Ask to Join Pokémon: Role Play Thread

[sSoul]

Wilford Pine
Fashion Store, Turffield -> en route to Hammerlocke via Corviknight Taxi , Galar Region
August 2nd
WCS Rank: 70,203
Team: Monferno, Thwackey, Panpour, Togepi
Interactions: Cole Forrest(@Merciless Medic)

Wilford held no objections to Cole's plans, but rather than immediately going to the Pokémon Center, he noticed Cole's infamous Meowth glaring at him. The rich young man decided to enter a staring contest with the Scratch Cat Pokémon out of curiosity, hoping to eventually see a reaction from the Steel Type. Sadly, there was no such reaction from the Meowth. Rather, Wilford's eyes momentarily widened when he noticed the length of the Meowth's beard. Though he was unfamiliar with the Pokémon, he knew that the Galarian Meowth's shaggy beard was a defining feature along with its knife-like claws. Wilford thought the Meowth's trimmed beard was amusing, but the only reflection of this was a brief exhale from his nostrils

The brief staring contest concluded when Cole returned his Pokémon, allowing the trainers to finally heal their parties and head to the east end of the town for their ride. Wilford chuckled at Cole's insistence on not missing the dinner, surprised by his sudden punctuality. As the two flew to Hammerlocke, Wilford noticed Cole writing in a notebook. The rich young man got to see the notes after asking about them, finding much of the content to be intriguing. The notes regarding Magikarp caused Wilford to glance at his briefcase once again, thinking about his Togepi and Panpour. Much of what was said about Magikarp applied to Panpour perfectly, and though it applied to Togepi holistically, a part of Wilford wanted to hope it would improve upon evolving. The notes regarding the upcoming Gym were far more intriguing however. Wilford had his own strategy for tackling the Water Type gym, planning on saving Thwackey for the final moment to handily defeat the Gigantamax Drednaw. The beginning and middle of the fight were significantly less clear. Thwackey was out of the question until Drednaw hit the field, leaving his weak and unreliable Panpour and his Water-weak Monferno as his only options. Fortunately. Wilford had conducted the necessary research to expand his options ahead of time

"I can see you've put a lot of thought into your team," Wilford nodded with a small smile as he turned to face Cole, previously absorbed in examining the notes, "Truth be told, I've only given a quarter of the thought necessary for a truly successful team. I know what I'm looking for in broad strokes, but I've only recently begun to narrow down my preferences into something specific. As you know, there are 12 types of Pokémon that I've deemed worthy of training long-term. While I initially aimed to train all of them, I was unable to fit a dragon type in my team without significantly compromising its defensive profile. That being said, I need to get Pokémon of the following types: Ground, Steel, Electric, Flying, Dark, and Ghost. Unfortunately, I'm coming to reevaluate my Togepi and my Panpour's place on the team. I have no confidence in the latter, as it's only water move is Hydro Pump, which has missed too many times for me to count. As for the former, she's naturally very weak and frail, and her limited moves aren't doing her any favors. I'm honestly just hoping she can evolve and become stronger..." The rich young man's eyes drifted to the ground, trying to muster the strength to ask a question he feared the answer to. Upon mustering the strength, Wilford looked straight into Cole's eyes and asked.

"Am I wasting my time trying to draw potential from my Togepi?"

 

[Merciless Medic]

Cole Forrest​

Date: August 2
Location: En route to Hammerlocke via Corviknight Taxi, Galar
Pokemon Team: Thwackey, Croconaw, Corvisquire, Galarian Meowth, Stufful, Trubbish, Magikarp, Pancham
WCS Rank: 75,432

Interactions: Wilford Pine (sSoul)

Wilford's reaction to see the Galarian Meowth was not unnoticed by Cole. In fact, it was something he pondered on while he was writing down his notes. But that ended as soon as he was asked about his notes, which he oh-so graciously showed him. And again, he noticed the look to his briefcase.

Wonder what that was all about.

He nodded with a gracious half-smile to the compliment about his team, listening as Wilford talked of his own thought process on building his team and what types to choose from. When he spoke of Togepi and Panpour however, Cole studied him with a raised eyebrow, a glint of something within his dark coal eyes that would remind someone of gears turning in their head. He gave Wilford time to think, noticing his brief withdrawal before asking again.

To think that he was asking him this left him smiling, but it didn't last long. He was useful it seemed, and it boosted his ego. Still, his tone, while not cold, wasn't really warm as he forwent it for being analytical instead. "Hmm... I'll need to see her for myself. I'm more concerned about your Panpour being blind than I am of your Baby Pokemon based on performance alone. Baby Pokemon are naturally difficult to tell the full potential's limit of, as most of that can be seen after some training once they evolve. However..." He paused, mostly for dramatic effect but also to wonder why he has one. Likely one given to him by his father, no doubt, as he didn't recall them being super common in Galar, as they were rare to find in a select few areas. "I'm surprised you have a Togepi. If your training style is similar to mine, there must be some Stockholm Syndrome present or the Togepi must see you as some sort of ally they can put trust and respect in to evolve. Half of the Baby Pokemon evolve via some high level of friendship or a bond between themselves and their trainer, and Togepi's one of them. I cannot tell you for sure what to do with Togepi until she evolves, but whether you can get her to evolve would require you to think of this yourself. I do plan on getting a Pokemon that evolves via friendship sometime in the future, but given that it's going to be a Golbat, having them see me as an ally is far easier than that of a Baby Pokemon, who naturally need a parental figure to fill in the absent parent role. That perception of you being an ally gets turned into a parent or some similar figure when dealing with evolving Baby Pokemon."

He paused, realizing that there might be an actual problem with that. He looked at his briefcase, then back up to Wilford, his voice oddly warm despite his cold response earlier. "There is nothing wrong with giving up on a Pokemon if you feel like you can't see to their full potential, whether it be humbly from your own ability or theirs. Whether for your own gains or if you believe they're better off somewhere else, it doesn't matter." While Cole wasn't one to think of compassion, he knew that not everyone was like him and he was capable of it himself, he just preferred not to waste precious emotional energy on sappy stuff like that. But for Wilford, he spared some of that.

It was at that moment that he looked out the window and saw the tall tower and its... interesting wing-like castle structures. "I always wonder if those followed those construction safety rules..." He mused to himself, wondering how horrible it would be if it fell apart with a big enough Earthquake. A song began playing in his head.

Wyndon bridge is falling down, falling down~.

 

[DarkHydraT]

Ezio Farello, June 15, Solaceon Town, Sinnoh​

"I have, Professor Rowan was very impressed with your work, miss Saito." Ezio said, smiling at Naka as he took off his hat, before looking at Aero. "Maybe later, I am still recovering from an incident regarding a Lucario and a well-aimed Aura Sphere." The man said, chuckling as he took in Aero's appearance. "Your Aerodactyl seems to be in good health, I would love to know how you got them."

Ezio accepted the notebook that Naka handed him gratuitously before reading the pages, listening to the explanation given by Naka. The request to go spelunking with her was quite bold, but he wasn't against the idea. "So you're inviting me to go into those ruins and expel a potential ghost?" The ruin maniac asked, handing the notebook back and lacing his fingers together, putting on a serious front.

After letting Naka sit in silence for a couple moments, Ezio smirked as he put his hat back on. "You're lucky I was going into those ruins anyway, with or without you. Who knows? If we do face a ghost, maybe I'll show off my own Aerodactyl if you're lucky."


Nicole Newman - 16th of June - North Lake Miloch, Wild Area, Galar

"You sure do, a nice and golden one at that." Nicole replied in a hushed voice, letting the camera record the moment without scaring the bird with cotton wings. "You know, if you ever wanted to catch a Swablu, now would be the opportune time. There are tons of them around, after all."

The Sigilyph that was hanging around near the two girls fluttered towards Lara, looking at the Swablu with curiosity. She never saw this one in the flocks that pass over, was it a new hatchling?

 

[Merciless Medic]

Nakano Saito​

Date: June 15 (26yo); 1 Month prior
Location: Solaceon Town, Sinnoh
Pokemon Team: Chu the Pichu, Tochi the Parasect, Fluffy the Flareon, Aero the Aerodactyl, Yuki the Froslass, Hattie the Hatterene

Interactions: Ezio Farello (DarkHydraT)

Naka was absolutely thrilled to bits. Professor Rowan talked about her??? To him???

Oh, hell yeah!!!

She gave him an apologetic smile on the Aura Sphere mention though, chuckling a bit at that. "I know how that feels." When he expressed interest in where she got her Aerodactyl, she held up a finger, a cheeky look on her face. "I will later."

So, when Ezio looked over the notes and asked for clarification what she was wanting him to do with her, she nodded. Anxiety began to creep its claws and sink them into her chest, making it tight as he sat there in silence with her notebook clutched in her hands after she got it back. Oh Arceus, please, please, please say-

He agreed?

Well, he was going down there anyway. But still, this was exciting. "OH, thank you so much." She expressed maybe a bit too much gratitude in her tone's want to gush a bit more, but she cleared her throat and smiled. "Ooo, can't wait." She looked at her notes again, and then hummed. "Well... It might not be a ghost - Pokemon or human. It could just be... wind... or something. You've heard of some formations in rock where wind blows through them and it sounds like a wind instrument, yeah?"

She tried to at least have some kind of sensibility, but she couldn't help herself as she shrugged. "Nah, my bet's on a Ghost-Type. Either way, nothing my Pokemon can't handle. I'll have to go and get two of my Pokemon as they specialize in combat in tight quarters." She said, but before she made any moves to stand up, she looked at his papers. "Oh... Do you need to finish whatever you were doing here? When did you want to go into the ruins? Anything else in there that's got your attention at the moment?" She inquired, at least to make sure they were on the same page and maybe she could help him with a thing or two.

Aero just watched Ezio with a blank, happy expression. The epitome of head empty, no thoughts.

 

[Charlotte Pryce]

Charlotte Pryce
Date: Sunday, July 24th
Age: 21 years old
Location: Cianwood City, Johto
Pokémon Team: Fernando (Infernape level 52), Dini (Alakazam level 52), Splash (Floatzel level 49), Bolero (Roserade level 52), Hatari (Luxray level 52), Tiburon (Garchomp level 48 ), Radar (Lanturn level 32)
Interactions: Orochi (@Merciless Medic), Naka (Merciless Medic), Theo (@Sir Krazz)

Charlotte cooed sympathetically at the Zweilous's reactions, but when Orochi made a noise that sounded like "bet" she laughed.

"You guys better hurry up," Charlotte chuckled. "I think Orochi here is trying to bribe me to make him a T-shirt. I'm trying to stay strong, but I don't know if I can resist those faces forever."

 

[sSoul]

Wilford Pine
En route to Hammerlocke via Corviknight Taxi, Galar Region
August 2nd
WCS Rank: 70,203
Team: Monferno, Thwackey, Panpour, Togepi
Interactions: Cole Forrest(@Merciless Medic)

Wilford nodded slowly while his brow furrowed, ruminating over Cole's words as he heard them. Though they seemed to confirm the worst for the rich young man and his Pokémon's prospects, it wasn't presented as harshly as he expected. Rather, his older travelling companion seemed to regard the idea of passing up a Pokémon as a necessary sacrifice should circumstances dictate it. Of course, knowing Cole's history, that should have hardly came as a surprise. Once again, Wilford's eyes drifted to his briefcase while thinking about his Togepi. It was just a tool given to him by his father, there should be no guilt involved in discarding a ill-fitting part of the team. Yet, the idea of doing so caused Wilford to tense, his heart skipping a beat every time he considered ditching the Spike Ball Pokémon. Even so, a part of him knew what had to be done, and hearing Cole echo a similar sentiment finally gave him the courage to heed their knowledge.

"I have to release Togepi," Wilford's voice was barely audible, as if he were saying the words for his ears only, yet he raised his voice for the coming sentence, "Fact of the matter is I just don't believe in her basic abilities, and because of that, she only sees battle once in a blue moon. There's no sense in hoping for an evolution for a Pokémon I just can't bring to use in battle." The rich young man took a pause after completing his summation, wanting to not only allow Cole the opportunity to process his reasoning, but to provide a neat segue into a similar summation regarding his Panpour.

"As for Panpour, its not a vision issue. It's a balance issue; preparing to fire the Hydro Pump is perfectly fine, but once the time comes to actually launch the attack, it's blasted away by the recoil of its own attack. As you can expect, this means that Panpour does no damage to its opponent. I never even wanted to train the thing in the first place, the only reason I have it on my team is because my father wanted to train one in his youth. Why he had such horrible taste in Pokémon is beyond me," Wilford's tirade got increasingly irritable, even causing him to miss Cole's musings about the wing-like structures. Fortunately, the rich young man maintained enough contact with reality to realize Cole was saying something, prompting Wilford to apologize.

"Sorry, I was lost in thought, you were saying something?"

 

[ThAtGuY101]

~Aldon Charlton...~
~Skol the king of gods, Bran the bronzor, Zippy the magnemite, Huck the golett, Wunder the Sigilyph and Bolly the Baltoy...~
~Yellow island - july, 19th...~
~interactions: Desmond...~

Aldon took a step back to contemplate the situation. Getting in character, he put a hand on his hip, with his other hand, he snapped his fingers.

"Yeah, no young man. Don't ya crack wise with ya momma. You ain't big 'nough that I can't bend you over my knee" Aldon said gesturing to his belt. Going back into trainer mode.

"You don't really need much experience to be good though. I'm an archaeologist. Not some unemployed motha fucka who's only source of income is pokémon battling. Truly the salt of the earth, that crowd... but I digress... Keep a clear mind, think fast, and be confident. Your pokemon can sense when you aren't, so try and be your best self for them" Aldon concluded. Aldon hadn't commanded either pokémon during the duration of his speech. Though afterwards, he took the initiative.

"Bolly, yes rapid spin. Skol, use water pulse again" Aldon called out. Bolly's target was kricketune and Skol's was Politoad.

~Briar Hightower...~
~Briar Pokémon: Grafaiai/Baba(F), galarian wheezing/Puff Puff(M), tentecruel/Maggie(F), Revavroom/Hemi(M), clodsire/Claudia(F), smeargle/Frida(F)...~
Tangelo Island, June 2nd...~
~Rank: 48,420...~
~Reactions: Adrianne and Reggie...~

Briar looked over at the cooking tools that Reggie was getting. Whatever he was cooking, it was definitely fancier that the cup of ramen and an of beer she'd eat on a regular Tuesday, so thought about it for a moment.

"Hmmm... Surprise me! I'm sure they'll be super grateful with whatever. Ehheheh!" Briar said chuckling. She remembered she was gonna help Adrianne.

"So where were we? Water type moves for lil Aqua, and flying moves for the bird...? I can't help with the flying, but Maggie got you covered" Briar said sending outvher tentacruel. The octopus laid there in the sand. Standing up on her tentacles. She was not in the water like she'd prefer, but she was not going to simply lay there. Baba made another glance at Aster. Flicking her long finger, causing a small drip of paint to launch at the star fish. Baba's intent was to get the jewel. A pupil so it would look like she could see. Briar snatched Baba's hand and gestured her to the side. Luckily she complied for now.

 

[Merciless Medic]

Reginald Valerias​

Date: June 2
Location: Tangelo Island Pond near Pokemon Center, Orange Archipelago
Pokemon Team: Emeric the Shiny Haunter, Elvira the Munna, Bob the Shedinja, Large Marge the Drifloon, Missy the Misdreavus, Jones the Frillish, Legion the White-Striped Basculin, Mankey
WCS Rank: 72,758

Interactions: Briar Hightower (ThAtGuY101), Adrianne Silvers (Godjacob)

Missy smiled at the effort Adrianne's Pokemon were dishing out to work hard. Maybe she should work hard, too. Thinking for a moment, she simply vanished in thin air as she used her ghost powers to hide, then went back into the forest's treeline to think of her battle options and went ahead to fight against a rock. However, she was quiet and was trying to constrain herself to not making too much noise so as to not be noticed, so she wasn't training very well by herself. In fact, she just tired herself out more in doing so.

Meanwhile, Reggie nodded and thanked Adrianne for answering him, then moved onto Briar, who basically said to surprise her and her Pokemon. Assuming she had a full team of six, he also nodded and thanked her in his goofy way as he did with Adrianne before scuttling off in a wide-stanced run from that "Take On Me" viral video some guy did on Mewtube some odd years ago.

As he made his way back (and hoped that Adrianne and Briar saw), he went back to where they were in the field beside the Pokemon Center and saw...

Oh dear...

His Haunter was trying to fend off a Mankey - which had woken up before Reggie got back - with the large pot it stole. Groaning, he didn't want to deal with the bull-headed monkey. To make things easier on himself, he threw a Pokeball at it.

It gave Emeric precious moments to give the pot back to Reggie for him to inspect it. He pulled out another ball after hearing that one break, then threw that one when the Mankey charged at him, capturing it once again as the ball wriggled. He was just about to pull out a rag to clean it when he heard a click.

Peering over the pot at the PokeBall, he groaned again, throwing his head back in exasperation. "I didn't wanna caaaaatch it... I just wanna get more tiiiiiiime... Fine..." He scooped the ball up and pocketed it before going back to cleaning his cooking items and utensils, then went to making food. He didn't know what to make in terms of sandwich for Adrianne, so he decided to go a more cold slider of sorts for her. He looked up at Emeric, who tilted his head at him. "Can you and Elvira get some fish from the store please? I have all the berries I need, among other things, I just need the fish for Aster. And then I can probably make some curry for Briar. Paldean and Galarian style foooooooods." He drawled as he began pressing some berries into juice form, cut up some other berries into a bowl, and then went to making a sandwich for Adrianne. Reggie already had the herbs and butter needed for the fish, so he decided to make a fish curry for Briar, and then pasta for an all-around pasta curry for Briar's Pokemon.

In the meantime, his Haunter - and a now freed Munna - took Reggie's wallet and floated off and into the town's market area to get some food. Of course, the Haunter had to stay behind and away from the store to not scare the shop owners from getting the ingredients they needed.

Cole Forrest​

Date: August 2
Location: En route to Hammerlocke via Corviknight Taxi, Galar
Pokemon Team: Thwackey, Croconaw, Corvisquire, Galarian Meowth, Stufful, Trubbish, Magikarp, Pancham
WCS Rank: 75,432

Interactions: Wilford Pine (sSoul)

Cole, while he was busy staring at the piece of building they were now flying towards, he was acutely aware as to what Wilford was doing. Granted, the cab they were in was pretty small, just big enough for the two to be comfortable without feeling too squished. So, when Wilford spoke very quietly, Cole heard him. Immediately, he pulled out his phone and went to look through Hammerlocke Hills, a list of Pokemon coming up. Thankfully, there was a filter, and he looked through for Fairy-Types.

He waited for Wilford to finish, chuckling as he missed what Cole was talking about after that whole thought process of what to do with the Togepi. He nodded as he spoke of Togepi and Panpour, being oddly calm as a contrast to whatever emotion Wilford was feeling. Which, he sounded almost strained, and he couldn't help but smile at that. He looked up at him when he asked what he was saying, chuckling as he pointed to the wing-like structures.

"Well, we have that giant thing Raihan seems to think is a great idea to keep around. Looks like it will topple if it weren't so big. I was wondering if it followed construction safety standards... Then I got Wyndon's Bridge song stuck in my head." He snickered, then went back to what they were talking about beforehand. "Your Panpour either needs to dig into the ground and keep himself from flying back. Either teach it Dig or some other move to keep him there when he uses it. Fattening him up with either fat or muscle might work too, but you don't want to make him sluggish if you go the fat route. If you're that upset about needing to keep around the Panpour, then quit hurting yourself by keeping it. You're not doing yourself any favors hurting yourself like that when you don't need to. No wonder you're emotionally constipated." He chuckled, meaning that as an obvious joke with his tone change.

"Before you fuck me up over that, here." He showed him his phone. On it was a list of Fairy-Types. "This is what some lab coat fucks saw on Hammerlocke Hills the last week. This list are those that live within those tall grass patches, this list are those that wander around and sometimes walk in the way of paths, and this list are those that are near or in those Power Dens."

Hatenna
Impidimp
-
Morelull
-
Cleffa, Clefairy, Clefable
Togepi, Togetic, Togekiss
Ralts, Kirlia, Gardevoir
Mawile
Mime Jr.
Spritzee, Aromatisse
Swirlix, Slurpuff
Cutiefly, Ribombee
Morelull, Shiinotic
Mimikyu
Galarian Ponyta, Galarian Rapidash
Impidimp, Morgrem, Grimmsnarl

He pointed to the small mushroom thing and grinned. "I'm going to get myself one of those things. Even if they aren't great in battle, I heard they are quite sadistic. I wouldn't mind having one around for other things beyond battling. As for my Fighting-type replacements... I got my eyes on a Machoke there, and I'm going to try out the Snorunt. If those guys don't work, I got a funny idea on getting rid of a Machoke. I'm going to need an Everstone though." He grinned wide, a devious twinkle in those dark eyes of his. "Anyway, see any from the list you think you should get?" He asked, clearly interested in what he was going to choose.

 

[Ridge]

Rick
[July 19th] Goldenrod City - Johto

Spoiler: Pokémon (In-hand)

Rapidash ♀ [Iris] | Ability: Flash Fire | Condition: Normal | Meteonite Energy: Low

Agility​

Flare Blitz​

Heat Wave​

H. Horsepower​

Low Kick​

Protect​

Solar Blade​

Wild Charge​

Rick was sitting under a tree in Goldenrod's outskirts, trying to calculate how much distance Iris could cover before plummeting from the sky. Considering he absolutely sucked at math though, chances of him getting it right seemed pretty low. Even more so considering he was multi-tasking by reading a journal. At least he didn't have to focus on Iris, who had been legaly stealing people's money by beating them in battles. He didn't really liked this method, but he needed the ticket for the Magnet Train.

"Yes, thank you so much, you can do it again." He said, as Iris ran back to him with bills in her mouth. And then nightmare strikes, as an annoying kid came to him and started complaining. "This is not fair! How is she even fighting if you're just sitting there doing nothing?" He whinned. Rick sighed and rolled his eyes, before tilting his head to look at the kid. "If I throw a rock at you, do you also wait for someone else to yell 'dodge' for you to do it?" He asked. The kid scratched his forehead with a raised eyebrow. "Err... no?" He said.

Rick nodded, before covering his face with the journal again. "Pokémon aren't robots that need constant input from humans. They're living creatures that can think for themselves and act accordingly to the situation based on experience. My Rapidash just happens to be pretty good at it. And you shouting orders to your pokémon, that she can also hear, only gives her even more time to react." He explained. The kid frowned and drooped. "Ah, man... but this wasn't fun at all..." He said.

"Fun?" Rick exclaimed, before tilting his head once again. "Battles aren't fun. They're good for training, and a necessary evil in the situation I'm currently in. But having pokémon knock eachother out just for the sake of amusing a crowd? No thanks. And it's specialy bad in Galar." He told to the kid, before grabbing a paper sheet and a pencil. "Now if you excuse me, I'm trying to do math. Which, for me, is the equivalent to trying to beat Cynthia for the Champion Title... after a Gauntlet Challenge."

 

[Sir Krazz]

Theo Hightower
Sunday - July 24th
Cianwood City, Johto
Interactions: Charlotte (Charlotte), Naka (Merciless Medic)

Ooh. Well. That surely was....something to learn. “And is...is that a normal thing? Getting overwhelmed by pokemon's emotions like that I mean.” He wanted to add in this world, but he had tacked those three worlds on to so many questions during the boat ride from the Whirl Islands to Cianwood they essentially became implied to be at the end of his questions. He hoped not. If a pokemon's emotions could affect just one person to that extent, he didn't think he could imagine an entire world filled with people like that. Of course a week ago he wouldn't have been able to wrapped his mind around a world like this one, but here he was. “No no, it was my fault. I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have said something so dismissively so quickly. It's going to take time” he stopped and sighed lightly, chuckling while shaking his head. “We can stand here and do this 'I'm sorry, no I'm sorry' song and dance until we're blue in the face. So let's just...I propose we agree we were both in the wrong, shake hands, make up and put it behind us, yeah?” he held a hand out for her to shake.

“You've done...honestly, probably more than I would have if our positions were reversed. You introduced me to Krem, got me hooked up with some supplies, a phone, money, a job introduction, and most importantly you've answered every question I've bugged you with over the past few days. I appreciate the jump start crash course, but I'm beginning to think its one of those things you can't just...jump in to the middle of. It's going to take me time to figure out how this...all of this...works. Maybe we can give it another shot? Figure out what other of these moves Krem is having issues with, if any. I thought Dragon Dance” as he said it Krem jumped in the air again, and again his form outlined with a small bit of purple energy but otherwise nothing happened “I thought it did something too, but maybe Krem is just faster than I thought he was. I don't know anything about anything. For all I know, Shinx over there can....I dunno...shoot lasers out of his eyes and I just haven't seen it yet.” At Charlotte's request he would look over and chuckle, again shaking his head. “Ooor maybe we should put this on temporary hold so Charlotte doesn't corrupt her values.”

When he was spoken to Krem looked up to the woman and stared for what felt like an eternity, glancing to Theo and then back to her before flexing and rattling off his name a few times. Damn right his fury was potent! He was a potent pokemon! He didn't know what that word meant, but he knew whatever it was, that's what he was! He looked to the Flareon whom had been his opponent until now and raised his claws to his eyes before pointing them at the fire type. He was keeping his eyes on the fire dog. “But you do bring up a good point.” Theo continued, a curious expression on his face. “I do remember you mentioning a place like that. What did you call it? The Safari Zone? That's near here right? Maybe we should go ahead and check that out.” He looked to Charlotte “You wanna come along? I've never been there, so I'm not entirely sure what to expect.” Shinx, whom had laid down once the Luxray was done with their games, looked up and over to the humans with a yawn and a stretch before mewing to the Luxray, then heading back over to join the trio of trainers.

 

[IDKWhatUserNameToDo]

Gwen Tucker - 20th of June - Route 217, Sinnoh
Gwen had a grin plaster on her face as she felt the cold air hit her face, but that's about all the cold she felt. In combination with her warm clothes and the heating that Fluffy was so kind to provide, the chilling bite of northern Sinnoh. Soon enough the duo of trainers and their pokemon had caught up with Ron and his odd Typhlosion.

"Think you could get away from us that easily?" Gwen asked as she adjusted her warm beanie and stayed on top of Silenius with Cobalt in her arms. Suddenly, the blizzard raging on the route picked up dramatically with the winds whipping on the young girl, as if trying to claw through her winter gear. She clung on to Silenius tighter and held on to her Piplup. The icy storm howled around them, assaulting them from different directions with Gwen shutting her eyes as she hunched over Cobalt to protect him while Silenius seemed to hold on to the young girl.

When the blizzard calmed down enough for Gwen to let go and ease up a little bit Gwen looked up. Cobalt was still with her. So was both Silenius and Fluffy, providing a helpful glow in this vicious snowstorm. Through the winds she then heard a familiar voice. It was Ron, but where was Naka? And Furia? Unfortunately, there was no time to think about it as they needed to find shelter. Fortunately the punk man found a cave where they could hopefully wait for the blizzard to calm down. Gwen held on to Cobalt tightly in her arms, afraid that if she loosened her grip, he would get lost. The Piplup held his flippers up to shield his eyes from the whipping snow and wind as they made it to the cave.

Allowing herself to relax a little, she let out a sigh of relief and put Cobalt down who shook his body to get all the snow off of his body as the young girl faced the exit of the cave, "Naka!" she yelled out, hopeful that the woman would hear. Though she was almost certain that strong winds cut out her call immediately.

Gwen Tucker - July 18th - National Park, Johto
Pokemon on field: Coblt the Prinplup vs Clay the G-Yamask
Item: N/A
Status: N/A
Field Effect: N/A

Gwen kept her gaze focused on the Yamask. The Night Shade made a dent on Cobalt as he shielded his face. The young girl was thinking about her next move as the Hex Maniac called out another Energy Ball, "Dodge it!" she ordered, swiping her hand in the air. The Prinplup took to a sprint and fortunately managed to dodge the grass type attack. Gwen was about to call her next move, but the battle was side tracked as her opponent seems to have found her pokemon. Huh, so she was actually missing her pokemon and not just rambling about whatever…

The blue haired girl relaxed her stance and looked on at the reunited trainer and pokemon, though feeling a little awkward just watching on. Cobalt also stopped in his track to see what was going on as the battle seemed to have taken a back seat, "Uh, congrats on finding your pokemon,"

Lara Brook - 16th of June - North Lake Miloch, Wild Area, Galar
"G-golden?-" Lara stuttered as her eyes widened in panic. Swablu were blue! No way- Was this a Shiny?! Sitting on her head? The camera filming her did not help her nerves at all as she felt like she couldn't move a single muscle or she would scare away the golden Swablu. Yet, she wanted to try and catch this one in a million pokemon. Or it felt like one in a million anyway. Problem was that her pokeballs were in her bag and she would need to move to get them. Then the Sigilyph also came over to watch as well, but the reporter tried her best to ignore it as she slowly moved to reach for her bag. The Swablu seemed quite unbothered, but then noticed the weird machine that the other human was using. She was curious about what it was. It was clean and a little shiny. The yellow cotton wing pokemon looked at the camera before she adjusted the two long feathers on her head and posed some. She got an audience with these humans and the Sigilyph so of course she should show off.

Lara felt the Swablu moving on her head, clawed feet shuffling a little, "Please don't fly off. Please don't fly off- Please don't..." she mumbled under her breath as she managed to find a pokeball from her bag. Her heart was racing as she was moving her hand slowly up and closer to the wild flying-type pokemon. Holding it up by the same level as the Swablu she then brought it to hit the yellow bird who squawked before turning into red energy and got into the pokeball.

The pokeball shook in Lara's hand once. The reporter held her breath with her heart feeling like it was about to beat out of her chest. Then a second and a third with a celebratory Ding! signaling the successful capture. Lara gasped and looked at Nicole, "I did it- I caught the Shiny Swablu-"

 

[DarkHydraT]

Ezio Farello - June 15th, Solaceon Town, Sinnoh

"Withholding information, huh? Alright, fair, gotta ensure I will stick by your side until then." Ezio chuckled, before listening to Naka's theories. "It would be plausible, such rock formations do exist, but I am a bit apprehensive about that theory due to it only being a recent development. If it were erosion, such sounds would have been present for much longer. I think it is a Pokémon or a human myself, though I would not know why either one would take residence in the ruins."

"I'm fine, thank you." Ezio said, smiling at Naka before stacking his papers. "I should be ready to go in 15 minutes, I just need to store everything away and bring a camera with me to take pictures of the Unown writing. I want to figure out why they are here and why they look like the letters written on the walls."

-------------------------

Nicole Newman - 16th of June - North Lake Miloch, Wild Area, Galar

Nicole stayed silent, recording the Shiny Swablu showing off its beauty before it got caught by Lara. Letting out a sigh that she didn't know she was holding, the Bird Keeper smiled at the red-haired girl. "Congratulations, you are one of the lucky few who caught a shiny Pokémon." She said, aiming the camera at Lara. "How do you feel?"

The Sigilyph was curious about the big box that Nicole kept carrying around. The Swablu seemed to be intruiged by the contraption, and the Avianoid Pokémon quickly decided to check it out themselves and jumped into frame.

 

[Merciless Medic]

Nakano Saito​

Date: June 15 (26yo); 1 Month prior
Location: Solaceon Town, Sinnoh
Pokemon Team: Chu the Pichu, Tochi the Parasect, Fluffy the Flareon, Hanu the Infernape, Aero the Aerodactyl, Yuki the Froslass, Silenus the Sceptile

Interactions: Ezio Farello (DarkHydraT)

Naka snorted at Ezio's claim that she wanted him to stick by his side by withholding information, making her roll her eyes yet she had a funny smile on her face. Ezio debunked her "sensible" theory, and agreed with her it was likely a Pokemon or a human, making her wonder who it could be down there.

Aero waddled backwards to give the man his space while Naka put away her notebook. He needed to grab a few things and-... Unown writing?

Naka eyes widened with curiosity, then she smiled. "Unown sure are fascinating. I've noticed their presence - whether in writing, or physical or psychic presence - tend to affect the Pokemon in their nearby vicinity if they've been there for a long time, like Ruins of Alph. There was a theory I debunked that the first Natu and Xatu gained their powers from the Unown." She chuckled, shaking her head. "I'll meet you at ruin's entrance then. See you later."

With a wave, she slung the heavy backpack over her shoulder (nearly throwing her into the table), and clicked her tongue, her Aerodactyl following along beside her obediently, but not before waving at the new human friend his trainer managed to be on good terms with.

Naka ran to the Pokemon Center to swap out some Pokemon, switching her Hatterene for her Infernape and Sceptile. She then made her way to the entrance of Solaceon Ruins by traversing through the hilly forest, having bought a shake earlier and was sipping it as she gazed at the entrance. No spooky ruin can scare her!

Of course... These were under different circumstances.

Unaware of anyone coming up to her if there was anyone, she mused to herself. "I wonder if it's some kind of serial killer..."

Nakano Saito​

Date: 1 Month Ago (26 years old); June 20
Location: Route 217, Sinnoh
Pokemon Team: Chu the Pichu, Fluffy the Flareon, Hanu the Infernape, Yuki the Froslass, Aero the Aerodactyl, Orochi the Zweilous, Silenus the Sceptile, Mudster the Swampert

Interactions (Silenus, Fluffy): Ron Towers (Hecotoro), Gwen Tucker (IDKWhatUserNameToDo)

Note: Hecotoro has left the RPing scene, so he's given me permission to auto Ron and his Pokemon for the time being.

Silenus collapsed onto the cold cavernous floor, shivering from the intense cold while the Flareon nuzzled his face and glowed with ambient warmth. Ron, ever stone-faced, put a hand on Gwen's shoulder. "You can't go out there, and she can't hear you. If Furia's with her, then she'll be back." He said it with confidence, but he wasn't really feeling it.

He tried letting out one of his Pokemon to go out there with him, but he found that none of his Pokeballs were working. Even the Pokemon were getting restless and were unable to break free from their confines. He narrowed his eyes as he looked out into the blistering winter. He was about to go out there, but the Sceptile - despite not having any strength - got up and dashed in front of him, barring him from leaving with a shake of his head.

Ron gritted his teeth. "Let me through."

Silenus shook his head. Though, there was no obstinance in his gaze, but that of concern. Ron was thinking about tackling the Grass-Type to get through, as he didn't seem sturdy, but he couldn't waste energy like that and...

He looked over at Gwen.

Groaning, he turned his back to the entrance and slumped against a cave wall. Satisfied with his compliance, Silenus laid nearby Ron, with Fluffy in the middle to get as much of his heat out to the Pokemon and humans present.

---

Naka watched with alarm as the woman before her looked so familiar... At each side was a yellow Azumarill and a Pyroar. Behind her, a Hisuian Decidueye stood. Furia growled and roared in warning as her purple flames bloomed outwards, a part of the woman's clothes emblazoned with the red 'R'.

The woman didn't seem threatened by the display. "It's been a long time, Sai-chan. I'm upset you don't recognize me."

Naka felt rooted to the spot. "Leona..." Her voice came out quiet, then she narrowed her eyes and gritted her teeth. "How could you...?"

"Hey, I made the most of your absence. I hope you've been doing the same. Though, with little miss Guardian Researcher running all over the news, especially with that win against Gardenia, it was hard not to notice your achievements thus far. You've been through a lot, haven't you? Glad you're as strong as you wished to be when we were kids. At least you didn't go back on that promise." Leona nonchalantly spoke, peering over at the Typhlosion, who was starting to take steps towards her.

Naka tried going for her Pokemon, but found none of the Pokeballs were working. Eyes widening, she snarled and looked on at the Azumarill, who was going to be used against Furia no doubt.

"Azumarill." The aqua rabbit responded to Leona's command with zeal, rushing forward with a blade of sharp water.

"Thunder Punch!" Furia rolled her eyes at the command, but she was at least partially glad this human wasn't backing down. With crackling electricity, she took the Liquidation head on by slamming her electrified fist into the sharp blade of water. It caused a small explosion filled with flash evaporation. It seemed the Azumarill didn't let the explosion knock him back, as he dropped and lunged at the underside of Furia, slamming a quick Liquidation against her stomach. Roaring, she tried slamming her electrified fist right on top of the Azumarill, but he rolled away and jumped back.

Naka spotted the Hisuian Decidueye stalking the two from afar, and she notched an arrow. The Pyroar began strafing the two on the other side, his eyes seemingly dead set on Naka. However, he changed targets and rushed at Furia with dark teeth, trying to use Crunch on Furia.

With a Liquidation and Crunch heading her way, Furia went to attack, but a sudden surge under the ground had alerted her something was rapidly digging its way towards her. With electrified fists, she smashed into the oncoming face of the Pyroar, destabilizing the Azumarill as the Pyroar hit the aqua rabbit, and then jumped and blew out a stream of fire at the now resurfacing Excadrill.

However, the attack was punished by a swift attack from both Liepard and the Hisuian Decidueye, the two Pokemon coming in with blinding speed and darkened limbs to slam into the sides of the Typhlosion before jumping back, the Excadrill digging back down to avoid the heat and the cold.

Furia looked back at Naka, who was trying in vain to release one of her other Pokemon. "I can't release anyone, there's a jammer." With a growl, she decided to do away with that and took a few steps forward. "Why are you doing this?" The group of Pokemon surrounded Furia, but they were at a standstill, Furia looking warily towards the Liepard and Decidueye.

Leona sneered. "If you won't come join your childhood best friend, then we were destined to be forever rivals. We have plans in place for the near future. And you will not get in our way. Besides... Team Rocket was there when you weren't." Leona spat with vitriol, Naka's eyes narrowed and her fists clenched.

"Fuck. You..." Naka growled, pulling one of the arrows she had saved, wielding it like a weapon. Leona laughed.

"Oh, that's cute. I forgot how stubborn you are. Ah, but past is the past. Water under the bridge. Just like you will be under the snow when I'm through with you." Leona smirked, and Naka felt movement to her side.

With a swift motion, she came down on the approaching Liepard with the arrow, sinking it into its back and even making Leona back up. "Wha-"

Pulling the arrow back, the Liepard jumped back and limped, yowling. "I don't care what it takes. I won't let you or your cronies stop me. I will get revenge on Team Rocket eventually, and if that means I have to take you down, so be it!!"

She can just feel Furia's proud smirk in her direction.

Leona smirked. "Good. Then don't be a fucking wimp and prove to me your words!" Leona whipped out a blade from her pocket and charged, and Furia went on the attack to break the stalemate.

Lyra the Hex Maniac​

Date: July 18
Location: National Park, Johto
Pokemon Team: Pearl the Misdreavus, Clay the Galarian Yamask, Lucky the ??? (Whereabouts unknown)

Battling: Gwen Tucker and Cobalt the Prinplup (IDKWhatUserNameToDo) vs Clay the Galarian Yamask
Interactions: Ron Towers (Hecotoro)

Note: Hecotoro has left the RPing scene, so he's given me permission to auto Ron and his Pokemon for the time being.

The awkward moment had Ron deadpanning for a bit. He looked back at Gwen and pointed at the opponent. "Go on and attack already. Why are you being courteous for? She's still in the fight, it's not like any opponent would forget." And as he said that, Lyra giggled as she pocketed her Pokeball.

"He's right you know~. I'm still aware, even if I were to be asleep~. Energy Ball, Clay!" The Galarian Yamask threw another green sphere at Cobalt, hoping this would hit this time.

Nakano Saito​

Date: July 24 (26yo)
Location: Near Cianwood Gym, Cianwood City, Johto
Pokemon Team: Mudster the Swampert, Aero the Aerodactyl, Silenus the Sceptile, Hattie the Hatterene, Chu the Pichu, Fluffy the Flareon, Brute Tooth the Barraskewda, Orochi the Zweilous

Interactions: Theo Hightower (Sir Krazz), Charlotte (Charlotte Pryce)

Naka shook her head at Theo's first question, thankful that Theo wasn't too upset with her even though he had every right to be, and was even apologetic. That had her confused, but she did eventually nod and looked a bit better about it. His notion that this could be a song and dance they'll be stuck here doing forever had her chuckling, but then she thought she heard something wrong when he said 'make up'. It almost sounded like he said 'make out', which had her snorting. "For a second there, I thought you said make out, not make up. Heh." She chuckled, then shook her head, feeling achieved that she helped him so much so far.

"Well, you're welcome, and I'm not about to stop either if you keep asking questions. Liiiiike..." She then grinned wide, answering his first question with an explanation this time. "For your question on the whole empath thing, it isn't too common nor is it this debilitating, thankfully. Some people can feel other Pokemon's emotions, but it shouldn't be this strong where it's actually clouding my own. It should be more of a sense and it should be trained to feel more and understand more, not a near integration where I have to suppress this ability." She then looked at Totodile as he tried to use the Dragon Dance, humming in thought. "Well, it just takes practice to use something like that. He's still got a long road ahead of him, and he's eager to travel as much as he can on that road. Oh, and uh... Feraligatr, his final evolution, is said to be faster than their looks give, so that's probably what that is." She chuckled.

Naka heard Charlotte's words and laughed, shaking her head as she pulled out her phone to alert everyone in a group chat (that included Charlotte and Theo) that they were heading to the Safari Zone to catch Pokemon and that she was open for everyone to come along. "Oh, and Shinx can't shoot lasers from their eyes. But they can discharge some nasty amounts of electricity. Gotta train to increase their electrical reserves and how much they can dish out though. If you do too much electrical training though, they'll get a fever and have to either be discharged with help or be given electricity depending on what caused them to get sick in the first place."

She then looked over at Charlotte, waving her arm and also answering Theo's question. "We're going to the Safari Zone in a bit. We'd like to have yooouuu~." She sang after Theo asked Charlotte, her Flareon deadpanning at the Totodile and then sighing. At least this young'un had the gall to continue standing up to him. Naka then turned to Theo with a chuckle. "Oh... Yoooouuuu'll seeeee~. You're probably gonna hate it." She then cackled, Zweilous emitting a similar cackle upon hearing the deviousness from his trainer. He then rolled over on his stomach and got up to crawl towards his trainer, cackling again and looking directly at Theo with both heads because they knew what the Safari Zone entailed.

Going out in a field full of wild Pokemon without any Pokemon of their own.

 

[Charlotte Pryce]

Charlotte Pryce
Date: Sunday, July 24th
Age: 21 years old
Location: Cianwood City, Johto
Pokémon Team: Fernando (Infernape level 52), Dini (Alakazam level 52), Splash (Floatzel level 49), Bolero (Roserade level 52), Hatari (Luxray level 52), Tiburon (Garchomp level 48 ), Radar (Lanturn level 32)
Interactions: Naka (Merciless Medic), Theo (@Sir Krazz)

Charlotte smiled as she stood up.

"I'd be happy to come along," she told Theo and Naka. "I've actually never been to the Safari Zone before either, so I bet it will be a treat."

Charlotte recalled Hatari to her Poké Ball.

"All alone in a field, surrounded by wild Pokémon, with nothing but ourselves and our wits, it sounds positively enchanting."

Charlotte hoped the sarcasm in her voice wasn't too obvious. The alert sound on her phone went off twice. Charlotte checked her messages. The first was the message Naka sent to the group chat, the second was a direct message from a contact listed as #Raiquaza.

Sounds good.

That was all. Two words. A smile crept across Charlotte's face.

"Hey, Naka. Remember that Mewtuber I told you about back at the Whirl Cup?"

Charlotte held up her phone.

"I'm all set to guest star on his next discussion topic."

 

[sSoul]

Wilford Pine
En route to Hammerlocke via Corviknight Taxi, Galar Region
August 2nd
WCS Rank: 70,203
Team: Monferno, Thwackey, Panpour, Togepi
Interactions: Cole Forrest(@Merciless Medic)

Wilford nodded wordlessly at Cole's explanation, perhaps if he were in a better mood, he would have joined his travelling companion in laughter. Unfortunately, there were more pressing matters to attend to, a task Cole effortlessly approached. The lack of effort likely came down to his lacking emotional investment, it was easy to be logical when you had no stakes in the situation. Ideally, the rich young man would approach this with a similar mindset, but ideal circumstances are hard to come by.

Once Cole had finished with his diatribe about Panpour, Wilford had two takeaways: Cole's suggestion would likely fix the problems of his Panpour, but the underlying problem of undue effort remained. Teaching the Panpour Dig and teaching him to dig only his heels into the ground were entirely separate tasks. While there would be no problems in teaching Panpour to use the move Dig., getting the water monkey to apply its basic principles to digging one's wasn't something Wilford believed the Panpour could pull off. Even in the event that it worked, the only result would be having a mediocre water Pokémon instead of a mediocre water Pokémon that can't use its only water move. The more he thought about this, the clearer Panpour's fate became.

More important than his thoughts were Togepi's replacement candidates. Half-listening to Cole's plans to get a Morelull and a Machoke, the rich young man grabbed the phone with the list of Fairy types, chuckling at the mention of an everstone. Looking down the list, there were a couple of options that stood out to Wilford, but after sufficient research, only one truly grabbed his interest.

"I'll put in a request for an everstone with my father, the company mines the stuff by the dozens looking for more valuable stones, so I'm sure he wouldn't mind parting with one of them," Wilford returned eye contact with Cole, fully rejoining the world of reality, "As for Togepi's replacement, Mimikyu is the ideal candidate. I'd greatly benefit from getting a Ghost Type early, as most trainers near my level are contending with Normal moves. Not only is its typing unique, but the same can be said for its ability. Taking a hit for free gives me a perfect opportunity to set up anything I want before beginning to attack in earnest."

 

[Godjacob]

Desmond Andrews (Unranked)
Yellow Rock Isle, Whirl Islands, Johto (July 19th)
Interactions: @ThAtGuY101 (Aldon)​

Desmond listened to Aldon as he seemed to offer some advice, well after a bit of a joke which caused the Pokephobia Photographer to roll his eyes. Aldon seemed to try to motivate Desmond, pointing out he had been an archeologist and that he needed keep a clear mind and be confident and his Pokemon would respond to his emotions which he seemed to nod at. During this, Politoed seemed to begin to wake up as it let out a confused yawn of sorts while it rubbed its eyes.

Course, his situation was more...unique, but he least seemed to register the words. "I'll try my best..."

"Kricketune...catch it with Bug Bite! Politeod intercept with Water Gun!" Desmond called out, as Kricketune attempted to catch Bolly and bite upon it to hold it in place and stop the Rapid Spin, while Politoed's eyes widened and it fired a stream of water having woken up to the heat of battle!

Adrianne Silvers (Normal Class: 96,094)
Tangelo Island, Orange Archipelago (June 2nd)
Interactions: @ThAtGuY101 (Brair) @Merciless Medic (Reggie)
​

"Oh wow! Thanks Maggie! Aster try to learn a bit from Maggie, sure it can help." Adrianne encouraged as the Staryu glanced over to the large Tentacruel though as it had, the newcomer seemed to notice a drip of paint that had been launched over to it which only seemed to concern it all the more before Briar seemed to step in.

Aster decided it did not like Baba, and moved closer to Maggie. Ace as it flew seemed to notice something and let out a cry, which caused Adrianne to turn as she saw in the distance Reggie who seemed to be dealing with a rogue Mankey. Ace seemed to gleam, this was a chance it needed to show its stuff as it prepared to begin to fly over, but before it even begun to flap that way, a Pokeball was tossed and the Mankey was caught.

"Oh nice capture!" Adrianne called out with a smile, a bit oblivious to the fact that Reggie had not wanted to make this capture, during this Aqua and Aster continued their training Aster eager to see what wisdom Maggie had to offer, while Ace had taken its frustrations out on the water as it had shifted back to practicing its Peak.

 

[kyuukestu]

1:00 pm Thursday, July 24th

Esther

Cianwood City,

Johto Region​

『 Pyrrha | Halay | Maçiera | Kasriel | L’ Basseau | Īstha 』​

Interactions: @Merciless Medic @Sir Krazz @Charlotte Pryce @ThAtGuY101 @Godjacob ​

Stupid.

The Dojo breaker was stupid, their fight was stupid, and she was stupid for having even gotten worked up in the first place. Esther huffed and buried her feet further in the sand—she squirmed and wriggled until she was ankle-deep. The surf broke and water rushed over her legs; Esther closed her eyes and focused on the sensation: wet and tepid and chilling rapidly as the sea pulled away and water seeped into the sand around her. Soon, wet became moist, and—like clockwork—the cycle began anew, and a new wave crashed onto the beach. Each wave stole away a bit of sand and a bit of Esther’s anger. It was calming—therapeutic even.

This was where she’d found herself after she left the pokémon center. A place of peace and (relative) quiet, a little corner of Cianwood where she could settle in for some serious thought and introspection.

Before that, however, Esther released her pokémon, who scattered themselves across the beach. Pyrrha, Susu, & Kasriel menaced the local Krabby population. They had become fast friends, maybe due to their similar dispositions. Īstha trailed the trio closely. She was...excited? Apprehensive? Hopeful? The Feebas’ emotions were in flux, her gaze shifting between her new trainer, her even newer teammates, and something beyond the distant horizon—her home? She would settle in, but it was clear that it would take time. Çiera distanced herself from the other pokémon and wore an expression that said playing around with them was beneath her. Esther had seen this song and dance before; she knew it wouldn’t last. Çiera threw frequent—and poorly concealed—glances in the trio’s direction and sure enough, after a few yips from Kasriel, surely something provocative, the Bounsweet charged over in a fit of ‘indignation’. Cute. Only Halay, aloof creature that she was, refrained. Instead, the Dark pokémon lay at rest a few feet from Esther, just far enough to avoid the lapping waves. Had her own introspective mood rubbed off on the houndour? A smile crept onto the Oblivian’s face.

Since her pokémon were happily(?) occupied, Esther returned to deep breaths and feeling the waves.

Up until now, she’d been rather floaty with her decisions, she had let whims and fancies take her wherever—Galar, Kalos, Unova, and now Johto. However impressive a list it was—given her mere two months of travel—ultimately, travel was secondary to her goals and only a means to service her ambitions. She was a trainer and not just any trainer but the second coming of Wallace. It was an ambitious goal, but ‘Shoot for the moon...’

She had taken two steps towards that goal, two shiny steps pinned to her badge case. They were shaky steps, entirely unplanned and largely circumstantial. They happened to be on her way towards other goals and hardly felt like meaningful progress. If anything, it felt like she’d been coasting along, dealing with one challenge after the other, always getting side-tracked or waylaid. Her lack of deliberation showed. She had lost to that idiot of a dojo breaker and who was she to challenge the gym when she couldn’t even overcome the likes of him?

Of course, if she could’ve used Pyrrha then she would’ve doubtlessly won; however, therein lay another problem. It was increasingly apparent that her team had a few heavy hitters: Pyrrha, Halay, and Kasriel. They were her most reliable fighters, but they were also pokémon she hadn’t truly trained. Sure, she’d devised a few clever strategies but all three of them had been strong when she caught them. Their strength wasn’t something she could take pride in and when she ran into roadblocks, they couldn’t overcome...well, the results were evident. A reliance on Pyrrha had become a reliance on Halay; all the same, she had neglected the comprehensive ‘whole’ that was her team. It was habit. A terrible one. And she owed it to her pokémon to do better.

Her pokémon...they had needs, and that was another headache. Pyrrha needed an Everstone. Everstones cost a lot of money. Money that she didn’t have. Money that she needed to earn. That meant gyms, that meant tournaments, and that meant events. Just one small problem...a few problems actually, and they were shaped like people, and weren’t all that small. Naka, Charlotte, Reina... She liked her friends but if she entered events with them then she wasn’t going to win, that was just a simple fact. No amount of cunning strategy could overcome the enormous gap in strength. For all her tenacity in the Whirl Cup Esther knew better than to believe she’d made much headway in actually defeating any of Naka’s pokémon. In fact, she suspected Naka had faked injury on her Wishiwashi just so she didn’t feel bad. Esther appreciated the thought but resented the coddling. That was an Esther problem through and through, a product of her own pride, she couldn’t lay blame at anyone else’s feet. Someday, she would be their equal—heh, even their superior—but that was not today.

A buzz from her pokétch paused her reflection and after reading the new message, she reacted with a thumbs up. The Safari Zone intrigued her but unfortunately, she wasn’t in a position to capture any more pokémon. According to her map, the Safari Zone was to the west of Cianwood, a few kilometers away. After a moment of thought, Esther sent a message in the group chat: Meet up at the Western gate.

She lowered her pokétch, but not before sending another message with a GPS link to the western gate—just in case.

Halay had already gathered the members of her team and Esther wasted no time. She pulled her feet from the sand and cleaned up with a gentle application of Water Gun. Afterward, she returned all her pokémon and set off.

Spoiler: Bag

$2,000 | Pokéball x 5

Quilt Set

Hammock Set

First-Aid Kit

Flashlight

Toiletries

Portable Stove

Water Bottle (1/2 Gallon)

Water Purifier & Filter

Clothes – 3 Sets

Winter Gear

Climbing Gear

Swimwear

 

[ThAtGuY101]

~Aldon Charlton...~
~Skol the king of gods, Bran the bronzor, Zippy the magnemite, Huck the golett, Wunder the Sigilyph and Bolly the Baltoy...~
~Yellow island - july, 19th...~
~interactions: Desmond...~

After chatting with Desmond, Aldon looked back at the two v two battle. Politoad had finally woken up and kricketune was aiming to counter Bolly's attack. He blinked then looked at Skol.

"Let's give him another zen headbutt, big fella!" Aldon called out. Skol staring into the sky snapped into action. Eyes focused on politoad with a big grin before kicking up dust, then...

PFFFF!

Skol came launching forward, head glowing a vibrant purple as it made it's way towards politoad once more. Getting hit by bug bite didn't feel so good, but Aldon responded fairly quickly.

"Keep going, Bolly! You can do it! Faster! Use Rapid spin faster!" Bolly continued to spin with the intent to ragdoll kricketune around.

~Briar Hightower...~
~Briar Pokémon: Grafaiai/Baba(F), galarian wheezing/Puff Puff(M), tentecruel/Maggie(F), Revavroom/Hemi(M), clodsire/Claudia(F), smeargle/Frida(F)...~
Tangelo Island, June 2nd...~
~Rank: 48,420...~
~Reactions: Adrianne and Reggie...~

Baba squinted her eyes as she watched the battle between Reggie and the monkey. An enthusiastic smile crawled on her face. She had lost all interest in the star fish, this monkey had it all now. She had gained a new artistic inspiration from watching them go at it. Then catch.

Maggie extended a tentacle in front of the star fish. Choosing not to acknowledge the lemur's unhinged behavior. Briar looked at Adrianne.

"As a good strategy rule, most pokémon should have at least one ranged attack and and a super useful water type move us bubble beam! Can you give me a demonstration, Maggie?" Briar asked, giving s friendly wink. Maggie turned towards Briar, then outta nowhere shot a torrent of bubbles straight into the ocean, which caused waves to ripple around the spot fired at. Briar hadn't noticed the interaction with mankey, but heard Adrianne congratulate Redgie.

"Huh? Err... Ya, good job, sugar!" Briar added, clapping three times.

 

[Godjacob]

Desmond Andrews (Unranked)
Yellow Rock Isle, Whirl Islands, Johto (July 19th)
Interactions: @ThAtGuY101 (Aldon)​

"Try to hold on, use your appendages to dig into the ground!" Desmond called out to Kricketune, who had began to move as Bolly tried to spin faster, and Kricketune attempted to dig into the ground with its appendages. Biting harder as it tried to keep Bolly in place and deal damage while it tried to hold its ground.

Meanwhile Skol came flying fast and Desmond needed a response, as he struck some inspiration and answered in kind.

"Use Water Gun on the ground, then slam down with Body Slam!" Desmond called out, as Politoed shot a powerful burst of water below it and used the momentum to jump over Skol, before it tried to fall down and slam its full bodyweight on Skol!

Desmond Andrews (Unranked)
Cianwood City, Johto (July 24th)
Interactions: @kyuukestu (Esther)​

Desmond had mostly been relaxing since they moved to the mainland of Johto again. In spite of the hectic situation that was that whole beach incident, overall the trip had been eventful. He managed to get some stellar photos, survived an experience he never considered up to and even had gotten some advice from someone he dared risked to call a friend in Aldon.

He walked out of a Pokemart and had just gotten some fresh supplies. He also seemed to send some of his pictures over, figuring they'd be worth a decent buck though of course had kept his own catalogue on hand before he felt a buzz in his pocket. Seemed that Naka sent a group text about the Safari Zone which had Desmond intrigued, and as Esther responded with the mention of the gate he answered in kind. "On my way" and had began to make his way to the gate as a golden chance seemed to present itself.

 

[ThAtGuY101]

~Aldon Charlton...~
~Skol the king of gods, Bran the bronzor, Zippy the magnemite, Huck the golett, Wunder the Sigilyph and Bolly the Baltoy...~
~Yellow island - july, 19th...~
~interactions: Desmond...~

Just as Desmond was making his plans, Aldon watched and thought of his as well. Kricketune had stuck it's feet in the ground and Politoad had aimed to leap frog over Skol. Aldon could hear Bolly wincing in pain.

"Bolly, use ancient power, point blank!" Aldon called out. With kricketune digging it's feet into the ground and biting onto Bolly, rocks began to form around kricketune and fly at it from all sides.

"Skol, use water pulse to launch the airborne frog higher in the air, then follow it up with another zen headbutt!" As Skol could feel the weight of Politoad press down as he used a surge of water to try lift it higher. Now standing on his hind legs in a pose, not to different from a slowbro, Skol leaped upwards ready to strike again.

 

[Merciless Medic]

Reginald Valerias​

Date: June 2
Location: Tangelo Island Pond near Pokemon Center, Orange Archipelago
Pokemon Team: Emeric the Shiny Haunter, Elvira the Munna, Bob the Shedinja, Large Marge the Drifloon, Missy the Misdreavus, Jones the Frillish, Legion the White-Striped Basculin, Mankey
WCS Rank: 72,758

Interactions: Briar Hightower (ThAtGuY101), Adrianne Silvers (Godjacob)

Reggie just realized as he caught the Mankey on accident.

He now had eight Pokemon on him...

But who would he be able to put away? He needed to train Large Marge so she'd be able to help once she evolved, and Missy didn't like to be away from home. He'd just have to figure it out later.

For now, he just simply waved at Adrianne and Briar once they spoke of his unenthused capture and got to work on food, his Haunter and Munna coming back with fish and other such things for what he needed to create.

He got the rice done in about fifteen minutes. While he was waiting for the rice to cook, he had already sliced up some berries for Aqua, squashed some berries into juice form for Aster, then began cooking the freshly caught fish in a two-part fillet form from the store on the grill part of his portable stove, using the herbs and butter to make the fish tasty and flaky. He got out some deli chicken slices, cucumber, mayonnaise, and some oil to make a sandwich Paldean style for Adrianne, having brought the cold style from the region itself into tasty bites. He then got out a smaller pot and began making multiple patches of pasta, and then another smaller saucepan to make the sauce for the curry.

Once the rice was done, he plated it, putting a pile of rice on each of the seven plates, putting the other done fish fillet on one for Briar, then adding the pasta on the other six plates. He then poured the curry sauce on each of these seven plates.

Now that this was done, he focused on making food for himself and his Pokemon. He called for his Haunter to get the two girls, and he nodded as he floated over to the girls. The smell of food likely caught their attention, but just in case he let out a little laugh and got in their faces to get their attention, then pointed to the plates set out.

Adrianne's Paldean-style chicken deli sandwich sat pretty on a plate with a side of extra berries he had for her, then a bowl of sliced berries for Aqua (and the specific berries he remembered from when they ate at the restaurant earlier), fish for Ace, and berry juice for Aster were around her plate. The next set was a seven-plate Galarian curry - fish for Briar, pasta for each of her Pokemon. Her portions weren't as much as her Pokemon's, which were literal mounds because he assumed they all had bottomless stomachs, but he still gave Briar a huge portion.

If they came over, he'd explain what he made for each of them and what he used them in them, even making note if there was a strong flavor in favor for a preferred taste or making it a medley of flavors so even a picky Pokemon wouldn't mind eating it.

Reggie was still cooking, dancing side to side with a happy smile and humming to himself as he began cooking for his Pokemon he knew. After getting his Munna to help clean the pots and pans he just used, he began making a snack for everyone's Pokemon later as well as making his party's food, bringing in the delicacy from Sinnoh in the form of Poffins. Amidst him making more rice for fifteen minutes, boiling eggs for ten minutes, and making sauce in five minutes (getting Haunter's help in multi-tasking), he also pulled out a little pot and a case that came with it that was about half the size of an actual picnic basket that was vertical with drawers instead. It even had a little keychain, which he neglected.

In this pot, he began making the poffin batter, then added in some berries. He made five batches of this, adding different berries as he did so each time. Once he added the berries, the batter was always thin and doughy, so he had to stir it carefully as the stove was on low heat. He then raised the heat a little as he had to stir the browning mixture faster. He then raised the heat a little bit more as he had to give some effort in stirring, his arm starting to hurt at the end of the fourth batch as he didn't want it to burn. Once it was done cooking, he took it off the burner, turned it off, pulled out a scooper and began scooping the appropriate size for a poffin (an egg-shaped ball that was no bigger than the eggs he used in his curry). Out of each batch, he was able to make twenty poffins of each flavor: spicy, sour, bitter, sweet, and dry; making a hundred in total. He set them out on a drying sheet to cool and harden slightly. If he did it right, it should be soft on the inside and being slightly chewy. Even the poffins held the color of the juices that were used, making it easier to differentiate what flavor they were. Once they were done cooling, he set them in little baskets and sighed once that was done, before plating the food for his eight Pokemon and himself.

"Never had to make so much food before. I made poffins as snacks for our Pokemon too. Depending on what flavor they like, they can pick and choose." He chuckled, finally getting done and seeing if anybody was here, eating, and enjoying his food.

Nakano Saito​

Date: July 24 (26yo)
Location: Near Cianwood Gym, Cianwood City, Johto
Pokemon Team: Mudster the Swampert, Aero the Aerodactyl, Silenus the Sceptile, Hattie the Hatterene, Chu the Pichu, Fluffy the Flareon, Brute Tooth the Barraskewda, Orochi the Zweilous

Interactions: Theo Hightower (Sir Krazz), Charlotte (Charlotte Pryce)

Getting Charlotte's wish of wanting to go, Naka deadpanned slightly as the woman explained the one thing she wanted to keep a secret. Hopefully, Theo didn't notice. Thankfully, Charlotte showing her the text she received from Raiquaza had given her just the way to segue out of that. She jumped and clapped her hands excitedly, joyful light returning to her eyes. "That's amazing!! Okay, okay, before I get distracted, let's go." Returning all of her Pokemon, she grabbed Theo's and Charlotte's hands and tugged on them before letting go and running off towards the north of Cianwood City. Waiting so that the others could catch up, she looked over her phone and saw that Desmond and Esther were arriving. That was good.

She didn't know if she meant the western gate of Cianwood City, or the one at Safari Zone, but considering that Safari Zone was west and there was a cave entrance that led to the Safari Zone and it was called Cliff Edge Gate, that must have meant something.

Whether she met up with Desmond and Esther or not, she at least led Theo and Charlotte with excitement through the rather tame and docile Cliff Edge Gate. She showed off the information desk, the countertop and wall behind the information clerk showing off promotion posters and merchandise of the Pokemon found in the Safari Zone, the staff and the founder of the Johto Safari Zone, and there were even brochures. There was a staircase that led up to a flat section of the cave, then there were a set of flat sections and stairs heading left. Through that way led to Route 47, it was a route comprised of a set of cliff edges, bridges connecting the cliffsides, and cave that led to small cavernous rooms with ladders, with the ladder leading down led to the sea, while ladders leading up led to the upper areas of the route and allowed for further travel through the route to get to the Safari Zone.

These caves did have a few Pokemon here and there, but with a group walking through, they mostly kept to themselves, a few being curious and watching them with rapt, wary attention before leaving them alone for the most part. North of Route 47 was Route 48, which was a short path with bridges going over a winding river and leading to a look of grassland Pokemon and then to the Safari Zone Gate.

Theo and Charlotte would be able to see these sights if they didn't want to wait for Esther and Desmond. If they did so, Naka would have texted in the group chat that they'll be waiting at the Safari Zone Gate.

Cole Forrest​

Date: August 2
Location: Hammerlocke, Galar
Pokemon Team: Thwackey, Croconaw, Corvisquire, Galarian Meowth, Stufful, Trubbish, Magikarp, Pancham
WCS Rank: 75,432

Interactions: Wilford Pine (sSoul)

Cole wasn't sure if this issue with Panpour was its attitude towards training and Wilford or if Panpour was just had little potential. He did get a chuckle out of him when talking about the Everstone, getting a wicked smile to appear on his face. Oh, he had a sense of humor. Good.

Whether anyone else would say it was cruel or unfunny didn't matter.

Letting Wilford use his phone for his research, he was looking over his notes again when he looked back when Wilford spoke up, first about the Everstone and secondly of Togepi's replacement. A wide smile graced his features. "Ohhh, such a creepy yet good choice. Good luck finding one. They're pretty rare here. But, I can help you find one. They usually go around at night or in areas where trainers tend not tread, with some of them living in Power Dens. When things pick up with merchandise and festivities in Hammerlocke however, they start to get a bit more common and may even appear around the stairs leading to Hammerlocke. Hell, I even heard there were a few of them found in the stores. I think it's got something to do with some odd dislike of Pikachu or something like that. They almost always got something like that going on, the whole lot of Ghost-Types are like that. I tend to stay away from emotional baggages like them, as I'm aware my training methods aren't exactly suitable for them. I'd rather not get cursed if they don't like it. Same thing with Dark-Types, but more so they are the likeliest to try and harm me in my sleep if they end up holding a grudge. So I'll avoid catching them as much as possible."

The peculiar self awareness Cole had about his methods was definitely not from a man shooting through mental hoops to justify the reason and motivations behind what he did. He knew what he did, he knew what effect it had on others, and he didn't care. There was no reason to lie to himself. Other people would catch on to that quick if he was lying to himself, and he didn't want to make it a point of weakness for himself by playing ignorance.

"Giving me an Everstone though... Heh, thanks. I wasn't expecting that." He was genuine, his words sounding oddly bashful given how callous he was talking about potentially abandoning Pokemon with his newfound friend. "I guess I'm one of, if not the only one, you've become so generous with?" He teased, chuckling to himself, but then explaining his reasoning. "I've never seen someone so rich use their contacts so willingly to aid someone before. I am your friendly acquaintance if you're not comfortable calling us friends just yet, and most rich folks I know don't really give handouts to their acquaintances or friends, let alone their families." His eyes looked onward somewhere else and they ever-so slightly narrowed, his lip curling in mild disdain, as if reminded of a memory. "Guess I was unlucky..."

"Hm, but enough of that. We're landing." He waved the comment and his reaction dismissively, grabbing his phone back if Wilford handed it back and went to put his notebook away. With a slight rock and a thump, the cab landed, and Cole slid out of the cab and stretched his legs by standing on his tiptoes. "Maaaan, they need to get better leg room in those things..." He groaned, before looking back at Wilford.

"So, where's this restaurant?" He asked gleefully, slinging the backpack over his shoulder with a grin. "I haven't had refined food in a while that wasn't tainted with the smell of hay."

 

[Max Million]

Michiko 'Mistress' Mitsumune
Date: June 2nd
Location: Saffron City, Kanto
Rank: 40,913

Michiko Mitsumune, now known as 'Mistress Michiko', breathed a deep sigh. How had she gotten to this point? She was hiding out in a small, bungalo-style house between the massive skyscraper-like buildings on the edge of Saffron City, very clearly the technological and civilian hub of the Kanto region. Michiko stared out the window. She was wearing a white lab coat with glasses and had her hair tied back. She stared at the people passing by, unaware that they were secretly harbouring a former criminal, though, in her eyes, she wasn't one. Michiko saw herself as merely an investor, scientific innovator. She was trying to assemble various machine parts, plugging in cables, realising this next invention wasn't going to work, she cursed. The scientist saw the reflection of a Pokemon in the window and turned, seeing the flash of yellow before her was a humanoid fox pokemon: Mahou, her Alakazam and partner Pokemon. It's bright skin was a result of being found as a shiny when it was an Abra. Since being caught, Michiko and Mahou had been inseperable, though times had been rocky, with the authorities seemingly constantly after them. In Mahou's hands were various rectangular pieces - cards from the trading card game which the Mistress had used to play back in her homelands of the TCG islands.

"What are THESE doing here?" Michiko asked, looking at her Alakazam. But Mahou just stared at her as she approached him and made grunting sounds as she swiped them off of him. "You know, I never thought we'd have to be hiding out like this...but maybe we can go on another journey one of these days...those idiots will soon be after us and when they do, we need to prepare. I've been working on...something. You look tired, sit down." She pointed over to a small lounge area with tiny sofas where large pieces of metal and devices were being rigged. Mahou stared at Michiko again, defiantly standing in her way. He shook his head, which caused visable anger from the scientist woman but before she could say anything to tell him off, once again, the psychic-type sighed before taking a step backwards. His legs were launched up, crossing his legs into a sitting positon, before floating just above the ground. With his eyes closed, he began to meditate. Michiko watched as Mahou floated in the air slightly, which allowed him to move over to the sofa lounge area. With that, Michiko was satisified. Her Alakazam, as did her other pokemon, had a tendancy for disobeying her orders, despite their bond but this was actually one of the rare attempts he didn't directly oppose her.

Michiko went back to work, as two plates of a certain material were now in her hands and she was sizing them up, for some reason using her own glasses to see the proportions but before she could go any deeper, she heard a knock on the door. With that, she snapped at Mahou, ordering him to keep silent and to stay where he was. She grabbed various pieces of tech, hiding them and spotted glowing poke balls on one of the sofas as she passed, grabbing them and hiding them into a safe. She then saw two of her other Pokemon near the door, a Ferrothorn thrashing about and a Rattata with a bright red focus sash on his forehead, both of them trying to get her attention. These were two 'stolen' Pokemon, called Aralia and Nezumi, respectively. She returned them to their Poke Balls that were on a tightly hidden belt on her waist. With that, she finally opened the door.

Michiko looked around. "Who-" She observed the now empty Saffron City streets, eerily quiet as nightime was on the horizon. In front of her was a letter. She picked it up. Suddenly before her, was a muscular man in a black jacket, who she recognised. He seemed to be sporting a tough-looking flat blonde buzzcut, similar to what the gym leader Lt.Surge had, which caused her to appear a little confused at first. Before she could stumble back, Michiko repositioned herself.

"You suprised to see me, lady?" The muscular man spoke with a rough, urban accent. He gave off shady vibes, but Mistress knew him from her past.

"What are YOU doing here?" Michiko asked in a harsh tone. "I thought Team Snagem - or whatever remains of their wretched filth, was too busy taking over casinos in the TCG islands and gangpressing irrelevant clubs to care about dominating the ENTIRE Kanto region? I didn't know you could spare an ENTIRE member from your whole group of NINE!" She almost laughed at her own joke there.

"Don't be too harsh madame, our membership struggled after that kid got rid of us and our former masters in Orre, so we HAD to look elsewhere." The man looked around. "But I didn't come here alone!" With that he pulled over a short unassuming well-kept man in a blue postman's outfit.

"Ah, another one! You've disguised yourself as a postman, whatever next?!" Michiko almost screamed.

"Sorry, had to disguise myself! The authorities probably know we are here now. Just read that letter I helped post. The game's almost up."

With this revelation, Michiko started panicking. She read the letter in her hands:

"Dear Occupant of Bungalo House 4927,

We have noticed that since moving in to your new home over a year ago, you have refused to engage with the new society that you are in. This has generated several problems. The Kanto Taxing Authority has seen that you have refused to pay ANY fees in the last few months. The Housing Association of Saffron has asked multiple times for confirmation of your identity, as there are now MULTIPLE and conflicting names given for the property. Finally, we have been told that a group of deliquients have moved to Saffron City shortly after your arrival. They were seen stealing various important people's clothing and pretending to be them, whilst committing strange crimes. The POLICE FORCE is now apprehending them and wishes to bring you in for questioning - we believe you may have something to do with their acts! On behalf of these bodies and of the people, Saffron City Gym makes it our role to oust those we suspect to be bad-dooers from the city and our gym! We hereby expel you as a gym trainer for life! Our orders come from Sabrina herself!"

"Great!" Michiko yelled sarcastically. "I could care less! I HAVE to finish my work in order to get out of this damn city anyway!" She looked at them. "Looks like I'm out of a job now as well! What AM I going to do..." The two men just stared at her, with no idea of what to suggest. Michiko looked around. She completely forgot they were having this conversation in the middle of the street. "You two should come in side right away." She whispered. "If they're after me, they going to come round to find me any second..." She didn't look too happy, pushing the door open for them.

Michiko looked at the two men. They wouldn't budge. "Get in, you buffoons!" She muttered. Suddenly, there was a flash of light as Mahou the Alakazam appeared, hovering just above the floor, behind her sporting bright red flashing eyes as a glow of psychic energy came past her. It touched the two Team Snagem goons, briefly surrounding them with a purple energy. The two of them panicked for a second, not sure what was going on. Then, the two men were FORCED into the room, flying through into the main living room where Mahou was. Mistress immediately shut the door and rushed in to find the two barely recovering from the incident as they managed to get up, their minds blank.

"Not again!" The scientist exclaimed. "But at least it got them in. Save your psychic energy for when the authorities actually come banging on the door!"

 

[Charlotte Pryce]

Charlotte​

Date: July 24
Location: Near Cianwood Gym, Cianwood City, Johto
Pokemon Team: Fernando (Infernape male level 52), Dini (Alakazam male level 52), Splash (Floatzel female level 49), Bolero (Roserade male level 52), Hatari (Luxray female level 52), Tiburon (Garchomp female level 48 ), Radar (Lanturn male level 32)
Interactions: Theo (Sir Krazz), Naka (Merciless Medic)

Charlotte was quiet for most of their walk towards the Safari Zone. Part of it was from wondering what she might find once they got to the zone. The rest was due to everything she had to plan for afterwords. She had to prepare for the upcoming Podcast, give Tiburon behavior lessons, and figure out why one of her other Pokémon, a Roserade called Bolero, was suddenly very sulky.

Charlotte suspected it had something to do with her promise to show him one of the Johto Regions elaborate performances. Charlotte had warned him that it could be a while before they got to see it. After all, it wasn't like they held annual festivals everyday. Still, Bolero was not a patient one when it came to watching the shows, especially when dancing was involved.

"Should we wait for the others?" Charlotte asked aloud, thinking of the other names in the group chat: Esther and Desmond. "I mean, I suppose we're all going to explore anyway, but I didn't know if anyone had a plan."

 

[Sir Krazz]

Theo Hightower
Sunday - July 24th
Cianwood City, Johto --> Safari Zone Gate
Interactions: Charlotte (Charlotte), Naka (Merciless Medic)

“I uh....ooh....um...” It was obvious her statement had him flustered. Is that what she was in to? Anger driven empathic outbursts followed by make up sex? He wasn't against the idea. She was attractive, and he'd be lying if he said he hadn't thought about it. But right here, right now? In public, and in front of Charlotte no less? Theo was flustered enough that he didn't hear Charlotte's comment about the Safari Zone, so Naka had no worries there. “I...I wouldn't have said it out loud...so bluntly....I assure you. I um...I'm gonna stop talking.” That was probably the smartest idea he had had so far today. Though he hadn't said much, had he said much more he was sure he would have had to stuck his foot in his mouth to stop again.

He was picking up more and more that if anyone wanted to get anything done in this world they would have to train and practice and train some more. It made sense, but he wondered if anything was ever considered to be too much practice and training. How did anyone determine when enough was enough? He wasn't sure how to feel about Krem being so pumped to be on the road to training, but he did know he would have to help reign in that wild side of the water type's if he ever truly wanted to be able to call himself Krem's trainer. And he would have to do it soon, if Krem's final evolution was actually called Feralgator. That alone screamed red flags. It was almost a disappointment that Shinx couldn't fire lasers out of his eyes, but having no idea what to expect he felt he couldn't rule anything out.

Before he could process any more information Naka was tugging on both his and Charlotte's hands and pulling them in what he assumed was the direction of the Safari Zone, Theo taking a few seconds once his hands were freed again to recall Krem before chasing after the two women. Keeping track of Shinx was hard enough when they were walking, he didn't want to even think about what it would be like to keep up with Krem as well. As the trio made their way from Cianwood and the Safari Zone Gate Theo's pokedex scanned several different species of pokemon, and each new pokemon brought with it a whole new set of questions. Was the swirl pattern on that tadpole, Poliwag, just a design or was that its intestinal track showing through its skin? What exactly was a Ditto?? The pokedex had shown one thing, a pink blob of living slime, but the pokemon he had it pointed at was very clearly a small tan bird with red wings. And most curious of all, how much of a Diglett's body did it keep hidden underground?

Finally the trio came to a stop outside of a relatively large building, Theo finding himself on the opposite end of a question for once. “I mean I think we should, since Naka's text said we would meet....here? But maybe we can wait inside. Enjoy the a.c for a bit.” The building was, after all, right there. And if they were going to be outside for an extended amount of time, it would be better to enjoy the comforts of humanity while they could, right? “I'm gonna head inside. I'd like to sit down for a few minutes and look over these” he held up a few of the brochures from the Cliff Edge Gate stop. Doing just that he and Shinx both let out a light sigh of relief as the cool air from the building hit them, Theo finding a bench next to the entrance so he could see the others as they came in. The interior of the building was exceptionally clean, and as he looked around Theo spotted a giant screen over the entrance to the Safari Zone on the far side of the room, a screen that even from here he could read clearly. It listed off and detailed the rules and regulations of the Safari Zone, the most notable being Rule 1: All pokemon must be stored safely within their poke-balls prior to entry to the Zone. Bit of an odd rule by itself, but the more he read the more he realized what it was they were about to walk in to. A pokemon safe haven where the only pokemon walking around were those that had no trainer. A safe haven where nature's number one rule was survival of the fittest. A safe have where one's safety wasn't guaranteed, as evidenced by the screen next to it. It was a much simpler screen, simply stating

Number of Days Without Incident: 12

As the others began to come in one of the workers at the gate entrance would receive a message through an earwig tucked safely in their ear and, with a few key strokes, the 12 rolled back down to 0. “Heh heh...that's not real...right?” Someone please tell him that wasn't real.

 

[IDKWhatUserNameToDo]

Gwen Tucker - 20th of June - Route 217, Sinnoh
-
Gwen's shoulders slumped. She just wanted to try to call out at least, but Ron was right. Naka would be back. Gwen had faith in the strong trainer as did Ron from what the young trainer saw. Cobalt kept close to Gwen, eyeing at the raging blizzard with concern.

The blue haired trainer took a step back and noticed the punk trainer tried to release more of his pokemon, but none of the pokeballs seemed to work. This wasn't good. Gwen tried it herself as well and just like with Ron, none of her pokemon could pop out of their pokeballs. The situation was quickly changing as her attention was grabbed with Ron's and Silenius' scuffle. Gwen looked on with worry. Was Ron trying to go out alone? Yet, their gazes locked and the punk trainer's mind seemingly changed. Fluffy went to keep Silenius and Ron warm as Gwen looked around the cave, feeling restless over their situation. First the blizzard, now the group being split up and pokeballs not working? It was suspicious at the very least. A silence fell over the cave, with nothing but the howls of the raging snowstorm to keep them company.

No wait... What was that? Gwen turned her head to the path leading deeper into the cave, as she swore she could hear a deep rumble from within, like whir or a hum, "Can you hear that?" the little girl asked, throwing the question to the others with Cobalt perking up and rushing over to be a few steps in front of Gwen, yet not going any further than his trainer. The Penguin pokemon took a moment to listen and he heard it as well. There was something deeper in the cave and Gwen was quite certain that a pokemon couldn't be the source of such a consistent, nonstop sound.

Gwen Tucker - July 18th - National Park, Johto
Pokemon on field: Cobalt the Prinplup vs Clay the Galarian Yamask
Item: N/A
Status: N/A
Field Effect: N/A

Gwen looked on to Lyra who seemed to change on the dime once more when she focused back on the battle. The young trainer would have just felt bad to have continued attacking, but based on Ron's scolding.. Maybe she was in the wrong. She shook her head a little and furrowed her brow again as Ron yelled at her to keep fighting.

"Cobalt!" Gwen called, unable to think of anything else than dodge, but it was way too late to call in the moment. Cobalt, meanwhile, seemed prepared to have the grass type attack fired at him again, but went in his own direction with it. The edge of his flippers glowed with metallic sheen as he used Metal Claw and sliced through the green energy ball, rushing closer to the variant Yamask, ready to attack. He still took some damage, but his own quick thinking landed him in a better spot than not doing anything.

Gwen looked at her started, a grin curling up on her face. She was very stoked over what Cobalt just did and she was sure to remember it, but no time to gush over it now.

"Bubble beam, go!" the blue haired trainer yelled out, ready to be done with this battle. The Prinplup's beak glowed blue and again, released a flurry of blue bubbles very close to their target.

Lara Brook - 16th of June - North Lake Miloch, Wild Area, Galar
-
Lara was still processing that she caught a shiny pokemon and looked at Nicole with nothing but glee in her eyes, "Amazing!" she just replied and looked down at the pokeball she still held in her hand. It was just so hard to believe, but she really did it. Suddenly she went from one pokemon to being a trainer of three.. Well, she'll figure it out. At least so far Toast hadn't been a difficult pokemon to deal with and Lara only could hope that this new addition to the team would get along with her other two pokemon.

The reporter looked to Nicole, who was still filming her. Honestly, the whole shiny ordeal had forgotten it and got flustered all over again. Luckily, the wild Sigilyph that they encountered earlier came to save her by jumping into frame. That Avianoid pokemon was really quite something peculiar, "Oh hello there again," Lara greeted the Psychic type pokemon and tried to scoot out of frame.


Lara was still processing that she caught a shiny pokemon and looked at Nicole with nothing but glee in her eyes, "Amazing!" she just replied and looked down at the pokeball she still held in her hand. It was just so hard to believe, but she really did it. Suddenly she went from one pokemon to being a trainer of three.. Well, she'll figure it out. At least so far Toast hadn't been a difficult pokemon to deal with and Lara only could hope that this new addition to the team would get along with her other two pokemon.

The reporter looked to Nicole, who was still filming her. Honestly, the whole shiny ordeal had forgotten it and got flustered all over again. Luckily, the wild Sigilyph that they encountered earlier came to save her by jumping into frame. That Avianoid pokemon was really quite something peculiar, "Oh hello there again," Lara greeted the Psychic type pokemon and tried to scoot out of frame.

 

[Merciless Medic]

Nakano Saito & Ron Towers​

Date: 1 Month Ago (26 years old); June 20
Location: Route 217, Sinnoh
Naka's Pokemon Team: Chu the Pichu, Fluffy the Flareon, Hanu the Infernape, Yuki the Froslass, Aero the Aerodactyl, Orochi the Zweilous, Silenus the Sceptile, Mudster the Swampert
Ron's Pokemon Team: Furia the Hisuian Typhlosion, Linkin the Blastoise, Monstar the Tyranitar, Evanes the Skarmory, Marley the Kantonian Raichu, Luz the Espeon

Interactions (Ron, Silenus, Fluffy): Gwen Tucker and Cobalt the Piplup (IDKWhatUserNameToDo)

Note: Hecotoro has left the RPing scene, so he's given me permission to auto Ron and his Pokemon for the time being.

Ron caught sight of Gwen's Pokeballs weren't working either. Things were just getting shittier weren't they? Eyeing Naka's Pokemon, he realized he needed to get comfortable, and he wasn't a particular fan of either of them. However, they were trying to keep them warm and safe, despite his misgivings. His hardened stare shifted to where Gwen was going, and he had half a mind to tell her to come back, but her interest in having heard something piqued his interest.

He leaned forward and heard the humming, too.

How Silenus or Fluffy didn't hear it was beyond him, but the whistling of blizzard winds outside - which they were closer to - likely drowned it out. Getting up, he walked over to where Gwen was standing and stared into the darkness. "We should probably investigate it. We'll be further from the cold." He looked back to see Fluffy and Silenus's heads having perked up. Looking at each other, the two Pokemon got up and walked over to the two trainer's sides.

He had some hope that there would be something for them and an answer to their Pokeball jam situation, but he didn't want to hope too much.

"Come on." He said to Gwen. With Fluffy leading the way with his bright body and Silenus in the rear to keep an eye on everyone, Ron walked through cautiously right behind Fluffy.

It took a few minutes of going through the cave, but the unmistakable whir became louder, and soon they were able to hear clicking and then a high pitched whine that soon deepened, the pitch oscillating. Fluffy's light dimmed as they got closer to the source, the tunnel opening up to a cavernous room with stalagmites and stalactites everywhere. Shallow puddles littered the ground, but there was light here. Lights strewn about on strings and hooked onto the cavern wall shone what was in the room. Supply boxes, lanterns, sleeping bags, mess kits, even a portable stove were here, enough supplies to keep three people and a couple of their Pokemon well stocked for a few days.

That was good news for them, it looked like it was abandoned. Right before Ron stepped forward, Silenus grabbed his shoulder, his head jutting over towards the far end of the cave. Through the stalagmites, there was some commotion. With Ron and Silenus crouching low, and Ron putting a hand on Gwen's shoulder to get her to crouch, the three trainers at the far end came to their camping equipment, all smiles and laughter.

"Hahaaa~! Man, that blizzard is hitting HARD! Where do you think the commander is now, huh?" One of them said, a Weavile by his side and enjoying the snowberries it likely stole after terrorizing some wild Snover.

Another man chuckled, slapping the box before sitting on it. "Oh, probably doing her due diligence in making sure no silly Guardian Researcher ever bothers with our plans again. We wouldn't be behind a year if it weren't for her." He growled in indignation, his Houndoom by his side sneering.

The third trainer, a woman, chuckled. "Hah, cute. Hopefully, Miss Leona comes back in one piece. Hey... What about those two who were with that Naka girl? Did you guys hear where they went?"

Ron whispered over to Gwen, pointing at the cavern at the other end. "Stay out of sight, I think the whirring is coming from there. Go over there and see if you can destroy it." He knew the girl was resourceful enough to get the job done.

The first guy shook his head and chuckled, his hands going through his black hair. "Hah, no. There's a storm a-brewing. They're either dead and frozen like a popsicle or hiding away somewhere like little wusses."

Ron had enough. He charged ahead and stood before them, Silenus and Fluffy running alongside him to give him cover. "Look who's talking? You're hiding from the blizzard like the rest of us."

The three jolted and glared at the intruder. "Hey, it's him!"

The Houndoom charged towards Ron, only for Silenus to zip past him in a green blur and slam his tail against the dog, sending it back. He then jumped back and balanced on a stalagmite, Fluffy standing beside Ron as he growled, hairs standing on end as fire began to leak from his mouth.

The lady's Pokemon had yet to be revealed, but it was somewhere.

Ron stood in the way. With all eyes on Ron and the two borrowed Pokemon, Gwen had ample time to find the source of the noise.

~~~~

Meanwhile, Naka and Leona were fighting with an arrow versus knife. Leona, having been trained by a military father, had the edge in this fight, slicing through Naka's clothes with ease and blocking any attacks Naka was doing, but Naka had a few tricks up her sleeves.

Dropping down, she spun like a Hitmontop, throwing Leona's legs up in the air and onto her back. Stepping back, Naka pulled out her own knife, dual-wielding the weapons as she began moving towards Furia, who was doing her best to fight against the six-on-one fight. The heat was so intense that it was displacing the cold air, the snow was melting and the ground got wet, and the heat was so bad that the Hisuian Decidueye and Excadrill couldn't get close without serious burns.

Infernal Parade launched and landed on the Liepard while also proving to be a difficult move to dodge for the rest of the Pokemon, then a Thunder Punch to the oncoming Azumarill, then using Rollout to blitz through the Pyroar and knocking it away as she got away from being within the circle. She sprayed Smokescreen throughout the area, making it difficult to track her, especially when she stopped her fire from blowing. Furia saw movement and noticed Naka was being pushed back in their recontinued brawl further away.

Rolling into a ball and spewing flames as she did, she sped towards the humans and then stopped, hitting up a spray of snow and knocking Leona off balance. With a swift cut, Naka had managed to cut up Leona's arms and chest, then punch her to the snowy floor. Meanwhile, as Leona's Pokemon charged, Furia was dealing with them, showing great combat awareness even if she was outnumbered.

However, just as Furia was about to land a final blow on the Azumarill with Thunder Punch, the Decidueye sliced the Azumarill with Leaf Blade. The cut immediately healed, and Furia was back to square one. The Azumarill even created a ring of water to continue healing itself, and then the Grassy Terrain created by the Decidueye. Rocks began to appear out of the ground randomly from the Excadrill's Stealth Rock, exploding if Furia got too close. The Pyroar roared and came in with Crunch while the Liepard used Thunder Wave to slow Furia down. All the while, the Excadrill was powering himself up with Swords Dance.

Naka looked over to see Furia in a dire situation. Seeing the jolt of electricity, Naka dove for it and stretched out the arrow she held, the Thunder Wave redirecting as it hit the arrow and traveled through her body. Her body froze and locked up, but she still had a grin on her face as she powered through. Looking up, she noticed the rocks were just hovering there, and she smirked. "Furia, Shadow Ball." She pointed to one, and Furia fired off a ghostly ball that landed on the rock. It shattered, showering the Pyroar and Liepard underneath with stony shrapnel. Furia then fired off another Shadow Ball to another rock, the impact hitting the top and causing the rock to break off in bigger chunks, which blew into the ground and shielded her from the Decidueye's and Azumarill's attacks.

The Azumarill had came upon Naka and came in with a Superpower, his fists shining a bright orange. However, Naka dropped to the ground and threw the Azumarill right over her, causing the aqua rabbit to sail and land in the showering range of another rock Furia destroyed.

Leona came in from behind Naka and disarmed her quickly due to Naka's inability to move from the paralysis, putting her in a headlock with a knife to her throat. Her blue eyes stared at the Typhlosion as she sneered at her, stepping backwards with Naka in tow as she got closer and closer to the edge. Furia huffed and growled, stepping closer to Leona with an indignant stare.

"What are you going to do, huh? You can't keep fighting us forever." Leona stared with a growing, smug grin. "Gonna let this poor girl die?"

Well, she was right, why did the Typhlosion care? Furia huffed smoke from her nostrils, then slowly turned around.

Naka's heartbeat quickened. Was this Furia pranking or was this real?

She felt her life flash before her eyes.

Lyra the Hex Maniac & Ron Towers​

Date: July 18
Location: National Park, Johto
Lyra's Pokemon Team: Pearl the Misdreavus, Clay the Galarian Yamask, Lucky the Gimmighoul
Ron's Pokemon Team: Furia the Hisuian Typhlosion, Linkin the Blastoise, Monstar the Tyranitar, Evanes the Skarmory, Marley the Kantonian Raichu, Luz the Espeon

Interactions: Gwen Tucker and Cobalt the Prinplup (IDKWhatUserNameToDo)

Note: Hecotoro has left the RPing scene, so he's given me permission to auto Ron and his Pokemon for the time being.

The Metal Claw cleaving through the Energy Ball sent the Grass-Type attack splitting in half and missing Cobalt, landing behind him on each side. Lyra's eyes widened as she tried to issue a command, but the Prinplup charged and fired a point-blank Bubble Beam. Clay tried to attack with another Energy Ball, but he wasn't able to attack fast enough and was hit, being thrown back against the rocks. Knocked out, Lyra pouted and it was like someone cut the strings of a marionette as her body slumped over.

After a moment of being doubled over and her upper half being limp, she slowly pulled herself up and returned her Yamask. "Hm, you did well, yes, yes... Lucky, give 'em a present, yeah? Out of the kindness of our hearts~." She released her Gimmighoul, who fished in Lyra's pockets before running over to Gwen, setting down the money in front of her before rushing back to Lyra. Right before Lyra was able to pick him up, the Gimmighoul ran right between her legs. "Wait, come back!!" Lyra then disappeared, chasing after her Gimmighoul into the grass.

Ron was less than enthused, but seemed to find her leave amusing. He did grin though. "Hey, sweet, money." At least he didn't have to threaten her to give her any winning proceedings, of which he was a bit bummed out he couldn't do that. "I think you got a handle on that quick switch. Good job. After healing your party, want to continue training here or you wanna move on?" He asked, unsure if she wanted to continue and rack up more wins to make herself feel better or to go back and relax.

Nakano Saito​

Date: July 24 (26yo)
Location: Safari Zone, Johto
Pokemon Team: Mudster the Swampert, Aero the Aerodactyl, Silenus the Sceptile, Hattie the Hatterene, Chu the Pichu, Fluffy the Flareon, Brute Tooth the Barraskewda, Orochi the Zweilous

Interactions: Theo Hightower (Sir Krazz), Charlotte (Charlotte Pryce)
Messaged: Esther Sophys (kyuukestu), Desmond Andrews (Godjacob)

When Naka reached Cliff Edge Gate, they were supposed to wait for Esther and Desmond here. Charlotte asked and Naka looked back at Theo, then shrugged. "We can tell them later we got confused and thought she meant the Safari Zone Gate, looks like Theo wants to keep going." As she walked towards the Safari Zone, she couldn't help but smile at Theo's reaction to what she had thought he said earlier. What a cutie. At that moment, she knew he found her attractive, and she'd be lying if she said she didn't find him attractive. But he was rather younger. She wouldn't really date him, and she was with Ron... Even if Ron didn't admit it to himself.

As Theo looked confused on his entry for Ditto when he was pointing it to a Spearow, she laughed and told him there's a Pokemon that could transform into items and other Pokemon, but they'll always have beady eyes when doing so, and getting them to laugh makes them destabilize. The Pokemon it transformed into was a Spearow. That was the only information she gave him though, as that was the one he looked bewildered at the most.

Finally, they traveled through the gate and found that there were stalls outside in front of the Safari Zone building. These stalls had food and merchandise for the Pokemon founded here, as well as specific merch made for the Orienteering event, which wasn't available at the moment. As they walked in, Naka shivered as the cool AC hit her, and then chuckled as Theo thought this was where they were supposed to meet the others. "No, we were supposed to meet up at the cave entrance right before leaving Cianwood City." She laughed a little. "But, I'll just text them and let them know that you got lost leading us." She teased, sending a text to Desmond and Esther in the group chat, saying they got antsy and are now at the Safari Zone building and to come hurry.

Once that was done, she walked in and sat on a bench across from Theo, resting against the back of the bench with a tired slump. She looked over at the rules and smiled as he seemed to understand something on the board, and then laughed when she saw the count reset. "That's normal here. There's something even better." She said in sarcastic, mock awe, grinning mischievously. "You'll see when you go up on the counter. Oh, and while it is dangerous out there, don't worry. I'll make sure nothing bad happens to either of you." She smiled towards Charlotte (wherever she was) and Theo, taking off her light jacket and wrapping the sleeves around her waist. She was wearing a black tank top, her pale skin showing off the dark scars across her arms, shoulders, and chest. That scar that ran down from her cheek and neck were more prominent, and she even grabbed her tank top, pulled it out from under the sleeve's tight embrace around her waist, and tied a knot on the side so it would rest just a bit higher on her navel. A nasty circular scar was on her stomach, barely covered by her jacket covering it. She even began rolling up her pants, which had a piece of fabric that could reach over and button itself to a part of her pants near her hips so her pant leg stayed up, her legs showing a few more scars. The only thing she couldn't change was her shoes.

"Alright, there, now I'm ready for a hotter weather experience. I tend to overheat so bad that I get heat stroke if I'm not careful." She chuckled. Theo likely had no idea why Naka was getting ready as if she was going to be doing a lot of exercise, but she wanted to keep that a secret.

 

[kyuukestu]

]

Thursday, July 24th – 1:05 pm

Esther

Cliff Edge Gate, Cianwood City,

Johto​

『 Pyrrha | Halay | Maçiera | Kasriel | L’ Basseau | Īstha 』​

Interactions: N/A ​

The Cliff Edge Gate was unique among Cianwood’s tourist attractions; a checkpoint built into the cave—Esther supposed tunnel would be more correct—that connected Cianwood City to Route 47. The cavernous construction lent itself well to acoustics, echoes of words left behind a touch longer than they should have, broken and garbled by the cave’s irregular walls.

The Oblivian picked up and stepped into the cave, she could just make out a few receptionists at a desk but no sight of her friends. Maybe they hadn’t arrived yet? She pulled out her pokétch and made to text them, noticing a few messages she’d missed while walking. Oh, they’d left and gone ahead. The realization stung more than it should’ve with her recent mood. She’d been waiting patiently for what seemed like hours and yet they...

Sigh, Esther tightened the straps on her backpack and trudged up the stairs, exiting the Cliff Edge Gate on Route 47. This Route-47 side exit was on a much higher elevation than the Cianwood-side entrance, it was a cliff face that faced the vast mountains, where roaring waterfalls cut through the rock and emptied into the sea. In the distance, Esther could barely make out the Safari Zone proper, past several suspension bridges that led down the mountain.

The trek looked long, and it would feel that much longer as she made it alone. Esther let her backpack slip from her shoulders. She’d just wait for Desmond. She didn’t get along as well with the stockier, apprehensive guy who seemed to find all her eccentricities a nuisance, but with her current mood, she had no real desire to talk. Companionable silence, that’s what she wanted.

Spoiler: Bag

$??? | Pokéball x ??? | PokéToy | Practice Ball | Pokéflute | Unidentified Fossil

Quilt Set

Hammock Set

First-Aid Kit

Flashlight

Toiletries

Water Bottle (1/2 Gallon)

Water Purifier & Filter

Clothes – 3 Sets

Winter Gear

Climbing Gear

Swimwear

 

[Max Million]

Michiko 'Mistress' Mitsumune
Date: June 2nd
Location: Saffron City, Kanto
Rank: 40,913

"You've really gotta get that Alakazam under control." One of the Snagem thugs suggested after regaining consciousness. The scientist had closed the door firmly behind them.

"Look, i'm working on it. Mahou is really defiant. But I guess he means well because he's still with me. He has the ability to teleport yet he didn't try to blink away from me." The Mistress looked at two of her poke balls. Suddenly, Nezumi the Rattata and Aralia came out unexpectedly from them. Nezumi jumped on top of the head of the postman.

"Ah! Get him off!"

"Nezumi! Down this instant!" Mistress exclaimed but the rat pokemon clung on to the disguised Snagem member like his life depended on it. He now began to bite at the grunt's neck which prompted him to suddenly push Nezumi onto the floor. Mistress returned him as soon as she could. Then Aralia started to get angry seeing the Rattata not have it's freedom. She drew her tentacle like roots up and started to spin. "Not you as well!?!" The spinning action became an angry, violent movement which came at the Snagem grunt with the black coat, getting faster and faster. Before she could hit him, the building tension turned into a calmness as purple psychic energy surrounded the Ferrothorn as it just bashed the wall, creating an indent. The energy tossed Aralia into the air and into a sofa as it was knocked out. The culprit was none other than Mahou the Alakazam. Mistress sighed as she returned her Ferrothorn. "At least this guy is here looking out for me." She said to her Pokemon. "As I was about to say, Mahou's condition is nowhere near as bad as the other two because he took my time to assert my authority, my bond onto him."

"Maybe you should take more care of them...I don't know." The thug in blue suggested. "Your bond with you Pokemon is important."

"That's rich coming from an ex-Team Snagem member!" Michiko sniffed. "Anyway, the authorities are coming. I have a way out. As you can predict." She took the two men over to the smaller extention at the back of the house where a large machine was being assembled. "I'm trying to enhance Mahou's abilities. The last few times i've been able to escape through his teleportation move but that has led to it being unstable, with him being able to use it less over a longer period. This machine should fix it...or that's what I thought, until Mahou BROKE it with his psychic energy! I had to look elsewhere." She picked up a pair of bright yellow and orange-coloured glasses and swapped it for her own. Somehow, she was able to see. "The parts I need. They come from a certain machine called an 'Oracle'. Guess who has one?" She pointed to a poster of Sabrina standing outside the Saffron City gym.

"The gym? They don't want you anymore. How would you get in? You've been made redundant there for months now." The Black-coated Snagem Grunt.

"Oh I have plan, but you're going to have to trust me again. One final job...then you're free to roam around Kanto however you want...or how about I send you somewhere else instead?" She looked cunningly at them like she knew what she wanted to do. She then began to relay a very intricate and detailed plan which shocked the two of them. She was going to have to rely on the remnants of Team Snagem going after her immediately afterwards, or the authorities of various regions for that matter!

"You're saying you want us to BREAK into the gym?!" The Grunt in blue asked, shocked. What was he to expect?

 

[Godjacob]

Desmond Andrews (Unranked)
Yellow Rock Isle, Whirl Islands, Johto (July 19th)
Interactions: @ThAtGuY101 (Aldon)​

Kricketune's eyes widened a bit, its focus on Bite and trying to hold Bolly in place had left it rather defenseless as the Ancient Power caused several enchanted rocks to fly and strike at the Bug Pokemon. "Tune!" Krickeutne cried out as he was knocked back and slammed hard to the ground!

Desmond had not even the time to react to this, as Skol seemed to blast Politoed off it with a Water Pulse who cried out, and before it could recover its gut was slammed head first by the eternally wise one as Politoed cried out and crashed onto the ground in a heap next to Kricketune.

And both Pokemon seemed to have fainted, Aldon was the victor!


Adrianne Silvers (Normal Class: 96,094)
Tangelo Island, Orange Archipelago (June 2nd)
Interactions: @ThAtGuY101 (Brair) @Merciless Medic (Reggie)​

Aster of course had also shifted focus from Baba and thankfully it seemed to find a new target, as Adrianne and it seemed to focus on Maggie as Briar explained the importance of having close-range and some ranged moves and demonstrated it with a dazzling bubble beam which had impressed as Adrianne's own gaze seemed to suggest.

"Wow, that's so cool!" Adrianne said, making a mental note of the advice as Aster looked on in wonder, determined to match the scale of such an attack itself!

Adrianne looked at Reggie who merely waved at them, clueless to the context that this capture had been an accidently and merely smiled back with a thumbs up as if to say "good job!"

With that she focused on her training for a few more minutes, but she soon seemed to sniff the air as Reggie prepared a nice meal and glanced over as he seemed to be laying out plates. Alright, lunch break! "Alright guys, come along time to eat~!" Adrianne called out to her team as Aster glanced at the large Maggie before it waddled off with Aqua and Ace in tow as the group arrived and Adrianne seemed amazed at the layout. Her Pokemon seemed impressed as well, as Ace flapped over to the plate of fish and had began to eat, much as Aqua began to nibble on her sliced berries, and Aster consumed some of the berry juice itself as all of them seemed to take a liking to their meals. Adrianne in turn had taken a seat and quickly took a bite of her sandwich, and seemed to hum feeling those sweet flavors as she seemed to feel a gleam in her eye as she glanced at Reggie.

"W-wow, this is delicious! Thank you so much~!" Adrianne said as she expressed her gratitude and enjoyed her lunch with her team.

Desmond Andrews (Unranked)
Cianwood City, Johto (July 24th)
Interactions: @Merciless Medic (Naka) @kyuukestu (Esther)​

Desmond soon approached what seemed to be the Cliff Edge Gate, a sort of stop gap point to Route 47 and then in turn Route 48 and then the Safari Zone. He expected to see the group ahead of him but seemed that it was merely Esther who looked a bit annoyed and seemed to not want to talk.

Desmond raised an eyebrow, he exactly hot not been in a position to judge given how "cheerful" he generally was but he did wonder what caused this shift in Esther. Had she been annoyed at something? Either way he had not been the type to press these things so he just waited for Naka and the others as he merely nodded to Esther as if to say "am here."

However, he felt a buzz in his pocket and pulled his Pokesketch. As Naka seemed to jump the gun and already had gone to the Safari Zone ahead of them! Desmond glanced at the message with an annoyed deadpan as he sighed and entered back into the group chat. "Thanks for the heads up, heading there now."

Desmond then glanced at Esther. "Seems Naka is a bit jumpy, already is waiting for us at the Safari Zone." Desmond explained as he prepared to head out as they seemed to have ground to make up.

 

[kyuukestu]

Thursday, July 24th – 1:10 pm

Esther

Route 47 > Safari Zone

Johto​

『 Pyrrha | Halay | Maçiera | Kasriel | L’ Basseau | Īstha 』​

Interactions: ​

Esther nodded to acknowledge Desmond’s arrival and offered a half-hearted smile. She picked up her bag and fell in step behind him. Now that she had her desired companionable silence, she found it only highlighted the distinct lack of companionship. Honestly, she’d made few if any attempts to talk to Desmond since their ‘falling out’ in the Whirl Islands and he seemed content with the status quo.

With Reina, Eveline, and Gene kidnapped by Alpha Hypno gone Esther felt a profound loneliness. She didn’t...exactly get along with any of the other group members. Naka, Theo, and Charlotte were nice, but they were a clique within a clique, the science-y trio. How did Charlotte not feel like a 3rd wheel with all Theo & Naka’s flirting? That was a question that only Charlotte knew the answer to. In any case, Esther did feel like a third, technically fourth wheel, and her attachment to the group...lacking. A part of her considered this pragmatically, they’d only been together for a few days at most, hardly enough to forge a friendship but that same pragmatism reminded her of her needs. She needed to each money and third place to Naka & Charlotte wasn’t gonna cut it.

The girl stewed in her thoughts until the giant wooden gates of the Safari Zone came into view. Her ‘friends’ were beyond that door but rather than joy, Esther felt...mixed. Should she leave?

Spoiler: Bag

$??? | Pokéball x ??? | PokéToy | Practice Ball | Pokéflute | Unidentified Fossil

Quilt Set

Hammock Set

First-Aid Kit

Flashlight

Toiletries

Water Bottle (1/2 Gallon)

Water Purifier & Filter

Clothes – 3 Sets

Winter Gear

Climbing Gear

Swimwear

 

[DarkHydraT]

Ezio Farello, June 15th, Solaceon Town, Sinnoh

Ezio looked up at Naka, listening to her talk. "I've read that report, it is quite an interesting angle to look at things from. I don't know much about how each Pokémon got the type it is, but it wouldn't be too far of a stretch to have outside influences dictate the types of Pokémon. After all, we have seen it happen time and time again in the Alola region. Either due to predation or geographic activity, Pokémon have changed their types, appearance and even behavior. However, that is not for me to research." The man said with a chuckle before waving at Naka and her Aerodactyl.

As the man stored away his belongings, he wasted no time and headed towards the Solaceon Ruins. He had full faith in his team, and he wasn't alone this time. Not that it mattered, but it was nice to have someone to talk to and that could actually respond in English. Arriving at the ruins, he happened to overhear Naka's thoughts. "Come on, don't jinx it for us." Ezio said, chuckling. "Ready to go?"

------------------------

Nicole Newman - 16th of June - North Lake Miloch, Wild Area, Galar
"Come on, you had to ruin this shot?" Nicole asked, annoyed at the Sigilyph. "Go, shoo!" The bird keeper said, making a shooing motion with her hand. "You're getting in the way of our recording." She huffed, getting a confused head tilt from the Pokémon. For a Psychic type, it sure did not live up to the stereotype of being super smart. That, and that unblinking eye made Nicole feel uncomfortable as it kept watch of her and Lara. Why was it here?

 

[Red Gallade]

Johnathan Grayson
July 24th - Safari Zone, Johto Region

Johnathan whistled a little tune as he made his way towards the Safari Zone, the journey to get there was certainly a challenge for him, but he wasn't one to back down from what could help improve himself. While he was more than happy with the Pokemon team he already had with him, the main reason Johnathan came to the Safari Zone was to look for a few more Pokemon, Pokemon that could make him seem less predictable. If he was going to make it as a great Pokemon trainer, he knew expanding his horizons was a necessary step.

As he made it to the Safari Zone building and walked inside, Johnathan was immediately hit with a blast of cool air from the AC inside, this made him let out a refreshed sigh, both at the fact that he finally made it to his destination and that he got the chance to cool down after such a stroll. He turned his attention over to the screen that showed the rules and did his best to memorize them, he already heard that he wasn't allowed to use his own Pokemon when inside the zone... something that one of his Pokemon was unhappy to hear.

 

[ThAtGuY101]

~Aldon Charlton...~
~Skol the king of gods, Bran the bronzor, Zippy the magnemite, Huck the golett, Wunder the Sigilyph and Bolly the Baltoy...~
~Yellow island - july, 19th...~
~interactions: Desmond...~

As the ancient power knocked kricketune back, Bolly stood there motionless for moments. The baltoy looked down and as it's body weight began shifting forward, a thud. As it quickly fell to the ground around the same time Politoad was out.

Skol's feet slid out from under him, and he laid there grinning at the pokémon. Skol was tired but very much awake. Sliding his head across the ground, he turned to look at Aldon. Aldon might as well pick Skol up cause the slowpoke was not going to get up and start walking around any time soon. Aldon looked down at his pokémon.

"Good job Bolly. Rest up. You too Skol...!" Aldon said, pressing his pokéball against Bolly's hand. Bolly lifted its arm to press the button as he did so. Aldon struggled to lift Skol, but eventually got the hippo off the ground. Skol's eyes shut and grin widened as his feet parted from the ground. After getting his bearings, he walked over to Desmond.

"You guys did amazing too! So now what?" Dolan Aldon asked.

 

[Max Million]

Michiko 'Mistress' Mitsumune
Date: June 2nd
Location: Saffron City, Kanto
Rank: 40,913

Darkness fell upon the unasuming citizens of Saffron City. The light's inside the gym were still on, but most of the gym trainers had gone home. Michiko placed a resignation letter next to the enterence, before sneaking around one of the heavily protected fences. On either side, the two Snagem grunts gave her the thumbs up before crawling around. The one in the blue outfit attempted to deactivate the protective fence's electric field. He managed to crawl through a hole in the defences and placed his hands over a large set of power sockets beneath a metal plate. However, as he did this, he felt an eye watching over him.

A metal ball with two magnets hovered behind him and blasted at the poor thug with a small jolt of electricity. It was a Magnemite, probably employed as some kind of security guard! After the blast, Michiko gasped as the grunt fell unconscious. She quickly ordered Aralia to deal with the Pokemon, as the Ferrothorn came spinning towards Magnemite, inflicting some damage with a Gyro Ball attack. Magnemite blasted several thundershocks which caused minimal damage to the steel type Pokemon. However, Aralia started disobeying orders, which led to cursing from Mistress, who had donned a mask to avoid recognition. Aralia came crashing against a wall after another set of attacks.

By now, Michiko was worried, as more guard Pokemon started to appear, mainly psychic types. This came after the silhouette of a yellow tapier Pokemon appeared on the roof: Drowzee! Behind one of the grunts, a pink bear watched them lazily before getting up to approach him: a Slowpoke! A set of eggs appeared from nowhere and stared at Michiko: An Exeggcute! They all planned their attacks as Aralia struggled, Michiko sighed, so she ordered Aralia onto the rooftops whilst she sent Nezumi to disable the defences. Nezumi rushed towards the Magnemite, taking it out with a single Crunch attack, before using the shadowy biting move to rip open the metal panel, disecting the tentacle-like cables coming out. With that, the electric field was gone but now Nezumi went into chaos mode, randomly attacking the guard pokemon before they took the Rattata out with a barrage of elemental attacks! In an instant, Nezumi was gone but he allowed the grunt in black to rush in with Michiko. As the grunt held the back door open for her he grabbed the hand of the blue-jacket and they ran in. However, a wave of psychic attacks forced them back. Michiko ordered Aralia to cut down the Drowzee, Slowpoke and Exeggcute, which quickly did before a blast of psychic energy from another Pokemon caused Michiko to return the Ferrothorn as she spotted an Abra watching them. Following the doors swinging open from the secret enterence, red alert alarms started flicking and a loud noise was created. "WARNING WARNING! INTRUDER! WARNING!"

"The game's up now..." Muttered one of the grunts.

"You think?!" Mistress bellowed as she sent out Mahou. The yellow psychic type released a devasting wave of psychic energy that stopped Drowzee, Slowpoke and Exeggcute's annoying attacks in their place, as the three guard Pokemon were frozen in place. It then proceeded to deal with the Abra, which teleported in front of the back enterence. However, as it did, time slowed down and a voice entered Michiko's head:

"So, it's been a while! I don't think we've properly met have we? Well, you know everything about me, and so do I about you. I see what you're trying to do here. You cannot hide from me. You cannot hide from your past either. I can see everything, your past, present and future! And you shall surely pay for your crimes and what you've done!"

"Sabrina?!" Michiko exclaimed aloud, as a sea of psychic energy surged through, Abra being used as a focus for an extreme amount of it, possibly coming from Sabrina herself and her Pokemon. It created a devasting weather effect that stopped the group from moving forwards.

"Indeed it is I, but you as well as me have the ability to speak within our minds. We are both trainers of the psychic type. Your bond with your Alakazam is...unique. You lack the skills to properly connect with it...yet I feel as if it still tried to stand out from the crowd. I would like to take him up as one of my special training apprentice Pokemon. Not only that but he is shiny and has great teleportation skills, superior to my own. He is a remarkable specimen and has been wasted on you!"

"That isn't true! Her was my first Pokemon that I caught in my homelands of the TCG islands! I watched him grow up! I had to suffer, and now you accuse me of not having a proper 'bond' with him? Typical! There is no such thing! You're just like the rest, getting in the way of my experiments, my goals! I should have left the gym much earlier! It's time to end this!" Mistress commanded a shadow ball attack from Mahou. The large black sphere was enough to faint the Abra and the psychic energy channeled into him was removed, allowing the scientist to dash forwards. Immediately she entered a large room filled with machines and a much larger silver one which appeared to be some sort of generator. She saw that the cables going into the ground had great potential as they were being connected to various devices, the most notable being the teleportation pannels across Sabrina's gym!

"Mahou, dismantle this machine. Take the parts!" Michiko ordered as her Alakazam floated in and started medatating. Again, psychic energy came from him as lots of small pieces came out of the generator. Large pieces then came crashing into the walls. Suddenly, there was a loud burst as the power went it out. All machines in the building deactivated and the loud alarms stopped. A deafening silence filled the gym. The two grunts crept behind the scientist as the pieces of the generator swirled in the air as a result of Alakazam's Psychic. They started to form a device. Mahou opened his eyes.

"Sabrina?!" Michiko reached for her but she did not respond. The silence continued. Then Mahou's eyes glowed.

Suddenly, a deep, male voice, appeared in her mind. The essence of Sabrina had gone. "This machine was masking the truth. Sabrina was never here."

A look of shock filled Michiko's face but the two grunts hadn't heard the voice leading to them asking her about her confusion. Despite their questions, they couldn't believe what the lab researcher was explaining to them. It didn't make sense.

The pieces in the air had now quickly been rearranged and assembled into something new. The trio were suprised to see that a new massive complex structure hadn't been created and, instead two small panels had been created with tiny wiring.

"That's it?" The grunt in black shrugged. "That wasn't worth it!"

"If you were expecting some huge contraption, you were wrong. The probabilities show that a smaller device would be more effective."

As soon as the sound of silence had made itself clear did it start to fade away, as the sound of sirens filled the city outside. The blue-jacket took a peak. "Aw crap! The cops!"

"Quick! I can activate it here!" She pulled out a set of glasses and offered it to Mahou. The glasses floated into the air as the two panels fixed to the lenses of them and a glow consumed them. They then fell onto the Alakazam's eyes, making him appear like some tropical holidaymaker, the yellow and red being a perfect colour as his psychic energy blended amazingly well with them. "Enhanced Choice Specs!"

Outside, the sirens got louder. a group of men in police uniform ran into the room, surrounded by various Pokemon, including that namely of Growlithe. "Stop right there, criminals!" One exclaimed. "You're under arrest for various crimes, especially..." He looked up in amazement as a pink and purple ball of energy surrounded Mahou. His colleagues grabbed the two Snagem thugs, arresting them.

"Help..." The false postman muttered.

"No. This is the sacrifice we must make." The thug in black proclaimed. "Mistress! Now is the time to leave Kanto! Go somewhere they won't find you! We'll cover for you."

Michiko nodded. "It's time to cut connections with my past. You'll never see me again." She stepped forwards her Pokemon, the void around it starting to consume her. "Use teleport, Mahou! Take us to somewhere where they won't find us!"

"Your Wish is my command. For once, I see your point of view." The deep, male voice returned as Michiko was sucked in. She began to hover up into the air, consumed by the immense psychic energy.

"It's time to start a fresh. It's time to go somewhere where NOONE will find us. Noone shall think to look for us here!"

In a second, a bright light of energy flashed. The ball of psychic energy, extreme force and wind around it immediately faded and the room returned to normal. Much of the damage seemed to reverse as the police officers took the Snagem Grunts to a cell deep in Saffron City. They knew it wasn't worth persuing Michiko any further. She had most likely teleported to another region and which would be unknown. It was out of Kanto's control now. In good time, the officers knew that the gym would quickly be cleared up and things would be back to normal.

For milliseconds, Mahou the Alakazam was in a void. He looked down and saw his mistress floating down, her body numb almost lifeless. They now appeared in the blue skies. Time seemed like it was much earlier now. It was daytime and they were in the sky! Mahou was extremely tired but using what energy he had left and the abilities of the enhanced Choice Specs, he zapped in front of Michiko as her unconscious body fell towards him. Mahou adopted a meditating pose and was able to catch the woman's body in his hands as they descended down above the new lands they had teleported to. He used what he had left of his psychic energy to reduce the speed of the fall and then Michiko's body was able to float just above his hands. The Alakazam took in his surroundings as they came closer and closer to the ground: a set of islands, mainly sunny and most likely oblivious to their arrival.

"Are these the Orange Islands? I saw them in a book once. My Mistress will be most unhappy that we haven't travelled too far...but it will do."

 

[Cmeriwether]

Emmaline Marissa "Emma" Argentston, July 24th, Route 34

Emma had been running around for the last Month and a half, fighting trainers, keeping an eye on her dad's status, alongside any new friends she may have made. She had heard from Various rumors that Dunsparce were being snatched from this route she was on. As she looked at the route, a massive group of Dunsparce were seen migrating down the route. She then saw the Poachers, with their own Machoke, Breloom and Pangoro. She had been riding on her Drampa to see from above, she had Drampa land near some trees as she reversed her cloak, put up the hood and put the Duskull mask on her. She returned Drampa and brought out Togekiss. She then took to the skies, looking around where she saw those poachers. They were sighted by The Masked Skull. When She spotted them, she dropped near the tree line, and got off Togekiss. She then returned her Togekiss as she held Axew's Cherish Ball. She opened Both Axew's and Volcarona's Pokeballs. The two stood, or floated.

"Axew, I need you to follow Volcarona on this one."

Axew nodded, as Volcarona prepared to Ambush the Poachers. The Poacher's Breloom immediately went after Axew, who ran for it, leading the Breloom straight for Volcarona, who used Hurricane to defend Axew. When The Breloom got out of the attack, It then alerted the Machoke and Pangoro. Volcarona then used Bug Buzz to hit Breloom. Pangoro then used Arm Thrust towards Axew, who used Dragon Claw to block some of the Arm Thrusts. One got through, and launched Axew a good distance towards The Masked Skull. When Machoke got closer, Volcarona used Fiery Dance to Get Pangoro and get Machoke to back off.

Billy Carmichael, July 24th, Route 47 going into the Safari Zone.

Billy Carmichael had been running around for the last Month and a half, between gaining more control with Kusunoki's Mega Evolution and his family. He was headed towards the Safari Zone, when he spotted a group of trainers who were heading in. He had his Aggron and Pikachu returned before he headed in. He was sure that Kusunoki wasn't going to like this, but once this was over, he'd let him out.

"Hello," He said when he caught up to the group, "I was wondering if I could Join you guys? Billy Carmichael is my name."

He looked at his Collar, which had his Keystone. He then looked back up at the group as he put the Keystone away in a small pocket in his pack. As he then held Kusunoki's Pokeball, making sure it was on hand for afterward.

@Charlotte Pryce @Sir Krazz @Merciless Medic @Red Gallade

 

[Godjacob]

Desmond Andrews (Unranked)
Yellow Rock Isle, Whirl Islands, Johto (July 19th)
Interactions: @ThAtGuY101 (Aldon)​

Desmond sighed a bit, retuning both his Politoed and his Kricketune into their balls as he seemed to show a degree of respect for the effort even if it had come up short. In truth Desmond had expected this to go so much worse, especially given his mid-battle panic and outburst that Aldon thankfully had helped him through, but in respect even if he lost he had held his own decently for a while there.

For a guy who'd sooner shriek at a Pokemon than fight it, he considered this a decent step forward.

His attention snapped over to Aldon, who seemed to ask what they desired to do next as Desmond glanced at his Pokemon and seemed to go over to pick up his camera equipment from earlier. "I think I'm gonna go heal these guys up and head back to rest. I um....I suppose uh...t-thanks...thanks for today. It helped me a lot." Desmond said, as he almost struggled to choke out the words there but had managed to express his gratitude before he had began to set up for the Pokemon Center.

 

[Sir Krazz]

Theo Hightower
Sunday - July 24th
Johto Safari Zone Gate
Interactions: Charlotte (Charlotte), Naka (Merciless Medic), Desmond (Godjacob), Esther (Kyuukestu), Billy (Cmeriwether)
Mentions: Johnathon (Red Gallade)

Whoops. He didn't realize they had already blew through where they were supposed to be meeting everyone else up at. He wondered who the other person was that was coming. He had Naka, Charlotte, and even Esther's numbers saved in his phone. But there was a fourth who until this point was just that. A number. No name. No description. Just...someone. A complete stranger, and they were about to enter somewhere that could be potentially dangerous. That checked out. “Ooh...better...yeah....greeeeaaat” What could possibly be better than going in to a protected area with a death counter displayed so prominently? The answer to that question came in the form of that same employee hitting a few more key strokes and the number rolling back to -1. “Negative One!?! Negative One good days. And we're really about to go in there?” He suddenly wasn't sure this was such a good idea. Theo sighed an almost aggravated sigh before slumping backwards in to his seat, doing his best to avert his gaze from Naka as she began to prepare for the adventure that lies ahead, making a conscious effort not to mention her scars. Some people were touchy about things like that, and he didn't want to bring up any bad memories. Best to pretend they didn't phase him.

“That...I wouldn't worry too much about that. I've got water bottles, and I'm sure Krem can refill those if we happen to run out of water while we're in there....which begs the question, how long are we going to be allowed to actually stay in there? Is it a by the hour or by the day fee you have to pay? I don't...I'm still a little confused.” As he spoke a few more people trickled in, Theo watching both of them for just a few seconds to see if they were one of the two people they were still waiting for. One came in and went about his own way, and the second approached and asked if he could join their group. With a confused look to both Charlotte and Naka Theo would shrug “I don't have a problem with it, but we've got a few more people coming that might want to weigh in.” he hoped they showed up soon. Despite the jokes, he was actually looking forward to going in to the Safari Zone. He noted Billy's strange looking accessory, but didn't think much about it. To him it looked like a colorful marble, and that was about it.

Looking past Billy out the door just to see if the others were nearby, Theo found himself grinning at what he thought was the sight of Esther walking with, presumably, the final member of their group. “Speaking of. Excuse me a sec.” He stood and made his way back out of the nearby doors, standing just close enough to them that they automatically stayed open and kept the cool air blowing on him and his Shinx who was in tow. A little closer he was a little more sure it was her and by extension them, Theo raising a hand high and waving to show that they were already there waiting.

 

[kyuukestu]

Thursday, July 24th – 2:30 pm

Esther

Safari Zone

Johto​

『 Pyrrha | Halay | Maçiera | Kasriel | L’ Basseau | Īstha 』​

Interactions: @Sir Krazz @Godjacob ​

The doors to—what Esther assumed must’ve been the lobby—slid open and there was Theo, waving them over. He looked excited, and against her better judgment Esther reached out with her empathic sense—a faint brush, but it was enough. The image of negativity she’d constructed in her mind melted away when faced with the anxious bundle of childlike glee that was the reality of the situation. Her rational mind chose then and there to remind her that though the group had, ostensibly, been traveling together for several days, the truth was that 90% of that time had been scattered. In fact, she’d only met Theo and Charlotte very briefly during the Whirl Cup before she had departed for Silver Rock Isle. The absence of interaction was no indication of negative interaction, it was just how circumstances had arranged themselves.

Esther smiled, leeching slightly off Theo’s emotions to fuel a cheery wave of her own that saw her raise to the tips of her toes. She really needed to get out of her own head—or at least, out of her own emotions. When Esther was flat on her feet again, she waved Desmond adieu.

“I’ve got a full team and I don’t have the extra funds to spend on more team members or sightseeing in the Safari Zone.” Besides, even if some of her concerns had been assuaged there were other, more pragmatic reasons to pursue her earlier line of thought. “I’ll be on Route 48 if you guys need me. Ta-ta now, don’t have too much fun without me!”

With that, she bid Desmond a more urgent adieu, much like a parent who couldn’t wait to be rid of their troublesome child.

Once that was done Esther turned to Route 48 and marched. Her mood wasn’t completely fixed but it was nothing a few tunes couldn’t lift. Unfortunately, not even music could magically produce several thousand dollars, nor could it suddenly make her a better trainer than Naka or Charlotte. She still needed to figure out how she was going to meet her financial goals with those ‘obstacles’ in her way.

Honestly, even if the Oblivian wracked her brain she wasn’t sure she could think of a good alternative. As much as she no longer felt alienated, the fact still remained that leaving the group was a pragmatic choice for both her and her pokémon...hmmm.

Spoiler: Bag

$??? | Pokéball x ??? | PokéToy | Practice Ball | Pokéflute | Unidentified Fossil

Quilt Set

Hammock Set

First-Aid Kit

Flashlight

Toiletries

Water Bottle (1/2 Gallon)

Water Purifier & Filter

Clothes – 3 Sets

Winter Gear

Climbing Gear

Swimwear

 

[ThAtGuY101]

~Aldon Charlton...~
~Skol the king of gods, Bran the bronzor, Zippy the magnemite, Huck the golett, Wunder the Sigilyph and Bolly the Baltoy...~
~Yellow island - july, 19th...~
~interactions: Desmond...~

Aldon struggled but eventually got his pokémon to the pokécenter. Nurse Joy nearly collapsed on the spot when Aldon handed her Skol.

After a huge adventure montage consisting of training, sight seeing, treasure seeking, ritualistic sacrifices or two, occasional phone call or two to his favorite researchers and history enthusiasts, and snack time, Aldon would

~Safari zone...~

After a beautiful adventure that lead Aldon and crew to the safari zone, Aldon stood there outside in a large lush field overlooking a forested area with bug and grass types to his left and a pond surrounded by trees and rocks and various water type pokémon. Aldon contemplated what he was going to see and do, but for now he was watching and enjoying the sights. Though from an outsider perspective, he looked pretty lost and confused.

~Briar Hightower...~
~Briar Pokémon: Grafaiai/Baba(F), galarian wheezing/Puff Puff(M), tentecruel/Maggie(F), Revavroom/Hemi(M), clodsire/Claudia(F), smeargle/Frida(F)...~
Tangelo Island, June 2nd...~
~Rank: 48,420...~
~Reactions: Adrianne and Reggie...~

after helping Adrianne and her pokémon, Briar noticed her turn her attention elsewhere. Briar smelled it too. A familiar smell.

"can it be...? Oh my gosh...! Look at you, peach! I think our pokémon deserve a break. Very well done Reggie sweetie! I'm not even sure where to begin" Briar said looking at the food. She sent out her pokémon that didn't see training and they all excitedly made their way to where the food was. Baba running to try get there first. Baba sat by Frida. Frida sat where she could get a nice view of the beach. Claudia laid under the table. Puff puff and Maggie ate with the other pokémon and Hemi ate his food on the go. Zip zip zooming around with a mouthful of food. Only stopping to get another mouthful. A bit hectic but Briar had gotten used to her pokémon behavior.

 

[kyuukestu]

Thursday, July 24th – 2:35 pm

Esther

Route 48

Johto​

『 Pyrrha | Halay | Maçiera | Kasriel | L’ Basseau | Īstha 』​

Interactions: ​

After a deep and profound several minutes of thoughtful soul-searching, Esther came to a startling realization. Pragmatism was for puss—cough—pusillanimous people.

Maybe she had come to the realization that nothing about her journey or her goals was exactly pragmatic or maybe she was internalizing the provocative lyrics blaring from her pokétch. Either way, the pragmatic route was not the path Esther wished to take. In fact, the more she thought about it the more she disdained it. Pragmatism? Pfft, that was an excuse for people too afraid to surmount the insurmountable! Pragmatism? No, she was too ambitious for that.

Esther clapped her cheeks, turning them rosy as she mentally hyped herself up. She fiddled with her pokétch and set the last song to replay; it was just what she needed.

“Welcome to the mountain top, Waiting ‘till the fight calls...
I hope you’re ready to be swingin’ ‘till the night falls~♪
Are you a slave? An entertainer ‘till the fun dies?
I hope you’re ready to be swingin’ ‘till the sunrise!”

“The Flame that faintly wavers, Stains the brain with flavor.
The kinda pain that you complain about, then learn to savor.
A mystic walk beside the...Sadistic Sakura!
Kinda wished to talk with ya, bore me, and it's off with your heads!
—”

Heart ablaze, Esther marched with purpose down Route 48. While Route 47 covered the perilous cliff faces and ravine-spanning swinging bridges that characterized the mountainous descent, Route 48 saw the land level out and give way to pleasant meadows and sparse forestry. There were still a few bridges on Route 48, but they passed over small, gently sloped canyons and the rivers that carved them. Esther was sure they’d crossed one such bridge not even a minute’s walk from the large wooden arch that marked entry into the Safari Zone’s compound.

The bridge in question appeared almost as soon as Esther stepped out of the Safari Zone and the Oblivian picked up her pace. She also picked up her songs, despite a few missed lines.

“—
Past-tense on reservations now I stand in defense,
Of this relentlessly intense advice, not lacking suspense.”

“And guess the fuck what ladies and gents and I’m even spent.
I’ll gladly live inside your head but who the fuck pays my rent?
It ain’t me, right? So what’cha gonna do about it, sucker?
Cuz while the sayers say the same shit, the doers fight each other~♪”

“You wanna stake your life on any of this?
There’s plenty of spite
To steel your nerves and feel the burn
The training starts tonight!!
—”

Esther’s feet met wood with the lightest thunk. The Oblivian pranced across the bridge with the pixie steps of a ballerina; she paused in the middle of the bridge, the middle of her stage, whisking her pokéballs into her arms as she performed a pirouette and released her pokémon with a high toss. Six bolts of red lightning took form all around her, four on the bridge and two arcing into the water below.

Of course, given her re-affirmed resolutions a team meeting was in order. Just one problem. Catching the pokéballs afterward had not been on Esther’s mind when she acted and so most of her pokéballs fumbled into the river below. The goth deadpanned the slow-moving current...

At least Īstha & Susu were already making rescue dives. A new kind of frustration bloomed in Esther’s chest, but she chucked it in the river along with her pokéballs. She took a seat on the edge of the bridge and decided to focus on her song. She was sure her pokéballs would be back by the time she was done.

“—
Probably? That end was sloppy,
Gimmie “Action,” sick!
Katana slashin’, slick!
But where’s your passion? Miss!
I’m only askin’
Cuz truthfully y’all lose the heat when seein’ no traction.
But it must be how you’re waxin’
So, trust me start relaxin’ ”

“Your stance is...? Well, it’s average...
I’m savage cuz I care.
And you can take it or leave it.
‘RIP and tear’ you swear to make me believe it?”

“Silent will, strike to kill, Shinobi-like technique.
Pride or Skill, what’s the deal?
Those hands are already weak?
—”

“—
Those with devotion to the mission straight devour the weak
An ocean full of competition get your actions to speak.
You can’t be strong if you give up from just a miss in ya streak.
I’ll say so long with a slight of the scythe and a light kiss on thy cheek,
Oyasumi~♪”

“No ambition, try again next week~♪”

“—
Welcome to the mountain top, Waiting ‘till the fight calls...
I hope you’re ready to be swingin’ ‘till the night falls.
Are you a slave? An entertainer ‘till the fun dies?
I hope you’re ready to be swingin’ ‘till the sunrise!”

“You gonna throw in the towel and quit as soon as your body starts bleeding??
You’ll say goodbye to glory,
Next, “hello” to never succeeding.
So, if you’d like to flip the story and that heart is still beating,
I challenge you to say committed simply follow my leading.
—”

“—
Sign up, then ya whine about it
Get in line, the stage is crowded.
I can now supply you with this ‘Tough Love',
Good luck without it!
—”

“—
When it gets down the wire, just who survives?
Are they the liars who sell their souls,
Or those who dedicate their lives?
I’ll ask you,"

"Take up the sword and swing until it is unbearable.
And wear your scars with dignity when raising something shareable.
The strong, the safe, the terrible~
Progress in these eyes
Expect no less than earth-shaking when these deadbeats rise!
—”

Spoiler: Bag

$??? | Pokéball x ??? | PokéToy | Practice Ball | Pokéflute | Unidentified Fossil

Quilt Set

Hammock Set

First-Aid Kit

Flashlight

Toiletries

Water Bottle (1/2 Gallon)

Water Purifier & Filter

Clothes – 3 Sets

Winter Gear

Climbing Gear

Swimwear