"We always get by. We're not strangers to misfortune. You'd be hard pressed to find anyone that is, but we live with it, and we extend our hand to help others because we know what it is like. When we stop doing that, that is the moment that we fall and become nothing but senseless, selfish beasts."
He smiled at Tristan though one would question if he could even see Neil's smile through the lush face forest that was his beard and stood up. The cushions and the metal frame of his seat made a strange sound of almost relief as they contorted back into their regular shape.
"You're a good kid, Tristan. Things are gonna be tough, but I'm sure your Pokemon will guide you down the right path if you stray. Just take it easy tonight, okay? I'm gonna go see how my wife is doing.", said the Ursaring of a man before he exited the room and as he walked out into the hall, he saw that the door of his office was open, so he made his way over to pop his head by the doorway only to see that it was just Rosa and Faye on his computer.
Seeing this, Neil asked, "Honey, what are you two doing in my office?"
Rosa glanced over to her father and without missing a beat she said, "Selling drugs. Rare Candy infused with methenamines are a really big hit on the dark web right now."
Neil squinted at her not in confusion, but more of a response to her smart-ass attitude. "I'll never understand where you get your sense of humor from." He then left the girls to their own devices.
After a while, the smell of home cooking started to fill the halls and rooms of the house. The aroma of warm and cool spices and herbs roasted and pan-fried with rich meat and sweet, savory, and bitter vegetables, and toasted bread enticed those who smelled it to enter the dining room that was attached to the kitchen. Like all the other furniture in this house, the dining area in the kitchen had a rustic, yet modern flare to it. The table that was decorated with what was a feast was made from a dark reclaimed wood with chairs made out of a similar material. The table was set with humble, white plates and simple cutlery. It was nothing fancy, but it was something that got the job done.
The table itself was next to a wall next to window that was essentially a wall of glass that looked over the fields that held the Pokemon. Besides that, there seemed to some impressionistic styled paintings of landscapes by artists they never heard of hung on some walls and some family photos as well. If one were to inspect them, they would see that a few of them had an older girl around college age bound to a wheelchair with the rest of the family.
Frida who was standing by the table said, [color=8dc73f"]A'richt a' body, dinner's duin! sit doon 'n' eat before it goes cauld!"[/color]
Dinner time! Do Tristan and Faye converse during dinner or are we just skipping this?
Okay, so Steph went in Dusk blazing and immediately hit the Grimer among the Trubbish ganging up on the Toxel. The Grimer recoiled from the impact of the flames though it was still standing, but another impact would certainly put out its lights. Besides the Grimer, there were four other Trubbish.
In response to the surprise attack, all five of the Pokemon used Poison Gas in unison and even somehow shrinking his size, Dusk was hit by three out of five of them, one of them being a critical hit and then proceeded to be poisoned by the gas. Even for Dusk who was at a higher level and resisted poison, fighting by himself against six Pokemon was not going to be an easy task.
That wasn't the only issue. That gas didn't dissipate; it was contained in the sewer, and it was creeping towards Steph.
"I'm glad you think so, but that isn't exactly what I wanted to talk to you about." said Neil, sitting down on one of the comfy leather chairs. Even when he was sitting down, the man's height was still somehow imposing and just sitting down on it made the reinforced metal frame creak, not because he was fat, but because this man was more than likely made up of mostly muscle. He looked over at Tristan who was still standing and motioned for him to sit down with his large, worn hands.
After making himself comfy, Neil continued, "I can tell that you were hurt by him. You gave him a chance to walk, and he did something to upset you." He shifted around in his seat, looking as if he was trying to find the right words before he just signed in resignation. "I'm not going to tell you forgive Robbie because I sure haven't yet, but I'm also asking you to not let this one experience paint your worldview. It is so much easier to live bitterly and let that poison you than to just let it go. Believe me, I learned that the hard way."
Neil just went silent, and it just hung in the air heavily while he just simply stared into the vid. That was the face of a man that has seen some shit.
With nerves steeled for what they could find, the due turned the corner to find the source of electricity and what she found may actually be quite familiar to her as it was native to her home region of Galar. It was this purple reptilian quadruped with grayish electricity crackling from its forehead, four rounded spiky protrusions came from its head, and had grayish circles on its cheeks. It was basically a purple gremlin wearing a diaper that crackled with electricity.
Toxel, the baby Pokemon. It stores poison in an internal poison sac and secretes that poison through its skin. If you touch this Pokémon, a tingling sensation follows. Toxel manipulates the chemical makeup of its poison to produce electricity. The voltage is weak, but it can cause a tingling paralysis.
However, that wasn't the only thing that she found. That Toxel was standing crouched as if it was ready to pounce as it was surrounded by a group of angry Trubbish led by a Grimer. They were going to jump the Toxel if Steph did not step in.
When Amelia asked her question to the wall in front of her, a purple eye opened, and rolled down to look at the inquisitive little girl before its form started to shift from its spot. She was absolutely on the money that this wall and the area as a whole were home to many Runerigus and this was their territory.
Its lumbering limbs pulled themselves out of the stone they were resting in, bits and pieces of stone broke off the wall as the Runerigus freed itself. Once freed, it stood before her while the two wild ghosts that were accompanying her hid behind the little girl because this was a beast that was way beyond what they could handle, but they were lucky as it appeared to not be a bad mood.
Runerigus, the grudge Pokemon. A powerful curse was woven into an ancient painting. After absorbing the spirit of a Yamask, the painting began to move. Never touch its shadowlike body, or you'll be shown the horrific memories behind the picture carved into it.
Its head, at least what could be inferred to see as such, lowered itself down with its long, shadowy tendril of a neck down to her eye level. "Rune, runerigus?" Judging by its inflection, it seemed to be asking 'What do you want?'
"Nah, I've never seen you before." The little girl stated bluntly though she seemed to be in thought and 'hmmming' a bit to herself. "Well, maybe I just didn't see the ones with you in them. Depends on where sis hides them. She doesn't like it when I look through her stuff, so she tends to hide things away from me."
Can't imagine why Rosa would. Yeah, definitely can't imagine why she would hide her belongings away from someone that does not respect boundaries. Well, at least maybe that explanation would at least save Tristan's already cracked ego. Or not. Honestly, it was hard to tell at this point. For all we knew, his world just got shattered just because a preschooler said he didn't know who he was.
Neil's imposing form entered the room with a six pack of milk and a wad of cash. He looked down at his daughter with a smile and said, "Lisa, sweetie, how about you go help mama with dinner? This young man and I have some business." For Tristan, it was probably a foreign concept to actually be looked upon by one's father with affection and gentleness. Well, he had probably seen it in TV shows and movies, but one would doubt he had ever seen it in real life.
"Okay papa. Bye pretty guy." She waved at Tristan before running out of all room and presumably to the kitchen.
Her father just sighed with relief and turned his attention back to the teen. "Alright, here is your reward." While handing the stuff to Tristan, he fished around in his pockets and pulled out a Pokeball, which was also then held out for Tristan to grab.
Tristan received 3500 P! Tristan received 6 Moomoo Milk
Tristan received a Torchic!
Gender: Male Type: Fire Personality: (Up to player.) Quirks/Talents/Aspirations/Other: (Up to player.) Level: 6 Moves: Scratch, Growl, Ember, Quick Attack Ability: Speed Boost Its Speed stat is boosted every turn. Held Item: Currently at full hp.
Would you like to give a nickname to Torchic?
After receiving Tristan received reward, Neil then stood there a bit awkwardly as if he had something to say though he wasn't sure how to put it. For such a large man, imposing man with a stony expression he was terrible at hiding his emotions.
There was something that differentiated the scorch marks left by Dusk than the ones that were littered about. If the marks were caused by Dusk, they would only be facing a singular direction. The scorch marks left by whatever caused it were pointing in several directions and looked like they came from the center of the blast zone, so that would have been the only confirmation that she needed that this was caused by something other than her sparkly candle. Following them was a good move on her part because while they were a bit sporadic at times, one could figure out that there was path to be found. It was probably the path that the Pokemon took the most often. One could only imagine that whatever that was the cause got into plenty of scraps.
Walking around, she would notice that many of the Pokemon that she fought were giving her way because they sure as hell wanted nothing to do with her or her Pokemon after watching them just beat the ever-loving crap out of their friends though she did notice that some of them were moving stiffly and slowly in comparison to the rest, and occasionally sparking with electricity. Now Steph had seen plenty of Pokemon Battles back home in Galar, so she knew exactly what this was paralysis. She would have to think on this while following the marks until she heard the crackling of electricity and sparks radiating just past a corner of a wall that was obscuring what was causing it.
Jason just stands there, taking a moment of respite thinking about his journey while taking in the view. From where he was standing, he could see two towns across the lake; one was a more traditional town with many flowers coloring it, enough that it could be seen from all the way from Starbor and then there was a town that was surrounded by high, imposing stone walls. Beyond that, there was the beginning of a valley that spanned for miles and at the very cusp was a blanket of white. There was still so much that Jason had to do, so much that he had to explore.
His life had really taken a sharp turn. One day he is in Hoenn with his uncle and the next he is selected by the most powerful trainer in the world to take part in her league and travel the healing region of Evig. He'd already had a wild couple of first days; taking on a poacher, leaning about the Night Touches, a person falling from the sky, bad happenings in the Marsh, and then nearly being wiped off the census by a Scyther. The crazy thing is that he knew this was only the beginning. The more he travels, the more experiences that he will have. Some good, some bad because that's just life.
Of course, all of this could amount to nothing. Jason wasn't the only trainer taking the gym challenge. He was just of the handful of new trainers that the champion personally selected to just even have the chance of taking her title and this is not even considering about the other experienced trainers that signed up to challenge the league. This whole adventure could just amount to nothing, but then again, he would not know until he tried.
Rosa's eyes narrowed at the sulking mass of snark and vanity that was Tristan. Who would've thought that the person who helped them with the egg thief situation was this dweeb."Jeez, aren't you just a ray of sunshine."
Though then we have the actual ray of sunshine asking about the printer that Rosa had mentioned earlier. "Ah, yeah it's in my dad's office." She hopped off the sofa and to her feet though she realized that if she left the room, she'd leave her little sister unsupervised. The farm girl turned to Tristan and said, not asked, said "Just keep an eye on my sister for bit. We'll be back in a few." Whether or not Tristan wanted to comply, he simply was not given the option to reject because she was already leading Faye out of the room and any protest he had would've been soundly ignored.
Faye was led down a hallway for less than a minute until she walked into a room with Rosa that was obviously someone's office. It had a desk covered in folders, papers, and a laptop. There were shelves and filing cabinets filled with more books and files, and of course, there was the printer. Rosa walked over to the computer and with a few clacking of the keys she was logged in. "Okay, whenever you're ready."
Meanwhile, the little girl was staring at Tristan silently, rarely blinking as if she was trying to get a read on this guy then without warning she asked, "Why do you look like the boys on the magazines my sister reads?"
Oh no, Dusk would've definitely been able to smell the sewers and he would not like it one bloody bit.
Okay, so here was the interesting thing about using fire-type moves in the sewers; nothing happened. These sewers were really just storm drains, the things used to carry off things like rainwater and melted snow from the streets though would typically have things like oil and various forms of trash come down this way. The Grimer that made their home here were responsible for cleaning that up, not eating shit. The sanitary sewers were a completely different thing where one would need special equipment to actually survive to noxious fumes that would pollute one's lungs among other things.
Having Dusk go against an Alolan-Grimer would typically be a terrible idea, but they were not a high enough level to know a dark-type move so the Litwick was able to fight these things with relative ease. Jack was able to just easily run down the sewer mons in a fight because it was a fucking Sneasel throwing hands against a literal trash bag and rats with only the Grimers being able to take more than one hit. Glory didn't struggle as much as one would've expected. The Wimpodd was able to outmaneuver all the of wild Pokemon and faired the best against the Rattatas with Struggle Bug and picked off whatever weakened Pokemon that Dusk and Jack left. Overall, it went well though they all seemed to have taken just a minor bit of damage.
Dusk is now level 9! Dusk learned Minimize! Jack is now level 8! Jack learned Taunt! Glory is now level 8!
While walking around training her mons and exploring the sewers like it was something a sane person does, she did notice something odd. There were scorch marks on the concrete walls and floors variously placed about the corridors of the sewers though there was one mark that was recently made, as in she could still smell the smell of smoke. Whatever made that, it was still nearby.
To no one's surprise, the Galarian Yamask quickly floated towards Amelia to volunteer with the automaton lumbering not too far behind to guide her through the ruins. The rest of the ghosts' attention began to wane and simply went back to what they were doing and left the impromptu tour of the ruins. Well, it was hard to call it a tour given that they could not actually communicate to Amelia in any way that would convey the history of the ruins. Then again, they knew even less than her. They were leading her through the ruins along the river, heading upstream.
What Amelia did know about these ruins was less specific towards the ruins there specifically and more about the general knowledge of the ruins that she learned in school, given that she was twelve years old and more than likely had very little knowledge of the ruins beyond her education. Evig was not always a unified region; it was once many petty kingdoms that would pillage other regions as scourge of the seas for a few centuries until they were unified into a single kingdom that has lasted into the modern age. Well, existing in a capacity where they served more as cultural ambassadors and a symbol rather than political leaders. This was the Sigmond Royal Family. This was something that Evig Natives would know even as small children.
There was no way for Amelia to tell from what time period the ruins here specifically were from other than just old. The remains of the ruins were mainly stone constructs such as moss-covered arches, intricately carved grand gates that were now partially freestanding with some connected to walls, pillars in various states of disrepair with the remains of some laying on their sides, and various places that may have once been buildings. Of course, there were the aforementioned free-standing walls that looked like they were part of something once, but now confuse people with their strange markings where the occasional Yamask would pop out from one of the walls though the ghostly energy that came from the ghosts differed to what was in the ruins. It would have been fair to assume that this was perhaps once a great city built that took advantage of the river for various uses such as transporting goods and irrigation though eventually fell.
It would become very clear that not all of the ruins emitted that energy that she sensed earlier; it was the walls with the markings on them. There was also something else; one would expect Pokemon to roam around the ruins. Nature had reclaimed these ruins and save for the occasional ghost-type that roamed around, the only living things in the area were Amelia and the Pokemon with her. Not a single soul, living or otherwise could be seen or sensed. Just the sound of the wind rustled leaves and the running river could be heard. This was more evident the further upstream they went.
Robbie held his hands up and said, "Hey, hey I said I'm done. I know when I'm beat. I'm not picking a fight with two trainers at the same time." He was keeping his hands up to show that he was not going to be a threat as he limped towards the edge of the ditch where Faye was and with the help of her, Princess, and a minor contribution from Tristan, they got the farmhand out. He thanked them and watched Tristan just being the absolute worst to the newly arrived trainer.
"You know, kid, if you keep that haughty attitude up, you're never gonna have friends. Well, not someone who wants to be with you for you at least." said the farmhand before he continued to limp his way back to the farm with the other two. There were red and blue lights off in the distance that got brighter and brighter the closer they were to the farm. When they did arrive, the entirety of the farm save for the two daughters were present where Faye would assume that Rosa was watching her little sister.
Neil, the massive Ursaring of a man approached the farmhand being escorted by the two trainers with a look a great sadness. "So, it really was you." He said with a disappointment akin to that of a parent rather than anger. "You remember what I told you when you first started to work here. This was your second chance. That was the deal."
Robbie smiled at him though it was obviously one of regret, yet gratefulness towards the large man to have at least been given a second chance. "Yeah, I remember. Sorry, I guess there are some things that just don't change." he clasped his hands around Neil's hands and when released, there was a Pokeball in his former employer's hands. "Take it. Use it to help make up for the damage I've done. Thanks for everything, boss." Gently pushing Neil out of the way, Robbie limped his way to the police and held his hands out towards them. "Alright, take me away."
If Tristan wanted to give the police the folder, now was the chance. Either way, what happens afterwards plays out the same way anyway.
Minutes later, the police and Robbie were gone. The rest of the employees dispersed to go finish up what they were doing previously before they dropped it to do the mad search. The only ones left were Neil, his wife Frida, and the two trainers. Neil just stood there, and the poor man just looked exhausted while his wife, this very short, physically strong looking blonde woman just rubbing his back like he was a kicked puppy. He turned to two trainers and took a very deep breath and then a long exhale.
"Well, this has been a day." He said tiredly and then suggested, "How about you two go inside and relax? I can get your reward ready, Tristan, in the meanwhile." Neil turned to his wife and asked, "Honey, could you take them to the house while I do that?"
In her ever-thick Galarian/Scottish, Frida said, "Sure thing love. C'moan ye two, ye baith keek lik' ye'v hud a day." She would lead the two to a large farm style house with a luxuriously large wooden deck decorated with wooden chairs with soft cushions of high quality as well as various other bits of outdoor furniture. They would be led inside to a fashionably furnished house filled with modern, yet rustic chic furniture until they reached what was the living room with a pretty blonde braided girl with sharp eyes and denim overalls that Faye would recognize was Rosa and a pre-school aged girl with brown hair, Lisa, who she beat earlier.
Rosa was reclined on a brown leather sofa with her feet resting on the armrest watching her little sister play with dolls when the two and her mother walked in.
"Heya ma, Faye, I saw it all from inside. That's some crazy stuff." She arched her brow when she noticed the rich boy next to her. "So you're the hero of the day, huh? I guess I should thank you, so thanks I guess."
"Rosa, whit hae ah tellt ye aboot putting yer feet oan th' couch?" Her mother said with a stern tone and then turned to the two trainers. "Ye two git comfy. A'm aff tae mak' dinner."
Frida went off to the kitchen and now they were left alone to their own devices.
Oh, and Tristan was given his shoes back earlier, so those worn old boots were now retired.
Connor just stared at him with a look of exhaustion and annoyance in response to Jason's well meaning, but unsolicited advice. "What do you think I'm doing outside a Contest Hall wearing a suit that costs around the down payment of a used car?" The cowboy asked rhetorically. It was a bit cold though it was clear that the last thing that he wanted was advice, especially if it was something that he already knew though quickly realized that what he said came out as much ruder than he intended to. Especially since his Scraggy was looking up at its partner with disappointment.
"Sorry, uh, that was uncalled for. I'm... I'm just gonna head inside. If you want to watch, you can probably get a ticket at the reception desk. I'll see you later."
Jason would watch the cowboy and his Scraggy walk away and into the hall.
A quick heal later, Steph was back out and accompanied by a curious Freya because Steph did not tell her what her plan was. Now here's the thing; sewers were not places where people went to hang out. There was not a public entrance per se where people could go through legally like they would for the entrance of a theater or an amusement park. In fact, sewers were not places where people generally wanted to go at all. Not even the people who build and maintain them want to be down there! So, the 'public' entrance that Steph would find was a manhole cover.
Realizing what was about to happen, Freya stepped backwards and with disgust painted clearly on her face she said, "Oh, hell no. There's a lot that I'll do, but sewer crawling isn't one of them. If you want to meet up later, just text me, but I am not going down there."
If Steph did not find a way to convince her, the bogan girl would find herself climbing down the latter to the sewers by herself. It wasn't a long climb down and the further down she went, the damper it became and the worse the smell became. She would eventually touch ground.
Grand Glory City Sewers
There really isn't much that one needs to say about the sewers. It was this damp place that reeked of sulfur, otherwise known for its rotten egg smell. One would hear the sound of the sewer water running through in this otherwise silent place.
Brought into the Grand Glory City and found in every town and city were these strange slime creatures with crystals that were eating whatever trash found its way into the sewers, which was more often than people would like to admit. They certainly smelled exactly like they looked, but one would assume that they played a vital role in the cleanliness of the city.
There were sentient garbage bags with arms and legs that did their best to stay away from the slime creatures for fear of their life. One would assume that these things were the reason why the slime creature were brought in to begin with, much to the despair of the trash bags.
Besides the poison-types, there were some familiar rats scurrying around except they had a dark coat instead of their usual purple and had more wild tufts of fur around the ears and the tips of their tails.
What does Steph do?
Grimer, the Sludge Pokemon. A Grimer, which had been brought in to solve a problem with garbage, developed over time into this form. The crystals on Grimer's body are lumps of toxins. If one falls off, lethal poisons leak out.
Trubbish, the Trash Bag Pokemon. Its favorite places are unsanitary ones. If you leave trash lying around, you could even find one of these Pokémon living in your room. The combination of garbage bags and industrial waste caused the chemical reaction that created this Pokémon.
Rattata, the Mouse Pokemon. When the sun goes down, it becomes active. It runs around town on a chase for good food for the boss of its nest—Raticate. Night after night, they sneak into people's homes seeking food. A massive outbreak of them has become an issue of public concern.
1. Find Pokémon. Can be specified what kind of Pokémon is being searched for, and how you search. 2. Train Pokémon. With this command, we can jump ahead in time and skip posting about grinding. 3. Move along. Move along normally, letting any events that may come happen naturally. 4. Hurry along. Intentionally avoid confrontations and try to get safely to the next destination. 5. Specify. If you specify what you want to do, the GM will take it into account and tell the result. 6. Trigger random event. Force the GM to use his imagination to make a scenario for you.
Connor arched his brow at the idea that the professor would have had an issue with his interest in Pokemon Contests as if the thought was never even a twinkle in his eye. He just looked at Jason with a puzzled look as he questioned how one of his rivals jumped to such a conclusion because sure, the professor wasn't exactly the nicest kind of person alive, but he never showed any disdain towards Contests though it would be fair to imagine that they were not his scene. Besides, the professor was not the one who recruited Connor anyway; it was Adriane.
The very cleaned up cowboy said, "Kapoc? No, I don't think he'd particularly care to be honest. I mean, I still want to take the gym challenge, so it's not like I'd be troubling Kapoc or the League..."
Connor exhaled and ran his fingers back through his hair. He was just standing around with a bit of a slouch not looking Jason in the eye. It was a bit strange to look at compared to the bright, confident young man that he had just met the other day. He looked more like a demure dog that had been just caught lifting its leg up and pissing all over the rug that tied the room together.
"Look, when you grow up around people that tell you how a man should act and the expectations that are crushingly placed upon your shoulders, you don't really shake that off in a couple weeks. By their definition, Pokemon Contests are not something that 'men' take part in. Really, most of what I want to do would be considered that." said Connor with a chuckle albeit forced as if to make light of what was mentioned.
Moments later, they are now walking through a field with the Eevee taking lead. It was really easy to actually follow Tristan's scent, which was mainly just expensive fruity smelling lotions, moisturizers, and expensive shoe polish. It would be concerning if Sage would not have been able to smell such strong scents, but the little genetically unstable cat-dog thing was able to find it. The more they walked, the more the sun began to set below the hills and fields.
From above, Tilia definitely saw something of interest; far off there seemed to be a ditch of some sort where she could see a magenta-colored bird, actually, two magenta-colored birds fighting each other along with some blue bipedal dog. This would help spur them to move quickly seeing as there seemed to be a confrontation out in the distance.
The panic on his face said everything. He was not a trainer; he was not someone who can bear to watch his Pokemon get hurt. The man did not have the stomach for battling like someone even like Tristan had, so when he was about to watch his Ditto to become the past tense, he yelled out, "Stop!"
The farmhand's posture slumped, and his head hung low in defeat.
"Enough, you win."
King is now level 8! Princess is now Level 7! Tristan earned 1250P!
Robbie returned his Ditto into its Pokeball and sighed, shaking his head just at the mess he was in. He lifted his head up and looked at Tristan again and said, "For the record. I didn't even want to battle you. I was hoping that you'd be scared off, but you actually fought me. Who would've thought that the rich kid actually had balls?"
While he was still somewhat demeaning, at least he was not trying to put up any resistance. Instead, he was giving Tristan this serious look as his eyes were now focused on the folder that the fledgling trainer was holding.
"Before you bring me back, I need to tell you this for your sake; that folder you're holding is going to cause you a whole lot of trouble if you keep it. If you give it to the police, the family will more than likely leave you alone. They don't really go after kids; they'd just chalk it up to you playing hero and just be annoyed by a minor inconvenience but giving it to the police means that the Lunds will find a way to make sure that the contents in that folder never see the light of day." Explained the very soon be to ex-farm hand.
"Still, if for some god forsaken reason you want to see this through to the end, you need to head to Frostford. I have a friend named Edward Hanes, a programmer, who will be able to help you with the contents in the folder, but I warn you, once the Lund's figure out that you have that folder, all hell is gonna break loose. They will do anything, and I mean anything to get that folder back. I can't tell you what's in it though; you need whatever plausible deniability you can get if you get caught with the folder until you get to Frostford. Again, this is all a very big if, if you decide to go through with it."
The two of them would soon hear the footsteps of someone approaching until, much to Tristan's dismay, it was one of the trainer's he met at Kapoc's lab in the morning and the same person who took a very incriminating image of the rich boy being dragged out by the scientist's murder dragon.
Robbie chuckled at the amount of overkill it was to have now two trainers on his back. "Seems like you got some backup. Too bad they wasted their time. It has been resolved already."
Yeah, that vitriol was exactly what he was expecting. Well, as he said earlier, it would only be easier if Tristan hated him.
"I am merely asking you a question. What does it make you when the ivory tower that you've lived in was built on the back of broken lives and dreams your family smashed? Or do you think you're above it?", said Robbie. This man was not denying that he had made a terrible mistake that he could not come back from again. He was bitter, yes, but even as he insulted Tristan's own family, Robbie did not hold any anger towards the boy himself. If anything, there was pity in his tone.
Back to the fight, with great speed and timing Princess grabbed King out of the way of the projectile feathers that just stuck in the ground. Ironically enough, Princess was doing a princess carry for the magenta crow. As the fake Murkrow followed the Riolu to use Peck on the bipedal blue Pokemon only to receive a barrage of feathers that stuck to it, even on its beak that would act as a cushion for all attacks unless they were somehow removed.
"Come on Ditto, you gotta move!" Robbie implored, but the Ditto was completely taken aback from being tarred and feathered sans tar and was now pincered between King and Princess, proceeding to get its shit kicked in from both sides as they both somehow got critical hits. The impact from both of their attacks at the same time dealt a great amount of damage, causing the mimic Pokemon to stumble from the impact though because of its level advantage, it still was able to just hold on and looked like it could still take more hits. However, both critical impacts collided against its head from both sides, discombobulating to the point that both of Tristan's Pokemon could get a free attack off.
To her pleasant surprise, the Goletts felt pleasantly smooth not like stone, but like freshly glazed clay pottery. The spectral nature of them compared to her Phantump or Mimikyu or the wild Yamasks had to be different given that they were manmade rather than naturally occurring. It was a mystery as to why Golett had the properties of a ghost-type and Amelia probably did not have much of a clue either besides the idea because they were Pokemon that existed since ancient times though that would create a few implications of their nature if that was the case.
It's not like it particularly mattered now. What was more important was making friends with the local ghosts! Well, it would've been like that except they were not exactly sure how to react. They were not used to people being around them, let alone being nice so they were just looking at each other wondering what they were supposed to do. The one that she touched didn't really object to being touched either though it poked back at her stomach not too hard. It was more out of a childlike curiosity than anything though once it felt its finger poke against the malleable softness of her belly, it just kept repeatedly poking her. Somehow it was fun?
The Yamask that she was interacting with earlier puffed its cheeks up and smacked the Golett's hand away and began to tell it off. However, it was pretty obvious that it was acting like this because it did not like having Amelia's attention pulled away from it. Looked like that this one Yamask was a bit of an attention hog and perhaps a bit of a diva. Other Yamask and Golett were rolling their eyes at the sight as if this was a common occurrence between those two specific Pokemon.
While they were bickering, she would sense that the ruins seemed to emit a ghostly aura. Originally, one would assume that it's because of the ghost-types though the longer she remained around them, the more she would realize that the ruins themselves were emitting this.
Jason would see Connor jolt up and his muscles stiffen into a board. He turned around and his movements were so stiff as well that one would have thought they heard the sound of rusted metal creaking and moaning to see the full glory of this young man dressed to the nines. Now before, Connor did have this rugged, yet almost Hollywood Wild West handsomeness when dressed in his rancher's attire, but now he just looked like he belonged on the red carpet for some award show or a premiere for a movie that would be nominated for those award shows. His typical Stetson hat was nowhere to be seen and it revealed this neatly combed back brown, chestnut hair that was probably being held together by gel. The suit that he wore was a dark charcoal gray teetering into black with a matching vest, shoes, tie, and even elegant leather gloves that was all tied together by a white collared shirt and a white pocket square. He oozed with style and before was drawing quite a bit of attention with his looks because prior to Jason arriving, he was this neatly packaged together image of confidence, coolness, and fashion sense. The key word in that sentence was 'was.'
As soon as he turned around, Jason would see that the cowboy had now broken out in a nervous cold sweat. He refused to look him in the eyes and just had this very forced smile. "I, uh, nobody in particular. Just standing around... in a suit... by a contest hall for no reason. Absolutely no reason at all." said Connor, fiddling with his suit's cufflinks nervously.
This man was a terrible liar.
The thing is, Connor wasn't alone in being dressed up. There were others wearing fashionable suits and dresses waiting around. Well, arguably fashionable. Some were dressed up in clothes that many would consider would be flashy and tasteless and some had makeup so thickly applied to their face that one would question where their face was. Growing up in Hoenn, the birthplace of Pokemon Contests, Jason would know that people would dress up for these events.
"Kid, you don't get it. Not everything can be solved by just talking it out. What were you going to say? Work for them until I paid off what I stole? In the end, I'd just be sent to jail and the damned Lunds would just send someone to kill me while the guards turn a blind eye. I'm just trying to prolong the inevitable. Hate me all you want if it makes you feel better. It'll make this a lot easier for both of us if you do."
He sighed and just listed to the verbal assault that Tristan gave him. Robbie just let the boy get it all out of his chest and then just chuckled bitterly because frankly, he really didn't have much else in the way of his own defense other than he just wanted to live.
"You're right, I am a liar and a thief. Some things don't really change after all no matter how much you wish, but I do wonder... If I am a liar and thief, then what does that make you, Glory? A root from the seeded corruption?"
He had this bitter smirk on his face as he asked the question, watching to see whatever reaction that the boy had.
The battle commenced, and Tristan showed that he was not going to show any mercy by going two against 1. Well, if he wanted to play it like that then fine.
"Avoid the feathers with Quick Attack into the Riolu." Rather than simply trying to jump back, the Ditto dashed forwards towards the feathers quickly enough that the feathers were just piercing the ground while it dashed to the opposing Riolu. The two would clash though Princess would be knocked back from the impact of the Ditto's own Quick Attack. While Transform copies the stats, stat changes, moves, abilities, and so on, it did not scale with the Pokemo. If the Ditto was of a lower level, then it would simply be a weaker version of Princess so if the inverse was true then that meant that this was version of Princess was superior to the original.
"Now kick up some dust!" Robbie commanded. The Ditto dugs its foot into the dry, loose soil of the dry canal and kicked it up to create a cloud of dust that would obscure the mimic Pokemon. The Ditto was able to use the Riolu's ability to sense aura and took advantage of its obscureness and leaped out of the dust cloud back to its trainer's side.
He glanced down at his Pokemon and said, "Ditto, Transform again."
This time, the form of what was a Riolu twisted and molded into a certain magenta bird though with the eyes of a Ditto.
"Use Feather Dance on the Murkrow and follow up with Peck on the Riolu."
Alright, Slayer and the newly acquired Lucha were healed up and ready to explore what this village had to offer. Considering Jason was already in the Entertainment District, let's start Jason's adventure there.
Walking around in the district, he would have to wade through various crowds of people. It was actually incredible that the wooden platforms and the branches that supported them from below did not buckle from the combined weight of so many and from the various buildings. In those buildings were just people and their Pokemon having a fun time with various activities. Some were sitting around the various restaurants, cafes, and the like with Pokemon sitting around their partners were eating food that seemed to be making them friendlier towards their trainers. Actually, the Pokemon in most of the places beyond just eateries seemed to be friendlier.
Nearer the Elder Tree was one of the hottest and newest attractions was the Gym, a massive stadium that looked like it could seat hundreds upon hundreds of people. On it was the Evigian League symbol; a multi-colored mosaic Pokeball. It had electronic screens displaying a series of various animated graphics, advertisements, and then an animated cutaway of electricity splitting the screen did an image of a blonde teenager with various bangles and feathers adorned appeared with the name "Lightning Dancer, Thora Nilsen" in big, flashy letters crackling with electricity. It would seem to Jason that gym battles were now being pushed as public spectacle if this was any indication. Well, that and the ticket booths outside.
Continuing on he would find one of the other mainstays of the district, the Contest Hall. This too was also a stadium though perhaps a bit smaller in scope compared to the gym. The entire area surrounding it was actually filled to the brim with people, some potential Coordinators looking to make a name for themselves in the Evig Region Contest scene and many who were just spectators to the day's event. Jason though would recognize someone from that crowd; a very friendly Scraggy waving from afar to him. It was standing next to a very familiar cowboy that had traded in his typical ranch attire for a rather dashing suit that looked meticulously maintained. Connor's eyes followed the direction of where the little hoodlum Pokemon was waving towards and instantly the color from his face drained and did his best to pretend that Jason simply wasn't there.
If Jason ignored that and continued along, he would see some Pokemon he had not seen before wandering around. Running around the tree branches and the tops were these bizarre green monkey Pokemon with bushes on top of their heads. They didn't seem to be bothering anyone, they seemed to just be scavenging.
"Pansage, the Grass Monkey Pokemon. Pansage shares the leaf on its head with weary-looking Pokémon. These leaves are known to relieve stress. It's good at finding berries and gathers them from all over. It's kind enough to share them with friends."
Floating along the treetops were these purple balloons. Upon a glance they did not seem to be anything, but balloons, but when one paid more attention to them, the balloons had eyes. Some of them were just in place, with their limbs attached to the railing. Children were drawn to them, but their parent's tugged them away.
"Drifloon, the Balloon Pokemon. Perhaps seeking company, it approaches children. However, it often quickly runs away again when the children play too roughly with it. Stories go that it grabs the hands of small children and drags them away to the afterlife. It dislikes heavy children."
Once he had his fill of the Entertainment District, it was time for Jason to venture forth and ride one of the cable carts down to another level. The cart would eventually reach its stop with a sway and then a stillness.
Starbor Village
Market District
Beneath the hustle and bustle of the Entertainment District and the quaint peacefulness of the Scholar District was the Market District. A winding open space filled with storefronts, stylish boutiques, and stalls from goods either created within the village or imported from all over the Evig region. It is one of the largest open-air markets within the region though given the nature of it, the products that are in stock are in flux, so there is no guarantee what one would find what they were looking for. The only constant was the farmer's market, where the produce produced in this village is put on display for all to see and buy. There were also any number of food stands for those who want a quick bite while they were shopping. This was also the home of a rather eccentric craftsman that sells his creations. If you're lucky, the crackpot's creations may actually work.
For Jason, he was bombarded by people haggling for better deals on one end, others window shopping expensive clothes that they probably would not be able to afford, and the owners of food stalls trying to attract customers with their special deals or just tidying it so it would be presentable. Walking around Jason would see items that would not just interest trainers; there were stalls selling exotic spices, freshly picked crops from the village, baked goods, preserved foods such as jam, and so on. It was not just food too! There were stores selling crafted items from artisans all over Evig and the boutiques sold high end fashion with various brands from Evig, Kalos, Galar, and so on. Jason did already know that the bizarre inventor from Frostford also had a shop set up here.
Of course, there were things of interest to trainers as well. Passing by, there was a store that sold various different colored stones and gems that sparkled in the windows and yet somehow dim the light in his wallet. There was a stall that seemed to sell items that seemed to help the Pokemon that equipped said item for battles and there was an entire store dedicated to Pokemon Contest Accessories that had a Mr. Rime that had an accessory that turned its bowler hat shaped head into a top hat and an actual suit.
Then he heard this, "Come on, come all! Take the Hell in a Bowl Challenge! The first one to eat an entire bowl of the spiciest stir fry I've made will win a special prize, but if you don't, you have to pay!" Looking around, Jason would see a jovial rotund man at a food cart with a Magby as a logo shouting this. It would appear to be a promotional campaign by challenging the pride of stupid people who think they can handle spicy food, but they really can't and watch them melt. In fact, there were already a couple of people who had been reduced to metaphorical puddles, drenched in sweat and red faced. Jason was free to ignore this if he wanted to.
What does Jason do?
1. Find Pokémon. Can still search for Pokémon in towns and cities. 2. Talk. In cities, there are considerably more people one can talk to. Specify what kind you’re looking for. 3. Exit. Exit the town to any of the connected areas. 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. Notable Places. Visit any of the facilities of the city! 6.1. Pokémon Center. Heal all your Pokémon. 6.2. PokéMart. Go to a store and buy things. 6.3. Kiosk. Great place to ask for directions. 6.3. Farmer's Market. Berries, herbs, and various other crops can be found here. 6.4. Stone Emporium Various kinds of stone mined from Rheinvale. 6.5. Battle Items Stall. Items helpful for Pokemon battles. 6.6. Contest Items Store. Accessories for your Pokemon to look their most fabulous. 6.7. Inventor Betrand's Store. Absolutely mad inventor. What he has for sale is up in the air. Whether or not it'll blow up in your face is also up in the air. 6.8. Food Carts Various kinds of street food. 7. Rail Carts. Take a cart to help you get around the village. Agriculture District, the Scholar District, the Market District, and the Entertainment District
The Yamask looked at her with great intrigue though not because of her friendly, calming aura, rather because she gave off the feeling of death that one would not expect from a eleven-year-old girl. Well, perhaps death was an exaggeration, but she gave off the feeling spectral feeling that ghost-types typically gave off. It just hovered in front of her instead of returning her handshake mainly because it could not get a read on what exactly she was. Amelia wasn't a ghost, at least it did not think she was. No one had died on this route, at least as far it knew.
This Yamask was not the only one curious ghost; other Yamask popped out of the walls and even the Golets stopped what they were doing just to gather around her and looked at her with great curiosity. Her spectral abilities had an energy that drew in ghost-type Pokemon. They were not attacking though; they had any visible intentions that they were going to gang up on the pre-teen. Their intent was simply trying to understand this less than 5- foot-tall anomaly.
Neil turned to Fate with a look of surprising. He actually was not expecting for her to offer any help and well, typically he would not even accept something like this without a second thought but given the situation he wasn't one that can turn down such an offer. Who in the world would have thought that things would had gotten this
"Well, to be honest I am getting concerned about where the kid had gone off to. The property is very big, even your Rowlet would have trouble finding him if you don't know where to look and if he got into trouble out there, it would be impossible for us to know. I should've asked the kid for his number."
He stood there tapping his foot in thought trying to think of something when a realization dawned on him.
"Wait, I have something that can help.", said the Ursaring of a man. He quickly ran off with equally thumping footsteps back into the house before coming back a few minutes later with a pair of very fancy, fashionable shoes that would be very easy to recognize from a disgruntled rich boy.
"I had him change his shoes out for some boots. No point in ruining them by walking in Tauros patties. You said your Eevee can smell him out, right? Let's see if you really can find him." he explained before putting the shoes down to let Sage get a whiff to find the scent of Tristan.
Enough effort that it should've technically gone down, but that would mean for the GM to actually set up another encounter, so we'll just say that this Wingull in particular was far more resilient or perhaps out of spite for the loss of its manwich. Honestly, could be both. Steph seemed to be in the habit of just pissing off bird Pokemon, if charging beak first at the Sneasel was any indication. Now that was something that would've hurt, except, well, it ate shit.
An ice shard smacked into it with a crit and now it was just lying on the ground, twitching. This thing was basically at 1 HP so there was no real point in Jack to actually follow up the rest of the order. Any more would just knock it out.
Honestly, there's no point in making a separate post to catch the Wingull because it had no way of breaking out of a Pokeball anyway
It rolled once... it rolled twice...it rolled thrice!
Steph caught Wingull!
Gender: Male Type: Flying/Water Personality: (Up to player.) Quirks/Talents/Aspirations/Other: (Up to player.) Level: 5 Moves: Growl, Water Gun, Quick Attack Ability: Rain Dish The Pokémon gradually regains HP in rain. Held Item: Currently at low hp.
New Pokémon caught! Steph earned 500 P!
Would you like to give a nickname to Wingull?
What does Steph do now?
1. Find Pokémon. Can still search for Pokémon in towns and cities. 2. Talk. In cities, there are considerably more people one can talk to. Specify what kind you’re looking for. 3. Exit. Exit the town to any of the connected areas. 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. Notable Locations. Visit any of the facilities of the city! 6.1. Pokémon Center. Heal all your Pokémon. 6.2. PokéMart. Go to a store and buy things. 6.3. Harbor Marketplace. Shop for various items. Selection changes weekly. 6.4. Harbor Battle Circle You are currently too weak to enter, but you can still place bets. 6.6. Restaurant/Bars. A place to get food and information. 6.7. Shady Stall. A deal of lifetime claimed by some obvious charlatan.
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Megatron
