"Pumpka!" They cheered happily. Let the games begin!
Five of the Pumpkaboo split off in five separate directions. One went north, one went east, one went south, one went west, and one went north-west. Their natural bioluminescence faded very quickly once they entered the thick woods and soon even their ghostly presence faded away. Now, she had a choice. She could throw all caution into the wind and go and venture into the woods immediately to go find the Pumpkaboo or she could go tell her companions what she was up to. They were standing at the cabin talking to an... to an eight-foot-tall woman with more muscle packed on her than a juiced up Machamp with an apron covered in suspiciously red liquid. A massive skeleton dog stood by its owner's side, wagging its boney tail.
If she for some very understandable reason she felt compelled to not inform her companions she could always just leave and search in the five directions that the Pumpkaboo went all by herself. However, they were so far away that she could not reliably pinpoint their exact locations with her powers, so this was not going to be an easy task for her to do all on her own if she chose to do so. Then again, ten-year-olds in this world have done riskier things than this, so go crazy kid.
A cloud of haze poured out of the Murkrow's mouth because where else was it going to come from?
"Grovyle, use Detect," Ramos ordered calmly. The bipedal green gecko's eyes glowed with a faint blue as the field was obscured with rolling haze to prevent its boosted stats from being nullified. It stood there, waiting for the pink bird to get in range.
King meanwhile rested to regain some composure from the onslaught and saw its path to take the Grovyle head on. With renewed vigor and determination, the Murkrow swooped down to its opponent who was trapped in the haze. The Grovyle was looking at all possible directions that the bird could attack from, the blue light in its eyes began to flicker as the Detect began to fail it. That is when King came from its left and smashed its face with its beak for a Super Luck boosted critical hit, bypassing its defense boost.
The Grovyle tumbled out from the haze from the blow, showing Tristan that it had sustained heavy damage from King's attack. This overpowered lizard could indeed be hurt though it certainly was not going to give up without making Tristan's stress levels rise just a bit higher. It got back up to its feet and held its clawed hands up, balling into a fist as the leaves protruding from its arm began to glow with a sharp green energy.
Ramos' grip tightened around his oversized garden clippers, and he ordered, "Grovyle, charge at it with Leaf Blade and don't let up the pressure." With overwhelming speed, it dashed towards King with the intent to bring those leafy sickles on its arms down upon the Murkrow with indiscriminate force.
The first thing he noticed was that he was hit with the smell of burger grease as soon as he walked through the door. The second thing that he would notice was that the interior looked like a burger joint that could be found somewhere like Unova back in the world's equivalent to the 1950s. The floors were checkered black and white with pastel pink walls and powdery blue stools with aluminum legs and booths of white chairs with cushions of that same blue. Walls and even the ceiling were littered with nicknacks from that time period. However, it was a relaxed atmosphere. People around his age and maybe older hung around the counters and tables eating, some socializing and some getting burger grease on their homework. Some hung around with their Pokemon chomping on a burger. Overall, just a chill place.
Jason stood in line and decided that now was a good time to eavesdrop on the crowd to learn about any rare Pokemon that anyone would know about.
"Those sleepy looking things. Seriously?"
"Yeah man I'm telling you. The Dunsparce in the marsh are weird man. They're bigger and much more violent than anywhere else."
"I'll take your word for it. Can't pay me to go into that no man's land."
"Yo, you heard how they're some ancient breed of Voltorb bred in the village right?"
"Yeah, apparently it's like they're made of wood. Weird right?"
"Hey, you know about Thora's Pidgeot right?"
"Yeah what about it?"
"How can she use one if it's a normal and flying type?"
"...You're a special kind of dumb I hope you know that."
Eventually Jason would reach the front of the line and was greeted by an overweight middle-aged man wearing a greasy apron standing next to... a Chansey? "Welcome to Junk Burger home of the Junk Burger how can I help ya?" He asked with a gravelly voice.
Junk Meal Jr: a Junk Burger, fries, and soda. Minor increase in friendship of a selected Pokemon. 500P
Junk Meal: a double Junk Burger, large fries, and soda. Increases friendship of a selected Pokemon. 850P
Junk Meal Sr: a double Junk Burger with bacon, large fries, and soda. Majorly increases friendship of a selected Pokemon. 1000P
However, there was another option. There was a poster that said, 'Take on the Junkyard Burger! A four-pound burger covered in a layer of bacon, cheese, onion rings, four eggs, and a bed of fries. Win and you eat for free and win the pot!
So, she crept through the manor until she found a door upstairs which she opened and... nothing? To be more accurate, it was just a master bedroom that was filled with luxurious and beautiful furniture that had been eaten away by time though no one was inside. The old, faded curtains let the morning light peek through the windows as Stella would most likely walk in to examine the room.
Again, there were some pictures that were hung on the walls of the family. They showed how that little girl had grown up into a young woman and her parents had aged as time spared no one. However, in other photos the mother was nowhere left to be seen. The photos were once again torn to omit a subject, but strangely enough there was a hint as to what caused it. In one of the frames of the picture, there were tuff of graying black fur just stuck between the cracks.
There was only one other point of interest. There was a vanity against the wall and on it was a book. With fine penmanship, Diary of Ellanore Osman was written on the cover, the same name that she had seen the night before at the graveyard and next to it was an... egg? For some reason there was just an egg on the vanity and to Spoops he could clearly tell that whatever in that egg was still alive.
So, Faye would go off to go find Rosa somewhere in the garden. Well, she did and apparently Rosa was beefing really hard to with one of those plucky blue birds and was throwing any number of Pokeballs at it to no success. When told that she was going to head off into the manor, Rosa said as if she was not entirely paying attention, "Yeah sure I'll meet you there later. Now get in the ball you little shi-!" Faye could hear her roar from rage as she headed towards the manor. Once inside she was greeted by a beautiful sight.
The foyer of the manor was grand and spacious, filled with lovingly maintained, pristine late Victorian styled furniture to what could be described as Art Nouveau styled furnishings and art. Paintings and prints marked the walls, each of varying styles and subject matter though all tasteful. Even the interior was designed with an Art Nouveau mindset; organic shapes could be found on the tiled floors with intricate colored patterns that were abstract and yet reminded one of nature. There was a grand stairway, and the metal guard rails looked like artist depictions of swirling wind and leaves. Of course, there were also all manner of flowers decorating in whatever fine pottery and vases that were available. It was almost like a looking glass into the past and life of the estate owner.
By the entrance of the foyer there was an impressively large oil portrait painting of a beautiful, yet pale woman in her late twenties with fiery red hair done up in a bun and equally red eyes. Her lips were curled up in a gentle smile with a kind gaze as if to say that everything was alright. Underneath it was a plaque that held the name Aria Eberg.
...Why did she feel so familiar?
Faye would stare at the painting as if locked in a trance, her feet locked into place. She couldn't take a step; not like she even noticed her inability to. It was as if something shut her body off. Almost off the in distance she could hear static, like television static and yet there was something there. There was meaning in it, and it was maddening enough to fill her the urge to claw her own ears out.
H̴̳̓͛͊é̷̼̱̇͆l̶̘̮̐̽l̷̘̖̯̊ȯ̶͓̎̕?̸̝̬̋̅͠
H̴̳̓͛͊é̷̼̱̇͆l̶̘̮̐̽lo?
H̴̳̓͛͊é̷̼̱̇͆llo?
"Hello miss?" A concerned receptionist laid a concerned hand on Faye's shoulder. "Are you alright? You looked a bit out of it."