to the Sableye.

The pair of eyes in the dark held still in the dark… until the creature started speedily crawling over towards her, the short little ghost grabbing the gem offered out of her hands.

‘Sable,’ it stated, taking a couple steps back and started to nibble on the gem. It would appear Amelia has managed to bargain herself a moment of its time.

She also got a text-message from Basil, through her Pokédex if they didn’t provide any other means.

Text Message [+]

Hey Amelia, I sorted out my business.
Just let me know when you're ready and I'll let you know where I am.

What will Amelia do now?





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

It had been a bit since Basil last busked. There was something peaceful about it, becoming part of the background noise among the bustling life of a town that was indifferent to his existence. It was not like he was unaware that there were those that stopped to listen to him because he was so absorbed in what he was doing. He thanked those who tipped him and glanced at those who stopped to listen to him and smiled politely in acknowledgement. However, he looked through them rather than at them. It was easier that way, lest his nerves got the better of him.

Eventually though he stopped and examined whatever loot he received. There was a bit of money, which he was happy with though there were a few other objects in his case. One was a repel and he was not going to complain about getting one for free. It was the other two items that were of interest. Basil picked up the capsule and held up closely to his face. "Wait, there's no way... An ability capsule? Aren't these super valuable?" Now he was not sure, but he was certain that they were not the most easily accessible item on the market.

Well, surely that was the only surprise. Basil looked at the other item and his face soured. "Did that guy seriously give me a rock?" He picked it up and looked at it with disdain. If he had not known better, he would've chucked it into the water right there except the young noble recognized that it was an unusual stone with a pristinely smooth texture almost like glass. Actually, he was certain that he had definitely seen something like this before. Had some of the noble women worn this as some sort of jewelry. Maybe, but that wasn't it either. "Hold on, this is that thing that evolves a Clefairy." Were people just being really generous today or was Kalmia right about luck?

Well, he was not going to look a gift Ponyta in the mouth. He stuffed his earnings into his bag and had his mandolin back in its case and tried to set off to kill more time elsewhere. The key word in that sentence was 'tried.' Basil tried to take a step forward, except his foot was stuck to the ground. "Huh?" Again, he tried to move his leg and again it would not move. Again, Basil tried, but with must gusto though he would have an easier time removing his teeth at this point. Hell, he was trying to pull his leg up with both of his hands with all of his might, but in the end, he resigned to himself to his fate. "Guess this is how I die. Not to a Hydreigon, but to..."

His eyes trailed down and that's when he saw two very blue wide eyes on a small little doll of a Pokemon standing on his shadow. Basil for once had no need for the Pokedex to identify what it was. "Uh, hi there." He swiveled his head to look around to see if the Gothita belonged to anyone that passed him by. If he was in Worldedge this would have been a common enough sight, but they were much too far to say that it wandered off from the city. It would've made sense if it belonged to someone though there was not a soul claiming it. Maybe it was a wild one?

"I guess you're the reason I can't move. That's a question to ask the professor later." While Basil had no idea what Shadow Tag was, he could put two and two together. What must've happened was that it must've heard his music and wandered over to him and coincidentally stood on his shadow. "Would you like me to play a song just for you?" He asked with a smile.

@Remram

Didn't seem like the Gothita obviously belonged to anyone nearby. Some were noticing it and raising an eyebrow or two, but otherwise moving along. So there was just this wide-eyed little humanoid known for becoming obsessed with things staring straight at him.

At the question if she'd like a song to be played just for her... the little Pokémon's eyes widened even further and she nodded her head very excitedly while keeping her eyes fixed on Basil.

That would appear to be a "yes".

So what's Basil to do?





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.

It was a good things that bags in the pokemon world never really ran out of room, as Amelia soon found herself staring at a small pile of gems that was still bigger than what she had expected. Still, she was in no position to complain, putting the gems in her bag before gently patting the Diggletts on their heads.
"Thank you very much." She said to them before her attention was entirely turned towards the Sableye. When she offered a Gem, she decided to offer one of the Rock Gems, letting Sableye take it and waited to see if it would give her a moment of its time. Thankfully the Ghost did decide that the gem was enough to warrant it giving her a minute, so Amelia sat down to be closer to its height, not wanting to look down on it, as she took some time to think about what she wanted to say. "I'm sorry for barging down in here to your home, but I'm looking for comnpanions to join me on a journey. I was hoping you or one of your kin would be willing to join me for said journey. That being said, you might not be by my side for a while, since I can only take so many companions with me. But you will be taken somewhere that you'll be taken care of. No need to hunt for food or worrying about being attacked by other pokemon. If you're willing to join me, or you know another Sableye that might be interested, all you or the other Sableye have to do is touch the center of this."

Withthat, she placed a pokeball on the ground between them, fully prepared for the possibility of the Sableye taking it and running off. She did not mind though, as pokeballs were very easy to replace anyway. While the Sableye was thinking, she pulled out her pokedex since it had gone off. She was surprised to see a text message, as she assumed that being underground meant the signal would not go through. Regardless, she took the time to type out a response.
Hello Basil. Sorry I'm taking so long. I'm currently in the Wet Caves and will hopefully be done soon. It might take me a while to reach town though, since I'm hurt my ankle. Sorry for making you waste time.

I didn't think its eyes could get any wider. I guess it does want another song. Basil thought to himself. It seemed like he at least had one very enthusiastic audience member. To the best of his ability, he bent down to be as eye level with the little one and smiled. "I can see you're very excited. If you could step off my shadow, it would make it much easier for me to play."

Once the Gothita stepped off his shadow as per his request, he sat back down on the bench and took the mandolin out of its case. "Now what to play..." The young noble felt compelled to do something a bit special since the little doll was so excited and waited ever so patiently. Folk was fine, but perhaps he needed to switch things up and put in some more effort. Basil smiled as a thought came to mind and he started to tap his foot to a beat. "One, two, three, one, two, three."

His fingers plucked the strings and glided along the fret board with an elegant ease, playing an upbeat jazzy waltz that would not be so out of place in a Kalosian evening. It was something that someone could dance around without having to think too hard to follow the rhythm, even for a little strange creature like the Gothita. That's when he started to sing, and no one would probably understand him because he was singing in Kalosian. Totally not because the person pulling the strings behind him was not in the mood to write lyrics. Yup. Still, one would get the vibes that it was a romantic song judging by the tone.

Basil's voice was that of a young baritone that had not fully yet matured though for now settled on the higher range. In a way, his voice was not exactly suitable for the song. It was folksy and bluesy, soulful with a smokey finish though not smokey as in raspy like a chain smoker. It was more like the feeling someone would have if they were sitting around a campfire and yet it was uncompromising, powerful. No one would think it would come out of this scrawny kid though he paid no mind to whoever passed him by. He only focused on his audience of one.

Eventually, however, the show had to end. The song came to a close and he would find himself feeling his Pokedex vibrate. Did Amelia respond? Basil glanced down at its screen and felt his blood run cold. Quickly, he shot a text back at her.

Don't move. I'm coming to get you.

His chest swelled with air and then deflated. Basil could only kick himself for leaving a little kid like her alone for so long. He glanced down at the Gothita and with an unapologetic smile said, "Sorry, but that's going to have to be my last song for now. Someone I know got hurt and I need to go help them, but..." He rummaged through his bag and held out a Pokeball for the little psychic-type. "If you don't have anywhere to go, how about you tag along? This won't be the last time I'll be playing."

He waited to see what it would do.

@Joshua Tamashii

‘Diglett!’ the Digletts happily announced, looking like proud little tiny moles sticking out of the ground for having helped Amelia with her request. They then proceeded to watch as she turned to the Sableye…

Sableye was gnawing and nibbling on the Rock Gem as Amelia sat down to talk to it. It’s eyes focused on her for the duration of the speech, the two gems for eyes unmoving as she spoke. That said, as she concluded what she said, she might see the Sableye turning its eyes towards Amelia’s bag, where she’d put the gems in.

Amelia turned her attention to her Pokédex, seeing Basil’s response and then typed a reply. When she looked back up.

‘Sable,’ the Sableye was all of a sudden right next to her, staring up at her intently while holding up pointing at the bag. As in, can I have some more?







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



__________________________

@Remram

Gothita didn’t actually step off his shadow. She just stared at him, expecting another song. Though perhaps if he suggested that she’d get a better view from in front of him, it’d work better. Regardless, he picked up his mandolin and played for the little Pokémon.

Basil played for the excited Gothita. And with that, he got the Psychic type’s eyes to stay fully widened and her little mouth to hang as she wiggled a tiny little dance to the song. Definitely appreciating the song-choice, somehow upping and style just from the language alone. He definitely got more attention than just the Pokémon, but as far as opinions that mattered, that Pokémon absolutely loved it.

‘Thia!’ the little Pokémon clapped happily with its tiny little arms as Basil finished, and his attention went to the Pokédex and then sent that message. He then addressed the little Pokémon, who looked up at him curiously as if she didn’t seem to understand what he was talking about. But, then he offered her the Pokéball.

Gothita took a moment. She then looked over towards the right, somewhere…







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.

Amelia giggled as the Digletts gave off happy cries, apparently pleased with the praise they received. It didn't take long for the Sableye to try and grab her attention, pointing to her bag for more gems. Figuring it couldn't hurt, he dug around before handing her on of the three dragon gems she had. With their deal done, the little Gremlin entered one of her pokeballs, shaking three time before clicking to confirm the capture. Within seconds though, the ball lit up before disappearing from sight, having gone to Kalmia's lab. Amelia could only hope that Sableye would like it there.

Her mission done, she returned her pokemon to their pokeballs before turning once again to the Digletts and Geodudes.
"Thank you all once again. I must be going now though. Be careful in the future and if come back, I hope we all meet again." She said to them, giving each individual pokemon a pat on the head before pulling out her Escape Rope, feeling it had been a very good purchase now. With one last wave to her new friends, she used the item, closing her eyes before finding herself outside of the Wet Caverns. She looked around before finding a rock to sit on, making sure it was not a Geodude or one of its evolutions first, before taking a seat and pulling out her pokedex and texting Basil.
Just outside of the Wet Caverns. I'll be staying there until you arrive. Sorry for the trouble She messaged him, hoping he wouldn't be too angry or annoyed.

Basil waited to see if the Gothita even would click on the ball though the Pokemon's shiftiness had not escaped his notice. His eyes trailed over to where it was looking though his attention was brought back to the little psychic-type when it tapped on the button of the Pokeball and allowed itself to be absorbed into it. The young noble smiled down at the Pokeball and them looked at his Pokedex to study up on its profile. That smile of his soon curved down and he squinted his eyes to make sure his vision was not playing tricks on him. "Level....74?" He muttered to himself while he stared at the screen.

"Huh...?" Basil leaned back on the bench. His face was that of a Slowpoke, processing in such a delayed manner that the reality had not sunken in yet. "HUH?!" He almost bowled himself forward when he sat up with a start. Understandably, he was in a confused panic. It was expected that this would have been a low leveled Pokemon. The only Pokemon that could even be in the same ballpark that he knew of were back on the lake, so it was completely unknown as to why there was just some obscenely strong, unevolved Pokemon just wandering around a town where the highest leveled Pokemon was like level twenty.

To add to his confusion, he heard the thumping of many footsteps clamoring his way that ran through the street but stopped practically right in front of him.

‘Didn’t you say you saw her around here?’
‘I did! She was around here, I know it!’
‘There’s no way any of the trainers around here would be able to capture her.’
‘If she engaged in a battle, we’d have heard it from a mile away.’
‘Grrr! Spread out! Look for her!’

It would've been unfair to say that Basil eavesdropped when they were being loud right in front of him. Who were those people anyway? Poachers? Plainclothes cops? He glanced down at the Pokeball of the newly caught Gothita. "What kind of trouble did I catch?" He asked himself as he watched the group disperse.

There was only one way that this was going to go. Whoever they were, they were going to come after him at some point. If they asked around, they were going to find for someone that would give them his general physical description; white hair, yellow eyes, piercings, a bracer on one arm, and a bloody sleeve on a purple hooded jacket lined with white fur. Frankly speaking, he stood out like a sore thumb. Curse his desire for individuality! At the first chance he could get, he needed to skip town.

His Pokedex buzzed and saw that Amelia had sent him a message again. Quickly, he responded, We've got a problem. I'll explain when I pick you up.

He sent Lupin, the Sneasel, to the PC and looked down at the Pokeball that contained the Gothita. "This is a bad idea, but we need to talk. First though, get Amelia." Quickly, he packed up his instrument and pulled his hood over his head in hopes that would at least help him blend in as much as he could and sneak through the town to get to Route 2 and then hopefully wind his way down to the Wet Caverns.

---

---

And dodge Paradise did. Making a big leap, she hung in the air long enough with Skylar and Owlfred on her back that she dodged the Sand Tomb before landing with a thud, still trucking along. Seeing the conflict arising, Skylar stepped off the Tropius and over to the side. Pokemon Battles shouldn't involve their trainers unless they absolutely have to. That, and he didn't want to get hit again.

"Owlfred, stay near Paradise and try to learn what you can. I didn't expect your first battle to be like this, but here we are!" Skylar snapped his hands and pointed his cane forward. "Paradise! Razor Leaf the crowd!" Skylar guided Paradise to her first action, Forge running back around and standing guard of Skylar himself. This seemed like one of those Kalosian battles Skylar heard about... a horde battle? Was that what it was called?

"Man, I wish we had Seabreeze here. I'm sure these are Ground types at least!" Skylar looked up at the rest of the area, unable to decipher his Wingull from the sky due to his vision. Crap.