Reginald Valerias
Date: June 2
Location: 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; Mahou the Shiny Alakazam (controlled by Max Million)
WCS Rank: 72,758
Interactions: Briar Hightower (ThAtGuY101), Adrianne Silvers (Godjacob), Amber Papaya and Mahou the Shiny Alakazam (Max Million)
Hey, at least Adrianne was willing to back up Reggie's claim that they could help her, but as because Amber was experiencing some memory loss... Just how serious was this issue? Adrianne's optimism was like fresh air for Reggie's newfound pessimism, of which he was trying not to let control how he went about helping Amber. Amber explained that the botanist tried using the strong herbs. Sounded like Heal Powder which
was a cure-all, but it couldn't even cure this.
Then would a Venusaur's plant even do anything? Hopefully.
Reggie wasn't sure how Amber came to the conclusion that a group of people needed to do this, but he didn't argue against it. They were a group willing to help, even though Briar was very not apart of this conversation, which only further irritated Reggie. Then what was she even doing here to begin with?
As Amber told Nurse Joy of her symptoms, both the nurse and Reggie's eyebrows lifted from concern. "It's a neurotoxin..." Nurse Joy breathed uneasily. But, it wasn't super deadly. That was the good thing. She let out a sigh of relief, then nodded. "Revival Herbs are like giving a sleeping Pokemon smelling salts to wake them up, but instead of inhaling it they must consume it. It gives them a huge boost of energy and forces their body to heal itself at a rapid rate while giving them that energy to do that. But I used a Revival Herb on Skiploom a moment ago. But, these herbs didn't come from Fairchild Island. It's likely the Revival Herbs there are stronger because they need to have a stronger effect on Pokemon who are bigger than normal."
Then, she continued. "Thankfully, for you and your Skiploom, this toxin that is affecting you, while bad and could put you in bad straits later, isn't something that will kill you in a week. You have a month or two. You'll have to take Skiploom with you, she'll be better in your care and, if you do get the herbs there, you don't have to bring it back with you to help your Pokemon. The toxin you were affected by is called a neurotoxin. It attacks your nerves and causes a numbing or stinging sensation. It might continue to damage your nerves, but if it's only affecting your body by going numb, then you have a lot more time than I thought previously. I apologize for the scare." She bowed as a form of a professional apology.
Now knowing that even if they had to swim there Amber won't actually die but would just be unable to move (which Reggie would take over death anyway), he looked over at Briar to see her still not listening or sort of listening now. Adrianne spoke to her about how fun this was, and while it pulled Reggie's reassuring smile for Amber into a frown, he decided not to bother her about it. Yes, this was serious, but now that Amber's life wasn't exactly in complete danger, neither was her Skiploom's, and they had enough time to get to Fairchild Island to get this herb, he let it go.
Looking back at Amber, he smiled. "Well, if it's not going to kill you, then this simplifies things. Let's take a detour over to Fairchild Island. Actually..." He looked at Nurse Joy. "Any planes nearby that could take a party of four there?"
Nurse Joy hummed a bit, expression going blank as she went behind the counter and pulled out a map. It was a map of Tangelo Island. She seemed to not have expected the question nor seemed willing to give out this information based on her hesitancy, but she went with it nonetheless, pointing to the part of the island near the southeast. "Go to the docks, there's a small city there with a seaplane. We don't have huge commercial planes, but we do have these propeller-based planes. They can hold six people and these seaplanes are preferable because we have a Pokemon Park on the island and they aren't as loud. It may take a couple hours journey to get to Fairchild, but it's preferable to surfing there. They'll have to land on the water, but if you want to come back in a fair amount of time, then you might need to pay the pilot a bit extra to wait for you."
"That won't be a problem." Reggie smiled. He might not look it as he was wearing the tourist equivalent of hiking clothes, but he was rather gifted with money thanks to his parents.
"His attitude might be. Just try not to get him too angry, otherwise he won't want to help you at all." Nurse Joy gave the group an apologetic, uneasy smile, and Reggie sighed.
"Oh... Well, hopefully he won't say no to helping out a young girl." Reggie looked at the group, only for Nurse Joy to sigh and regain his attention.
"Well, hopefully. He used to ferry people around but while he's always available to ferry people now, his fee is quite expensive with a bad attitude to boot. Since we are starting a tour in Pokemon Park pretty soon, the more commercial seaplanes are all being used up to ferry people to and from Tangelo Island for this tourist event, which will happen tomorrow." She then looked away, her face filled with disdain. "Granted, the park isn't open just because a tour is happening, it's always open, but oh well..."
Reggie looked at his group with a confused look, then shrugged. "I'm pretty sure money can make him more agreeable." He looked at the group, now just ready to leave the Pokemon Center. "Alright, the dock shouldn't be too far from here. Just go southeast and follow the shoreline." He then looked at Amber. "I know this is gonna be difficult, but don't freak out too much. I could carry you around, but not having you bedridden because you hyperventilated or something would be preferable." He chuckled slightly, though it was more from pain. "You'll be fine because we'll make sure of it, okay?"
Nakano Saito
Date: June 15 (26yo); 1 Month prior
Location: Solaceon Ruins, 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)
Ezio's naming conventions were pretty funny, but Naka couldn't help that they all dealt with something dangerous or something that dealt with ruin stuff. She furrowed her brow when he said "I was young". He clearly didn't look
that old, why was he saying that? He couldn't be any older than her, right?
Well, if he was, then he's one fine dil-
Anyway, his explanation on traps had Naka raising an eyebrow. Really? Looking at the flooring, it did look like quite a bit of foot traffic came through. The dust that would normally settle onto the floor was uneven, and the floor had some scuff marks. "Makes sense. So, don't go to places with abnormally high levels of dust on the floor." She smiled, at least feeling confident they wouldn't end up anywhere they shouldn't.
Fluffy cuddled closer to Equivocate's back, his tail poofed up beyond measure as he glared into the dark space.
As they took their time walking, the wails did not come. It was unusually silent, as if the Pokemon that were normally seen here were also hiding from whatever was wailing. It made Naka's back of her neck to stand on end.
A wail sounded as they went further down a corridor, sounding much, much louder than it did before, coming from their side, closer to Naka. Fluffy jumped two feet in the air above Equivocate and hissed, growling towards the side as his body glowed brighter. Naka jumped towards Ezio and squealed, only to realize there were tiny holes in the wall. Shaking like a leaf, she chuckled nervously. "Well, that's a reason why we were hearing it sound closer... I wonder where those holes lead to." She shuddered out some words, looking back at Ezio and giving him an apologetic smile. "S-sorry for jumping at you, haha, you okay?"
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: Gwen Tucker and Cobalt the Piplup (IDKWhatUserNameToDo)
Mentions (Snowpoint City): Shiro Skyscale
Note: Hecotoro has left the RPing scene, so he's given me permission to auto Ron and his Pokemon for the time being.
Gwen's celebration and her having her first evolution was quickly overshadowed in Ron's mind by the current situation with Naka's injuries. Her coat's front and side were cut up, showing the stuffing that was tinged a dark red, her white coat stained with this dark red substance. Naka was about to hug Gwen too, her proud smile huge as she saw the now-evolved Prinplup beside her, only to be unable to as pain shot through her stomach. She made sure not to let it show on her face, she just focused on smiling, like it didn't even bother her.
"That's awesome, congratulations! And good job fighting them! I had my own fight to deal with, too." The smile soon turned sad, and Ron glared at her as Gwen asked if she was okay.
"Yeah, at least we came out generally unscathed." It was as if he were chastising her for getting hurt.
Of course, Fluffy whined and Silenus clicked in irritation, staring at Ron for having forgotten the Flareon, but Ron didn't so much as notice. How could he?
Naka did her best to alleviate the worry, though she wasn't sure if Ron would allow that to comfort him. "I fought a good childhood friend of mine, who sadly joined Team Rocket. She tried to kill me, or at least wound me. She fell off a cliff. I'm sure her Pokemon saved her." Furia growled at the thought. Still, the thought she could die from having fallen off Mt. Coronet had her shivering, and not from the cold. "Furia saved my life." She said wistfully, noticing Ron's surprise, but kept going. "I am indebted to her. Regardless, I'm fine now. We dealt with the people making the blizzard worse. And Furia and I found those treads leading to Snowpoint City's lake. Let's get to the city, heal up, and we'll figure out what to do from there. Badge and Rocket stuff." She nodded at Gwen then Ron for their respective goals, earning a scoff from him.
"You won't be doing anything when we get there." He looked at Furia, who mean-mugged him for daring to ask for her opinion about this. She just wanted to get going. They were wasting time.
Naka chuckled. "I am not going to slow you down." She glared at Ron, although any venom in it was absent. "I am helping you, regardless of how hurt I am. I am stronger than that."
Ron was silent, the burning rage within him was something she expected. He wanted to raid the base by himself for nearly losing her. He looked like he wasn't going to take her answer, so she grabbed his shoulders, his body tensing.
"Look, I know I'm hurt. You go in there alone, and they'll be ready for that. I'm sure my ex-friend told them that you two were involved and to expect you there. You go there by yourself, and you will be fighting an uphill battle and I don't want to see you be in a worse state because of your rash need for revenge. At least wait for a day while I recover. I have a Hatterene with Heal Pulse and Life Dew, she can help heal these wounds until I can move somewhat comfortably." She saw the look in Ron's eyes still slightly, as if he was taking in her words. "I know how she works, she uses a lot of preventative measures. We need an initial plan of getting in. Brute forcing your way into this one is only going to be far worse, assuming that the base doesn't move. Which it shouldn't. They need to grab their people before they can keep going. They can't afford to lose their members right now, for as small as they are."
Furia blew out a little ember, clearly irritated that their modus operandi won't work right now. But considering Naka had at least some sense, she would at least wait. The shared look Ron gave her had her growling indignantly before she started to leave the cave, leaving them behind. Naka chuckled, returning Fluffy and grunting as she hopped on Silenus's back. "Alright, let's go. Quick."
Ron nodded, already planning on leaving as soon as they got to the city. While he honestly shouldn't and she was likely correct, he had to deal with this himself in some way. The look he caught Naka giving him had him realizing she might be on to him, but he kept it up as if he would wait for her to recover.
In his mind though, they didn't have a day.
"Fine, I won't." A little white lie never hurt anyone.
With a nod from Naka, she let loose her Infernape, who whimpered as he smelled blood from his human, before looking at Gwen and her Prinplup with a smile. Naka'll be fine. He pointed towards his back with his thumb, wanting her to have a piggy back ride with him as they run across the snow, Ron already leaving to catch up to Furia.
----------------------
Meanwhile, Snowpoint City was bustling as a frigid city would be at the top of the mountain range. The weird machine noises from a few days ago had stopped near their lake, but a quick look with their local police and their Pokemon and there was nothing. However, some crimes that would have been stopped were left to happen. Small things, like petty theft. Some of the criminals involved in more minor crimes seemed to be let off easy or never seen again as they ran into the nearby snowy forests and weren't followed further. It was almost as if the cops were running them out of the city.
Still, besides the eerie feeling that there was something up with the cops, everything was still largely peaceful. The snow blanketed the roads and sidewalks in an amiable amount, Ice-Types walking with their humans with gleeful smiles on their faces, the gym having their participants entering to fight the gym leader, and everything seemed to be going well. The radio would be acting up, some of the channels or direction of their antennae producing static when they normally wouldn't, but given the place was wracked with blizzards this wasn't an uncommon occurrence. It was just happening more often, something that they didn't really think much on. Flash blizzards were a thing that happened whenever an Abomasnow felt even remotely threatened, so not many cared to look into it.
The harsher-than-normal blizzard covering Route 217 and the weird Pokeball jamming signal was recorded and were the talk of the city however. Route 217 were famous for its weather and people getting lost, but this was much different. There was something wrong when they saw this signal, and a Pokemon Ranger that went to check out the area found their Pokeballs were unable to work, and so locked down the south gate to prevent anyone from leaving through Route 217 until the signal was gone.
Once the signal was gone and the blizzard calmed, some of the researchers attributed Coronet's magnetic field compounding the blizzard and causing the Pokeballs to jam in an unseen phenomenon. They found that sometimes this did happen within the Coronet caves whenever a Probopass acted up and magnetized the rocks and metal within the mountain in a specific way to cause electromagnetic signals to affect nearby electrical items and affect the use of Pokeballs. Most people who didn't study this science topic wouldn't think twice about this explanation, however a more quiet group of scientists - armchair or official - found this odd and didn't accept the explanation readily. Regardless, there was an explanation, and the majority of the layman population found solace in it.
Despite the fishy explanations and the conduct of the cops, the city felt rather normal. As the blizzard subsided around Route 217, the gate reopened, allowing people to travel through the route and some rangers came through on Skarmory to look for travelers who were stranded in the snow.
Ron Towers
Date: July 19
Location: Goldenrod City Underground, Johto
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 (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 clerk chuckled as Ozzy tried biting him, letting the Deino softly bite him a few times to let the creature know he didn't mean any harm and to let the Deino identify him before attempting to massage him. He also took the warning bites seriously, avoiding those areas specifically. Cobalt was thankfully much more agreeable despite his tension, and the clerk was able to give Ozzy a back, shoulder, and neck massage. He used oils to better massage and to give a soothing feeling in their muscles to rejuvenate their energy and heal their used muscles, and he also began humming.
Of course, Ron was on edge. Gwen apparently heard it too, judging by her look. He rested against the wall, eyeing the floor. "Gwen, you still have that Rotom Phone?" He didn't remember what happened to it - if he had it or if she did - but hopefully it saw her enough as a friend to get something from it. "You hungry?" He'll talk about this all to Gwen when they leave the Underground. Sadly, he couldn't reminisce like he wanted.
Nakano Saito
Date: July 24 (26yo)
Location: Safari Zone, Johto
Pokemon Team (with Safari Zone Staff): 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), Johnathan (Red Gallade)
Having heard Johnathan's goal, Naka had smiled then. Strong trainer, maybe catch a Legendary if he's lucky. He might be as strong as her. Before the Rapidash came into view, she had responded with one number. "About thirty."
Now that she thought of it, she had quite a few...
Johnathan's cheer and seeing Theo's absolute shock at her chaotic idea had her laughing. The bucking bronco only just started and she rode it like a champ. Her hands had to grip onto trees tightly to better keep herself from falling whenever she had to have a perch to watch a Pokemon, sometimes for a long time before she even saw the specimen. She had an iron grip that took a lot to tire, even as it was being rubbed raw by the shifting rope. Her legs, no matter how raw and sore they were going to be after this, weren't going to tire too quickly either considering she was always on her feet and used them in her climbing and holding her entire body weight. She whooped, patting the Tauros's side. "Hell yeah! Come on, Tauros, is that all ya got? Let's see how strong you are!"
She wanted it to use a fire attack. Raging Bull changed type depending on the type of Tauros using it. Kantonian was Normal-Type. Paldean Combat was Fighting. Paldean Aqua was Water. Paldean Blaze was Fire. She knew this. She wanted to see how strong he was. She had a crazed look in her wide eyes, a challenging shit-eating smirk on her face as she tensed her body and readied to hug the Tauros's body to prevent most of the burns from hitting her. She found that some Fire-Type Pokemon created a shield of fire around them, with some Pokemon having an uncommon ability of having the Fire coming from their body and coating them with minimal space. From what she's seen, the Fire-Type version of Raging Bull looked similar to a Flame Charge, and the fire came from the mane of a Paldean Blaze. If she hugged the back of the Tauros, she should be able to escape 85% of the flames.
She quickly pulled out more of the rope's length and wrapped it around one of her ankles, threw the rope under the Tauros as the beast jumped up, then used its momentum of it coming down to let the rope fly up to grab it and wrap around her other ankle. She then did this again, tying it before the mane to keep the rest of the rope safe and give her something sturdy.
Now that she was completely anchored to the beast's back, she slid back and hugged it, twisting the rope around her hands at the sides as she smelled singed hair, and then the flames erupted from the flames. The Tauros bellowed and charged at a tree, his entire body becoming cloaked in flames, but there was a small space between his back and the field of fire around his body that kept Naka largely safe. She still felt the flames lick painfully at her back and likely burned through some of her clothes, but that was fine. The creature slammed his side into the tree, her arm and leg shifted away from each other to give more room for the tree to hit the Tauros but not her. She continued to do this, readjusting her arms and legs as the Tauros slammed itself on trees and rocks to get her off.
When the Tauros went to flip itself over on its back, she retracted her hand from the rope, pulled out a ball, and slammed it on its side. The Tauros disappeared from under her, the rope burnt and singed as she fell with a dull thump on her back. She was panting with a dazed look on her face and the creature shaking within the Safari Ball. Due to the damage he wracked up on himself, Naka knew she would catch it.
It stopped wiggling and clicked, and she laughed, her arms shooting through the air with a whoop. "MAN, THAT WAS FUN!"
Getting up, she felt around her back and pants to see that - despite her pants being completely fine - the backside of her coat that was tied around her waist was ruined and no longer would help hide her, and her pants and tank top had soot all over them. Her arms and legs suffered some minor burns and the ends of her blonde hair were singed and frayed. But, she had the most fun in a long time, and - after assessing herself and realized she was fine - she skipped over to the two men with a smile. "Alright, so, anything else to catch? You caught your Rhydon," she pointed to Johnathan, "you caught your Tauros and... Rapidash?" She asked with some confusion at Theo when she pointed at him, unsure of the status between him and the horse. "Unless you didn't catch her yet. No trouble if you didn't, some Pokemon just prefer to be wild."
She smiled, then thought about who else to grab. "Hm... I should find a Chikorita and a... Hmm, we'll see when we get there. I heard there's a Chikorita in the forests and grasslands. If I recall, you're looking for something water-based. North of here, there is a section with a large lake with little rocky islands in strewn throughout. You should be able to find lots of Pokemon there."
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 raised an eyebrow when Wilford told the waiter to give them more time. He seemed to like this conversation. It sent a feeling of satisfaction, but like all positive emotions and feelings, it, too, didn't seem to want to stay long. He raised an eyebrow at Wilford's thoughts that battling "clever" wasn't exactly viable. He was about to drink his water when he said that, the grin he had and his dark chuckle had him setting his drink down without drinking it. He didn't want to choke on it. If his Magikarp heard him chuckle, she'd probably shiver and have her Rattled activate. "The skepticism is valid. I didn't think it'd be possible until I watched Wallace perform. He's a Champion of Hoenn whenever Steven Stone isn't in, and in fact is still the current Champion of Hoenn. He uses his contest-styled moves in battle to create unique scenarios and he is at least in the Top 4 of the strongest Champions due to his strategy." Cole also noticed the slight nod towards himself for the indirect reminder, finding himself smirking again before it vanished to a more neutral line.
"You can't just brute force your battles. Having some strategy, whether it be in the moves used and their effects or even finding unique ways to use those moves can win yourself a battle, even at a disadvantage. You'd be doing yourself a favor if you didn't think about battle so linearly." He spoke about it with such a tone as if he was imploring him to at least open his mind to the idea, not as an insult to his intelligence but hoping he would take the advice and see it through if it was good for him or not. "But, no biggie if you don't want to. But at least keep in mind that your opponents may use contest-viable strategies against you. Not all contest-viable techniques are flashy for the sake of looking pretty. Combining moves seemingly not of their intended purpose can cause your battlefield to change and put your Pokemon in a bind. Too bad none of my Pokemon can do that yet." Disdain flashed across his face as he looked away, the reassuring tone towards Wilford for not taking his advice to show he wasn't bothered by it melted quickly into one of contempt as he spoke of the inabilities of his Pokemon, his last words sounding almost harsh as if he were disappointed in them.
Already, he was growing anxious to get it done quickly, his fingers tapping his napkin soundlessly and in quick succession, his gaze intense as he thought. With him only looking at the space beside Wilford, he might be able to see the dark, intense look. It gave a few patrons who were unfortunately in the way of his gaze a shiver.
