Heckno12

Pokemon Spiral

Rheese Laudat

Rheese had moved to help the girl that collapsed, but several others were already on top of it. At this point he'd be extra baggage. A burden once again. He clenched his fist so hard that his knuckles turned white.

Rheese cut a glare at Oscar's comment about him looking worse for wear...As though he didn't already know that. He sighed and looked away after a moment, Oscar clearly didn't mean anything by it...but It still kind of felt like he was reaching his limit with all of this. As he saw Sophia wince with a clear usage of her abilities, likely avoiding saying something that would trigger whatever was going on with him that was all he could take. He stood up and walked away from the group with a sigh. Bounsweet bounded after him with Wooper close behind as the water type knew where this was going.

"I'm going to get back to training." He said, trying to hide his irritation at the whole situation from the others. He felt tears of frustration begin to form as he stormed off back towards the forest. He didn't want to argue or confront anybody about this, it was his own damn fault anyway.

Pokemon Spiral

Rheese Laudat

"If you want... I can try."

Rheese still didn't understand what was going on, and usually he'd be one of the first people insisting that Sophia shouldn't strain herself but...What other option really was there? Seek out Ray? Who knows how long that would take. Qualeen was quite a distance as well. Rheese begrudgingly sighed and gave Sophia a singular defeated nod. He felt guilty that he was once again being a burden on the psychic.

An attendant approached Saki and whispered something urgent into her ear. The gym leader stood and thanked the woman before turning back to the group.

"I have to get back to my duties as a gym leader, I wish you luck with this...And if this method doesn't work, you should at least take this Bounsweet. She should be able to snap you out of another episode if needed." Saki said as she placed a pokeball in Rheese's lap.

Rheese for his part was trying to clear his mind or whatever might help Sophia do whatever she had to. The pokeball on his lap didn't even phase him.

Outside

A small hedgehog-like pokemon warily looked at the town from the the trees. Sure, it had been there many times before and...yeah, they had given it alot of good food. Something felt different today though and the lingering smell of smoke from a recent battle just added to the unease.

"There it is!" A voice rang out and a few team Noble grunts came sprinting from nearby. "Get back here Shaymin, we'd rather not have to hurt you to take you in!"

Shaymin panicked and ran into town, forcing the grunts to cease their chase and radio their superior. They couldn't afford to cause another commotion this soon, and of course they couldn't risk being caught by the gym leader Saki...the commander would have their heads on a platter if they compromised the base's location.

Pokemon Spiral

Rachel and Eria

(the ghost type gym leader)

Kraterdesh Gym

"Eria, you don't understand. The place was absolutely bustling with ghost types-And before you start reminding me that places like that always house ghost types...This place had spectral torches everywhere, but no spirit gate! This wasn't just any ruin, and honestly, Lan's insistence just confirmed that." Rachel exclaimed. She hadn't even started on the topic of the sealed door that barred her access before.

"Well, it certainly sounds interesting. I could consult my research notes on the area, but as I already told you the only recorded ruin there was explored decades ago. If you're absolutely sure that this isn't the same ruin, I might have to give it a visit myself...perhaps without our colleague's knowledge. I can't really make this a priority right now though, I've just found a lead involving Kraterdesh's origins." Eria replied. Rachel grinned, she knew bringing this up with Eria was the right call. Truth be told though, she had fully expected Eria to have the place fully documented or at least have some notes.

"Well if you're considering going in person...I should probably mention a few points of interest." She said before proudly producing her notebook and showing Eria her sketches. The pokemon drawing from the marker in the cave caused Eria's brows to raise considerably, something that only grew more intense with every sketch Rachel showed her. The lock mechanism from the door was the final straw.

Eria made a few swift motions on her Pokenav and grabbed a nearby rucksack filled with supplies. Rachel perked up before Eria gave her a glare. "You're not coming." She said sternly.

"W-Why the heck not? I found the place and brought it to your attention, if any-" Rachel's indignant complaint was stopped by Eria's glare.

"Two gym leaders going would attract the attention of a few less than savory individuals. If that pokemon sketch is what I think it is, and this place is what I'm theorizing...Team Noble, whether they're a serious threat or not, can not learn of its existence. You need to tell those trainers that you explored with to keep their mouths shut." Eria said completely serious as she headed for the door.

"And you'll tell me about it later?" Rachel asked, sounding more like a wounded puppy after her friend's tone. She understood the potential severity of the situation...at least she thought she did.

"Every single detail." Eria replied, her tone and face softening into a light smile as she walked out the door.

Rachel sighed and collected her things. Before she left and got back to trailing her brother she sent Amber a message through her Pokenav relaying the potential significance of the cave they had explored and how it was imperative that none of them spoke a word of it.

---

Ray and Ganjon

(the wandering steel type gym leader)

Naran

"Team Noble just set up three more tournaments around the region, Vareena and Mesalon have seen several more amnesiacs, let alone the appearance of that rampaging Aerodactyl that Lan dealt with the other day! Team Noble is getting bolder and our other gym leaders, yourself included, insist on just waiting for them to make their move before we take action. Ganjon berated Ray as the latter stayed unmoving in his lawnchair.

"I don't insist on doing anything Jon." Ray said unamused. "What are you saying we should do, raid these tournaments? Savken did that months ago and despite being the 'Venerated Dragon Master' all he accomplished was making the public even more afraid of him. Other than that, these guys bury their tracks better than the good guys in old spy movies."

"Y-yeah, but we clearly can't just sit back and do nothing! You're psychic, maybe you can-"

"Gonna stop you right there. It doesn't work like that, I'm not a clairvoyant or a medium so I'm not about to start getting premonitions of the future from ghosts or anything like that. I tried to dig into the minds of the tournament organizers Sav 'apprehended' but those guys somehow blanked themselves harder than a lobotomite." As nonchalant as Ray was acting, he had to admit he was a bit worried about those fledgling trainers from Mesalon. He'd worry about his sister...but truth be told he couldn't really imagine a situation in which she'd be in much danger. He made a note to check in on Sophia via telepathy in a few days to see if she'd made any progress.

Ray sighed before teleporting away from his current conversation. Like always with the fittingly hard headed steel type gym leader, the discussion was going nowhere.

Pokemon Spiral

Saki

Saki moved to stop the two girls from questioning Rheese, but it was too late. She had expected to at least have a few minutes to caution the group and explain what to expect when he awoke. The crying was new, sure...so maybe this was different.

Rheese Laudat

Rheese looked at Sophia and Amber as they rushed over. He had no idea where he was...He didn't remember seeing any buildings like this in Mesalon. "Are you ok? I mean, you remember who you are, right? And who we are?"
"Y-yeah. Of course, I mean it's only been a few hours." He said, confused by the questions. Something was definitely going on here, and given everything that had happened since he'd gotten to Kosei...well he didn't feel like he had any terrible new injuries.

"You ok now? How are you feeling?

"I guess I'm fine. Last thing I remember I was training just outside of town...then...then-" Rheese suddenly doubled over in pain. Wooper jumped out of his lap but looked on in concern as Rheese clutched his head.

Rheese's head felt like it just got tossed into a wood chipper...tiny glimpses of memories that didn't even feel whole, distorted voices that he couldn't even understand, and the rest felt like he was trying to remember an incredibly overexposed photograph. The whole process was so painful that Rheese had to hold his mouth as he wretched. He didn't even notice the newcomers that had entered through the pain and confusion. His ears rang heavily and everything and everyone seemed to blend into a mess of color as he tried to pull himself away from his shredded memories and back into the here and now.

"Liligant, use Armotherapy." A quiet voice seemed to cut through the chaos as a pleasant smell overrode everything else. Rheese was suddenly aware that he had been clutching his hair and covering his mouth for what had felt like forever. He took a deep breath and slowly lowered his hands back. He caught a glimpse of one of his hands as it returned to his side to see it shaking violently. "W-what was-" He began to ask as the pink haired girl with the Liligant put her finger to his lips.

"Do not think about it. I know that isn't the most concerting thing to hear right now, but it's the only way to keep your mind in one piece right now." Saki said as she eased Rheese back into a proper sitting position. "I am Saki, you are in Vareena now. The details are unimportant, you are physically uninjured and your friends are here and safe."

Saki covered Rheese's ears gently and addressed his friends."What you just saw...Well, perhaps I shouldn't have tried to tell you all that he was fine. Whatever they're doing to people...if he tries to remember whatever memories they took from him...Well, to put it bluntly, that was a mild reaction." Saki brightened up slightly and took her hands off of Rheese's ears. "You have options though. I hear in Qualeen they've helped some people using technology...Or, another afflicted claimed a psychic set them straight. Otherwise you could simply leave Kosei and avoid thinking about your time here."

"But who even did this to me?" Rheese asked, now a bit scared to try and think back himself. He couldn't help it a bit though as the intense pain began to-

Saki suddenly swatted him in the head and snapped him out of it before he could get too far. "If they took even that information, reminding you could really do some damage. Quit testing it if you want to keep your mind intact." Wooper hopped back into Rheese's lap and nodded resolutely. He had seen Saki snap Rheese out of it a few ways now, so he felt like a blast of cold water would probably do the same if he had another episode.

Saki's attendants were now quite distracted by a rather large Arcanine that had entered the gym. A few of them naturally lumped praise onto the huge dog while some others were a bit nervous about the fire type's proximity to the rather fragile flora of the gym's entrance.

Without a sound a Ludicolo danced and shimmied its way around, seemingly prepared to extinguish any accidental flames that could break out.

Notes

Pokemon Party: Wooper lv16, Cottonee lv14, Minior lv15,
Pokemon in PC:
Inventory: Pokeball x1, Potion x1, Dusk Ball x1

Pokemon Spiral

Saki

"Certainly." Saki said politely as she produced a leppa berry from her robe. "And please, call me Saki. Don't worry about your friend, he isn't the first to be afflicted by this...Well, I suppose he's the first to have been physically accompanied by members of Team Noble." She entered the door of the gym, now surrounded by even more flowers than outside she seemed to loosen up even more.

"Though I will warn you that he isn't likely to have any answers. In the cases I've seen, this light coma is often followed by short term amnesia...outside of the cases that couldn't even remember their own names, though those were quite some time ago. I believe team Noble has refined whatever method they use to cover their tracks. In any case, the psychic power that anesthetized him should wear off rather soon." Saki waved one of her trainers to fetch some tea as she sat down in front of the others and motioned for them to lay Rheese on a nearby couch. "In the meantime, please." Saki motioned for Sophia to continue her explanation as a steaming teapot and a few cups were laid out in front of them.

Rheese Laudat

Muffled voices, that's all Rheese could hear. A weird combination of tastes invaded his mouth, he assumed it was medicine or something...but why couldn't he bring himself to wake up? Suddenly a brief flash of memories assaulted his vision. Focusing on the memories was painful, but they returned every few seconds.

It took him what felt like hours, but he could now recognize the face of a pokemon he didn't think he had ever seen before. The yellow face and grey body were fuzzy compared to the red gem in the center of its face...and the eyes, for some reason he couldn't even comprehend the eyes. A strange feeling of something missing became unbearable every time he even tried to recall those eyes. As his mental image of the pokemon was mostly completed he heard a faint voice.

"Help....don't blame....sorry...can't stop...trying...please...help us...remember..." Was all he could make out...did he even hear anything?

The face he saw....even through those unintelligible eyes...Was it crying? He felt his fist clench. Whatever this face was did this to him...but-

"WOOP" That wasn't the same voice...wait that was- The face he was seeing suddenly stopped crying and morphed into wooper's angry expression before something impacted with his face.

"FUCK!" Rheese shot up as Wooper headbutted him. Before he could respond or reprimand Wooper he felt his face...had he been crying in his sleep? Wait, whatever he had been dreaming about must have had him crying. Why couldn't he remember it now? It felt so urgent just seconds ago.

Wooper hopped into his lap and drove its face into Rheese's chest in worry. Forgetting his anger he subconsciously patted the blue pokemon. He looked around to see a few of the people he had been traveling with along with a few new faces. A young girl was pouring tea, seemingly unphased by his sudden awakening.

Fire Emblem: Sunken Flames

Troe Revinah

Ashley's order to kill all of the 'pirates' didn't exactly sit well with Troe. Of course, he understood it was the most pragmatic solution that had the smallest chance of backfiring...but they had already surrendered. Instead of participating or protesting, Troe made his way below deck and sat down to wait out the slaughter. Even if he couldn't find reason to disagree with the call, he wasn't going to have any part in it.

The group had sustained their share of casualties and injuries that would need tending to, even as decisive as the victory had been they weren't able to come out unscathed. Several of their best fighters were down for the count and would need several days' rest to recover. Truth be told, the only thing that kept Troe from bringing up the idea of heading back to recuperate was their proximity to the island at this point.

---

Another Day Later

The first shouting of 'land ho!' broke out across the Stink Boat as the island finally came into sight. The mess from the battle the day before had all been swabbed and scrubbed away, other than the occasional mark on the wood of the boat it was hard to tell they had encountered any adversity along the way. Of course, below the deck was another story. Several of the main party members as well as a few of the Stink Boat's crew were completely out of commission.

The coastline of Irinoth was littered by boats and wreckage. Some of the boats seemed to burn with a strange smokeless black flame as their crews attempted in vain to put the fires out. Odder still, other than the fire, there didn't seem to be any sort of hostile response from whatever had taken the island.

Once the ship had neared the coastline enough for people to wade in the water Troe and a few others disembarked and waded closer to the actual shoreline to see an odd greyish mist rising from the sand. A ornately dressed woman shouted for them to not get any closer. Troe recognized her as a rather famous Gremory from the capital. Kathila, if he remembered right, was one of the most powerful magic users in the entire archipelago.

"Stop! Do not touch the mist if you value your lives!" She said as she approached the group. She simply gestured to a few corpses nearby that were engulfed in the flames despite being completely submerged in the water. "This strange flame seems to capture any and all who attempt to cross the threshold of the island. Even those who launch themselves through the air or go underneath...the mist is merely an indicator of where it begins. Magic doesn't stop it, in fact it seems to burn away just like living beings."

Troe paused for a moment before approaching the mist once more. He fired a small gust of wind magic that seemed to flare up in the mist before evaporating into nothingness. He took a deep breath, knowing his next move could mean death and yet...curiosity got the best of him as he touched the very border of the mist with his pinky finger. The burning that overtook it was unlike anything he had ever felt. It seemed to be burning away at the essence of his finger, not just its physical presence. With a swift motion Troe used his magic to sever his pinky and step away from it. Despite wincing with pain as he dressed the nub where his pinky finger had been he smiled with interest.

"Perplexing..." He said. This was truly unlike anything he had ever seen. If only it were possible to obtain a sample of this fire...but seeing as it seemed to not care whether it was burning metal or glass or anything of the sort, it could very well be unobtainable.

Kathila looked at Troe as though he was a fool. "Maiming yourself just to confirm what I was saying...Are you some sort of fool?" She asked, only to get a sly look from the wind mage.

"Couldn't just go off of your findings, regardless of how brilliant you're said to be." Troe said as though it was obvious. "Had to confirm it, but yes as you implied...simply entering the island is suicide by all measures."

Fire Emblem: Sunken Flames

Troe Revinah

The stink boat rocked violently as one of the attacking boats exploded. Shouts of panic were heard as those that witnessed the ship's demise had no clue how this small group had managed to destroy an entire ship...or if the same thing was about to happen to the other ship. The assault on the stairs lessened considerably as some of the combatants retreated to the other ship to find a 'bomb' that didn't even exist. Naturally this chaos allowed the crew of the stink boat to push back up above deck without much opposition.

Once they were back up in the fresh air Troe took stock of the situation. The panicking enemies were hardly fighting back at this point save for a select few. A man with a spear attempted to stab Troe in the chaos only to miss before feeling the wind mage's hand on his chest. Before he could even react he found himself airborne as a blast of wind launched him across the water and into a gaping hole in burning boat. Troe sighed, he wasn't normally too fond of killing people...yet these people had attacked them without any such hang-ups.

A number of the pirates still onboard had already laid down their weapons, though there were still a few trying to take control of the situation. Fortunately the remaining boat of pirates was also in chaos as they tried to make sure their own vessel wasn't about to suddenly combust like its sister-ship. The archers and mages that lined the ship before were nowhere to be found, it seemed that this battle was all but won by the actions of that idiot Kavius.

Troe sighed as he approached Samara and the aforementioned fool. He cleared a few of the distracted enemies that surrounded the pair, the remainders scattering as they still had no clue what was going on. "Get him below deck and tended to, I believe Mikhail and the others have the situation under control from here."

Pokemon Spiral

???

"Excuse me!" A meek voice attempted to call out through the chaos to very little avail. Volume wasn't exactly something she excelled in, and it seemed that her quietness wouldn't allow her to tame this situation. "Liligant, use sweet scent!" She said as the pokemon in question emerged from the ball on her waist.

A pink haze descended onto the crowd to calm the unrest so the young trainer could make her way to the unconscious boy. "Team Noble again hm?" She muttered quietly. A gym leader acknowledging the group's presence could incite panic, so she was certain to keep it to a near whisper. After a light sigh she reached into a small pouch at her side and produced two berries, one was pink with a small green stem and the other looked more like a blue-topped acorn. She forced the two items into Rheese's mouth and used her hands to make him chew them. "Unlike with pokemon, the Chesto and Payapa berries are a bit slow-acting on humans. Your friend should be fine, at least within an hour or so depending on his metabolism." The young girl said, sounding more like a wise old woman than the young teenager she appeared to be. "In the meantime, you are all welcome to bring this boy to my gym and explain what happened here while he recovers."

The young girl and her Liligant bowed to the group, the gym leader's pink hair and shrine maiden's attire lightly littered by the cherry blossom petals that surrounded her. "I am Saki Matsutsuki, and I welcome you to my humble town." She said respectfully before turning and walking towards what appeared to be the town's gym.

Fire Emblem: Sunken Flames

Santorini->Irinoth(ish)

The next leg of the journey was, thankfully for everyone sanity and stomachs, pretty much bereft of storms and rough seas. It wasn't devoid of omens on the other hand. A few days entirely without wind, a (thankfully short lived thanks to Aleria) lice outbreak, and a lack of signs of life in any direction. Even the fish that were usually quite plentiful out in this area were seemingly absent. The shortest part of this journey had been extended for several extra days past what they had initially expected.

Today, however, things seemed different. They had the tailwind suddenly, allowing them to continue the journey without any more delay, it was a little foggy, but the fish were suddenly rather abundant. It was almost as if they had simply passed some odd patch of water over the past few days and now that they were through it, things returned to normal.

At this pace they would be there before they hit nightfall, though at least a few of their number were a bit upset by the delays. There had already been several ships ahead of them, and with all of that wasted time the past few days it was honestly not too surprising to see a couple of ships sailing back towards Santorini...Until they were clearly on an intercept course with the Stinkboat.

In mere moments the calm that had filled the day thus far had changed to a panicked cry for battle stations as the much larger ships seemed to be preparing to engage their vessel. It seemed that whoever was in charge of these aggressors had either seen past the fishing ship ruse or simply didn't care in this moment.

It didn't take long for the ships in question to turn around and pull alongside the Stinkboat, the ladders heavily falling aboard. Of course, this was in part planned by those aboard as while they stood no chance in a true naval battle...perhaps they could overpower their attackers on foot.

For now, they all stayed below deck and waited for the pirates to board. Above deck would have likely been suicide as the other ships most certainly had their own mages and archers that could have easily picked them off. Whispers pervaded the space of the lower deck as everyone tried to figure out what they could do in this situation.

The less combat savvy sailors opted to stay below and prepare to set sail as quickly as possible if the combat team managed to repel the invaders. Now, as the rumbling of feet could be heard crossing the boarding ladders, the time for action approached.

Troe Revinah

Once everything had gone down, Troe had to be physically shaken to stop his notetaking. He had been writing nonstop recording the happenings of the past few days as he was convinced that they were connected somehow to what was happening. There was no way that deadspot in the ocean was something natural, he could feel it. He had been certain to not miss a detail, asking everybody aboard if they had noticed anything else strange...Even if most of their answers hadn't led to any breakthroughs and had been almost entirely comprised of what they did that morning or how their breakfast might have 'tasted off'.

Of course not all of them had been entirely useless, as per the norm Ashley's astute observations had added several pages to his notes, and the other mages weren't exactly meritless either. They could all agree that something had felt very wrong while they had sailed through the 'Deadspot' as it was being called by the others. If it wasn't relevant to their current investigation, it was at bare minimum worth looking into later.

Troe felt a bit guilty that he hadn't taken too much time to help Nitonka with her training like he had before they hit the 'Deadspot', but he had to record this immediately to prevent any information from being forgotten. Of course, he personally believed that she could benefit from some solo-study as she tried to find her personal magic affinity amongst the tomes he had bought for her.

Truthfully, his interviews with the others had probably been the most interaction he had had with any of them save for Nitonka and Ashley...And while he didn't regret that after speaking with some of them a bit, he did note that a few of them were worth further study.

Now, as Troe was informed of the current situation, he carefully closed the book he was writing in and safely stowed it. This wasn't good. The plan to just look like an inconspicuous fishing ship had clearly broken down, and it wasn't just one ship either. Their group wasn't entirely talentless, but they had literally zero intel on the 'pirates' now bearing down on them. Can't be helped. Troe thought to himself as he readied for combat. It would be a real shame for them all to die before even reaching Irinoth.

Fire Emblem: Sunken Flames

Troe Revinah

Troe hadn't even noticed Tonka and Aleria leaving, becoming slightly too engrossed in the textbook-like tome he was reading to even see the scene they had made. Ever since that point, it seemed that a few patrons had jokingly began buying him drinks that he subconsciously consumed as they were set where his coffee had been just minutes before. Since that point the joke had turned to fascination, and then a game had begun where each patron would buy Troe a shot and have it set in front of him to see how long it would take him to notice...but he simply didn't.

By the time Mikhail slapped his hand on the table there were at least twenty-three shot glasses neatly piled to Troe's side and everybody in the bar watched in amazement as Troe downed another shot of the bar's hardest whiskey without even flinching or taking his eye off of the book. He turned another page before looking up at Mikhail much to the crowd's dismay as they booed the spearman that had ruined their game. Troe's face held the lightest of blushes, yet his speech wasn't even slightly slurred.

"Oh, they're at the bar....Or they were. Just a few seconds ago...." Troe glanced at his book to see that he had already read a third of it. He had most certainly lost track of time. He looked at the pile of glasses that had accrued beside him and simply assumed that somebody had hosted some sort of drinking contest to his side some time ago.

As he stood he felt ever so slightly unsteady, which he simply chalked up to him sitting down for some time before he unknowingly let out a single hiccup. "Well, I suppose we should get to looking for them then."

The patrons didn't miss his hiccup though, and quite a few began passing coins around and muttering about Troe not being entirely immune to drinking. Some had seemingly bet on him being some sort of gimmick and that him downing each drink had to have been some sort of trick. The fact that he was showing at least some signs of inebriation, even if it was even less than a light buzz, had rubbed dirt on their theory.