HokumPocus

Darkest Day (pkmn rp)

"Huh? You mean it?" asked Lark. His face had the uncanny ability retain a vacant and relaxed look, even when he was genuinely excited for something.

These trainers definitely looked like they knew their stuff. Getting the chance to photograph them in the middle of their battles would be priceless. Especially since I might not do so good... Shutter was a peculiar pokemon to battle with. His friends who were fans of battling called her a glasscannon, and the people he beat preferred "a cheap gimmick". Shutter's entire moveset revolved around getting lucky, so there was always the chance of eating dirt. If he were to lose a challenge it'd be tougher to get good shots without some other trainers around to help.

"I have some photography buddies around the region. Haven't actually met most of them outside of the internet, but hey, first time for everything. It'd be nice to have some strong trainers around to help me find great shots."

Shutter knew the drill and practically crashed into her pokeball, and the three made their way to the stadium.

Darkest Day (pkmn rp)

"Sorry man, got too excited with this thing. The name's Lark, or Larkshoots2 on the internet." The brows above his droopy eyes slowly settled into a more contorted position, as he was beginning to show an ounce of self-awareness. Giving the two some homemade business cards was probably out of the question. "I'm also joining the gym challenge, but I'm gonna be more focused on my photography gig. Shutter here is my right hand bug."

Shutter, at hearing her name, flapped her wings even faster than before. The venomoth was easily excited and curious about just about everything, which was terrible when traveling alongside a photographer who needed peace and stillness during shots. She was showing an incredible amount of restraint by not flapping in everyone's faces, but was clearly struggling to hold it together.

Eɴᴛᴇʀ — Into an Isekai World

---

Unknown Forest

---

Kaito was last to join the group once more, jogging towards them with a lanky pair of legs that hadn't received proper exercising in years. His arms, crossed and currently carrying a mess of journals, did nothing to help him navigate the uneven terrain. He stifled whatever noises his body wanted to make in protest and tried to switch to the mindset of a professional again. It was harder than before, considering the fourth person and their bizarre appearance.

They'd stand a better chance at getting her to open up if he kept his questions short and his tone steady. "Hide? Why?" he asked.

His soft eyes rested on her, and for a brief moment Kaito felt as if he stood a chance at steering the conflict towards the same uneasy peace as before. Until the cheering started. It was hard to tell what those unknown voices were shouting, but it was obvious they didn't mean well.

His mouth twitched and his feet spun as he clamored to keep it together and get out of there. An arrow struck the grass deep near his feet sending him crashing on his rear in panic. Around him more began to fall, each piercing the skin of the trees and earth with ease.

He had to be strong, he knew that. Right now though, being strong meant not dying. He threw his body at a thick tree near him and collapsed in a heap of long limbs. "Hide!" he shouted, with none of the grace he had exhibited before.

Darkest Day (pkmn rp)

Lark fidgeted with the settings on his camera for the hundredth time since he’d woken up today and analyzed his surroundings with a deceptively relaxed gaze. He, like the rest of the trainers present, had shown up to participate in this gym challenge. Unlike the rest of them however, Lark didn’t have his sights set on just winning. He was an amateur photographer in search of the best shots and his career mattered far more to him than winning some challenge.

As he walked around he couldn’t shake off a weird feeling that chased him. Was it the food he ate? Did he forget to pack something? Or was it that odd conversation he had with his parents over the phone the other day? Eh, he’d get over it soon enough. Still can’t believe my parents were gonna name me Maya if I was a girl. What a weird name.

His pokemon fluttered around him, pressuring Lark to get his head out of the clouds and keep walking.

“Alright, I get it.”

Shutter the venomoth, a pokemon with not much attack power but with a terrifying assortment of ways to shut down any of her opponents. Many trainers had underestimated the beautiful pokemon, only to discover the fury of having their all-offense pokemon rendered paralyzed, exhausted and infatuated at the same time.

Lark ignored her for the most part, as his attention was focused on a gothic looking trainer. He’d just snap a quick picture of the exotic looking man and keep moving.

*SNAP*

He had turned flash on at some point during his re-re-recalbirations. Crap.

Pariah Online III

_{:: the streets of thorinn // thorinn ::}

---

The warm smile that had poured into the corners of Alex's face jolted into an odd shape. Suck?!

Was he a bad player? The guy really didn't have anything to base himself with. Alex's brother was a tryhard who probably didn't represent the average player, but neither did himself and his carpentry and forest wandering adventures. His lack of experience with going out into the world meant he had a hard time thinking of what the average player did in their day to day lives, and something about the faces of the people around him made him feel like they wouldn't appreciate him asking what it meant to be good at the game right now.

"Well my brother's always been good at gaming, and it was because of him that I knew what to do when choosing my powers. I can do a lot of damage at a distance and run away if things get nasty... super beginner friendly!" The last words were tacked on at the end in sync with him placing his hands on his hips. An observant person might have noticed beads of sweat forming on his forehead.

Dark new world (a post-apocalyptic Pokémon story)

Maya sighed. It was the same sigh that tended to punctuate her conversations with adults and explorations in libraries, the kind of noise that meant she was realizing she was useless in a situation and would have to rely on another person for help. Taser had its uses, there was no denying that, but their next journey wouldn't be needing any of them. It felt like someone was moving the goalposts every time she managed to get something done.

"I've done a lot of weird stuff with pokemon, never hovered on an anchor though," she said. It looked terrifying, which was good for battling. She wasn't so sure if that was a positive if she was going to climb on top of it, though. "We're going to be climbing it, right?"

"So obviously I haven't even started training Taser yet, but it's well-behaved enough to where it'd definitely help us against any flying types trying to eat us." Ah, the self-preservation instinct, the fundamental law of life that made even the most undertrained pokemon fight tooth and nail. It was a good thing none of her old instructors were here to see her stake her life on it.

The Five Senses

Lynx

---

Lynx's front paw traced a half-circle onto the stone floor, anxiously going over what options were available for both him and Octavio. His mind was currently focused on Octavio's illusions, and seeing the man cup his chin assured him they were on the same page.

My biggest issue is getting an illusion up there, thought Octavio, less to Lynx and more to himself.

Chres' plan had been to conjure stairs using his magic and strain himself in the process, meaning that having more than one human scale them would most likely pose a risk for everyone involved. It would be possible for Octavio to circumvent the rule by summoning his illusions after scaling them from a hidden location. The problem with that particular strategy was that Ferris was the better combatant, and Lynx wasn't sure if Octavio would be able to find an area safe enough to summon under the time limit they were working with. It seemed like the only option would be to send Ferris off by himself. Unless...

"I'll accompany Ferris. Having more than one human scale your construct would be dangerous, and I don't think that Octavio will be able to find suitable shelter to summon illusions in within time. I will not be caught."

Octavio looked at him the way a child looked at a brave knight, and for a second he felt a sense of arrogance sweep him away. He was used to scampering around as someone's shadow, so this would be a good way to test Chres' theory.

At his command, Lynx shot towards the stairs in a gray blur, like a stormy cloud desperate to join its kin. He leapt ahead of the man to give him ample room and survey their surroundings. Windows with generous ledges. A feat of agility for a bipedal creature to overcome, but not something that one like him could get through without assistance. He looked at Ferris blankly, hoping he'd make quick work of the window he had chosen before the stairs had vanished entirely. Sure enough, the man unclasped it fast enough for Lynx to take a final leap in.

Ferris and him silently traversed the interior of the tower. Through his acute sense of hearing, Lynx could hear various signs of life beyond them. Nothing stood out right away, as none of the noises were violent, mundane if anything. If travelling with a rogue had taught him anything though, it was that silence was never peaceful.

---

"Well, now there's two of me," said Octavio, patting his illusion of himself on the shoulder.

With Chres prioritizing getting their party in and out of the tower, Octavio had figured giving themselves a bodyguard of sorts was necessary. Summoning any more would take some time due to the rain stifling out the light, so he had settled on only making one high quality illusion of himself. "I suppose I should save my energy in case we need it later."

Dark new world (a post-apocalyptic Pokémon story)

"Gyaaaaahhhhh!"

Zombie fell from the sky like a stone. His light body made no noise from the impact, almost like a stuffed animal would when dropped. In only a few seconds the archen ruffled his feathers and steadied himself, however.

As the owner of only one pokemon, Maya was used to fighting against type disadvantages. That didn't make it any less annoying though. Whereas Zombie was a twitchy wreck of feathers that relied on sheer speed, this magnemite had taken the complete opposite approach by aiming its lightning strikes with a calculated slowness that got on her nerves. He'd already scored a fair amount of hits, but all it would take were a couple more attacks from the magnemite for him to tap out.

"Catch!"

Maya lobbed a large stone at the magnemite, a technique she had come to appreciate after so many dirty fights in the wild. It reacted instantly, sending off a large jolt at the projectile. Maya's familiar smug grin returned to full strength.

"Zombie! Wing attack!"

In an instant he shot towards the sky in a flurry of color and into his target. Up until now the magnemite had only seen Zombie use leer to soften him up and rock throw to score the occasional dent in, and had no time nor way to prepare for the rocket of feathers dead set on its only eye. With a mechanical screech that rang through the city, it skidded to the floor in pain.

A shroud of light encircled it. Moments later, it was caught.

"Never been good with names... how about Taser?"

Dark new world (a post-apocalyptic Pokémon story)

A brief memory of Aro collapsed on the ground and scrawling on the dirt with his fingers entered Maya's mind as she heard the name Petros.

"I figured this was bait. Zombie here has a lot of toughening up to do though."

The pokemon puffed its colorful chest in a way that was both cute and absolutely pathetic. She didn't notice, too busy with groping all of the complex machinery she could find. Maya never understood technology all too well, but the hands-on girl wasn't about to be stopped by enormous panels and rows of scary looking buttons. It felt cathartic in a way, messing with all of the equipment Ms. Amy regularly scolded her for getting close to. Fate had other plans, however.

The roar of a helicopter came crashing down on their ears, sending vibrations throughout the floor and walls. It felt like prey being rattled in a cage by a predator, and she took off sprinting even before Aro had finished talking.

---

"I can drive. Or at least, I can sorta remember the basics from the manuals I used to have."

Maya came to regret uttering those words.

To the surprise of no one, riding a motorcycle was a challenge. And riding one while being chased by mutated pokemon and bandits? You could forget about the "safety" part of the manuals.

That's not to say she didn't enjoy herself. Her reputation as a daredevil in battle shone throughout the various squabbles they found themselves in, with Zombie shrieking in and out of the landscapes turned warzones. To her satisfaction the result of irresponsibly training her only pokemon via trial by fire had resulted in a far stronger companion who could burst through the air at breakneck speeds, thanks to the fear of death egging him on.

---

Maya stretched her cramped legs and took in the sight of the industrial city around her. She knew it had seen better days judging by some of the worn out buildings, but it was still bigger and brighter than anything else in the wasteland up to this point. And among the lights that speckled around them, a flash of silver caught her attention the most. A piece of metal to be exact, glinting from the sunlight only faintly. Any other person wouldn't have noticed, but for the trainer desperate for pokemon she knew exactly what it meant. Her mind combed through all of the pokemon that could cause such a visual effect. It had to have been one low to the ground, with a body composition entirely or mostly metallic. A smirk spread across her face as she realized what was floating only a stone's throw away from her behind the corner of a building.

Her spare pokeball expanded to fit in the palm of her hand.

"Magnemite, huh."

Dark new world (a post-apocalyptic Pokémon story)

Even though he was just stating the facts, Khelfin annoyed Maya. Coming into contact with those fossil hunters would be no easy feat. That didn't mean she was going to give up on her idea so fast, though.

"If they're all in hiding, then the best way to get their attention is to either track 'em down." Her eyebrows tightened. "Or... the opposite of that. Get strong and crazy enough that they come to us." She chuckled dryly, aware of how ridiculous the idea sounded. "One day."

She wanted to protest against Aro's idea, but if what was missing from hers was power, then charging into a building most likely full of people who were going to square off with you was definitely their best option for growing stronger. It sounded reckless, but with how inconsistent sentient life was in the wilderness it'd be better than just camping out and hoping something weak showed up.

"Bombing the place would ruin all the research, not happening," she said. Khelfin was joking, but something about his tone rubbed her the wrong way.

***

With Sabrina and Khelfin gone, Maya was now just with Aro. Despite her being the independent sort of trainer, it left her with a sense of dread. If those wild pokemon from before were going to be commonplace, then adapting to working with others was going to be a necessity.

She turned to him. "So, are you a plan type of guy or do we just storm the place?"