‘To the dragon, alright!’ Ronin responded to Faith, grabbing her hand. Before running, she looked to Reaver, facing off against the ent. ‘I’m gonna assume you can handle yourself! I’ll be back for you later, black knight dude!’ she called, before turning and running along with Faith. ‘We’re going airborn!’ Ronin warned Faith with a smile, and then she skipped up into the air, manifesting small Reinforcement barriers under their feet to carry them over hedges and the vines that was the monsters’ domains, making them wide enough so Faith could run next to her.
On the way, a girl fell out of the sky, causing Ronin to temporarily skid to a halt. Oh, wait, she recognized this person! She looked older, enough things were slightly different that a normal person might have to think twice, but to Deni, it was obvious. It was Amber! She was still around! Ronin grinned so happily to see a familiar face.
‘Am-’ no wait ‘-mmbitious landing! I like it!’ Right, can’t reveal herself as Deni. She’s Ronin right now, and Ronin doesn’t know anyone! ‘Sorry, can’t leave, gotta save people! But there’s people over there in need of saving!’ Ronin told, gesturing towards the Beacon zone. ‘I’m heading for the dragon! Let’s save everyone together, and then we can be friends, too!’ Ronin called, feeling positively giddy that she was able to say such cheesy shit and mean it. She never could while in Asengav’s charge. She loved it.
So, current order of business was running towards the dragon, let Faith do whatever Faith said she was going to do and also block the dragon’s attacks against everyone if at all possible. She was under the impression Faith was going to do something that’d probably hopefully give them some time and protect the rest from the dragon, she mentioned something about an escape route so perhaps-
Ronin rerouted them so they ran to be in-between the dragon and Beacon-zone first, just in case she had to interfere there first, too…!
[@people at the park]
[Location wise, she started in Ent zone, and running diagonally to in-between Beacon zone and Dragon zone. Slightly more towards the dragon than towards the Beacon zone. Basically.]
‘I’m afraid that’s… not going to work,’ Eli told. ‘Our home is a really sensitive place for us. We keep things there we can’t risk people see. That is… don’t worry, it’s not something you’d hate us for, but it’s things we’ve been entrusted by our Patron that we simply can’t take risks with. Sorry. That said, we can perhaps arrange something unaffiliated with you where you can hide. As I said, with mistress’ powers, there’s nowhere we can’t go, and no hiding spot that we can’t create for you,’ Eli tried again. She felt a bit bad about it, but that’s how it was.
The elderly Gym Leader looked over as Basil and Cyril came over, the older man holding a light smile as he both watched the children play with Stoutland for a bit and look the two of them over.
‘You heard correctly,’ Dorian answered Basil’s statement. ‘I am Dorian, Gym Leader of the Major League Gym here in Pureplain City. Should you decide to make winning in Pokémon battles your goal throughout your journey, then I imagine that one day your journey will take you to my Gym. My goal has always been to procure the perfect Pokémon, and for that the Normal-type has attracted me for its lack of weaknesses. But of course, there is no Pokémon without flaw, or we would not have such an exciting stage for them. Hoho…’ the old man said and chuckled a bit for himself, looking decently at peace with himself.
Johannes meanwhile stood on the side, not expecting to be talked to, but then Cyril turned and complimented his Shuppets. He looked a bit taken aback for a moment, and the Shuppets hid as if their presence had been a secret, but…
‘… Thank you,’ Johannes replied. ‘They decided to hang around my house a while back. At first I thought them a nuisance and had a trainer chase them off, but then I realized their presence actually comforted me… so I let these ones hang around,’ he explained, looking a bit awkward to actually address them, on top of looking constantly exhausted.
Anyways. That’s all I really got.
1. Pokémon School Park. There’s a small park of grass in here. What kind of Pokémon might be in it? 2. Talk. Plenty of students and teachers. This is a wellspring of knowledge, someone must know something. 3. Challenge. Work your way up the leaderboard! Specify the level of opponent. 4. Specify. If you specify what you want to do, the GM will take it into account and tell the result. 5. Trigger random event. Force the GM to use his imagination to make a scenario for you. 6. Study. You want to know something? Feel free to learn about it here! 6.1. Pokémon Habitats. Learn where you might find a specific kind of Pokémon! 6.2. Isson Geography. Learn more about the different places in Isson! 6.3. Names to Remember. Learn about Gym Leaders, Elite Four, or the like! 6.4. Local Legends. Learn about different tales from around Isson! 6.5. Pokémon Breeding. That’s also a subject. 6.6. Battling Basics. You likely know them already. 6.7. Specify. Tell what you want to learn and we’ll see if we have a course!
Connected areas: Pureplain City. All around, of course.
‘If I truly see no use for a Pokémon, then I will release it. Otherwise, I will keep it in the box for the purpose of testing future tactics. I will need a diverse team to take on the varying challenges the Gym Leaders will throw at me, but at the end I will also need to craft a team of six capable of overcoming any challenge. But, I should keep more than six around to change up my plans. I must be ready to adapt to an evolving competitive scene, after all,’ Oaken replied to Eryn’s question, and with this the GM reminds that there should no negative stigma against storing Pokémon in boxes in this world, usually. Up to the individual character, of course, but in general.
And that’s where we cut that conversation because stuff started happening.
‘Miiiime,’ Mr. Mime called back to her thanks, still not looking thrilled.
Now, while Eryn was able to convince herself that the thoughts that occurred to her was part of the test, they wouldn’t stop coming just because she figured that out. Armed with the knowledge, however, she’d be able to more easily brave the unwarranted impulses, and slowly but surely, she was able to make progress…
‘Gh,’ Vivia frowned a bit as she was told the plan to simply let the room fill up with water and swim up to the edge. ‘Right. Alright. Let us do this. I don’t really look forward to getting soaked, but let us do this,’ she muttered decently unhappily, but she went along with it.
So time passed, during which the Mr. Mime eventually had enough of triggering the Claydol, and hid behind a pillar and took it easy. Eventually, though, he looked over at Skylar and Vivia curiously, even as the water started building up beneath their feet. Vivia quivered a bit, clearly worried about the water, but she stood firm.
As they waited, it became immediately clear that neither other Pokémon in this room was actually particularly bothered by the rising water. Claydol simply floated above the rising surface, and Mr. Mime was standing on top of the water, on his own reflective barrier just on the water’s surface. Eventually, the water got high enough that the two of them had to either swim or hold onto something to “climb”, Vivia definitely selecting the latter option.
At some point, the Claydol floated away and inserted himself into an indent in the wall at a higher level, the doll turning itself off as the room for its operations ceased. Now without its playmate, Mr. Mime walked over to inspect Skylar and Vivia a bit. Vivia looked back at him with a bit of a worry, before the weird humanoid Psychic-type just smiled at them.
‘Mr. Miiiime~!’ he called, before walking up a staircase of barrier and walking off the north path.
Some time later, which Vivia could inform Skylar of when it was time, they could make their way to the northern exit, climb up, and then make their way down the corridor.
‘Oooogh, I really don’t like this…’ Vivia complained a bit as all her clothes were now drenched, but anyway, they headed on, and arrived to…
__________________________
The room before them had strange mechanical pillars sticking out of the ground, and grass and moss grew in between it all. Some fallen over pillars still showed sign of where they’d once stood, and small chutes for water flowed between the pillars as if supplying each of them with water. And…
Eryn entered from the south-eastern end. As she entered, the oppressive thoughts vanished, and everything became clearer. Oaken breathed out in relief as to where they’d arrived, looking around. Mr. Mime was still being dragged along. And…
Then Skylar and Vivia came in from the east, their clothes drenched from their most recent endeavour, and just as they entered, the Mr. Mime they’d seen was standing leaning immediately to the right from where they entered. And over there, was Eryn and Oaken, for whatever reason. Not soaked.
‘… Vivia?’ Oaken asked, a raised eyebrow. Also threw a look at Skylar, because, huh.
‘Oaken!? And… Eryn, right?’ Vivia asked, just needing to remember Eryn a bit from the time when Eryn had just received her first Pokémon and so. ‘What are you doing here!?’
‘… Hmpf,’ Oaken made a slightly displeased noise, because clearly there wasn’t much time to deliberate. Water was still rising, and this room was higher up, but the water level had not stopped rising, hence Oaken looked for ways out of this room.
So, there was five exits out of this room. There was the dark corridor that Eryn had come from to the south-east, and there was the soaked corridor to the east that Skylar had come from. There was a path west, but it ended in a sudden and unmistakable dead end, no progress in sight. There was a path south, but unfortunately that was an incline downwards into a room that had already been flooded. That left the path north, which by looking from the flow of water they could actually tell that the water was coming from. The problem was…
Pokédex Entry #606 – Beheeyem, the Cerebral Pokémon. It can use its psychic powers to manipulate memory. It communicates with others of its kind by flashing with its three differently-coloured fingers, but the patterns have been impossible to decipher. In battle, it uses its psychic power to tamper with an opponent’s mind.
… The path north was once again blocked by five floating Beheeyems.
What would Skylar and Eryn do here?
Blue dot - Entrance. Actually maybe kinda orange/pink dot - Eryn. Dark green dot - Oaken. Purple dot - Skylar. Cyan dot - Vivia. Red dot - Claydol. Pinker dots - Mr. Mimes
Ellyn looked towards Ryu, her face looking mildly troubled for a moment, before she nodded a bit.
‘… Right. Guess I should start acting like an upperclassman,’ Ellyn said, before taking a deep breath and straightening her back.
‘I am Ellyn, Pokémon Trainer. I already started my journey and have the bug and grass gym-badges. You have some catching up to do. But, for this battle, I suppose I will be given a new Pokémon that is closer to your level. … Where’s Jacques?’ Ellyn asked, starting to look around…
And as if on cue, the great Aerodactyl swooped in again, and the glassed man in a top-hat jumped down to land, his knees bending expertedly to absorb the impact. He quickly returned his great mount to its Pokéball, and then turned to Ellyn.
‘I am glad you could make it. Thank you for your help, Eugene. Here you go,’ Jacques said, handing over the payment to the Freecape Ferryman that had brought her here. Eugene nodded to him as he accepted the payment.
‘Always a pleasure to be of service to you, sir Jacques. Now, if that was all, I’ll return to my duties…’ Eugene stated, starting to turn around…
‘Nope. You stay. You’re going to fly me back after the battle. Jacques will pay for that trip, too,’ Ellyn declared in a non-committal tone. Eugene paused, and threw a glance over at Jacques, who simply did an amused shrug and handed over another payment.
‘You had something for me, did you?’ Ellyn then asked, holding out her hand to Jacques. Jacques took a look over her, giving a slight smile.
‘You sure got more assertive. In the beginning, you seemed like any sort of effort was a pain. Is this Maple’s influence?’ Jacques asked, placing a Pokéball in Ellyn’s hand.
‘That oblivious girl would charge headlong into every danger she came across and drag me along into it unless I learned how to speak up to persuade her to be more careful,’ Ellyn said with a sigh. ‘… but besides that, being dragged back here was not my choice, and very sudden, because you needed me. Hence, I get to act as queen for the duration of my stay,’ she then declared, like it was natural. She inspected the Pokéball a bit, and… ‘Now, what’s this?’ she asked, as the Pokéball opened and something came out of it…
‘Well, since you wanted cake so much…’ Jacques commented…
Pokédex Entry #868 – Milcery, the Cream Pokémon. It is a Pokémon born from sweet-smelling particles in the air. Its body is made out of cream. They say that any patisserie visited by Milcery is guaranteed success and good fortune. It has a unique evolution method triggered by being whipped together with some form of fruit or sweets.
‘Oooh…! That one’s not native to Isson!’ Kalmia said with a realization, looking over at Jacques… who was looking decently pleased with himself.
‘It is not, but since Zachery just came back from his oversea trip with his hull full of foreign Pokémon, I thought I’d ask him for a favor,’ Jacques told, voice also pleased.
‘Milcery?’ the floating wad of cream asked, looking back at an unconvinced-looking Ellyn.
‘That’s, like, a floating wad of cream, not a cake…’ Ellyn said, sounding slightly disappointed, looking over at Jacques… who quickly hurried over to Ellyn and showed her something on his phone.
‘It can become this,’ he whispered. This was the moment when Ellyn’s mouth fell open, her eyes widened somewhat, a couple of stars appeared in her eyes and a slight bit of drool leaked on the right side of her mouth.
‘… CAKE!’ Ellyn called, turning towards the Pokémon, suddenly brimming with determination, arms crossed as she faced the Pokémon. ‘I am Ellyn! I am your trainer! Together, we will conquer Isson and make you a cake, Cake!’ Ellyn declared, while Jacques was snickering and escaping from Ellyn’s immediate vicinity.
‘… Milcery!’ a slightly confused cream Pokémon responded, regardless seeming cheerful.
‘Our first opponent is this kid that just got his own first Pokémon, Ryu! Tackle that Fennekin, and don’t get yourself baked!’ Ellyn called, and Milcery was quick to spin around to face off against Fennekin!
‘Milceeeeee~!’ it called out as it floated forth at Fennekin…!
The scene of the battle was the front yard of Kalmia’s lab. There was a suitable amount of grass, but there was also the road. There wasn’t really a fence between the grass and the road. There was a small asphalted path up to the house between the plains of grass. There may also have been signs of recent battle, a puddle of water in one place, and a field of grass that had been torn up by a Rollout that dug itself into the ground, and a bucket nobody has picked up yet. With that, the stage was set for battle.
What would Ryu and Fennekin do?
‘… If you showed her the picture I think you did, it can’t actually become that kind of cake in Isson, can it?’ Kalmia asked Jacques in the background. ‘Shhh. Excitement comes now, disappointment comes later,’ Jacques replied, looking overly pleased with himself still.
‘Ah, well! No worries! I’ll be riding about the western seas of Isson, if you change your mind! Farewell for now!’ Zachery called in response to Amelia’s eventual decision, holding nothing against her, and with that she could turn and leave and go after Jacques. Now, Jacques rode back on an Aerodactyl, so it makes sense he’d arrive back way beforehand, so the above scene can have happened first.
Then Amelia arrived at the scene, a suitable amount of time after having departed from the harbor.
‘Hello again, Amelia. Our two your hopefuls are just about starting their battle,’ Jacques said, gesturing forward at the would-be battle.
‘You’re not interrupting anything. You’re always welcomed back, though I haven’t yet had time to make much progress on your request,’ Kalmia said, and yeah, she’d been busy with new hopefuls all day. ‘Can I help you with anything?’
Anything Amelia wanted here?
And yeah, Ryu could possibly see this young girl arriving with an entourage of ghost-Pokémon on the side starting to talk with Jacques and Kalmia. If he found a time to look away from Ellyn and Milcery, anyway.
So, Deni was a little shaken by the events that had transpired. She'd been knocked out and during the time she was knocked, the guy she'd been suspecting of being an assassin had turned out to be an assassin. Not only that, but another assassin had stabbed the Beacon leader. That was roughly the opposite of what she'd been intending. It was now impossible for her to accomplish her mission here. The other agents talked about fighting a monster queen, but, er, Deni was weak. She couldn't fight something like that. It was far better for her to engage at a place where she could make a difference...
And then right in front of her she could see Faith commanding an army of bugs to descend on the defenseless Beacon leader.
...
Deni wanted, very plainly, to be a hero. She wanted to save everyone. So, like, who was she not to-
Ronin shot a blast of Reinforcement magic through herself and leapt. Boosted by her specialization of choice she ran and swung around in-between Faith and Ishtar. Her hand swept to her sword and she swung it with precision to slice through the bugs attacking her, before it swung to confront Faith and remaining bugs.
‘With Cindy's death, my current contract is void! From here on out, I'm just gonna save every single person I can!’ she shouted, and then sliced at more bugs, because they'd likely not stop coming just because she shouted a bit, focusing all of her Martial Training to keep track of bugs to slice and making small barriers where she had to protect herself or Ishtar, more details if I need to add it.
‘Fairy-girl! I must ask you to pull back! You're out of allies!’ she called to Faith. Cindy was killed, Reaver had defected, Goblina was an enemy in disguise, Shane was kidnapped, centaur was still under the effect of the smoke. It all left just Faith. ... Faith and giant horror monster, that Ronin was not going to try to take on. The little samurai was a bit wary that perhaps she wasn't really equipped to take on Faith and her pet horror if they decided not to actually pull back...
She was also trying to be wary of berserker Hilaria. Because count that as one more thing she didn't want to become a victim of.
Freya grunted a noncommittal grunt as she found herself unable to strike down Aurelio, her non-magical self finding that her overwhelming strength was very much unable to crack through his trick of love. She merely glared as Aurelio then used the White Coin, and-
-and Freya found herself swirled by a cloud of warmth, trust, safety and family, all the things Aurelio felt from the warmth of the ShineSpark within him. Freya recoiled, her eyes widening. And she…
She bit down, frowning hard, baring her fangs and clutching her free fist, closing her eyes as if trying to resist the feeling.
‘No,’ Freya declared, opening her eyes to glare at Aurelio. ‘This feeling of peace and tranquility… it’s a lie, a cover of things made to be desirable. Comfort will not save you when the enemy’s at your doorstep, tearing down your walls and murdering your family. That feeling is false, artificially made to keep peasants happy. If it wasn’t for this feeling, I’d…’ she shook her head, traces of tears visible through the shadows at below her eyes. ‘We warriors should never forget the cold touch of reality…!’
‘And that’s where we leave! Sorry, really can’t stay…!’ Jelena grabbed onto Freya from behind, holding Esther behind her as Esther had grown an enormous wood-shield from her body to shield them from the incoming wind-attacks, and Jelena in turn had manifested as big a metal shield as she could with all her remaining metal on her left arm to shield in the same direction. As she activated Overcity Shift, she gave an apologetic smile to Aurelio, right by Freya’s glare. ‘Be nice to Dorothy, she really didn’t know anything. Sorry about the arm, please don’t hate us…!’
And then, with a swift magic circle, they’d disappeared into the Overcity.
On the other side it was then Freya’s job to grab the other two and utterly bolt like only a minmaxed Strength/Agility girl could.
Ronin was blown off by something, and then landed on her butt some distance away, and then was presented with the scene before her.
…
Yeah, no. She’s not going to do anything yet. Maybe later. Her post isn’t really suited for being the first here.
‘… Could you repeat that?’ Mariette had to ask as her informant told her of what had happened at various different places in town…
Eli looked a little hesitant at Nuncio’s question, but also brightened up when he showed off the Red Coin. She nodded earnestly.
‘Okay. Thank you. So, um,’ Eli thought of the answer to the question. ‘Our mansion is a bad place for anyone unaffiliated with our patron, as that particular dimension is very close to our patron. He may just decide to keep someone who was only supposed be kept there temporarily, it’s happened before, do tell Alicia we’re sorry about that if you ever see her…’ she said, sounding a bit awkward. ‘… but as for simply places to hide out in, there is nowhere my mistress cannot transport you. We can hide you in different dimensions, in the Overcity itself, or just any safehouse here in Penrose, if you’d so like. Would that be of interest?’ Eli told, looking to see how Nuncio and Sammy reacted to these prospects.
… Lea gently reached forward and took the White Coin out of panda-girl’s hand, ignoring that the girls behind her looked like they got agitated. She felt its power, holding it, turning it and inspecting it. An idea occurred to her. She could use it. She was confident that she was the only girl loyal enough to Asengav that she could use it, be “purified”, and then walk directly back to Asengav with no blemishes. Besides, while she had no issues with this form that she’d existed for an eternity in, it could be interesting to try anew. That said, it wasn’t something she should surprise Asengav with. He could get so awfully jealous if he lost his connection to her… Still, she found herself moderately seriously considering using it. With that in mind…
‘You’ve proven yourselves different from the Beacon of old. I respect and appreciate that. You have my gratitude,’ she said, taking her eyes from the coins and looking to Lillyn. ‘I have yet to decide. I shall look at the coin and consider it for some time longer. I bid you adieu, for now. Thank you,’ she said, before turning around intending to fly away.
Before they could object.
At considerable speed.
Still holding the coin.
And then, should nothing have interrupted her, a second or three later the light of Overcity Shift would overtake her and she’d vanish from this world.
The elfin monster-girl was counting on her Awareness to make her aware of any sudden attempts to stop her. Magic and Agility were her stats, after all, she should be decently capable of dodging.
What she was gambling on was that they'd think there'd simply been a misunderstanding due to Lea's alien mind. Now, she technically hadn’t lied. She was grateful, if only because they made her job so much easier. She was technically considering using it, even if she never intended on turning her back on Asengav. Then it was just a question of if Light-specialized girls can see through someone speaking dishonestly, compared to just literal lies. If there was any Light-specialized girls there at all, that is.
With Aurelio protecting the coin so intently, Freya gripped and ripped his arm off…
‘AKH!’ Jelena cried out beside Freya, having jolted to and flinched away from the two of them. ‘D-don’t rip people’s arms off like that!’
‘They’re on a battlefield. If they’re warriors, they’re prepared for it. More importantly, confirm,’ Freya said, taking the coin out of the fingers of the arm and lobbing it over to Jelena while Aurelio likely escaped a bit.
‘But we’re supposed to avoid hurting them, so they don’t hold grudges! We were just supposed to collect the coin…’ Jelena complained as she caught the coin, whimpering as she started to look at it… and then her impression got alert as she had to look more closely into it. The fact that this analysis was taking this long had already clued Freya in as she’d already prepared to blast off.
‘IT’S NOT IT!’ Jelena said while Freya had already blasted off towards Aurelio with dramatic speed, her claws raised to knock him out. It was clear as long as he was awake he’d have no shortage of tricks which to pull against them, so Freya just went at her highest speed to knock him down as swiftly as she could…!
At this point, she was thinking she may as well kidnap Aurelio and they’d strip him in the Overcity before letting him go again.
So, uprooting Esther right now would take an unfathomable amount of force, so let’s say the bottom of her feet were separated from the ground instead. Losing an arm was very insignificant to Esther as she could simply collect any set of branches and just stick it onto the stump and then wood-magic would take care of the rest to develop it into a new arm. A benefit of being composed of the element you’re specialized in. That said, being lifted into the air was a bit problematic, as all of her talents were very much associated with being stuck into the ground. Now, could a tree get motion-sick? No idea, but she was very much not doing a lot until she was flung away by the winds.
‘Woah-!’ Jelena commented, swinging up her arm and manipulating the metal to make her arm extend exceedingly far and caught Esther right in mid-air, pulling the wood-monster in as Jelena then dashed after Freya. They needed to be close to one another when Jelena activated her Overcity Shift, which Jelena was certainly preparing the magic to do at any second!
So Ronin had come to this little meeting with the intention of trying to steer things towards a better outcome.
Hahahahaha, what a joke.
Well, at least she told Veronica over the messages what happened here.
She really needed to ask Veronica about how achievable her actual goal was before everything else just rushed over her like this.
&
‘…!’ Mariette blinked as she was spoken to, turning around and looking off in various directions. She’d be pretty quick to see the new tower that had appeared after a few opened portals to survey the area, and then it became very apparent that she had to move.
‘… The mission appears to have been accomplished. I need to pay attention elsewhere. Eli can stay for a bit. Tell her anything you need to tell me,’ Mariette said to Amaryllis and Nuncio, before dropping through a portal to an apartment elsewhere in the city, before speaking.
‘We are being watched. Temporarily discontinue all activity. Nightwatch protocol,’ Mariette said.
Her mission control briefly complained about that the second attempt to take the coin could only happen tonight.
‘It’s not worth it,’ Mariette told. ‘Nightwatch protocol,’ she reminded, and then they’d simply have to discontinue that. It didn’t seem like they’d get the White Coin. Meh. Only a slight setback, if an irritating one.
‘Er, hi?’ Eli said, slime-girl being left behind here.
Not that Lea actually had to follow Mariette’s orders. Lea wasn’t part of the figurative ladder. As Asengav’s mouthpiece and messenger, she wasn’t under Mariette’s charge unlike the rest of the girls and could do as she pleased. She’d simply come here to finish unfinished business and because she wanted to keep an eye on Mariette’s progress. From what she’d heard, the plan to obtain the White Coin was going less than stellar.
It did cause Lea to wonder a bit, however. From the information they’d picked up, it was apparently decently easy to have a Beacon member offer you a coin. That made her wonder…
Perhaps it was all so very much easier than they’d considered?
Lea found herself another patrol, that had at least one individual of the same rank as Aurelio. Making no secret of her appearance, Lea gently landed in front of them, looking towards them with her elfin eyes…
‘I heard Beacon was handing out coins that purified monster girls,’ she began. ‘May I have one?’
‘Alright. Sounds good,’ Vivia decided about the coin plan, just in case what came ahead of them was a maze. Then, she was moderately quick at pulling at Skylar, since there was an increase in the water-level. Would the coin even stay there when the place got flooded? That aside. Vivia led Skylar on to the next room, when-
When they both heard the sounds of something firing destructive beams of power at something.
‘Wh-what now…!?’ Vivia questioned, as she peeked over to the next room, and then perhaps also led Skylar a bit closer as she looked around.
So, the next room they arrived in had little vents on the sides of it, but also pillars that were hanging around a bit of everywhere. The room in general was a mess, probably not designed to look like this but the varying pillars had collapsed over time. There were five exits. The one which Skylar and Vivia just came from, and one right beside it that went far east. There was also the one south, which wasn’t looking particularly notable.
Then there were west and north. To the west…
Pokédex Entry #606 – Beheeyem, the Cerebral Pokémon. It can use its psychic powers to manipulate memory. It communicates with others of its kind by flashing with its three differently-coloured fingers, but the patterns have been impossible to decipher. In battle, it uses its psychic power to tamper with an opponent’s mind.
A blockade of Beheeyem floated in the air, just stationed partly in the air with space in between them. They were perfectly stationary, just warning anyone from trying to walk through that particular way.
The way north… wasn’t actually just a regular path. It was several meters into the air, too high to climb normally, but high was perhaps the direction one wanted to go as water was starting to drip in from the room the two had come from. If they wanted to get up there, they’d have to figure out some way to reach it, first. Climbing pillars was not a realistic means of success in that regard.
In the center of the room was a Claydol. It wasn’t hard to avoid it, given the mess inside the room, but here it was, and it was constantly shooting Psybeams at a strange humanoid Pokémon that couldn’t help peeking at it and then dodging the various beams.
‘Mr. Miiiime~!’
Pokédex Entry #122 – Mr. Mime, the Barrier Pokémon. A master pantomime, it practices constantly. It generates a mystic force from its fingers, creating an actual invisible wall by stopping air-molecules. Should it be disturbed during its act, it slaps with its broad, powerful palms. It enjoys conning people.
‘Okay, so there’s-’ and then Vivia explained that which was described above.
What would Skylar want to do here?
Here’s a reminder that the water-level of the entire dungeon is slowly rising right about now.
Blue dot - Entrance. Actually maybe kinda orange/pink dot - Eryn. You don’t know this. Dark green dot - Oaken. You don’t know this. Purple dot - Skylar. Cyan dot - Vivia. Red dot - Claydol. Pinker dots - Mr. Mimes.
‘I’m sure she serves you well now, but that may change in the future, when you face more evolved opponents and your own other Pokémon have evolved as well,’ Oaken commented about Mawile, then considered what more to say.
‘… Still, I, too, have caught Pokémon merely for my short-term goals. I went up Route 1 to 4 and over Mountain Valley to Route 8 and Worldedge City first thing I did. I needed a Psychic Pokémon for the Fighting-gym, and I needed a Flying-type for both the Bug-type and Grass-type gyms. I got a Gothita with Shadow Tag, which was nice. I caught a Wingull, whom I’m hoping to make a Pelipper for a sure victory at both the Fighting and Ground-type gyms. I caught a Riolu at Mt. Strength, because Lucario is a well-respected, diligent and intelligent Pokémon,’ which all are things Oaken valued.
‘I also caught a Diglett, because Dugtrio’s a powerful contender with Arena Trap and the ability to outspeed most Pokémon with powerful Ground-type moves, should help against the Electric, Rock and Steel gyms eventually. I caught an Electrike for the Flying-gym, and a Staryu to compliment the Wingull for Ground-gym, but Staryu’s evolution is very promising for future use as well. So far, I’ve beaten the Bug-type and the Grass-type Gyms…’
His expression twitched a bit.
‘Keep in mind that I was at this for some time before you started your journey. Regardless. I always intended to head down here sooner or later. I was heading this way anyway because I want to catch a Fletchinder at Route 6 and I believe I have enough Water-Pokémon to take on the Ground-type gym at Raremine Town. When Rodger, the guy I’m travelling with, lost at the Grass-type Gym and stayed behind to complete it, I took the opportunity to go myself here, to find out the truth, using Staryu’s Dive. I didn’t imagine running into you, here…’
And that’s when they arrived in the new room. The water level started rising, and Eryn grabbed both Oaken, who was quick to get the idea and head along, and also…
‘Mr. Mime?’ the Pokémon made a surprised sound when Eryn grabbed and had him follow along towards the rising path.
‘… Of course. Yeah, I feel it too. This has to be the way,’ Oaken said in response to Eryn’s question, shaking his arm a bit insisting that he could jog perfectly well on his own.
‘Miiiiiime…’ Mr. Mime commented sounding a bit complaining about being made to head this way, looking a bit distressed, yet definitely let himself be pulled along.
And so, they made their way up the incline, where the path took a sharp right, and-
There was something strange about this tunnel. It was tighter, more claustrophobic than the other tunnels, also worse lit.
There was like the presence in the air was directly opposing her path forward here. It was powerful enough that someone doubting themselves might get stuck here. Regardless of how she would realistically feel, thoughts came unbidden to her mind, as if inspired by the tunnel itself, thrown in to sow the seeds of doubt in her mind.
All this danger wasn’t what I set out on this journey for. I’m a Pokémon Trainer, why am I not using my Pokémon? I shouldn’t be here, I’m not safe here. I was just exploring… I should turn back, get out of here, continue my journey. I don’t have to go through all this. It’s not worth it. What am I even doing this? I never asked to be tested like this…
… And thoughts along the like, happened regardless of if she actually had these opinions or not, trying to dissuade her from continuing forward. Regardless of how Eryn was handling it…
‘… HAH! As if I’d… stop like this…!’ Oaken declared, and was most, definitely continuing, even if he perhaps slowed to a steady walk facing against the oppressive force of the tunnel.
How was Eryn handling?
Blue dot - Entrance. Actually maybe kinda orange/pink dot - Eryn. May be ahead of Oaken, even with how the map looks. Dark green dot - Oaken. Purple dot - Skylar. You don’t know this. Cyan dot - Vivia. You don’t know this. Red dot - Claydol. Pinker dots - Mr. Mimes
‘Darn,’ a girl said in the midst of her dark little room with computers. Their attack on the Beacons was going less than stellar as Aurelio had more or less no-selled their ambush. There was a very real possibility he’d be able to get away.
There were so many weird things in the ambush. Like, for instance, why had they been packing sleep-grenades at a Beacon ambush when Beacon is immune to all forms of mental manipulation?
‘Okay…’ Taihei commented, lifting up the latest explosive she’d made from her workbench. ‘I’ve now made the “become incredibly stupid for a short time and not reconsider any decisions made during this time”-bomb. I have no idea why I made it, but it’s now imperative I distance myself from this bomb as quickly as possible, lest my bad luck will-’
And that’s when the door opened.
‘Taihei, I’ve come to bear witness to your latest-’ Mariette started as she opened the door, only for the handle to unexpectedly slam into a strangely placed mop that then fell and struck the trigger of the bomb, which abruptly blew up in a cloud of brown smoke around the two of them. As the smoke settled, the two looked at one another dumbfounded.
‘Anyway, I need bombs to ambush Beacon with, keep in mind they’re immune to all mental effects,’ Mariette started.
‘Oooh, how about sleep bombs? After all, sleep isn’t mental. It’s perfectly logical, natural and necessary for survival,’ Taihei replied.
‘You’re a genius, Taihei. Make those bombs, and as a reward I’ll send you on a trip to that nuclear power plant you mentioned. See if you can harness that power for Asengav,’ Mariette told the incredibly unlucky girl.
‘Woooo,’ Taihei replied.
And this is literally the only explanation PlatinumSkink can provide for this dose of incompetence.
Yeah, the entire thing confused her, the girl thought as she glanced past a news article reporting about a nuclear disaster somewhere in Europe, prompting a raised eyebrow but then just looking to things going on locally instead.
Still, she had an observation to make. Aurelio never took a detour to Beacon HQ. Meaning, he had the White Coin on him all the time. The girl chuckled a bit, if they’d known that they could have made a way simpler plan. Too bad that come tomorrow they’d probably stop carrying coins, because of this ambush. Meaning the only opportunity to try doing it again was-
The girl’s eyes widened.
It had to be tonight.
The girl more or less threw herself forward to press a button.
‘Mayra! Make yourself available!’
‘Ueh?’ Mayra asked, stumbling where she was just about to throw her bowling ball at the alley she was taking a vacation at.
The girl pressed another button.
‘Josefin, cancel that last order!’
‘Huh?’ Josefin sort of stumbled where she was heading for the party.
‘Reinforcements are already coming. You need to finish it ASAP.’
Starting this post slightly before Aurelio makes his switch.
The entire mission hung on her.
Freya was the one heading for the coin itself. The reason for this was because she was to be like a physical juggernaut, unstoppable, the one of their number that should be able to flawlessly obtain the White Coin in the shortest amount of time with no issue. There was nobody present that could match her sheer physical might.
She was Asengav’s strongest physical soldier, a destructive force that could tear through armies and structures alike with impunity. There was NO WAY that she’d be held up by the “magical might” of a MERE CLONE.
Her arms turned into a blur. Her eyes glowed red through the illusion hiding her body, and she unleashed her Barrage. Each of the small, spherical barriers shielding the clones was bashed repeatedly by an uncountable amount of Freya’s supercharged punches. It didn’t matter what sort of power he’d put into these shields, Freya was going to leave them in pieces as each of her clawed strikes slammed into the shields and what lay beyond.
It didn’t matter to her when Aurelio replaced his clone with himself. Her assault was unchanged. There was no indication she even listened to his words. There were no barriers that could hold her off for long. Her strikes and punches were going off like the bullets of a minigun. She swiftly slithered left and right to do circles around him to strike from different angles to throw him off, all while striking. She’d use her Awareness and exceptional agility to dodge attacks but quickly be at it again to hunt for the coin. There was no way she’d be held back for long.
If she ever got an opening, she pounced. As a Were-Lamia, she had a very thin and long body, and she spun to crack herself around her target as a whip and attempted to just utterly knock him out with a straight punch when he was restrained as she went for the White Coin. If there was even the slightest of a moment for Freya to reach and grab that White Coin, she’d take it, her claw going to tear it, or the arm that held it, off Aurelio’s person with extreme strength so that Jelena could then confirm if it was the real thing. She was always striking with the speed of Barrage, here.
Her assault would not be satisfied by anything but the recovery of the White Coin.
Jelena blinked a bit at the Blue Aurelio before her, her eye confirming the lack of magic. Jelena gave a short burst of laughter… then punched at him thrice, a one-two-punch with left and right arm. Air-punches, they wouldn’t hit anything but air, but with each punch came a blast of metal, like the shrapnel from a shotgun, shot off to just utterly tear the clone apart along with any defenses or dodging he could muster. New metal quickly spilled from Jelena’s Hammerspace Handbag overcoat and she was drawing back the metal she’d launched, as she kicked off for a new target. Specifically, she jumped to get behind Aurelio’s new position, as the target she was to hold at a distance was no longer a threat.
‘Just drop the coin, you’d get away without a scratch~!’ Jelena shouted as she swung her arm… and it detached at her wrist, sending her giant metal clawed hand flying for Aurelio’s back and steered by Jelena’s metal magic. The fingers on the hand aimed for him would clamp down like a vice on him in the event it actually caught him, but mostly it was simply to distract him from the far more threatening entity that was Freya. As she did, she was also slowly extending her shards to form a semi-circle around the battlefield, floating ominously in the air to ensure Aurelio had nowhere to run.
Jelena was exceptionally ready to freeze the hand if Aurelio tried to make her hit Freya with it, and was half-way through her own skip just in case Aurelio did something silly, which her Third Eye was prepared to pick up.
Under the ground, Esther’s roots were spreading from her new location. She couldn’t take the area before now, because then somebody might have detected it, but now she was free to be rooted in place as her roots spread underground. From some of these roots, she immediately raised a decently thick reinforced tree to block Kimble’s blast. It was torn asunder, but it lightened the slices upon her own body.
Esther did not even the slightest react to the sudden cleaving wounds into her her tree-form caused by Kimble’s wind. She wasn’t bleeding from them. There was no indication of pain. In fact, the wounds upon her body started Regenerating immediately.
Time to counter-attack.
Esther’s job was not to win, here. It was simply to hold Kimble back while the rest secured the White Coin. To that end… she formed the slices of the tree Kimble had cut up into javelins. Vines kept erupting from the ground, trying to grip at Kimble, more of them showing up between Kimble and the action to cause a wall of vegetation. That, and…
Funny thing, they hadn’t used all their sticky grenades. They’d prepared for far more than two opponents, and as such had more than two of those prepared. So while Kimble was busy trying to fight through that, a vine was seeking through the ground to the other side of her, and from there it’d erupt, direct the output, and then it’d blow towards Kimble from behind blasting another dose of that grey fluid that’d instantly harden and attempt to restrain the one who’d been captured in it. In case it missed, Esther had a unit of vines ready to collect the wall, which they could then use against Kimble once again.
… Oh, and as she spread her roots…
After the attack with the leftover grenade, her roots would eventually spread to where Aurelio was fending off Freya and Jelena. With Absolute Direction, she just directed a portion of her mind to raise a vine or two to catch his foot. Esther was a skilled multitasker.
In the same vein, she without a word directed the counter-attack on the Beacon forces that were arriving. Under the rain that was starting, her tree-men swung their trunk-limbs and defended against the incoming attacks, as they grouped up to fend off the attackers. Even if the tree-men were defeated, the barrier itself was strong, and would not fall easily. That said, the barrier was a limited time deal. They had to finish this quickly.
So hungry. Did it matter if she took just a little nibble? All dark, can’t see. Where did Justine and Veronica go? Where’s the exit? Her Third Eye was still blind. She didn’t even have regular eyes right now. Where was she? She needed to eat. Was this a foot? Eli couldn’t even tell. But one thing for sure. She didn’t even have a choice anymore. There was nothing else to it but to-
and suddenly the puddle of slime that was Eli fell through a portal.
Eli fell with a splash down in front of Mariette, who had already recovered a whole chicken from a marketplace from her Hammerspace Handbag to lob into Eli’s form. Her cells were onto it like piranhas, giving an ample taste of the descriptor of “Devourer”. For good measure, Mariette took out a rib and threw that one in, too, flinging with her hand a bit for the disgusting feeling of touching raw meat was still on it.
‘Are you alright?’ Mariette asked her little attendant, who had very quickly digested the pieces within her.
‘I’m… fine…’ Eli breathed out, slowly composing herself and building herself up as the darkness harpy she was again.
‘Good,’ she said. It seemed like Nuncio and Amaryllis had their thing covered, so Mariette turned and whispered. ‘Send Josefin to watch the party. She should be lucky enough not to end up in danger…’ Who will be a regular NPC right now, not a combat one, so, please don’t fight her
Then she was told something very concerning.
‘… Who? And which one?’
She got her answer.
‘Grr,’ Mariette made a noise. So an out-of-town thief had somehow found one of their mirrors…
‘Keep an eye on her. I have a situation to settle,’ she responded. With that, she spun towards her own situation.
… Except, Amaryllis seemed to have that settled, seeing how she utterly tore the warehouse apart. Mariette simply stood with slightly raised eyebrows. It started to rain, so Mariette abscently Absolute Directioned to an umbrella that she retrieved through a quick portal and held above her head, a basic black one. Eli slithered to hold onto her mistress to take cover for the rain, which was especially unpleasant to a slime. Mariette was mildly aware of how the presence of Eli’s Third Eye was convenient to make sure they weren’t rescuing a fake Sammy or something.
Under the assumption that everyone was able to return through the portal like ERode implies then Mariette waved her free hand a bit and the portal closed. With that, Mariette felt she’d done her part for today. … Well, almost.
She’d watch whatever celebration took place here with neutral eyes, slightly interested in this Sammy now, while she was actually sending her magic through a subspace to prepare to portal to Penrose Garden. Just… in case. In case obtaining the coin proved more important than keeping the identity of the thief safe. It wasn’t, really, but.
And some feedback from BrokenPromise about Veronica
Ronin arrived with Cindy, her sandals screeching to a halt as she arrived there. Oh, man, she’s actually facing up against Beacon, as she didn’t want. And there… Cindy shouted about the monsters being hunted, being swept under a rug… yeah, no, this had little to do with the assassination. Cindy was going to attack no matter what. The assassin was just a convenient excuse. There would be no stopping her. Ronin sent a quick message to Veronica.
“Okay, it's shaping up to be a battle between two small groups here! Can't tell who'll win! Beacon's trying to talk down a very angry Cindy who isn't listening...”
“Beacon has already arrived? They have attacked my agents in the past, It might be best I don't get involved.”
“Er, am I still supposed to guard Cindy, then!?”
Ronin asked a bit mentally as Reaver charged. Lotus, whom Ronin didn’t know, was also getting into the fight already. And the members of Beacon… they were trying to appeal to Cindy. The detective dude or whatever also showed up, trying to talk about the assassin. But… a chill went through Deni as they tried to talk about the third party. Tried to talk like it changed something.
They didn’t know, they didn’t know! They didn’t know what Deni had seen across the world when she scouted for Mariette! They hadn’t seen the monsters hiding away in their dens, those fearing a sudden inquisition from Beacon to come and claim their lives! The rage within Cindy was that of someone oppressed, someone wishing for a revolution of her time! The assassin didn’t matter, it was likely the third party didn’t work either! Any voice from Beacon would be spoiled! Any-
Huh? Wait, that girl was former monster-girl? Ronin looked at her somewhat surprised.
Then Anaya dropped Janet’s name. Deni made a couple connections and then further a couple assumptions.
… YOU DON’T COUNT! Any amount of time you were a monster was way too brief!
Ronin considered what to do as the other girls talked. There was no way she could influence Cindy’s rage-filled mind with such words. The little samurai had wanted to arrive here, place a wall between Cindy and Ishtar and talk it out, but there was too much violence and people already talking here, that just wouldn’t work because those here kept saying the wrong things. She had to approach from a different angle.
What if she used-
‘Cindy!’ Ronin yelled out, suddenly getting an idea, and with no time to lose. ‘I just got a report that Vi’s making everyone go crazy at the party! Like, dangerously crazy! Was that intended!?’ she asked, loudly, because the only thing she’d gotten about the situation earlier was Veronica’s “Vi-chan appears to be whipping everyone into a frenzy” that had been told to all agents before.
“Except Vi making people frenzied, what's going on over there!? Might be important!”
“It's-” Veronica groaned. “It's really complicated, but no longer relevant. Your sister is safe, however.”
“Thank you! But that doesn’t help me here at all, hahaha!”
‘Beacon still absolutely needs to answer for their actions, but I’m worried something’s going down at the party! The assassin may have been intended to drive you away from the party so you couldn’t interfere with some plan or other! Your people may be in danger…!’ Ronin attempted, hoping that would shake some emotional chord in the lightning queen, to make her think of those under her protection rather than those she wished vengeance against…!
Deni had no idea what was going on at the party. However, at this moment Deni’d use ANYTHING to make Cindy pull back…!
Oh, it was starting to rain? … Wonder how that was going to interact with lightning girl over there? Just, like, a strange thought.
Something watched Myria as she left, taking in every action with interest. After her departure, it chuckled a little, before glancing up at one of the rooftops, identifying the individual hiding there. Uninterested, it retreated back into the mirror, and the entity within settled once again into its role.
Meanwhile.
I am regular NPC right now, not Combat NPC, please don’t attack me. :(
Tullia was crouched at the edge of a rooftop clutching a gem filled with darkness-magic looking down as Myria got into a car and started riding off. It appeared the thief had attracted the attention of a certain someone. She was lucky to get away alive. That one was… occasionally very playful. Still, it was honestly the best possible outcome for everyone. Myria escaped alive, and they hadn’t lost a bunch of traps that’d taken Taihei a whole bunch of time and resources to make. Phew.
Regardless. As soon as the alarm was tripped someone was sent to investigate, and that someone was Tullia, on account of how everyone else eligible for scouting was already busy with today’s missions. Myria had been confirmed, and with that car she’d be easy to find and identify in the future. Tullia’s mission had partly been to use the Bifrost Staff of hers to wreck Myria’s car so she understood they didn’t like having thieves over, but guess she had probably been warning enough…
With that confirmed, Tullia turned around, walked a couple steps, holding her Bifrost Staff closely by her side, before leaping off. Not like she'd want to keep up with a car, anyway. What a terrible time for rain, she didn't bring an umbrella…
So, all that reacting in Savo’s post happened, and then Happiny was left mainly to wonder how life was going for Aster. After all, it’s difficult being mission control when you don’t actually have any means of controlling the mission, so to say.
That’s when Cecil stumbled in, and Happiny turned around with a touch of being startled. However, after identifying the intruder and generally confirming that she didn’t appear hostile, Happiny went with the first thing that occured to her.
‘Happiny!’ Happiny called as she skipped over to Cecil. She had to be a companion of the gentleman thief that had just suggested he steal stones for her! Such a welcome surprise! ‘Happi! Happiny!’ Happiny called happily over the probably confudled Cecil.
‘Happi!’ Happiny called as she suddenly realized. With multiple allies, then maybe, just maybe…
She peeked out the base, looked like Aster was still busy, oh, well!
Happiny grabbed onto Cecil and attempted to lead her out of the safehouse, after having looked around a bit to confirm that everything was safe… which it strangely was, had something to do with how Aster had managed to attract/distract the majority of chaos this park could sustain… and then promptly led Cecil off, should she allow her to. There was a couple of steps behind a tree, and then Happiny peeked out to potentially wave Aster over, this way! He’s also the only one who’s allowed to see her peek. She’d just temporarily left her hoard behind, not knowing that Aster may have led them there. Anyway!
Regardless of if he succeeded in coming over or not, Happiny pointed out a strange structure in the park that absolutely existed before I started writing this post
There was a Treehouse Palace placed by the pond in the park, standing there decently proudly and oldly which some kids were about exploring and such. There was a bunch of Paras and Meowth around that were just like hanging about as guards for no definite reason, and from the top window, a dark shape of a great can could be roughly seen, looking out with gently glowing eyes…
Pokédex Entry #53 – Persian, the Classy Cat Pokémon. While admired for its beautiful fur, it is famously difficult to raise due to its vicious temperament and fickle meanness. It’s able to walk elegantly without sound, using its six bold whiskers to sense air-movements to determine surrounding movement. The gem on its forehead can glow on its own.
‘Happiny, Happi…’ she sounded a little sad for a moment, and then, ‘Happi, ny, Happiny!’ she called with significant determination.
See, apparently there’s this Persian inhabiting this park. The kids and teachers of this school all like the Persian, guarding the Pokémon from other Pokémon threats from the outside and letting them pet him and all of that… but secretly, he sees the whole park as his kingdom, and the treehouse as his Palace palace, from which he rules them! He’s been collecting things from other Pokémon, including this beautiful Oval Stone that Happiny had when she came here!
He has this female Lopunny too that he uses for physical threat when he needs to, acting as an agent, always standing behind him when he gives his threats, like a personal shadow, or almost like he was her trainer or something weird like that. Yupp, she totally stands right behind him up there in the tower.
Pokédex Entry #424 – Lopunny, the Rabbit Pokémon. Extremely cautious, known to quickly bound off when it senses danger. It’s very conscious of its looks and grooms its fur with dedication, shedding said fur twice a year. If they are touched roughly, they deliver powerful kicks with their graceful legs.
‘Happiny!’ Happiny called to them. Everyone else was too afraid to act, but there was something else to it. There was this super-precious weird oval rock with a hole in it that Persian was guarding up there. Apparently, he hadn’t been so cruel to everyone before, but after he found it was like he changed in some way, so perhaps if they managed to steal the treasure rock they’d be able to change his heart mind?
All they’d have to do is get by all his Meowth guards and get to the top of the tower first!
‘Happiiiiiiiiiiiiiii…?’ Happiny looked to them totally pleading.
What would Cecil and Aster do?
This is super side-quest and you don’t need to do squip if you don’t wanna. Also, you’re free to control any guards and anyone except Persian and Lopunny in your own posts if you’re gonna try heading up, hah.
There was a bunch of kids and Pokémon running about for whatever reason… anyway, two people entered the school ground, and…
‘Kids. Calm down,’ A man said, and all of a sudden it was like someone stopped time, because the kids basically just froze in their motions and looked over. He looked a bit worse for wear, like he was constantly exhausted, and, perhaps mildly comically, there were three Shuppets hiding behind his back. Whenever he moved, they hurried to stay behind him, as if they were avoiding being noticed by him…
Pokédex Entry #353 – Shuppet, the Puppet Pokémon. It senses the emotions of others, and feeds on dark emotions like jealousy, malice, anger and sadness through its horn. They’re very active at night, and search cities for the houses of vengeful people. They like to gather under eaves.
‘We have a visitor. Go ahead, Dorian,’ the man said, taking a step aside to show…
‘It’s old man Dorian!’ ‘Wooo! The Gym Leader is here!’ ‘Don’t you have challengers this time of day?’
The other man was an older man, his atmosphere having somewhat of an air of serenity to it, and upon being faced with the kids he smiled so gently, years of wisdom visible upon his face now. With him, he had this positively giant brown-white dog with what looked to be a massive beard, who also super happiny skipped over to gently energetically greet the kids coming over.
Pokédex Entry #508 – Stoutland, the Big-Hearted Pokémon. A very wise Pokémon, it rescues people stranded at sea or in freezing blizzards. It is unaffected by cold, and being wrapped in its fur can allow a person to survive a night even in the wintry mountains. An intelligent and good-natured Pokémon, it’s often a companion of rescue teams.
‘Hello, children. Yes, indeed, I typically take challengers this time of day, but today’s challengers were… taking a toll on me,’ Dorian said, gently accepting most of the attention showered on him.
‘Were they that tough?’ the child asked, wide-eyed.
‘No… No, they were not,’ Dorian said, his smile a bit wider. What that could be taken as is up for debate.
‘Are you alright?’ the child continued, looking honestly worried.
‘I am very much alright, thank you for asking,’ Dorian said, and then turned to the other adult here. ‘How about you, Johannes? Do you feel alright?’ Dorian asked, and the other man looked a bit startled at being asked. The Shuppets looked at him curiously from behind him.
‘… Actually, yeah,’ Johannes said, perhaps to the disappointment of the Shuppets behind him. ‘I’m finding myself strangely fine today. Perhaps it was because, you see, not a long time ago found myself comforted by this tiny girl with an affinity for ghosts…’
‘Did you now?’ Dorian asked, looking the mildest amused by Johannes’ statement.
They then continued their conversation with the kids a bit, not necessarily anything Basil and Cyril needs to concern themselves over, but it happened over there. If they need to keep themselves occupied while their Pokémon does random stuff.
What will Basil and Cyril do now?
1. Pokémon School Park. There’s a small park of grass in here. What kind of Pokémon might be in it? 2. Talk. Plenty of students and teachers. This is a wellspring of knowledge, someone must know something. 3. Challenge. Work your way up the leaderboard! Specify the level of opponent. 4. Specify. If you specify what you want to do, the GM will take it into account and tell the result. 5. Trigger random event. Force the GM to use his imagination to make a scenario for you. 6. Study. You want to know something? Feel free to learn about it here! 6.1. Pokémon Habitats. Learn where you might find a specific kind of Pokémon! 6.2. Isson Geography. Learn more about the different places in Isson! 6.3. Names to Remember. Learn about Gym Leaders, Elite Four, or the like! 6.4. Local Legends. Learn about different tales from around Isson! 6.5. Pokémon Breeding. That’s also a subject. 6.6. Battling Basics. You likely know them already. 6.7. Specify. Tell what you want to learn and we’ll see if we have a course!
Connected areas: Pureplain City. All around, of course.
‘Oh, yeah, they're Galarian. I actually just returned from there, a great island region with a bunch of unique Pokémon. Sinistea is this possessed little teacup, Dreepy is this tiny dragon-ghost hybrid, and Galarian Corsola is indeed a regional variant that's a ghost-type! Really sad little thing, really... Anyway! What do you think?’ Zachery replied, looking expectantly at the young girl that was his first customer.
Xaltwind
Pirouette
Crimson Flame
Danyel
Mage
Noctis
Izurich
Damycles
jimapple
Zapdos
