---

Location: Ancient Grove
Mentions: @Pyromania99

“No.” The woman would retort with a small smile. “I have one last Cryptic little thing to tell you, Miss Yasu. What you have lost, has returned to the start.” Leah would clap her hands. “Now, a gift to commemorate our first meeting. You are all trainers, yes?”

Taking the card, Isla turned it over a few times in her hand, looking over the thing as the woman talked. It seemed to be a genuinely normal card, all things considered, gold laminated with a little…she didn’t know what the specific Pokémon was, but a sleeping Pokémon on it. She talked about an old friend or something along that line, a friend that had drifted off and away. Waiting on a friend and never receiving guests…something was up with the woman, had to be, yet Isla couldn’t quite figure out what.

She pocketed the card, mumbling a ‘thank you’ amid all the back-and-forth between the woman and Yasu. The latter seemed full of some amount of…annoyance and disdain, the tension enough to cut the air, and Isla didn’t really feel like interrupting that sort of thing with some form of positivity or…something. It just felt wrong, she couldn’t formulate the real reason why. Nevertheless, as they watched Leah walk off, Camila spoke.

"Well, that's nice. You got a VIP card to that hotel then."

"Right now that that lady is gone, what were you looking for here, exactly? Anything we can help find? The place looks rather destroyed."

If I ever want to stop there. “Yeah uh…yeah. What did she mean, anyways, that…what was lost returned to the beginning? Seemed to have a hint of things.”

---

Route 5
@PKMNB0Y

“Sneasel, Taunt!” It was fast. The Sneasel was fast, to be expected really. Before Luna could get off its glare, the Poison type grinned, closing the distance between it and the Snivvy in a near instant, a smug grin on its mouth as it raised its claws -

“Sneas-!” And shoved her right over, forcing her to faceplant into the ground. Needless to say, the taunt would stop Luna from using any non-offensive moves from three turns. Supposing the taunt remained effective or had its intended effect, but it seemed the Sneasel was content to bully the grass type, effectively rendering Richards' turn here useless.

“How Uncouth! I didn’t get to show off in our battle earlier, Richard, but allow me to do so now. Verdue! Leech seed!”

“Sprrri-!” Sprigatito hopped forward, just as the Sneasel had finished bullying Luna, several seeds being fired from its mouth, impacting the Hisuian Sneasels body, green vines immediately wrapping around it.

“Tch-”

“Ahaha, they got you good with that, Bea. Alright, lets see if we can’t end this fast eh? Pawniard, Fury Cutter, take out that Sprigatito!” The Pawniard dashed forward, its blades growing a off green color. Unable to dodge in time, Verdue took the burnt of the blow as the blade slashed across its body for Super Effective damage.

“Verdue-mngh-You’ll pay for that you cretin!” Thankfully the damage wasn’t excessively bad…yet, but one or two more Fury Cutters and that would be the end of it. The only saving grace, was that Sneasel audibly growled, flinching as the vines sapped its life and Verdue was healed a bit by it. “Richard, I think we should focus on taking out that Sneasel. I can have Munchlax occupy that Pawniard while you take care of it.”

Stellar Toy Factory
@Vertigo@XxFellsingxX@Savo

Just as Yuu made his ever so insightful deduction, there was the sound of another machine starting up. Something like an engine, perhaps…and just as Chloe wanted, it did indeed, show itself. It was a forklift. An old machine that had been left behind…the only perhaps, issue was, that it had no one sitting in the driver seat as it turned down the aisles. The rattata dove out of the way, mostly unharmed, save for all of them getting a good scare.

“Ow-ow, hey, watch it some people are trying to sleep, you banshee.” Camphors voice chimed in from the dex. “Eh…oh. Ah. I think I see whats going on. Yep, that Forklift is currently possessed by a Rotom. Actually…mhm…if…I’m correct, its somehow gotten into the wiring for this entire place-oh, yeah no it has. Clarissa's found it. Seems like its primarily in the control room...though to reach it it looks like you'll need to avoid that first and get up stairs.”

The forklift, was indeed, now slowly starting to accelerate towards the group.

Stellar Toy Factory
@Crusader Lord

Aside from her own words, the only noises in the room was the hum of machinery and mechanical clicks from various buttons and levers occasionally flicking back and forth. Whatever it was, didn’t seem all that interested in her to start with, until she started reaching out with her telepathy.

“Ro-ro-ro-” A distorted laugh buzzed over the warehouses intercom system. A TV screen blinked on, and on it, was a slightly fuzzy and distorted image of a -



The Rotom’s eyes flicked towards the pokedex, but didn’t seem all too interested in it for the moment, content to stay where it was for now, laughing again in a somewhat taunting seeming fashion.



Ancient Grove
@Pyromania99@Thayr

“I already told you,” Yasu responded gruffly. “I was looking for information on Celebi.” Her gaze shifted to Isla mid sentence before starting to walk. “Like I know, that woman talked in way too many riddles.” Being unfriendly as ever, though this would cause Hatty to hop onto Yasu’s shoulder, and proceed to aggressively poke her cheek with one of its feet. “Hey-you stop that…tch, whatever. I’m heading home. Come with or not, I don’t care any more I’m done hanging around here…” Yasu grabbed Hatty in her arms, the pokemon now pouting as the pair walked off. “Especially if that…Heracross is still around.”

Well, the pair would be free to follow Yasu back to the old temple if they wanted too, though she didn’t seem like she was going to budge on talking about what happened or pursuing this line of questioning further.

"Ah, crap."

Richard swore lightly under his breath as the battle began to unfold in front of him. The Sneasel's taunt was, unfortunately enough, the exact thing to stop his and Luna's standard strategy in its tracks. The Grass Snake Pokémon floundered about for a brief moment as it's flow was disrupted, but it didn't take long for it to her back up with what felt like a rare desire to repay it's aggressor in kind.

For what it was worth, the situation wasn't wholly out of his control; losing access to his primary strategy just meant having to improvise a new one on the fly.

"Focus the Sneasel? Sure, I can work with that," the Trainer remarked before calling out to Luna. "Luna, Vine Whip into Wrap! Aim for the limbs!"

Without so much as a sound in response, two whiplike vines shot out towards the Sneasel from Luna's body. The Pokémon seemed wholly intent on repaying what damage had been done to its still-burgeoning pride, though to what extent it could improvise remained to be seen.

@Rune_Alchemist

---

Location: Ancient Grove
Mentions: @Pyromania99

“I already told you, I was looking for information on Celebi. Like I know, that woman talked in way too many riddles.”

“Hey-you stop that…tch, whatever. I’m heading home. Come with or not, I don’t care any more I’m done hanging around here…Especially if that…Heracross is still around.”

Isla paused, looking back at the priestess with a frown on her face. She’d gone to the grove specifically to see parts of it, not to just…arrive, talk to a random woman whose actual purposes for such weren’t entirely clear, and leave because Pokémon nearby were more or less annoyed by the existence of people. What had caused it? Would just…running back to the temple at Pines End really solve it? Something had happened, the young girl was pretty sure about that, and just…walking between points surely wouldn’t turn it back.

“What? Well, we should…look around here, shouldn’t we? Isn’t that why we came here?” She turned back to look over the grove, nodding slowly to herself while continuing on speaking. Walking over to get a closer look, Isla’s tone was a forced sort of steady, especially with how the encounter with that Heracross had gone. Sure, they had fended it off, but they hadn’t beaten it per-say. Yasu’s mention of it had set her back on edge just a bit. “I mean, I thought we went here to look at this shrine, see if there was anything around.”

Swiper, for his part, had bounded forward about where the woman, where Leah had been standing just before. Pausing just a moment and looking back, he began to look about the area as though to see if the woman had dropped something, anything, a frantic sort of energy to the whole issue. Dancing, though, kept to the fringe before walking up to the cut pillar, smelling about it before whining lightly. There was annoyance to be found in the fact that there weren’t any berries about the grove, despite it being named so, weren’t any berries about the clearing, and he trotted out and away from the fallen pillar towards Isla.

“Maybe it’s the grove itself. That it’s knocked over and broken and…burned?” The young girl leaned a bit as she closed the distance with the shrine. What did the burns mean? Why were they there? Who did them? Isla didn’t recall any sorts of Pokémon that burned markings into their territory as a marking, or even burned markings into other locations. Was it done by a person? Would that sort of defacement cause Celebi to…well, she didn’t quite know. Leave? Withdraw a blessing? Stop talking? Surely something as mythical as Celebi would understand forgiveness or…well, again, Isla didn’t quite know. Wouldn’t it, though? That all still assumed that burned markings, a destroyed grove, would be the actual cause for the problems?

“What did it look like last time?” She called back to Yasu, thinking the priestess had been there before. Surely she’d visited before, she knew where it was and everything. Maybe it looked the same then, but the problem hadn’t yet come up. Isla really wasn’t sure. Of course, then Dancing had finally intercepted her, thudding with some force against Isla’s leg before looking out and about for the girl to start walking in a semi-dance. Pausing, in part to look at the shrine again, in part to fish out a bag of semi-sweet strawberry bits, Isla opened it to drop one to the Eevee. Catching it in his mouth before it fell to the ground, Dancing took a step back, looking up at his trainer expectantly.

Isla popped one in her mouth, hemming and hawing. “Camila, did the professor ever…mention this site or anything?”

---

Looking down at her Dex had certainly given her more than just audio this time around, it seemed, though admittedly she hadn't paid as much attention to the screen before either. It was her first day with the device after all!

But a....miniature version of Professor Camphor? This multi-purpose device the Professor had given each of them certianly was something, more advanced than a lot of things she had expected. But the fact it was a wild Rotom of all things was certainly a surprise, mostly as she hadn't known such a Pokemon existed before coming to Eidda. The mini-Camphor had also made a good point, as she had learned about the Rotom Dex and Rotom Phone eventually as well after coming to Eidda for that matter. Orre had been....it was a small place, in a sense. The fringes. Dangerous, yet trying to grow and improve. Suffered from a history of 'Shadow Pokemon' and such chaos. So coming to Eidda had really been an eye-opener in ways now that she thought about it-

-Wait! Maybe that could work? Or something. Er, she did feel a bit bad about some of what had just popped into her head, but maybe it would be enough. In the end she now had a plan, at least, for the moment being now.

Clarissa simply hoped that her gut instincts were somewhat right about this. But, for now, just the first step. Either way, if this wasn't solved none of them were getting out of here she imagined...

...and so for the moment she'd try to pull up the mini-Camphor again, maybe somehow get it to stay on the screen or such if she could and get it to react. Something. Something to make it look like something fun to mess with, perhaps, if she could. Rotom was having fun, it seemed, with all of this right now. Right?

"I'll admit, you have us all rather trapped right now....no way to escape. And all I have here is this device from Professor Camphor, admittedly, though it does have a little version of her that seems to like popping up now and then when Pokemon appear. Though I've never seen such a device like this one before either really."

She hadn't ever seen one like this before, but she'd heard of a Pokedex and a few such things before at the very least. It was certianly interesting, and ever since coming to Eidda she'd been able to see a lot without even having to go that far as compared to Orre! Albeit it was also nerve-wracking, being as distant as this from the place she'd known as home for so long. But...

"You also seem to be having quite a lot of fun here, actually, though I can only imagine what it's like to control a whole factory like this. Where I came from originally, there was mostly a wasteland and a lot of nothing but dangerous people and not even that many Pokemon to play with. Not much to do for fun but ride motorcycles or watch Pokemon battles, and I didn't even get to be a part of either of those things for that matter."

She had never gotten a Pokemon of her own to train with, learn with, or the like until Sir Lopsalot had found his way into her life. She had never ridden the cool hovercycles going around, even though she had always wanted to. She'd played games with the kids, watched battles on occasion in the colosseum, and once she came to Agate Villge for a while she'd talked to some adults as well. A lot of adults, actually, and mostly being trained as her grandmother had tried to help her out with her powers. It had been terrifying really, but not much fun to be had in any case aside from being pleased to show off her progress to her teachers now and then while feeling as is she was having to hold back the happiness to avoid losing control again. Not as terrifying as leaving either...

"There's a lot of things I never got to see or fun I got to have while I lived back in Orre, actually, looking back at it all. Only when my family moved here to Eidda have I gotten to see more things, and honestly I....I....I didn't want to leave Orre at all. I was content to stay back there, with what I knew, with what was familiar, because I had no idea what was in store or what things would be like once I left."

The psychic lightly bit her lower lip without thinking as she spoke now. It was...she didn't like admitting that. At all. It hurt a bit, and was something she hadn't even told her mother and father as they'd ushered her along to Eidda and such for the ride. Orre was a dangerous place, yes, but they'd been able to have such a comfortable little life. Places she knew inside and out just from being a kid there, really, and people she'd become acquainted with at Agate Village and Pyrite Town respectively. Good people. Some fun people even. Things she had enjoyed a good bit really, before her parents had made them leave for 'better shores'. She....hadn't liked it as a concept.

But, well, Sir Lopsalot had come all this way as likely a little stowaway of sorts, right? She'd not thought much about it, but he had to be some kind of brave to get as far as he had before she'd found him.

"Bun?"

Sir Lopsalot raised an eye curiously at what his trainer was saying, though he could feel the twinge of something from Clarissa as she spoke about not wanting to have left Orre a good bit back then. The stress he could feel from her back then. The sadness about getting onto that boat. The fear about going away to a whole new region. He'd heard it time and time again in private with her. But what was she getting at here and now by talking about this? Even so, the male Buneary would almost instinctuallly lightly pat her on the head to try to comfort her a little with its little left arm.

"But had I done that, had I stayed back in Orre as I so wanted to do back then, I'd never have been able to start this journey today either I'd imagine. Nor would I have been able to find the excitement of a place like this, a battle like I and Sir Lopsalot had with that Murkrow back there, to get a device like this one in my hand, and have the chance at meeting a Pokemon like yourself or your Gastly friend! And there's much more beyond this we're going to head out and see as well, so much more I don't know for sure what we'll run into really.

What I mean to say with all of this is.....I'm genuinely curious. Are you truly happy and content just staying here? Content to have fun with just the machinery in this one little factory, without seeing what other devices and electronics and places and things lie outside of just this to discover and play around with to your heart's content?"

@Rune_Alchemist

Route 5
@PKMNB0Y

“Alright, Verdue. Munchlax! Show them how we greet those who interrupt our tea-time!” The plan was simple, really. Laurel recalled her Sprigatito, switching in her Munchlax. The gluttonous pokemon in question hopped onto the battlefield, curiously looking at Pawniard and Sneasel both. “Keep that Pawniard off Luna!”

“Too slow. Sneasel, Rocksmash!” Sneasel dashed, running full speed ahead towards the Snivvy. Luna would barely have time to get off a vine whip, let alone a wrap as the pokemons claws glowed white, slamming into the Snivvy’s body and sending the other pokemon stumbling back. Bea’s Sneasel cackled aggressively - just as it would find a vine whipping into its arms, the vine wrapping around the Poison types arms and body, earning aggressive, annoyed cries as the pokemon was wrapped up.

“Not bad, kiddo, Pawniard…another Fury Cutter. That Munchlax wants to tango, we can dance all you want, miss.” Pawniard sharpened its blades again, making a beeline right for the Munchlax. Montgomery had nothing but confidence, it seemed as the Pawniard struck Munchalx’s stomach, earning a somewhat confused, but pained grunt from the pokemon.

Not that the damage amounted to a whole lot, though, as a good portion would be healed from the Leech Seed on Sneasel.



Stellar Toy Factory
@Crusader Lord

“H-hey. What do you think you’re doing? I’m a valuable and expensive piece of equipment!” The mini Camphor would complain as Clarissa held out the pokedex. “This is my home, you little brat. You think I want uninvited guests?! Well, on the other hand it’d be a unique opportunity to study a Rotom up close…mmngh…” The AI didn’t seem to be too opposed to the idea, but she didn’t seem on board, either.

“Ro?” The Rotom itself, though, did seem intrigued by the device in front of it. As Clarissa continued to talk, its eyes seemed to slowly look around the room, out the window, slowly circling back to Clarissa and the device. She could tell it was at least curious? Intrigued? It didn’t seem like it was opposed to the idea of leaving.

But it also seemed wary and cautious.

“Bzzt-Ro.” It seemed content here, certainly. It had a whole factory, it had its own little fun messing with the pokemon here, and it had whatever it wanted, really.

“I’d have to put up some fire walls, maybe partition some of the device…since the pokedex doesn’t have the functionality of a Rotom dex, it’d basically just be a glorified pokeball…” Camphor continued to mutter audibly, ignoring both Clarissa and the Rotom now, as she’d pace back and forth across the screen, a few pixelated equations floating around her head as she’d stop in front of a whiteboard, and start scribbling out some highly complex looking diagrams.

“...Ro!”

“Weh-!”

Having made up its mind, suddenly the entire facility started powering down. Well, more like every switch was flipped off, and every conveyor belt was slowed to a halt as the Rotom zapped itself from the TV Monitor to the Pokedex.

“Oi-you pest-stop that!”

The pokedex vibrated violently in Clarissa’s hand. The screen blinked and buzzed, the audio.

briefly becoming distorted as the pokedex suddenly shut off completely.

Well, it was probably fine. The magnetic locks on the doors disengaged, allowing Clarissa to leave. It’d be easy enough to take the closer stairs down to the warehouse floor and meet up with the others, now.

Notably, she hadn’t technically caught the Rotom yet. It was just living in her pokedex for the moment.



Ancient Grove
@Pyromania99@Thayr

“You guys wanted to look at the shrine, not me! Coming here is always asking for trouble!” Yasu shouted back. She was already quite a distance away now, slowly disappearing into the forest behind the trees and foliage. Seemed like she was well and truly done with this place for now. She only stopped long enough to reply to Isla’s question. “Exactly like this! What do you expect? Just less destroyed. Tsk, when my parents find out they’re going to have words for that hag…”

Swiper, though, would find something a bit interesting. Scurrying across the roughed up ground, following his nose as he’d scamper across the grass and earth, eventually it would lead him to the Shrine itself. One of the doors was open, just slightly. Normally it’d be closed and locked, but it looked like either the woman or someone else had broken it some time ago, leaving one of the doors open.

Inside, was an old scrap of paper it looked like…with an old, photo of a family in a glass frame. It was weathered with age, but remarkably well preserved, save for part of the drawing being cut off over a little girl's face. A wooden tablet with a prayer for safety was sitting nearby along with a little hand drawn carving of Celebi.

Didn’t seem like much else was here, though. The woman, Leah, didn’t seem to have dropped anything.

Assuming the two left, following after Yasu relatively quickly they’d make their way back to Pines End without trouble. Yasu gruffly would return to the temple, unaware of Isla finding anything in the shrine unless told. Maybe it’d be a good idea to check on her. Otherwise, there was still the Hotel that Isla now had a VIP card too, but there wasn’t any more immediate pressing matters to tend to, now.

Though he winced when Luna took the brunt of the Rock Smash to the face, Richard quickly righted himself—and just in time to notice that Luna's one-two combo had managed to land without issue otherwise.

That was one benefit to having an enemy willingly close the distance, at least.

At this point, though, there really wasn't much else to be done; caught in the Wrap as it was, the enemy Sneasel was more or less forced out of combat. That didn't mean that they could simply wait for it to be choked into fainting, though; with the advantage they now had, it only made sense to try and keep that momentum up.

"Luna, keep whacking it in the head with Vine Whip, and don't loosen your grip for anything!" Richard called out. The Snivy nodded her head in response and, as requested, began to slap at the bound Sneasel's face.

There were other ways of brutalizing the opponent, of course, but seeing as how he didn't know the extent to which Luna could move a bound target, Richard chose to reserve any more aggressive callouts for emergencies. Hopefully Laurel could keep the Pawniard occupied long enough for them to beat the Sneasel down—or, well, maybe even help with that so that Luna could tag out sooner than not.

There was only so much she could do against this specific combination of opponents, after all.

@Rune_Alchemist

Even Clarissa had to admit that she was trying something without the certainty of success, really, to try to convince the thing or at least get the Dex' to maybe give out something helpful or do something interseting to make itself a 'nice target' to entice the Rotom to at least investigate it. And it would be this lattermost point that would seem to spark something to occur at the very least, it seemed, as the psychic tried to ad-lib her way through things as best as she could in the moment.

“H-hey. What do you think you’re doing? I’m a valuable and expensive piece of equipment!” The mini Camphor would complain as Clarissa held out the pokedex. “This is my home, you little brat. You think I want uninvited guests?! Well, on the other hand it’d be a unique opportunity to study a Rotom up close…mmngh…”

"Sorry..."

....Well the mini-Camphor cetainly seemed like the normal one just a bit more now, given that reaction. Not that it wasn't a mini version of the professor for nothing! Not that it didn't make her feel a bit bad about doing this, but otherwise they'd all be trapped in here! Etc, etc. Though if the Rotom wished to come along, well, her offer was still genuine despite her haste in making it. She certainly wasn't lying to it, that much was for sure

“Ro?”

“Bzzt-Ro.”

Ah. It seemed curious about the Dex' in her hands, at the very least, though it didn't seem too fussed to move either still for the moment being. At least it was not nothing though? Certainly.

Well, the Rotom seemed content and happy enough about its situation here for the most part from what the psychic could tell. Couldn't blame it for feeling like that either.....even if it made her feel a bit embarassed to have spilled one of her own secrets like that in trying to convince it. What had she been thinking?! Albeit she could understand being a bit 'wary' about things as that emotion came across to her via her psychic powers, at least given what the whole situation was and how it was all going down so suddenly and otherwise. She'd be wary and hesitant herself, really, if she had to relive that situation all over again somewhat. But still, she had to admit to herself that, like she'd said aloud to the Rotom, coming to Eidda had honestly given her and Sir Lopsalot the opportunity to-

“I’d have to put up some fire walls, maybe partition some of the device…since the pokedex doesn’t have the functionality of a Rotom dex, it’d basically just be a glorified pokeball…” Camphor continued to mutter audibly, ignoring both Clarissa and the Rotom now, as she’d pace back and forth across the screen, a few pixelated equations floating around her head as she’d stop in front of a whiteboard, and start scribbling out some highly complex looking diagrams.

Eh? She hadn't expected that to come out, but it did make her raise an eyebrow as Sir Lopsalot looked down at the talking Mini-Camphor as well out of his own curiosity now. Well maybe that could work if the Rotom got in, but she also didn't want to spook the poor thing either. Make it fearful. Etc. It was at least happy here, so even though some part of her wished it would come along she didn't want to trick the Rotom either. If it came along, she wanted to treat it well to try to convince it to stick with her and become one of her Pokemon. That was her general intent, really, even if that meant probably going out and showing it some cool things even she was nervous about or such. Ugh.....yeah, that was a bit of a reminder. She still needed to go to that contest she'd been given the VIP ticket for.

“...Ro!”

“Weh-!”

Having made up its mind, suddenly the entire facility started powering down. Well, more like every switch was flipped off, and every conveyor belt was slowed to a halt as the Rotom zapped itself from the TV Monitor to the Pokedex.

“Oi-you pest-stop that!”

The pokedex vibrated violently in Clarissa’s hand. The screen blinked and buzzed, the audio briefly becoming distorted as the pokedex suddenly shut off completely.

Clarissa almost jumped out of her skin as the sudden shift of the Rotom between the factory around her and into her Dex' came in a moment that felt almost like it came out of nowhere. It was enough to cause the psychic to jump, falling back on the floor even as her but hit the old floor with a 'thud'. Yet as the flash of movement and electricity stopped, and the room and machinery slowed down to a stop in the newly-wrought darkness she sat in, the psychic sat there and slowly blinked for a moment as she tried to process things. Not a word had left her lips, or even a sound, despite her jumping.....but even Sir Lopsalot seemed mildly dizzy for his part while getting up off of the floor as well. Albeit he did so after having fallen off of her shoulder, before rolling back into the door behind his trainer with a much softer and smaller 'thud'. It was only when Clarissa took a few seconds to take in and let out a slow, deep breath that she beganto stand as her starting partner Pokemon walked over and hopped back up on her right shoulder once more.

She got the feeling the Rotom had decided something, or rather had made up its mind on her offer somewhat, after seeing more of the mini-Camphor A.I. operating in her Dex' there. Or something of the sort. Still, the girl held up her Dex', which had fallen onto the table as she'd jumped, gently holding it and looking the powered-off device over for damage. Nope. Not even a scratch was on it, really, despite it all.

...Whew.

"...Well then, ah, welcome aboard little one. You're welcome to stay as long as you wish, though I must find some more food for yourself and the others now after heading to the Contest Hall for this evening. I owe you that much at the very least."

It was just living inside of her Pokedex for the time being, not being a caught and captured Pokemon. But, well, it was a start at least! And that much Clarissa felt glad for as she tried to parse what had happened. Either way she'd try her best to be good to the little Rotom, in hopes it'd join her formally sooner or later. Hopefully. For now, though, she needed to get her Murkrow and reunite with the others for the time being. Then came having to go to the Contest Hall and such once they left....though she felt a bit bad they hadn't managed to get to her or her to them already either. Almost felt like she'd run through this whole situation in a hurry while her rescuers had also been trapped in here too in all likeliness.

Well, one thing at a time then. Just like her grandmother had told her. Breathe in and out. Ok.

"Ah, you are welcome to come with us as well, Gastly. If you wish to, I mean. I've a lot of jerky in that one bag my father gave me as well, and you seem to enjoy it."

Picking up her captured Murkrow in its Pokeball, after having made her offer to the watching Gastly verbally and by trying to reach out a little to it with her psychic powers, Clarissa would attach the Pokeball to her belt. There it would also sit in the 'second slot' position in her team, having been placed right next to the empty Pokeball that was Sir Lopsalot's if he wanted to take a rest in it or was forced to after fainting. That was at least one Murkrow, and one new tentative friend or traveling compatriot of sorts somewhat, with her and Sir Lopsalot now for the time being. Even so, the girl would turn her eyes to the door she'd come in before looking to the new route that had opened up to her. Those closer stairs led down to the others, right?

Thus the psychic would begin to walk to the closer stairs, moving with the aim to go reunite with her rescue party. Hopefully they would be, or had been, ok enough thus far at least.

"Bun. Bun bun, bunbun bun."

True, Sir Lopsalot had a point there. It could have gone just a strange for them as this had all been for her so far too. They'd just have to go to them and see, really, to make that determination in the end.

@PKMNB0Y@Vertigo@XxFellsingxX@Savo

Camila just escorted Yasu back to Pine's End. She didn't seem to have any more reason to be here and Yasu seemed to have enough trouble getting here without freaking out, she might as well finish up this little job. She couldn't live with herself if some Poochyena cornered her until some trainer came and helped her out. If they did get attacked on the way back, it wouldn't hurt to get another friend. Perhaps if that Heracross made an act two of it's attack, she would be able to capture it. It was quite strong too, so it wouldn't be a bad addition to the team, though, for Yasu's sake, it'd be best to not run into it. "Well, I'll escort you back Yasu. Just in case."

Regardless of how she felt about it, they returned to town rather easily. She walked Yasu to her house, considering she had little else to do at the moment. "And here you go. Home sweet home for you two." Ace had been flying about the whole time since the Shrine and Camila raised an arm for the bird to comfortably land on. It seemed happy and cooed a bit. "That was mostly uneventful aside the Heracross and that Leah woman. I don't know if we really learned anything about Celebi or the shrine though. Other than the state it was in." Which was dreadful by Camila's thoughts on the matter. She shook her head. "I don't really have any other real leads on it right now though, so I don't know if I'll be all too much help for you with that."

Camila thought about her next move. She had a feeling that Leah woman was involved with the Shrine but... She really didn't know how much she wanted to get involved with her. "Hmm...." Perhaps she'd just move on to the next location toward Peltra, Route 3. Maybe then she could decide between heading west toward Grievor and heading back toward home. "I think I'm going to be heading on my way though, Yasu. Perhaps you'd want to trade contact information? I'm going to be traveling here and there, so I might hear some information you'll want."

---

Location: Ancient Grove
Mentions: @Pyromania99

Swiper was, per the usual Nickit nature, exceptionally happy with his find. After all, it was something no one else had, at least not that he knew, and it looked interesting enough. A pause to look over what exactly it was confirmed that much, a framed image with a face cut away, as well as a wooden tablet, a carving of a Pokémon he didn’t entirely recognize. A pause and a pace around; he couldn’t take both, that was for certain, and so it came down to which exactly Swiper did want to take. One or the other, one or the other…smell them, wipe a paw against the surface, the Nickit hemmed and hawed enough that Isla had grown curious at his delay.

She entered warily enough, even as Yasu grew quieter and quieter in the distance, kneeling down to look over the finds. Well, interesting. an exhale, just a bit, as she drew out here Pokédex…it had sounded like Camila had also run back with Yasu, probably to keep her company in case the Heracross came back around. Ah. She paused, device in hand, considering exactly what had just happened while feeling her heart quickly drop. They’d left her alone, off from the main trail, while strangely aggressive Pokémon were willing to willy-nilly attack out of nowhere.

Well, thanks a lot I guess. A deep breath out, deep breath. Yeah, sure, it’d be fine. She’d run from Pokémon before. Yeah, it’d be fine. Yeah.

Isla tapped away at the device, messaging Camila. It should have service out in the forest, shouldn’t it? The Professor hadn’t mentioned the Dex messing up too much outside, in the wild, and besides that they weren’t really out in the wild that far…it should work. She’d said it wouldn’t connect if they were deep underground, Isla remembered that much. Swiper, meanwhile, was still contemplating which exactly would be his prize, moving about left and right.

>> Ask Yasu if a photo of family w/ little girl’s face cut out means anything. Also, prayer tablet with Celebi carving. <<

---

Route 5
@PKMNB0Y

Sneasel took another vine whip right to the face, the pokemon growling in annoyance. Bound as it was, it couldn’t move as fast as it had and it was definitely hurting. Bea, remained calm, though, and didn’t miss a second.

“Hmph. Sneasel, close that distance immediately! Quick attack!”

Snarling, the Sneasel would duck low, avoiding one of Luna’s vines, closing the distance btween the two of them in seconds. Now within its attack range, Luna would find the Sneasels head meeting her own, deciding to use its head as the best quick attack candidate that it had sending Luna reeling and doubly so freeing itself from the wrap.

“Sneas…”

Not that it would change the result. The vines wrapped around the Sneasel’s body once again, sapped its health as the Sneasel struggled to stand. The Leech seed hadn’t finished it off, but one more attack seemed like the Sneasel was going down for the count. Luna seemed like she was doing fine, thanks to the leech seed but she was definitely hurting a bit.

“That leech seed really got ya, eh Bea?”

“Shut up.”

“Pawniard, another Fury Cutter! Don’t let up not for a second!”

“Paawn!”

Running forward, the Pawniard’s blades were once again poised to strike.

“Munchlax, defense curl!” There was no way Munchlax was avoiding the strike, the best she could do was hope that she could hold it off until Snivvy dealt with that Sneasel and keep buffing Munchlaxes defense.

“Muuunch-!” Munchalx jumped lightly into the air, curling its body and tucking its legs and arms around itself making it almost look like a little blue ball. The Pawniard’s claws struck, sending Munchlax rolling along the ground.

“Ngh, that fury cutter’s no joke…Munchlax you alright!?”

“L-lax…” Munchlax unrolled itself, not having any time to collect itself as the Pawniard was already running at it again, another Fury cutter at the ready…



Stellar Toy Factory
@Crusader Lord@Vertigo@XxFellsingxX@Savo

Gastly laughed, shook its spherical body, and then promptly left through the floor.

Seemed like it didn’t wanna come along.

The factory had now since powered down, the humming and whirring machinery having powered down and falling into dormancy once again. The stairs would lead down to an old meeting room of some sort, and after leaving through another set of double doors she’d find herself standing firmly on the warehouse floor now.

She could see the others here…and a crashed Forklift, having barreled through one of the doors.

Well, seemed this place was rendered just a bit safer now and she could probably leave without too many other problems now.

Pines End - > Route 3
@Pyromania99

“You…want to trade contact info-Hey!” Before Yasu could predictably reject such an idea, Hatty would grab Yasu’s own phone from her pocket, levitate it up to herself and put in whatever number Camila told her. “...whatever, fine, Hatty, if you want to make friends. And no, I don’t know anything about that.” Yasu stepped inside of the temple again, grumbling to herself as the door creaked shut behind her. Seemed she wasn’t being any friendlier now, and she wanted to be left alone. Might not be a good idea to immediately press the issue.

So with nothing else to do in Pines End, Camila would head on, heading out of the northern end of the town and heading onto…



The climate here was warm, and pleasant. A breeze swept across the lush green plains and farmland that extended from the forest around Pines End all the way to the central plains. The fields here were where a good majority of regional produce was made, with berries, plants, and similar things being made with the help of pokemon and good old fashioned human elbow grease.

A few farmhouses dotted the landscape between small clusters of trees and farmland. In the distance, along the coast was an odd looking, oddly modern building. A telescoping lens extended from a domed ceiling, several meters out and into the air, peering at the sky. Around it was a fenced off area with several warnings around it and what seemed to be weather equipment. In a larger building nearby, a large radar dish slowly turned. An observatory or weather station of some kind?

*Beep.

Her phone beeped. Yasu had sent her a text.



Well, that was probably as much positivity and friendliness she was getting out of Yasu for the moment.



Secluded Grove
@Thayr

---

Isla, was alone now.

In a secluded grove, far away from help or anyone else should she find herself being accosted by a pokemon again. It was probably fine. This section of the forest was oddly quiet, either naturally or as a result of whatever had done the damage here earlier.

Rustle rustle…

A few leaves in a nearby bush shifted audibly. Someone was moving in the bush.

“Buuu…?”



A little budew poked its head out of the bush, seemingly drawn here by the noise and commotion earlier. It froze upon seeing Isla and the two foxes.

While not as centered upon slowly grinding the opponent into the ground, Richard couldn't really deny how this new improvised method of attacking was panning out. Something like this—forcing a 2v2 into a pair of 1v1s—would probably be worth examining in the future, but the young man quickly brought his focus back towards the battle at hand. With the Sneasel slowly being worn down by the Leech Seed and Wrap on top of the continued barrage of Vine Whips, taking a few smaller blows here and there wouldn't really amount to much after the fact.

A quick glance at the Munchlax at Luna's side, however, showed that the situation wasn't as ideal as the Trainer might have otherwise preferred. The Pawniard that had since been left to run rampant was quickly becoming a problem, and it was only a matter of time before it folded to the pressure.

Given how Laurel's plan seemed to center around turning the fight into a 2v1, though, Richard quickly came to the conclusion that using the opponent to speed things up in the interim was a good an idea as any to do so.

"Luna! Use the Sneasel as a shield for Munchlax and block that attack!" he ordered—and the Snivy he had asked to do so seemed more than happy to oblige.

Maybe that Taunt had done a bit more than just block off any debilitating moves, for better or worse...

@Rune_Alchemist

---

Location: Abandoned Stellar Toy Co. Factory Mentions: @Savo @Rune_Alchemist @Vertigo @Crusader Lord

---

Jill tilted her head as Yuu explained what exactly they were up against. "Rotom?" she said. That Pokemon sounded vaguely familiar to her, though admittedly she sometimes got the names mixed up in her head. There were so many of them, after all, it could hard to keep track of who was what.

However, she didn't have time to dwell on this before the forklift sprung to life and came barrelling towards them. She tensed, ready to summon all her strength to pull herself and Chloe out of the way, and hoped that Yuu and the other Pokemon would be quick enough to dodge as well. However, before it could hit them, the forklift suddenly swerved to the side, missing all of them and crashing into one of the far walls.

"... Huh!" was Jill could say for the moment as she stared at the vehicle. Somewhat anticlimactic, but at least no one was hurt, and that was the main thing. She then glanced towards the stairs, and, if she saw Clarissa, she would raise her free hand to wave at the other girl. "Hi!" Jill said cheerfully. "We're here to save you!"

Well, that was actually kind of adorable. Yasu could manage to get out a "Thanks" over text at least. It got a smile out of Camila at least. She typed up a reply really quick.

It's no problem, Yasu. I was more than happy to help out a cute little pair like you and Hatty. I'll make sure to come visit sometime. Realistically, my home's not too far away either way. I live in the city for now, but my parent's house is in Verlisa so I'm not too far away either way. Let me know if you ever need anything :)

"And send." Camila mentioned after sending the message off with a smile. With that done, she could move on. She was now on route 3 and it was very pretty out here. First thing first though. As she continued her journey, she would probably need some more Pokemon to help defend herself from wild Pokemon or other malicious forces like those thugs from Route 1 earlier. Well, hopefully she'd find something pretty cute. Hmm... Perhaps she should have bought more Pokeballs but, she had enough for now. It wouldn't be too late to go buy more later.

Was-....ah. Seemed more than just the doors and computers had been a source of fun for the Rotom. A forklift, surprisingly, was crashed and seemed to have burst through one of the doors to boot. To say the least it was a concerning thing....but while it made her worry some about her would-be rescuers, and hoow things could've gone perhaps, it didn't make her regret her offer to the Rotom either. Albeit it was a bit ironic that, potentially, she'd maybe just saved the people who had come to save her. Maybe. Either way, Sir Lopsalot finally sat down on her shoulder rather than stand on it as the duo and their new retinue approached the other trainers. The little Buneary, his facial scar still visible, let a somewhat weary look come to his little face as well as he let out a small sigh to boot.

For Clarissa, however, the first thing to greet her would be-

She then glanced towards the stairs, and, if she saw Clarissa, she would raise her free hand to wave at the other girl. "Hi!" Jill said cheerfully. "We're here to save you!"

Ah! The girl with the Aipom, who she'd seen back at the Professor's lab earlier. Seemed friendly enough for sure, and she'd likewise wave back to Jill in a friendly manner despite her own stoic mask returning to form once more. Albeit the other girl with her, which she assumed to be Chloe for sure, seemed to have....ah....oh dear. She'd have to grab something from her things to help with the frizzed hair for sure. Was the least she could do for the trio coming to her rescue.

his eyes would drift over to the stairs and if he saw Clarissa, would stand up and perform a small, single wave of his hand. "So, I take that this is your doing, Clarissa?"

On the other hand, her eyes would drift over to the third member and sole boy of the rescue party. Yuu. Hmm. Chloe had certianly made some distaste for the boy known over text, that was for sure, but despite that and the boy's prior fussing at another trainer back at Camphor's Lab alongside a seeming attitude he had come along to help. It felt a little bit ironic that he had a Rotom Phone, given the situation, though his proper partner Pokemon seemed to be recieving a bit of affection in the aftermath of things as well.

Still, the girl would return Yuu's wave as well before saying anything as she finally got close enough to teh group to talk.

"I'm certainly thankful the three of you came to help....more so that you all seem to be safe as well and in one piece. It's certainly been a wild ride here."

That was saying the very least about it all. Running into a peculiar Pokemon like this Rotom, feeding jerky to a Gastly (she'd put the sticks she'd taken out up in her things again), and now having the peculiar situation of saving her rescuers after a hard-fought Pokemon battle and managing to get a new little traveling compatriot of sorts for the time being. It was a lot to try to parse, even she had to admit that, though she had to also admit they'd all done what they could too given the circumstances.

"I and Sir Lopsalot managed to catch a Murkrow along the way, though it was a rather hard fought battle, which then led to chasing a Gastly I met here at first to the control room after it took my Pokeball where I met the Rotom controlling this factory.

And now....well, and I've another new little traveling companion of sorts as well sitting in my Pokedex. Ah, not having been captured or such mind. Just a little traveler come along to see the sights and find some fun things out there in Eidda. I'll certainly need to find some food for them and my two Pokemon at some point as well tonight after...well..."

The psychic's hands gingerly held the Pokedex for a few moments, softly running a finger over the turned-off screen, before returning to attaching it to her other hip for transportation purposes. She also wanted the Rotom to be able to 'see' things as well, so stuffing it up in her things wouldn't be fitting perhaps. Didn't want to panic or be mean to the little one that had decided to travel, after all, as again her offer had been and was genuine.

"Umm...I do also have to go by the Contest Hall for this evening, actually, and will be staying at the Pokemon Center for the night afterwards. You're all welcome to come if you'd like, if that's ok with you, and I'd be more than happy to purchase a couple of Potions for each of you and offer you some help as well after this whole mess as well at the very least..."

Clarissa withdrew the VIP ticket and shows it to the others, though her tone of voice seemed less-than-enthusiastic about it all even if she personally felt determined to do as she'd promised earlier to Valerie. Likewise, however, a pang of guilt kicked into the psychic as she tried to make at least some offer to assist or recompense the others for their kindness in coming to save her. It was, however, all enough for Sir Lopsalot to take his little left arm and once again pat the side of his trainer's head in a sympathetic sort of manner. After this, however, the little Pokemon looked at the mischevious Aimpom, over at Snubbull, and then down at the Riolu by Yuu's side finally with a slightly curious look on his face.

"Bun? Bun bun."

@Savo@XxFellsingxX@Rune_Alchemist@Vertigo

---

Location: Ancient Grove
Mentions: N/A

Isla didn’t really get the response she expected about the articles found at the grove, sure, and stared down at the Pokédex for a good few moments considering it. It was probably put there for a reason. Yeah, sure that was true enough but it might also have been a clue as to what had exactly happened at the shrine. Was the state of it the reason for…whatever it had been with Celebi? Had Yasu considered some other route since then of finding the Pokémon? Had she given up entirely about it? For that matter, why had she wanted to find Celebi in the first place? There had been so many questions that Isla just didn’t have the answers to, and really she didn’t expect the priestess to be open on sharing. Yasu didn’t seem to be the sharing sort, on the whole of the problem. It really hadn’t helped.

Swiper, though, had finally figured out what exactly he wanted. Picking up the carving gingerly with his mouth, the Nickit looked up expectantly at Isla, tail slowly wagging away at the excitement of his find. After all, whoever had put the carving there clearly didn’t value it all that much, considering they hadn’t brought it with them, and he would be a far better owner than them. Isla looked down, frowning. “You can’t bring that with you.”

A cock of the head. Well, why not? After all, it was his now, he’d picked it up and that was just how the world worked. The tail paused, too, stopped in its tracks by the sudden rejection as Swiper tried to figure out why he couldn’t just…bring it along. The tone was there, too, as Isla sighed. She needed to figure out how the heck to have the Pokémon just…not do that, but also he was a Nickit. Just saying it’s wrong wouldn’t altogether work. There needed to be another way…maybe she had it. Maybe.

“You can’t bring that. Look at it, you’re already putting teeth marks into the wood. It’ll get ruined. And besides, whenever we’ll sit down to eat, you’ll have to put it down and it’ll get even more ruined.” The accusation made Swiper put it down pretty quickly, looking it over for the alleged damage. There was a little bit here and there, the wood not being entirely as solid as it had once been before, but surely that would be alright. But then…he’d held it up for how long? How long did he intend to keep it? Maybe…

“It looks better here. It should be here, whoever left it meant to put it here.” Well, that was just plainly wrong. To make a point of it, Swiper stared at the destroyed entrance, practically pointing at it with his nose, before passing over the various burn marks and other damages. Isla took his point, crouching down ever so as he considered the issue at hand: damaging it. Taking a few steps forward, the Nickit nudged at Isla’s bag before looking up. Maybe she could hold onto it? Maybe?

“Well, I can’t take it. I don’t want it. If you want it, you’ll have to take it.” Darn. Maybe she was right. Swiper huffed out in annoyance before pointedly walking out from the shrine entrance.

And right to the Budew. He stopped, still as can be, staring at the other Pokémon as it had emerged from the bushes just some little ways away. Isla, while she was still breathing a sigh of relief at the fact that she’d avoided…stealing something from a shrine, of all things, had followed close behind, pausing to stare as well. The little guy - or girl - was truly little, barely coming up to Isla’s knee, and had just noticed her, Swiper, and Dancing just some little ways away. Dancing had kept about the fringes of the site, searching here and there, but had stopped as the rustling in the bush came.

Huh. Well, what the heck did a Grass type like, she wondered internally, considering it. Good dirt wasn’t something she could magic up, and surely they had as much sun as they wanted, but…hmmm…there was another thing. They seemed happy enough, all told, but maybe the little Budew wanted some water? Maybe? It was as good a guess as any. Isla sat down her bag slowly, careful to not make too many sudden moves, as Swiper looked up with his head cocked. No not that pouch…no not that one…where were the bottles…ah, the girl nodded in satisfaction, taking one out. “Mineral grade” hadn’t meant all that much when Isla had bought them, considering that had been the only grade the store had sold, but maybe it might mean more with the little Budew. Now…how in the heck to give it to them?

“Hi,” she said, trying to at least somewhat fill the awkward air that had developed as she’d searched. Unscrewing the cap and kneeling down next to her bag, Isla just sort of…whipped the bottle as though she was blessing the Budew. Maybe that was it? The girl really didn’t know.

---

Route 5
@PKMNB0Y

“Tch. Sneasel, you're faster than it! Just dodge it and quick attack!!” Sneasel, unsteady as it was, made an attempt to do just that. It avoided the first one, swiftly moving to the side. A second vine followed that it jumped over, the vine whip bouncing off the ground as it had closed the distance, poised to strike -

“Sneas-!” Before the Sneasel could get off one more blow, a vine managed to wrap around its leg.

And just as the Pawniards follow up Furry cutter would hit the munchlax, the Sneasel was tossed between them. The Pawniard taking the full brunt of the Pawniards fury cutter.

“Tch.” Bea’s expression finally shifted into one of mild annoyance as her Sneasel fell to the ground, defeated.

“Not bad, not bad.”

Sneasel fainted! Luna grew to level 11!

“Plan B.” In one swift motion, Bea pulled out a second pokeball from her large backpack while recalling her Sneasel. “Lileep, your turn.”



“Guh, you ruffians have more?” Laurel frowned. “Munchlax, another defense curl!”

“Lileep, Ingrain!”

“While the ladies prepare, I think I’m gonna go ahead and bag me that Snivy of yours. Pawniard! Focus on that Snivy!”

Stellar Toy Factory
@Vertigo@XxFellsingxX@Savo@Crusader Lord

With the factory having shut down, there was nothing stopping the group from leaving now. Most of the pokemon had been scared off during the commotion meaning it was fairly safe. The only thing of note, was Clarissa’s pokedex letting out a series of loud beeps, followed by some aggressive vibrating…but it’d go away just as fast as it started again.



Pines End - > Route 3
@Pyromania99
Heading away from Pines End, the path continued along the forest. The tranquil, lazy atmosphere seemed to make it difficult to want to do anything, not to mention an odd pleasant scent slowly permeating the area.

“Led.”

“Parassss.”

The source of which, would soon become apparent. Just off to the side, Camila would notice a large mass of red and black that was moving. It was clinging to a tree, happily buzzing away. Upon a closer inspection, it’d become obvious. It was a large group of Ledyba! They were happily lazing about in the warm sunlight and generally minding their own business. A few more were buzzing around the trees, apparently trading some berries and other things with some Paras on the ground.




Of course, she was free to decide to mess with them or not. They seemed fairly peaceful and didn’t even pay her any attention. No telling how exactly her interrupting whatever was going on would go…



Secluded Grove
@Thayr

---

Alone with the Budew and her pokemon, the grass type shirked away as Isla started flicking water at it. As the cool liquid splashed on its petals, the grass type seemed to relax just a bit and allowed itself to move again. It shook its body, pleased with the act it seemed as it would hop out of its leafy hiding place. Slowly, it would approach Isla, looking cautiously between Dancing and Swiper before casting its eyes up towards the mineral water.

“Buuu…?” It’d cautiously look between Swiper and Dancing, as the petals on top of its head slowly started to open, taking in sunlight…which also seemed to cause its body to grow slightly. That was probably nothing to worry about. Seemed like it wanted more water, at least.

Despite the call being rather spur-of-the-moment, Richard couldn't help but pump his fist and let out a shout of approval at Luna's success. The most overtly threatening of the opponents' team was out for the count with that move, which was already a swing in the battle's tempo towards their team.

On top of that, it seemed like seeing the Sneasel that had taunted her get taken out by friendly fire was enough for Luna to stop seeing red; as far as her trainer could tell, things were already looking up for them.

Of course, any hope that their troubles would end there were swiftly thrown out the window as the fainted Sneasel was replaced with a Lileep.

"...Right, why did I expect just one from each of you again...?" Richard chastised himself as the Pawniard refocused it's efforts towards Luna. With Laurel's Munchlax and the Lileep choosing to hunker down, though, the young man found that his Pokémon was locked in yet another pseudo-duel.

Luckily for him, though, their old tried and tested strategy was back on the table.

"All right, Luna, you know how this goes! Glare both of them down and stay at a distance until it's time to capitalize! Use that Lileep as a shield if you need to; it can't move anyways!"

@Rune_Alchemist