Ask to Join Fantamus Region

[LittleGreenBean]

Joseph sighed and made it to the arena. He brushed his bangs out of his eyes and made it to the arena. "Guess I should check the board to see who I'm battling." Joseph thought aloud, Gareth following him like the obedient fire doggo he was. He looked at his name on the board.
"Let's see... Joseph Flores vs. Luca Delmora..." He thought, reading the sign. Joseph sat down in the stands, waiting for the battle to start. His was third, but for now he would watch the battle between the black-haired dude. He had Harry Potter-esque glasses and an average build. He began playing on his Gameboy Color out of boredom.

 

[Godjacob]

"SNIVY!?" Snivy replied to the Growlithe. (I smell? Excuse me!?)

Dan had been about to reply, before he realized he had seemingly forgotten something and saw people making their way over towards where the tournament had been scheduled which caused a mental alarm to found.

"C-crabs! Sorry I gotta go, don't want to be late for the tournament. Let's catch up later!" Dan called out before he and Snivy dashed over to the tournament. Thankfully, Dan had managed to make it in time as he heard his name and the name of his opponent called out.

James? Well, guess I get a chance to pay him back for that punch earlier. N-not that I'm gonna punch the guy or anything...

Dan and Snivy dashed over to their side of the battlefield as they barley managed to beat the time, Dan having panted as it was clear he had to have ran at full speed just to make it. Still though, Dan managed to catch his breath as he prepared for his battle with James.

 

[Pokemon Fanfiction Novels]

Subtle. He had to be subtle. There was no other way he could hope to get onboard without drawing attention. Sid-Roggoth concentrated, then let off a signal scent from his false body. It was aimed at nobody in particular, nor was it any particular message. Rather, it was a sort of pheromone, like ants gave off, vaguely directing any human in close proximity to "help the poor." The ticket master and guards picked up on it, but their rational minds prevented them from acting. However, Lillith happened along at that moment, approaching the situation neutrally. Something about her mindset must have added to the pheremone's effect, for she needed no additional prompting to step in and outright buy his ticket. Sid-Roggoth resisted smiling triumphantly, and tried to remember the proper human ritual for responding to a perceptibly selfless act. There were so many different words . . . honestly, remembering the eldritch prayers was easier than navigating this complex social language. A few moments went by, and Sid-Roggoth finally recalled what he was supposed to say. He turned to Lillith.

"You're welcome."

The ticket master, with obvious hesitation, slowly passed a bronze-class ticket to Sid-Roggoth. "Please wait a moment longer," he said, as the two guards marched down the boarding ramp. "These two gentlemen need to search you and any of your luggage. And for goodness sake, get your Feebas some water."

 

[SageNeb]

James saw Dan run up with his Snivy, and for some reason that annoyed him. "Look at this fool, with his Pokémon out all the time. Such an arrogant, annoying, brat. Doesn't he know Pokémon are meant to be in Pokéballs?" he thought, getting more annoyed by the second. Then he remembered how he had punched Dan, till he caused the boy's nose to bleed. "Fuck me man, I'm getting mad at some innocent person I punched in the face for no reason. I'm messed up in the head," he thought, putting his hands on his face.

James took a deep breath, and then looked up at Dan. "Well... good luck, I guess," he muttered as he released Burn. "I'll let you go first... and everything," he said, barely keeping his eyes open.

 

[LittleGreenBean]

Lilith was ready for what she was going to say. Lilith expected the stranger to say, "thank you" or "thanks" or some other phrase used to describe appreciation, thus having her respond with, "you're welcome".Lilith did not expect him to say, "You're welcome". So instead, she went for what most did when caught off guard: humor.

Lilith nervously laughed. "Oh, haha, that's-that's my line. But that's c-cool, dude. I'm Lilith, what's your name?" She asked. Brad looked at Sid-Roggoth strangely, instinctively sensing something was wrong with this human.

 

[Godjacob]

"Okay, I wish you luck as well..." Dan said, though he had been taken aback at the way James muttered at him. If Dan had not known any better, he'd have assumed James was upset with him over something. While he seemed better than earlier, he still seemed to harbor some resentment. Whether it had been over him specifically or something else Dan could only have made a guess.

"Snivy?"

The call of his partner Pokemon snapped Dan out of his daze, as he glanced down with a smile before he took note of James' Pokemon. Snivy seemed eager to go, but Dan made a gesture that held her back.

"I know you are eager, but I think we should give someone else a first crack. It's only fair." Dan said with Snivy, who conceded that Dan had a fair point before Dan had pulled out a Pokeball.

"Riolu, let's get to work!" Dan called out before he called forth his fighting type, who had a look of determination on his face as he eyed Burn and seemed prepared for battle. Dan heard of James' offer to make the first move, and he appeared eager to accept that offer.

"Alright, let's start off with Double Team!" Dan called out, as soon enough Riolu multiplied into dozens of Riolu; one real body among several after images as Dan had been quick to announce his follow up move.

"Force Palm!" Dan called out as the Riolu squad charged from all directions towards Burn as the real one hoped to deliver a side to the back while the Monferno would hopefully be distracted by the duplicates.

 

[FrostCrispz]

Tessa watched as the boys ran inside to the tournament, which actually presented the bracket online. She knew thay she wasn't going first, so why rush inside? Those thoughts raced in her mind upon entering. The battle going on was between Dan and James, a battle that could be one sided with proper planning. "Who wins?" She asked herself while sitting down to watch.

 

[Stargrounds]

Meanwhile, A Zoroark appeared in the trees, seemingly aiming to get on the ferry with Lilith, Sid-Roggoth, and the other kids, and of such, took on the appearance of Jane’s Houndour as an illusion. Maybe being disguised as a another small wolf Pokémon would prove him to be a good spy, and as such hid in Lilith’s party as a Houndour named Caliborn.

 

[LittleGreenBean]

Joseph relaxed, stretching his joints. He looked up from his Gameboy, looking at a girl sitting next to him. She had an average build. He turned to Tessa. "Hey, I don't think we've met. I'm Joseph." He looked up at the girl, locking his deep brown orbs into hers. He looked casual yet messy. Joseph had on a simple red flannel tee with the top button loose. A few leaves stood in his hair, but it looked intentional and endearing. His slender build was casually rested on the bleachers and his sleeves were rolled up to his forearm. The girl was fairly attractive, but by her demeanor, she seemed to be taken or crushing on someone else. Joseph didn't know how he knew this, but he had a sense of it.

 

[FrostCrispz]

Tessa was ready for the battle, awaiting the start. To her side, a boy introduced himself over to her. His name was Joseph, or as he introduced himself. "Good for you." Tessa said with a half sarcastic remark. Tessa isn't normally like this, but when battles happen, Tessa kinda shuts out away from others. Noticing her rudeness after saying it, "I go by Tessa." Tessa said to Joseph. That was her attempt of being nice for now.

 

[Pokemon Fanfiction Novels]

The two crewmen had already begun patting Sid-Roggoth down, when Lilith asked: "What's your name?"

The effect was immediate. Sid-Roggoth's eyes dilated, and he stood up straight, jarring the guards off his arms automatically. The formerly-blank expression was now full of yearning, and his smile, like that of an idealistic trainer itching to get on the road. "My name is Sid! I want to collect all the badges and be a pokemon master!" he declared jubilantly.

"Hey, chill the hell out, kid!" snapped one of the crewman, readjusting his grip on Sid's arm. The other already had his wallet, but his face had gone rather pale at Sid's initial display of strength in shaking him off- and that had been involuntary. Rather than continue the search, he opened the wallet, noting with distaste that it was soggy and stank. Pulling out the ID card within, he glanced back up at the blank-faced Sid-Roggoth. A double-take at the ID, and Sid, caused his eyes to widen. "Hey, wait a minute. This trainer card says 'Ian Black,' and it's a totally different guy. Kid, what's the meaning of this? Did you steal it?"

"Stealing is wrong," replied Sid-Roggoth. "I am Ian Black."

"You- no you aren't! You just said your name was Sid! Ted, have a look at this- does the guy on here look anything like him?"

"We look EXACTLY like him!" Sid said irritably, his voice suddenly deepening two octaves. "We have ten digits on my fingers, two eyes, and one mouth with thirty-two teeth!"

The ticket master hurriedly pulled out his phone. "Hold him, boys," he said hastily, "I'm going to call for help."

 

[Stargrounds]

Locking his sights on the Sid-Roggoth boy, the Zoroark’s illusion was disrupted a little, but he managed to keep his Houndour disguise for a while longer. The fact that the boy had declared he had two identities had been relatable to Zoroark due to his Illusion ability. Though, if the Sid-Roggoth boy was a Pokémon with an ability just like his, or a Ditto of some sort, that would’ve been enough for him. That would’ve sealed the deal to being on his team. Though, since he had to look non-suspicious and like a Pokémon coming to its owner, he shifted his illusional appearance to a Lillypup ran up to the boy, and attempted to tackle Sid-Roggoth lovingly, trying to give the impression of a trainer being reunited with its Pokémon. However, this would’ve broken the Zoroark’s illusion if it were to actually work.

 

[Pokemon Fanfiction Novels]

As soon as the Lillipup newcomer charged out from the trees and launched an affectionate tackle at Sid-Roggoth, his arms slipped through the grips of the ferry guards. They had been holding him quite firmly, but the force of the pokemon was more impactful than one would expect from a tiny lil' pup. Furthermore, Sid's limbs left behind a thin trail of slime on that of the guards, and they instinctively glanced at their own arms in horrified disgust.

"Ugh, what is this stuff? It's sticky!"

"Is that his dog? Damn it, get hold of them both until the police can get here!"

"No way am I touching that guy again, no sir! He's oily as an eel!"

Off in the distance, a police car's siren could be heard. Sid-Roggoth jerked to life, and he dropped to all fours, taking off toward the treeline from which the Lillipup had come. His last encounter with the human police had been highly . . . inconvenient. Their detention methods were sub-par, but they were the worst sort of attention he could attract. He made it into the trees, just as the cop cruiser screeched to a halt, and a K-9 officer leaped out. The situation had deteriorated, and Sid-Roggoth cursed the persistence of the lawfully-aligned. Even if he managed to evade being sniffed out and arrested now, how would he get onto the Infernus ferry? The crew would be looking for him, or at least his meat suit. So much for the first attempt at being subtle.

 

[Stargrounds]

The Zoroark’s illusionary disguise instantaneously diminished as the Sid-Roggoth boy ran to the slightly thick forest the Zoroark had came from, and it quickly got to him that he should’ve done something smarter with that disguise. He did not want to be caught by the police either, because in his work as a spy Pokémon, in a few cases, took things he wasn’t supposed to originally, and kept them in his exte So, he instantly bailed out of trying to befriend the boy he’d lovingly tackled, and ran onto the cruise ship instead. It seemed like the most logical conclusion. Maybe the guards would set their sights on finding him, and the distinguished Sid-Roggoth Boy would be sniffed out by the police. Or the other way around.

 

[SageNeb]

James mind was still on the punch that he was taken by surprise when Riolu made clones of himself. "T-try Flame Wheel, hitting them like with Domino's!" he shouted, worried. Burn looked back for a second at his trainer, before nodding and turning into a spinning wheel of flames. Then he started rushing towards the clones from the side in an attempt to take them all out at once.

 

[Godjacob]

One by one, the Flame Wheel easily mowed past the Double Team after images as Dan scowled. Aware Riolu lacked the ability to land a decisive hit. Dan had to figure something quickly as Riolu would not have been able to hide among the copies much long.

Which is when inspiration struck him.

"Riolu Copycat!"

In an instant, Riolu gazed on the fire type as it took a deep breath before it curled into a ball itself and became inflamed as it rolled forward with it set to go on a collusion course with Burn.

 

[LittleGreenBean]

He ignored her remark. Sarcasm usually was really forced and stupid to him. "So, if you 'go by' Tessa, what is it short for?" Joseph knew he was annoying her, but something about her irked the boy. Besides, he had nothing better to do. Battles bored him, and besides, the battle had barely started. He watched the battle with little to no interest.

 

[FrostCrispz]

Tessa just sighed at the sarcastic remark. "Use what few brain cells you have to think on it." The girl said turning back to the battle. Riolu is a copycat, so avoid stat moves. Could get tricky. She thought as she watched the battle.

 

[Pokemon Fanfiction Novels]

It had been surprisingly easy to throw off the cops' trail. Immediately after Sid-Roggoth had disappeared into the underbrush, anyone and everyone who had seen him flee pointed the officer to the trees. There was a brief search effort, which yielded no results. Their mistake had been in checking for scents and footprints in areas of plant growth. Nobody thought to check the beach dunes a few meters away, under whose sands Sid-Roggoth hid himself. Why would they? Humans couldn't breathe underneath two feet of sand.

Nevertheless, they came uncomfortably close. At one point, a backup deputy was called in, and he came within hearing range of Sid-Roggoth's sand tomb. He might have actually inspected the oddly-shaped lump in the sand, if not for a call on his radio that stopped him cold. The female officer approached just as he put it down, and Sid-Roggoth could hear their conversation just overhead.

"Hoo boy," grunted the male cop. "We are in for a reaming-out now."

The female officer asked something that Sid-Roggoth couldn't make out.

"It's a guy I used to go to school with. Name's Astral, or as we knew him, the 'Ass of the Class.' You'll see why when you meet him."

The woman made another inquiry, again which Sid-Roggoth couldn't catch.

"Because he's obsessive and condescending. But he's also smart and high-ranking, so the Agency lets him do what he wants. My advice? Just stand there and take it when he chews you out for failing to catch Ian Black's murderer. He knows that 'killer space aliens' or whatever are above our pay grade, so he'll quickly take charge of the investigation. Let things run their course."

 

[SageNeb]

The two flame wheels clashed causing Burn's to stop. However, it didn't do that much damage. "Use Taunt!" James shouted from his area. "This should cause him to no longer use Copycat," he thought. Burn nodded and went over to Riolu. "Mon, monferno,no,no!" (Wow, so incredibly weak! You have to copy others to be good!) he taunted.

 

[Godjacob]

"R-Riolu! Lu lu Riolu!" (How dare you! I can fight without relying on copying others. I'll show you!)

The Taunt seemed to work well enough to snap Riolu out of his Copycat, so Dan decided that if he was unable to fight fire with fire, he'd use rocks instead.

"Rock Tomb!" Dan called out as Riolu focused and soon several large rocks were summoned over Burn before they dropped as Dan & Riolu aimed to pummel the Monferno with rocks.

 

[sSoul]

"Hmm, taunt was a good move by James, but that Rock Tomb definitely did a decent amount of damage to Burn, even if it wasn't super effective," Marcus muttered under his breath, but unfourtunately for him, it was loud enough to hear.
"Bro, you alright?" Another member of the audience asked him, but Marcus recognized it as, "Please stop,"
"Sorry, my bad," Marcus apologized, he then looked at Tessa and thought, I hope I don't have to battle her.

 

[Pokemon Fanfiction Novels]

Sid-Roggoth had no intention of being around when this "Astral" person showed up. "Smart" and "obsessive" were the two worst traits to be combined around him. When there was a lull in activity around him, he slid up through the sand and walked casually away. There was still audible chatter off in the distance around the ship, but for now, Sid-Roggoth headed toward town. He needed to find his group of humans. Ever since he'd slipped away from them, bad things had happened in rapid succession. Getting back together might just allow him to slip back into obscurity.

 

[SageNeb]

Some of the rocks were destroyed by Burn, but too many hit him. Eventually, the Monferno fainted. "Damn it. I'm such a horrible trainer," James thought as he returned his Pokémon. "OK... let's go... Rosetta!" he shouted as he released the Roggenrola. "Try Smack Down... and then Headbutt," he said. Rosetta made a huge rock on top of Riolu which began falling. As that happened she was charging at Riolu in an attempt to take it out afterwards.

 

[Godjacob]

And the tactic worked, as Riolu had been unable to combat both the Smack Down and Headbutt as he was pummeled before he had been sent flying back as he crashed into a wall. Riolu was knocked out, as Dan quickly recalled him before he smiled at the Pokeball that contained the fighting type.

"You were great, take a good rest." Dan said before he pulled out his second Pokeball, as Snivy again seemed annoyed that Dan was had not gone to her yet but decided to be supportive as she understood the whole team needed this experience.

"Alright, come out Swinub! Dan called out as he released his newest addition to the team, as Swinub seemed a little shy since this was his first proper battle. Though he had several wild battles during training, but it still seemed encouragement was needed.

"Don't worry Swinub, you can do this! I'll be with you every step of the way. We all will."

"Snivy! Sni! Vi Snivy!" (Don't let your nerves get the best of you, give it all you've got!)

Swinub seemed at ease from the reassurance from both Dan and Snivy as he nodded and knew he had to battle, no reason to worry over it. Dan then made his move.

"Alright, use Mud Bomb!" Dan called out as Swinub fired a sphere of mud aimed at the Roggenrola.

 

[Pokemon Fanfiction Novels]

Returning to his humans was no easy task. Sid-Roggoth spent hours searching, before finally deciding on an alternate method. The space-time continuum was dotted with little holes, gaps, inconsistency, and leaving and re-entering the current was a simple matter of finding one, if it was there. Eventually, the vision of the Zormy Tournament from hours back blurred into view for a moment, and Sid-Roggoth sidestepped into the phantasmagoria of color and chaos that was the fourth dimension. Just as quickly, he was out again, appearing in the upper stands of the spectator area. This was good; all attention would be focused upon the battles happening in the arena below. He sat and observed, considering this as good a time as any to learn more about pokemon battle strategy.

 

[SageNeb]

"Dodge it and use Headbutt!" James shouted frantically. Rosetta nodded and jumped out of the way of the attack. Then she started charging at Swinub the same way she did before with Riolu. James felt an odd presence and event happen in the stadium, so he looked around. He noticed Sid-Roggoth was watching near the top, yet James sort of felt like he just popped there out of nowhere. "No use worrying about it. After all, Sid is a strange guy," he thought.

 

[Godjacob]

The Headbutt landed a clean hit as the Raggenrola knocked Swinub back, and Swinub had taken damage though he remained standing as Dan frowned.

"Hang though, use multiple Mud Bombs!" Dan called out as Swinub responded to the attack and fired several mud spheres all around the Raggenrola and targeted at it as Dan tried to counter the dodge tactic of James with multiple attacks in succession.

 

[Stargrounds]

Zoroark was surprised. Seemingly nobody had followed him or chased him to one of the floors of the ship. He took this seriously, as it was a good time to change disguises, and as such took his time to choose his disguise, being on the same floor as the Econ Rooms were located, which some of the kids he was spying on seemed to be staying. He located the staircase to the second-class floor, and examined some of the paintings and portraits in the hall there. Some of the portraits had their faces clawed off, probably because a few of the frames had no glass barrier separating the picture from them. Or the crew took the glass out so the Pokémon could scratch the faces off. Who knew.
Eventually he couldn’t take being on the ferry that wasn’t moving currently much longer, and ran off to go watch the tournament. At least that would give him something to do.

Arriving in the tournament’s spectator area, Zoroark needed to hide in an illusion. So he took a quick disguise as James. Though it would be awkward and strange, he thought it would be silly for this kind of thing to happen, considering the real James was engaged in a battle with another trainer that had the name “Dan”.

 

[SageNeb]

Rosetta tried to dodge all the attacks, but she got hit by too many super effective Mud Bombs and fainted. James sighed before returning the Roggenrola. "Go, Chlorist!" he shouted, though he was a bit worried. "I don't usually use Chlorist in Trainer Battles... I wonder if she'll be okay," he thought as his Budew started at Swinub with determined eyes. "Use Mega Drain!" James shouted. Chlorist ran up to Swinub and tried to drain his life force as much as possible.

 

[Godjacob]

Swinub was unable to dodge the Budew's efforts, as along with the damage from the Headbutt as its energy was drained from him and he soon fainted. Dan recalled the Swinub as he glanced at the Pokeball with a smile.

"You were awesome, enjoy a good rest." Dan said before he faced Snivy, who had a determined if not eager grin on her face as she knew she was next up to battle.

"You ready buddy?" Dan asked as Snivy gave a nod before she moved to the battlefield and faced the Budew. The battle of the grass types had now began as Dan made the first move.

"Restrain it with Vine Whip!" Dan called out as Snivy released a pair of strong vines that elongated towards Budew with the intent to wrap it up and restrain its movements.

 

[fastt]

Ike watched the battle with interest. He hoped he would battle soon, and he saw that each trainer had exhausted all other Pokemon options except for Dan's Snivy and James's Budew. That Budew might not make it through a fight, Ike thought, not until it evolves.

 

[Pokemon Fanfiction Novels]

Sid-Roggoth watched James battle with mixed emotions. On the one hand, the ingrate had rejected his apple, and that was something he would not lightly forgive. On the other hand, James served as a continuing source of useful type exploitation. His Budew proved that Grass-types seemed to trump Ground-types like Swinub, even when suffering a size disadvantage. But what would it do against another Grass-type like Snivy? Did it have any other type advantage to offer now? Maybe-

He did a double-take. Either his senses were deceiving him, or there were now TWO Jameses, the second one sitting as an audience member. How could that be? Sure, there was another Sid-Roggoth currently searching fruitlessly around Zormy Towne, but he would perform a dimensional shift in time and become one entity again. But James was just a human, so how could he be in two places at once? And how had nobody else taken notice of this anomaly? The urgency of this matter demanded action at once- and so, Drowzee was summoned in a flash of pokeball light.

"Identify," commanded Sid-Roggoth, pointing at the James in the audience. Drowzee concentrated for a moment, then its eyes grew wide with alarm and recognition. Its Forewarn ability communicated a very strange psychic message to Sid-Roggoth. Apparently, this second James could . . . execute Foul Play.

 

[Stargrounds]

Zoroark managed to find comfort in being James, but then it was immediately tooken notice of by the Sid-Roggoth boy. How funny. This was exactly what he thought would happen. Adjusting his posture, the Zoroark, still maintaining James’ appearance, just walked over, closer to the Sid-Roggoth boy. And of course he asked him, mimicking Jame’s voice, “I’m James. I guess I flirt a lot. By the way, do you have the knowledge that a Pokémon called Zoroark exists, right here and now?”
The Zoroark tried his best to mimic James’ voice. His impression was off a bit and he was clearly lying, but it was only to keep him safe for the time being.

 

[Pokemon Fanfiction Novels]

"Zoroark . . ."

Sid-Roggoth drew out Ian's pokedex, and at the changeling's inquiry, activated the sensor. The moment the scanner rested upon False James, the pokedex dinged. "Zoroark," it announced in a cheerful mechanical voice. "The Illusion Fox pokemon. Each has the ability to fool a large group of people simultaneously. They protect their lair with illusory scenery."

So. This was a pokemon.

Well, that was a relief- at least James hadn't breached the dimensional gap in time after all. As to this disguised pokemon, Sid-Roggoth always suspected that there were creatures beyond himself that prowled amid the dominant species as a necessity. But this one's motives appeared to be inconsistent with the pokedex explanation, for it was using illusions proactively rather than in defense of its lair. Why else would it reveal itself to him?

"Pocket monster," uttered Sid-Roggoth, "what is your reason for approaching me?"

 

[Stargrounds]

“My reasons for approaching you?” said Zoroark, disengaging his disguise. “I’m trying to hide amongst these trainers, and for the time being, I’m just fooling around and doing random stuff while this tournament goes on. And if you even dare to attempt to catch me, and make me a pawn that’ll battle in your favour like those Pokémon,” said Zoroark, pointing at the battle that James and Dan were engaged in, “you won’t be happy with me, oho.” Though all of his rant was pretty much converted to Pokéspeak once he disengaged his illusion of James, he meant it. And yet again, he ran away like a little girl, trying to avoid being caught. Zoroark’s mind clearly loved to change quickly.

 

[Pokemon Fanfiction Novels]

Something suddenly clicked in Sid-Roggoth's mind. How it had evaded him earlier, he had no idea.

"Wait, pocket monster!"

To the fleeing back of the Zoroark, he made his proposition, bending his voice in a concentrated tube-like form so that it would not spread as sound was wont to do. "You were the Lillipup at the ferry . . . weren't you! We have a proposition, changeling." He smiled toothily. "Distract the guards again, as before, so that I may board. Take my form if you must; we can stay out of sight on the ferry until it lands on the other side. Do this, and we will . . . owe you a favor. Rather than my pawn, thou shalt be my debtor."

He lifted his arm, in which now sat a golden apple. "A token of my covenant. This is our guarantee."

 

[Stargrounds]

“I see. In that case, I’ll gladly accept your proposal. As long as you don’t capture me in one of those... capsule balls. Whatever they’re called. Also, I’m glad you acknowledged my presence as that Lillipup back there. Thank me later.” said the Zoroark. To the other surrounding humans in the vicinity, that agreement would have sounded like an extremely long growl from the Pokémon. He then took the golden apple Sid-Roggoth held, and hid it in the large, voluminous mane of his, so that he could eat it later. Or whatever.

As the Zoroark changed his appearance again, not taking the appearance of Sid-Roggoth, but an bit of an inaccurate illusion that looked like a Herdier. Wandering over to the guards by the ferry as the dog Pokémon, the Zoroark-now-impersonating-a-Herdier tryed his hand at looking cute and impersonating the dog Pokémon by barking and looking cute, as to distract the two guards so Sid-Roggoth could board.

 

[SageNeb]

Budew got dragged to the air as the vines wrapped around her. "Chlorist, no! Try to get out!" James shouted. The small Pokémon struggled and struggled, but to no avail. "C'mon, I believe in you," James said with determined eyes. Budew nodded with the same amount of determination, and then it began glowing. After the flash of light ended, Chlorist was now a Roselia and had escaped.

"Great job, Roselia! Now, use Poison Sting!" he shouted. Chlorist jumped into the air and released a barrage of poisonous needles at Snivy.

 

[Pokemon Fanfiction Novels]

Initially, Sid-Roggoth's intention in returning to the trainers had been to blend with them when it was finally time to board the ferry. In the end, he had wound up relying on a feral pokemon among them. No matter. The end result was the same. It had cost him more, but it was more effective as a diversion tactic. At the ferry, the guards took their eyes from the boarding ramp and viewed the disguised Zoroark as Sid-Roggoth slipped aboard. It wasn't surprising that their demeanor had gone lax; with most of the trainers still at the tournament, and the oddball Feebas trainer run off by the police, they could afford indulge in cute puppy dogs for a minute.

Even so, Sid-Roggoth nearly blew his cover the moment he boarded the ferry. Standing off to the side, with his head bowed submissively, was the officer that had nearly stumbled upon him earlier in the sand. An older man with glasses, long hair, and a dark hat was currently holding his full attention, arms crossed in a no-nonsense upright pose. The officer was in the middle of some sort of explanation when the glasses man held up his hand.

"Ahem. Excuse me."

The officer immediately shut up.

"Had you and your colleagues followed the protocols I laid out for you, the killer would be in containment," the elder man said curtly, holding up an iPad. "Did none of you read them? No, don't answer that- it was a rhetorical question." He slid his iPad away in one brief motion, and turned his back upon the officer. "I'm shutting you down. Because you at least led me in the right direction, you'll receive no further disciplinary action than a warning, but I will be taking over from here. Return to the station- and study the rules for next time."

Agent Astral, thought Sid-Roggoth grimly. So . . . we finally meet our first true enemy.