[IC] Project Mew

[Atomdusk]

Wearing grey high-quality sweatpants, invisible ankle socks in white sneakers, a basic white t-shirt, a smartwatch and trendy sunglasses; Eclorian waited in line until it was his turn to register. His right arm had a sleeve tattoo and at his belt were three active pokéballs.

"Next." they called and Eclorian stepped up to a teal-haired girl.

"Eclorian Dawnroot of Kalos." he said with a smile on his face.

The girl scouted the list in front of her, looked up at Eclorian and scouted this list again.
"Ehm, I can't seem to spot your name on the list. Are you sure that- Oh, never mind, there it is! My apologies. Welcome to the Trial Missions, Eclorian. Your first one is to retrieve a feather of Moltres. Once you acquired it, call for one of our Corviknights with your Rotom-phone and after I verify the feather, your first token will be sent to you."

Eclorian just nodded and thanked the girl for the introduction. When he asked for her name, she said it was Asahi. Bidding Asahi farewell, Eclorian prepared for his first mission. When he looked around the room at the other trainers, he wondered if he should team up with some people or go by himself. His Pokémon weren't exactly known to have a good team spirit but it would make the missions more interesting. Carefully he tried to analyse each of them to see if there was someone that could improve his odds. His eye fell on a guy with fiery red hair. Well, at least, it would not be an average joe.

[Smarty Jones]

Gale waited his turn, sporting a simple outfit. Nothing too fancy, just simple blue jeans with red shoes that had white laces. His shirt was just a plain blue shirt, to match the jeans. At his side was a Riolu, who seemed to be watching the trainers surrounding them very carefully.

"Riolu?" The fighting-type spoke, turning his attention to Eclorian, the pokémon's tone being one of curiosity.

At hearing his partner's voice, Gale turned his attention to Aaron, the Riolu named after the legendary hero named Sir Aaron, whose name had traveled across the regions. The stories had a Lucario, who was supposedly Sir Aaron's partner. Considering that Riolu would probably one day evolve into Lucario, Gale thought that it was fitting.

"What's the matter?" Gale asked his trusted partner, to which Aaron responded by pointing at Eclorian.

[Atomdusk]

Eclorian noticed how the red-haired man looked in his direction after the man's Riolu pointed at Eclorian. He hesitated for a second but decided to step up to them. "Hi. I noticed your Riolu seemed to spark an interest in me. Can I just speak out and say that it seems to be quite an observant little fellow. I bet he makes a great partner." Eclorian bent a little through his knees and patted the Riolu on the head.

While doing this, Eclorian wondered if any of the Pokémon traveling with him could come out to meet this Riolu but since neither of his partners were very good at making a good first impression, he decided to not mention any of them for now.

"Oh, where are my manners? I haven't even introduced myself. My name is Eclorian Dawnroot and I came all the way from Kalos to participate in the Project Mew. I was wondering just now if I should team up with another trainer. I heard the mission can be a handful."

[Smarty Jones]

"Gale Everwulf. Nice to meet you as well, Eclorian. Aaron is my Riolu, and he indeed quite the observant fellow." Gale said, returning the greeting with a smile on his face.

"I'm from Galar, and I decided that trying my hand at Project Mew. While life in the Galar Region can be interesting, I decided that this would be the perfect opportunity to try and expand my pokédex." Gale continued, watching as Aaron seemed to enjoy the attention he was receiving from the newcomer.

"But yeah, I also heard that the tasks that lie before us will mostly likely be a handful, and I have been trying to recruit some trainers from my Region, but those who joined either want to partner up with someone or want to go it alone." Gale went on.

"Riolu!" Aaron said, agreeing with Gale on the teaming up with other trainers.

[Atomdusk]

"Ah, you're from Galar?" Eclorian asked. "I just love to explore the shops in Wyndon when I'm there." He realized that many trainers from around the world were interested in filling their Pokédex. That had never been a goal for him but he could respect it when others made it their quest.

"If you want to do this first mission together, I can wait for you outside. I'll go and let my Pokemon outside of their poke balls for a bit while you finish your registration with Ahasi over there. See you shortly, Gale and Aaron."

While Gale continued the formalities, Eclorian tried to find a calm spot outside where his Pokémon could get some fresh air without being too bothered by strangers. When he threw up all three poke balls, his partners appeared one by one. A Metagross, a Purugly and a Golisopod revealed themselves. Interestingly, they all walked off in a different direction.

"Don't wander too far guys, we will be leaving as soon as our team mate is ready."

Upon the mention of a team mate, none of the three Pokémon seemed to respond very exited. Eclorian sighed. They were not exactly the sunshine of the room but he loved them anyway.

[Crimson Lion]

Aster yawned as he quickly packed his bags, his Floette, Ms. Sunnyday, floating behind him while patting down and combing Asters long, let down hair. “Thanks again as always Sunny!” He said as he finished putting the last of his belongings into his bag. “Toothbrush, toothpaste, portable lamp … yeah this should be everything!” He said as he grabbed his now combed hair and quickly put it up into a bun. “I’m all ready!” He said before taking out his pokeball and returning his Pokémon to its ball.

Looking up at the clock on the wall he immediately realized he was running behind schedule and rushed out of the guest room of the Pokémon center. Aster rushed to the counter to check in for the Project, and was eventually registered by the woman, who he quickly learned was named Asahi, and given his quest. “Your first trial mission is to retrieve a feather of Moltres. Once you’ve acquired it, call for one of our Corviknights with your Rotom-phone and after I verify the feather, your first token will be sent to you."

“That’s great to hear, thanks!” Aster explained as he logged the quest into his notes on his phone. “Have a good day mam!”

As he walked away from the counter, Aster took out Echo’s pokeball, the large bat looking at its trainer through the device. “We’ve only been in this region for a day and already we’re being sent out to search for proof of a legendary Pokémon!” The Noivern in the pokeball nodded, although not as excited as his trainer, he was indeed interested in the mission.

Finally taking a second to breath, Aster realized something. He had know he wasn’t the only one who signed up for Project Mew, he had even met and talked to one his age on the plane ride yesterday, but he hadn’t really gotten a good look at the others. Some looked strong, some looked like they had more experience in their eyes then he had in all his body, but what got Asters attention the most was … “OH MY GOD A RIOLU!!” Aster shouted as he slid across the floor to be face to face with the small Pokémon. “Amazing! I heard that riolus were incredible rare, I never thought I’d see one!”

Then , almost as quickly as he appeared, Aster immediately scooted back and stood up at the realization that he was kneeling in front of not one but two people (@Atomdusk@Smarty Jones) who are probably looking at him like he’s crazy. “A-ah, sorry about that, got a bit too excited there. The names Aster.”

[Atomdusk]

When he was joined once again by Gale, a third guy came running to them. Eclorian looked back at the young guy with hair tied in a bun. "Don't worry about it, Aster. I don't think being exited to see a rare Pokémon is ever a bad thing." He reached out his hand for a shake. "I'm Eclorian." While he introduced himself, he couldn't help but notice that Aster looked familiar somehow. "Is it possible we met before? Are you from Kalos like me by any chance?"

Meanwhile Eclorian's Metagross approached the group and seemed to making some sort of attempt to communicate with Aaron. "Tony... Be nice." Eclorian warned his Metagross. He knew his partner could be a bit rough sometimes and he didn't want Aaron to get hurt. Metagross sort of growled at Eclorian in response. "Okay, okay. I was just saying..." Eclorian said as he realized Tony was a bit offended by the earlier remark.

[Crimson Lion]

Aster smiled and rubbed the back of his neck. “Thanks Eclorian, and uh, maybe? If you’ve ever stopped by Camphrier Town then we might have crossed paths but I’d never really explored the rest of Kalos, er yet.” He added quickly to the end.

As the Metagross approached, one of the pokeball on his belt opened up showing a sentient sword, the ribbon on the sheath grabbing onto Asters shoulder and lifted itself to become face to face with the steel/psychic type. “Oi Oi Saber! No starting anything!”

“Anyways, Eclorian, since your not from around here like me does that mean your also part of this project? Any ideas on what we should do?”

[Atomdusk]

Upon hearing about Camphrier Town, Eclorian nodded. "I've been there just once, I stayed a night at their hotel while passing through. I'm from the capital city Lumiose but many years ago, I wanted to collect my region's gym badges so I travelled the entire zone looking for gym challenges. Looking back at it, I was so unexperienced back then." He chuckled a little at his last comment, as if he was a bit ashamed of how bad he was at battles back in those days. "Remember Tony? You were still a Beldum." he asked to the Metagross, who was visible annoyed at the question.

In reaction to the sword-like Pokemon flexing, Tony widened his four steel legs like he would do in battle. "Calm your sensors, Tony." Eclorian just said in response. "No one is questioning your skills, you don't constantly have to prove yourself." Now even more annoyed at his trainer, Tony hovered to a nearby tree to rest. Eclorian gave Aster and Gale an apologetic look. "The three Pokemon who are traveling with me are not exactly the ones you would call easy-going. All three of them are different but what they share is that they all lack some social skills. Don't mind them, they will turn around once they get to know you guys a little better."

As the project was brought up, Eclorian nodded. "My friend Professor Sycamore told me about the project and with nothing else to do at the moment, I flew straight to Kanto to hear more about it. I think we all got the same first mission, the Moltres feather right? Should we get them together? It's been so long since I was in Kanto, I'm not completely sure where to start looking. Victory Road? The Sevii islands? One time it even flew all the way to Sinnoh. And I guess they don't mean its Galarian variant right?"

[Crimson Lion]

Upon the suggestion of working together, Asters eye lit up. Traveling companions! People who could join him on adventures and help/save him in times of need! He was honestly worried since in reality the farthest he'd traveled alone was along the coast of Kalos before heading to Lumiose to head directly here! As of right now, he didn't know what to truly expect. The mention of legendary places he had only read about peeked his interest, would this mission really be leading them to the Sevii Islands? Or the Kantonian Victory Road?

"... Wait a minute, there's a galarian Moltres?! Amazing! I wonder what it looks like." Aster said with a smile. "But yeah, I'd really like to team up with you since you seem like you know what you're doing. I hope we get along." He said holding his hand out.

[Atomdusk]

While shaking Aster's hand, Eclorian commented on the variant.

"Well, I only saw the one in Galar once but I can tell you it looks scarier than the one we're looking for."

Eclorian tried to figure out where in Kanto they should look for Moltres. It wouldn't make a lot of sense that it would return to old places it was seen, like the Victory Road or the Sevii Islands. The last time it was publicly spotted it was roaming the Sinnoh region. Statistically, looking there would be their best bet right now.

"We should start looking where it was last seen in Sinnoh. I believe reports said that it was spotted near the waterfalls close to Sunyshore City. We can get a Corviknight to take us directly to Sunyshore. The city's gymleader, Volkner, can give us acces to the city's lighthouse. From there we should have a clear sight on Moltres if it's still there somewhere."

Tony, who had been resting in the shadow of a tree, seemed to get exited at the idea of this mission. For sure it would think it could easily defeat a Moltres, despite the fact that he has a weakness against fire types. Not to mention Moltres was a legendary Pokemon. Eclorian wasn't so sure that Tony's confidence wasn't misplaced. Then again, they would not be alone.

[Crimson Lion]

Aster agreed with the idea, "Yeah that sounds like a good idea. And even if we don't get perission, we can always earch the air with my partners help!" Aster said holding up a pokeball, the Noivern inside posing in a determined stance. Aster followed Eclorians lead to the corviknight buses, taking out his phone and researching moltres and its galarian form on the way. Aster really couldn't believe his luck in joining this project, having such a great excuse to travel from region to region and search for legendary pokemon was surely interesting.

[Atomdusk]

Eclorian glared at Aster's pokeball with a Noivern inside. "Ah, yes, any partners that can carry us into the sky would be a great help indeed. Personally, I think Tony would have no problem lifting me up there, but he's a bit too proud for such a thing most of the time."

There were at least 3 Corviknights ready to take them to Sinnoh. "Let's take one each and come back together at Sunyshore lighthouse." Eclorian retreated Tony to his pokeball and took flight with one of the Corviknights.

Upon arriving there, Eclorian made a quick pit stop at the local gym and asked Volkner to open up the lighthouse for them. Despite having partners that can fly, it couldn't hurt to scout for Moltres first. Right behind him was Aster's Corviknight about to land. There wasn't any sight of Gale yet, perhaps he got a little lost along the way? Oh well, plenty of time to catch up. Time to scout for that Moltres!

[Crimson Lion]

As Aster rode in the corvinight behind Eclorians, Aster began to scroll through the pictures of moltres he had found online, both original and galarian alike. "I wonder if we'll truly see this pokemon ourselves. i mean, what are the chances we'll actually find this bird and capture a feather?" Before he could continue this line of thought, Ms. Sunnyday came out of her pokeball, making a cute pii in an attempt to change the topic. "Ah Sunny, thanks for always tryna cheer me up. But don't worry I'm fine." He said with smile as the taxi landed in the sinnoh region. "Here we are, Hello Sinnoh!" He said exiting the cab and heading towards Eclorian

[Atomdusk]

At the top of the lighthouse, Eclorian looked all around them but so far there was no sight of Moltres. When Aster approached him, Eclorian asked "Can your Noivern explore the nearby area?" while he pointed towards the waterfall area.

Meanwhile, a Purugly came out of Eclorian's pokeball without him calling for her. "Miranda?" he asked her with visible confusion.

"Pur." Miranda replied, put her front paws on the ledge and looked what all the fuss was about. When there was nothing in particular to see, she returned to the floor and stretched her legs before walking off. Eclorian knew she wouldn't go far so he was not too worried. "Don't mind Miranda." he explained to Aster, "she has a bit of an attitude."

[Crimson Lion]

"Well too bad unlike my Noivern she doesn't have any 'altitude'." He said with a chuckle to himself as he released the bat like pokemon into the air. He continued to laugh but soon stopped himself, trying to be professional. "But yeah, Echo can definitely scout out the air. Hear that buddy? We need you to look around those waterfalls up ahead, you see anything that looks like these come back to us." Aster said as he held up his phone with the picture of Moltres on it.

The Noivern nodded before flying off, slowly reaching its destination.

[Atomdusk]

As the Noivern approached the waterfalls, Moltres appeared as if out of nowhere. This was visible all the way to the lighthouse. "There it is!" Eclorian shouted and started to run down in order to approach it. Once on the solid ground, he retreated Miranda to her pokeball and unleashed Tony again. "Help us reach Moltres before it escapes!" Tony used all its power to carry both Eclorian and Aster closer to the waterfalls.

Upon arrival they had to think quickly how they were going to get feathers. Perhaps starting a battle was the best approach. Eclorian revealed his third partner, a Golisopod. "X9, use liquidation on Moltres!"

[Crimson Lion]

At the sudden appearance of the legendary bird, Aster panicked slightly. He had, some, experience in battle but not alot. Plus he thought they'd just find the nest or something and take a feather from there not fight a dang legendary!! Wait, the feathers!!

"Echo! Avoid all attacks and use Tailwind to swipe some feathers!!" The Noivern nodded before glowing green, a gust of wind now appearing behind it as it dove forwards towards the legendary.

[Atomdusk]

As two feathers were being blown from Moltres, Eclorian looked at Aster. "Let's each grab one while Moltres is distracted by the battle." While running towards one of the feathers, Eclorian shouted orders to his Golisopod. "X9, use liquidation again!"

With his feather in possession, he realized they still had an angry Moltres in front of them. Since they got what they came for, ending the battle prematurely should at least be an option they were willing to consider. "Tony can use its psychic powers to get us inside the waterfall with a psychic shield around us for protection. Moltres will not follow us there and most likely it will leave. What do you think, Aster?"

[Crimson Lion]

"Sounds like a Plan!! Echoes, Pick me up!!" Aster said, trusting his judgment, as he ran forward, grabbing a feather and running towards the railing, his noivern swooping up from below to catch him as he jumped off. He was grabbed by the shoulders as the noivern began to dodge the moltres while also heading towards the waterfall.