Cascadia

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MarbleZone

With takkupanda less active for now, and some of my other updatees replying more slowly than others, I can squeeze in one last person. So welcome, ApertureScience, who may or may not be Tyoyo! :P Hopefully you like your adventure, and if there’s something about my writing style that you don’t like, let me know.

Again, if it seems you’ve been thrown in a random battle, it’s not the case. All battles in my updates have clear purposes, so please bear with them even if it isn’t your favourite thing! The plot thickens later. :P

Lily Island

The Silver Forest
jolteonjak: ((It’s okay, but it’s very important to the plot that you already have the Rocket Ball and Fire Ball in your inventory at this point – whether or not we consider them occupied or not isn’t relevant, just the items themselves if that’s okay. Also, please let me know how many Pokemon you brought to this adventure considering the timeline, for future reference.))

You figure the best – and perhaps only – way out is to reason with the native. After all, making a run for it while surrounded by buffalos didn’t exactly sound like a great plan.

As you slowly address the man to make sure he understands what you’re saying, his eyes remain locked on you, expressionless. When you’re done talking, he spits on the ground and speaks back – perfectly fluently.

- Patronizing idiot of a Trainer. You judge me for my appearance, treat me like an ape? I can speak your language just fine, I am no savage. Would a savage land two arrows with pinpoint precision to stop you on your tracks? – he asks, his lips forming a proud grin. – Would a savage write you two messages that clearly told you to stay away?

He motions his hand forward, and his Bouffalant charges with unbelievable speed for a beast of its size. Your eyes widen as you realize its aiming straight for your tree with no intention of slowing down… and it doesn’t, as it Head Charges the tree with frightening strength! You lose your balance and tumble down to the floor below hard, a stinging pain running through your body as the right side of your ribcage meets the ground. Heracross can’t hold on either and falls as well, barely having time to spread his wings before crashing down.

The Bouffalant now towers over you ominously; its rider dismounts and kneels in front of you, not the least bit fazed by your injury.

- You should have left. I gave you fair warning. We don’t want outsiders snooping around, disrupting our peace. But you’re not the first Trainer to disregard our missives, and you won’t be the last I stomp to death. You should nev… What?

His eyes shift from you to your belt. Reaching out to it, he takes the Rocket Ball and Fire Ball and gazes at them in disbelief.

- These Pokeballs… How did you come by these? They’re… they’re exclusive to them! It’s impossible… Are you one of them?! Answer me!

With no idea what he’s talking about, and the sheer pain you’re in making it impossible to talk back, you leave him with no answer for now. But the answer wouldn’t have mattered, as he hastily – and effortlessly – picks you up and lays you on Bouffalant’s back, then hops back on it as well and motions for the herd to follow him. Barely conscious, you watch as you’re taken away and Heracross is left behind, hurt on the ground, unable to give chase…

----

You’ve practically lost track of time by now, but you can’t have been riding for more than half an hour before you reach what seems the outside wall of a village, tall and made of round, vertically arranged logs ending in a spiked tip. The pain isn’t getting any better as the ride wasn’t exactly smooth, but it’s manageable now. You hear your captor talk to somebody.

- Let us through. I caught someone he’ll want to see.

Once past the gates, it’s like a whole different world. People with similar skin tone and garments as the one that captured you start to flock toward you, looking with curiosity at you while the Bouffalant rider takes you… somewhere. Being the target of indiscrete stares while mangled on top of a buffalo isn’t really making you comfortable, but fortunately it seems you reach your destination soon as the whole herd stops moving.

You feel yourself being lifted again and placed on the floor this time, and you find it’s difficult to keep your balance after the bumpy ride and the ribs still nagging. Making a run for it is once again impossible, as the injury wouldn’t let you go very far, and even if you were healthy, the man looks so athletic that he’d catch up to you in seconds. You have no option but to go where you’re told for now. If only Heracross were here…

- Inside. Now.

You realize you’re standing in front of a very large and colorful tent. The scent emanating from inside reminds you of incense, actually quite pleasant. Without much of a choice, you walk inside, followed closely by the large man.

Once inside the tent, you marvel at what you see. Dozens of candles lit, several incense burners, golden statuettes of multiple Pokemon… In the centre there is a long wooden red table with gold decorations, and at the far end of the table sits an old man, that slowly gets up as he sees you. A very old man, judging by his appearance: a long white beard covers most of his face, but he’s completely bald. His skin tone is noticeably lighter than that of the other natives, and his eyes are dark brown. His frame is small compared to the man that captured you, but he might still be slightly taller than you. Muscles are mostly nonexistent, as he’s practically all skin and bone – again, in stark contrast with your captor. He wears a long crimson toga, and a bead necklace like the others. His gives you a long, inquisitive look, and waits for an explanation.

- Saint, I found this man in the woods; he failed to heed my warning so I engaged him, and was about to dispose of him when something caught my attention…

The man steps forward, and places the Rocket Ball and Fire Ball on the table before bowing respectfully and stepping back again. The elder picks them up in silence and twirls them in his fingers, studying the Pokeballs with evident interest. Then, returning them to you instead of the man, he places a hand on your shoulder and smiles.

- I see. You may be quite the special man, you know. Good find, Baro.

He motions for you sit down as he does the same. Baro remains standing and looks troubled.

- Saint, then is he truly?...

- A User, yes, I believe it so. It would not have been possible for him to obtain these items otherwise, unless he murdered a true User, which… he doesn’t seem like the kind of man that would do so.

The elder turns his attention to you again, still smiling.

- Well? Did you steal those special Pokeballs, or were they… given to you? Perhaps by a “higher power”? I know, I know you cannot speak of them. In fact, you may not even be able to describe them, or yourself, even if you wanted to… Ah yes, a true User. A Trainer who owns unique items, given to him by the overseers of his adventures. A Trainer with the power – or better, permission – to teach his Pokemon companions maneuvers that no regular Trainer could… Do you know what I speak of? Tell me, what is your name, User?

He retrieves a vial from a drawer in the table and hands it over to you.

- Drink. It’ll help with your injuries. You must forgive Baro, he’s an impeccable hunter but not much of a… people person. Now, I know this must all be daunting, and I’m sure you have questions. So please ask, and I’ll answer to the best of my ability.

This “Saint” seems to have good intentions. And more importantly, he’s said a number of things that are worth your attention; he seems to know a lot more about the world of Fizzy Bubbles than the common mortal should...

What do you do?!

---

OOC: I believe when I started, I only had Cyndaquil, Heracross, and Numel. Numel is definitely in the Rocket Ball, so we'll go with just the three of them.

Chad awoke in immense pain, and he noticed he was on the back of a Bouffalant. He must have fallen out of the tree when the Bouffalant struck it. Perhaps he should not have spoken to the man the way he did. He wasn't sure why he took his Rocket Ball containing his Numel and his Fire Ball, but now he was down two of his three Pokemon. There was not much he could do currently due to the pain and the sheer number of Bouffalant that accompanied the man. All he could do was watch his Heracross lying on the ground unable to rescue one another.

After some unknown amount of time, Chad, the man, and his Bouffalant arrived at the wood walled entrance to his village. Chad could just lift his head to see the pointed wooden posts that serve as the village's walls. He heard the man mention bringing him to see another. He wondered why. He looked around the village while they continued towards their destination. There were more people of the same skin tone as his captor, and they stared back at the stranger on laying on the back of the Bouffalant. Finally, the herd stopped. The man dismounted and lifted Chad off and stood him on the ground. He felt a little imbalanced after being draped over the Bouffalant for so long. No thought of escape ever entered Chad's mind, as the thought of quickly being caught by this muscular man did not appeal to him. He thought he would go along with things until he had more information. Then he would go find Heracross.

The man pushed Chad into a large tent. Inside, he saw many candles and incense burners. There were many golden statues of Pokemon all over the room. His focus was drawn to the center to an old man sitting behind a table. He was noticeably smaller in stature than the man who captured Chad. His skin color was also lighter than his captor's, than the rest of the village too. The old man studied Chad for quite a while.

"Saint, I found this man in the woods;" the man began to speak, "he failed to heed my warning so I engaged him, and was about to dispose of him when something caught my attention…" He approached the table and presented Chad's Rocket Ball and Fire Ball. After studying the two Pokeballs extensively, the elder returned them to Chad.

"I see. You may be quite the special man, you know," he spoke. The elder gestured to Chad to have a seat. "Good find, Baro." That didn't comfort the man, as he still looked bothered by something.

"Saint, then is he truly?" Baro asked.

"A User, yes, I believe it so," Saint replied. "It would not have been possible for him to obtain these items otherwise, unless he murdered a true User, which… he doesn’t seem like the kind of man that would do so." Chad focused on Saint, listening intently, trying to understand what was going on. The whole time he spoke, he seemed relieved.

"Well?" Saint turned to face Chad. "Did you steal those special Pokeballs, or were they… given to you? Perhaps by a “higher power”? I know, I know you cannot speak of them. In fact, you may not even be able to describe them, or yourself, even if you wanted to… Ah yes, a true User. A Trainer who owns unique items, given to him by the overseers of his adventures. A Trainer with the power – or better, permission – to teach his Pokemon companions maneuvers that no regular Trainer could… Do you know what I speak of? Tell me, what is your name, User?" Chad shook his head after hearing Saint's questions.

"My name is Chad," he began explaining his story. "I came to Silver Forest with my Heracross to celebrate his birthday." Chad held out his Rocket Ball and the Fire Ball. "As for those two Pokeballs, I received an alternately-colored Numel as a trade from a friend recently. He's inside the Rocket Ball. The Fire Ball is empty, but one of my friends has a golden Torkoal that he was planning to trade to me when I see him next. I'm not sure what a User is, but I did not obtain my Numel or the Fire Ball in any dishonorable way."

Saint took a vial from a drawer in the table and handed it over to Chad. "Drink," he said. "It’ll help with your injuries. You must forgive Baro, he’s an impeccable hunter but not much of a… people person. Now, I know this must all be daunting, and I’m sure you have questions. So please ask, and I’ll answer to the best of my ability."

Chad looked at the vial. He questioned to himself whether or not to trust Saint. Afterall, he was the one Baro delievered him to. For all he knew Saint could have handed him some poison! 'Then again,' Chad thought, 'if he was trying to poison him, would he really have given back his Pokeballs?' The pain he was feeling got the better of him, so Chad decided to drink the vial's contents. He figured he could get the information he was after while whatever he drank went to work.

"First, may I ask what I drank?" It seemed like a good question to ask. "Do you have any information about what a User is? Is something the matter here that I may be able to help out with? It's the least I could do for trespassing on your land. Also, I have a Heracross that was left in the forest when I was taken here. I said I would help out, but I must request to go find my friend first. He was injured from a fall, and I'm worried for his safety." Chad turned to Baro. "I apologize for speaking to you the way I did. I should not have assumed anything."



Stats

I’m welcoming Emp to the group in this batch! Hope you enjoy your adventure, and let me know if there’s something you don’t like about my style so I can work on it.

Also, I've been unusually tired from work this past week and I'll admit - I skimmed while proofreading. If there are any grave grammar mistakes, or some sentences look awkward, let me know! I really don't like to half-ass things, but it's likely that I missed some stuff in this batch. Sorry if that's the case. :/

----

Aduro Island

Geyser Park

Hayward: In a sudden moment of inspiration, you decide to at least try to minimize the casualties, refusing to accept a scenario where someone gets left behind. Banking everything on the chance that Teddiursa is a wild Pokemon, you pick a rare Chocolate Ball and pray that this works as you hop back on Skarméo to simultaneously rescue the man.

Your Skarmory skillfully maneuvers around the falling boulders, making it exceedingly hard to aim at Teddiursa in the process. As a particularly large rock falls just next to you as you were about to throw the Ball, you’re forced to postpone the attempt lest you fall off the bird’s back. But time’s running out, as the entire cave is about to collapse!

Skarméo grabs the man by his shoulders with her large talons; however, lifting him up with you already riding on her back proves challenging for the Skarmory, who for a brief moment seems unable to fly back up, seconds that look like decades as rubble keeps falling all around you. You see it as an opportunity to attempt the throw, and hurl the Pokeball as hard as you can across over the fissure, hitting the tiny cub and pulling it inside. However, before you can witness the result, the tunnel gives in and a number of large rocks come crashing down on the place where Teddiursa stood, making it impossible to spot the Chocolate Ball…

From then on, everything happens way too quickly. Skarméo finally manages to take flight again, carrying both of you, putting her under enormous strain as she dodges most of the rubble as best she can. Immediately behind you the entire tunnel gives in, collapsing at alarmingly fast rate, with the Sarmory just barely staying ahead of the cave-in. Again her natural instincts, stemming from her past life as a wild Pokemon of Aduro Island, start to kick in, as if she knows exactly where to go. And just as it seems you’ll be crushed under the enormous boulders falling all around you, the bird spots a crevice on the ceiling leading outside – no doubt a large fissure that formed after this last earthquake. Flapping her metal wings as hard as she can, she heads for the crack on the tunnel ceiling, managing to pass through just as you duck and hold on to her neck as hard as you can – the hole seems too small to pass through, but somehow, some way, she pulls it off. You feel a sharp pain on your back as Skarméo flies through the crevice, a sharper rocky edge leaving a large cut, though fortunately not too deep, between your shoulder blades. And the next thing you know, you’re tumbling down hard, your Pokemon unble to fly any higher… but you’re on solid ground. Shoulder and back badly hurt, bleeding, but alive – as well as the man you rescued. Skarméo lies on the floor not far from you, eyes shut, having blacked out from exhaustion. You close your eyes shut for a split second, just a second to regroup, that’s all you need… just a minute… just ten minutes…

----

The sun shines bright and painful to your eyes. You try to move; you can’t. The pain coursing through your left arm and back won’t allow it. You feel the clothes pressed between your skin and the rocky soil moist, the cut must be bleeding. You look around confused, still laying face-up on the ground… It’s still daytime, so you can’t have been out for too long. Then, a child’s voice. At first imperceptible, but soon you realize what it says; one word.

- Dad? Dad! Daaad!!

Struggling to roll over to your right side, you indeed spot a young boy kneeling over the man you rescued. He’s still passed out, and the kid is trying to wake him up. His son, no doubt. Next to him is an older woman, looking on with great concern, possibly his wife. She looks you’re your way; seeing you awake, she rushes toward you with the angriest expression you’ve ever seen on a woman before.

- What have you done to him?! Answer me!!

Oh boy. This seems to be a fine day for misunderstandings; first the man, now his wife! Before you can answer, another, more familiar voice echoes through the air. An alarmed, painful “Skaaaaaaaar!”. To the left of the boy you spot Skarméo, still grounded, and pinned down by a relatively small Kangaskhan who’s having no trouble keeping the wounded bird on the ground. It seems she was made captive by the family’s Pokemon to ensure she wouldn’t harm them…

- What did you do to my husband? What did you do to him?!

The woman kneels down and slaps you across the face with tears in her eyes. While the pain is nothing compared to what you’ve been through already, it’s enough to make your blood boil, after all you went through to save that bastard…

Weakened, in dire need of medical treatment and fearing for the safety of Skarméo, as well as wondering, in the back of your mind, if the Teddiursa ever made it, your next words to the woman – and how convincing you sound – will be critical in deciding whether you’ll earn her help… or be left for dead.

What do you do?


Aduron Chasm

takkupanda: Look here


Ruin Island

Amor Temple

Stark: Awaiting your edits to the latest reply.


Lily Island

The Red Forest

PikaGod: Look here


The Silver Forest

hen da man: Look here


King Ghidorah: Look here


jolteonjak: Your reluctance is entirely understandable – brought into a stranger’s tent, offered a weird concoction with no explanation about its effects, and asked a number of questions that you don’t quite understand all of a sudden are more than enough reason to rise your suspicion.

As politely as you can, you ask the man known as Saint what is you drank, to which Baro promptly intervenes.

- It is one of Saint’s secrets; using his divine knowledge, he has created a Potion for humans, akin to that widely used on Pokemon.

The old man smiles at Baro’s immediate answer and looks at you.

- It’s simply a medicinal beverage I’ve created using a particular selection of Berries that I discovered to have healing properties in humans. Your pain will ease up in a little while, please be patient.

With your mind somewhat more at rest, even though you’re curious about what Baro meant by “divine knowledge”, you inquire about the meaning of “Users” – the term is largely foreign to you in context, but Saint’s questions troubled you.

The old man again opens the drawer on the table and retrieves an item, laying it on the table for you to see. The object is very familiar to you, but you onder how he can possibly have come across since the only way to own one was…

- This is a Magical Glass Rose. By the look in your eyes, I’d say you’re acquainted with it, which further proves my point. Users are just that… Trainers who know more than a regular one should.

You get the feeling he is intentionally holding back information, but something tells you you know what he’s getting at…

- You may not realize it yet, but you’re part of something far greater than you can imagine, and far older than you’ve been told. A select number of Trainers, not only in Cascadia but the entire land of Fizzy Bubbles, have been blessed since ages long past with the ability to wield particular items that most others don’t even know exist. Had I shown this Glass Rose to any other Trainer, they would have dismissed it as an ornament; but you know better, you’re familiar with its purpose.

He turns his attention to the big man still standing near the entrance.

- Baro, take our guest to the Old Wall. Maybe he’ll understand, like you did.

Baro stiffened up for a brief moment, taken by surprise.

- Saint, are you?.... Yes, Saint.

The old man put the Magical Glass Rose away and smiled at you once more.

- Go with Baro. There’s something important you need to see if you’re to comprehend the magnitude of your role in this land. Until you do, there is little you can assist me with, but return here after you’ve been to the Old Wall, if you so wish. I might have something to ask of you then.

Baro motions for you to leave the tent, bowing to Saint before exiting himself. The day is warm outside, and a number of people are still gathered around the tent looking at you with great interest, much to your discomfort. Baro disperses the crowd and starts walking quickly with impressively large steps, as you struggle to keep up with him. You walk past the gates where you had come in from earlier on the Boufallant, and you wonder why you can’t ride the bull Pokemon again this time around.

After what seems like half an hour of walking in complete silence through the forest outside the village, seemingly moving away from it, you decide to remind Baro about Heracross. Going back to get him was still your top priority, and it seems Saint had overlooked that part of your request. Baro stops and answers dryly, without even turning around.

- Saint believes you’re a User. If he’s right, then you have nothing to worry about; your Pokemon will find you wherever you are if you know how to call it. But you see…

Only now does he turn to face you, an angry look on his face.

- I think Saint is wrong about you. You’re nothing remarkable, just another trespasser like so many before; the fact you happen to own those Pokeballs proves nothing about you. Saint’s been waiting so long for a true User to come about that I think it’s taken its toll on his judgment. Because there is no way…

He brings his fingers to his lips and whistles, a melodic, unnatural tune unlike anything you’ve ever heard echoing throughout the woods. You never knew whistling could sound like that. And suddenly, you feel a weak tremor beneath your feet as the ground begins to shake.

- … there is no way you’re the same as me!!

From the ground directly in front of Baro emerges a large Excadrill, menacingly spreading its claws as it looks your way.

- Prove me wrong boy, and I’ll accept you as a User. I’ll even teach you how to summon your Heracross and take you to the Old Wall! But if you fall to me, and you will, I’ll return to Saint with proof that you’re not all he hopes you to be.

This is a clear challenge to a battle. The only way you’re getting Baro to trust you is by proving your worth to him, and you can already tell this isn’t going to be easy…

What do you do?


Crater Island

Iridi Beach

kaisap112: You realize that, early in the match as it may be, the setup is entirely in favour of Ninetales: the sunshine and the burn are details in of themselves, but when played to their advantages they can turn the match around. As such, you immediately try to counteract the weather conditions to even the playing field.

Amelia’s Solstice stands motionless as it hears your instructions to Kitty. Your Skitty instantly complies and waggles her tail in a complex pattern, as clouds begin to gather overhead. Just then, the Ninetales seems to spot an opening and dashes forward with a Quick Attack that connects head-on, partially disrupting Kitty’s dance and slowing the clouds’ gathering.

Kitty gets back to her feet, having taken light damage from the assault, and begins to charge up electricity in her body. Solstice is intent on interrupting her again and her arches her head back, flames escaping her mouth and nostrils as she prepares to unleash a powerful Fire attack, no doubt!

- Let’s go dear, show her who she’s dealing with, roast that little bitch!

Amelia Vas Hengel seems to lose her composure once again, enthralled in the emotion of battle, even if she is still to issue a single command on her own. It becomes more and more apparent that she’s just going along with the flow of the match, entirely dictated by her Pokemon, which is quite unusual…

The Ninetales launches its head forward, ready to unleash its attack, but this time around Kitty proves faster and lets loose a wicked Thunderbolt that scores a direct hit, making the Ninetales yell in pain and aimlessly release its Fire Blastinto the sky, where it explodes in a beautiful, fortunately inconsequential display of pyrotechnics.

Kitty seems proud of herself, jumping excitedly, but you notice her panting. The Thunderbolt drained a considerable amount of energy, not to mention most of her Electric reserves; a shame she wasn’t allowed to summon the rain faster, as it would have been all the more devastating on a wet opponent, but it was still a small victory – the failed Fire Blast took its toll on Solstice as well, as you notice the Ninetales gasping for air.

Remembering the last part of your instructions, Kitty runs forward and speeds up, surrounding herself with a black aura before disappearing briefly and reappering right next to the fox, connecting with a second Faint Attack that makes the opponent lose its balance temporarily and fall on its hind legs.

- Wh-what?! You stupid little kid! Do you have any idea how much this Ninetales is worth?! Don’t… don’t you dare keep this up, I’m warning you!!

Amelia’s battle skills maybe be doubtful by now, but even she can tell that the match is no longer going her way. Solstice took way more damage than Kitty this turn and lost its footing, not to mention the weather advantage, as the rainclouds finally gather and grow enough for a faint drizzle to begin falling. Another Burn suddenly makes Kitty’s fur ignite briefly before subsiding, making her screech in pain, but the rain appears to ease the pain somewhat. It seems you have an opening now, the tide has definitely turned!

What do you do?


Brine Island

Salin City

Arc_Angel & lilbluecorsola: The buzz around you dies down along with the flames, most curious bystanders already gone to carry on with their lives. The rain begins to let up as well, and slowly but steadily, the curtain closes on the horrific scene. You have no idea how many casualties there were, but if not for your quick thinking, that number could have been at least five people higher.

The police is still on-site, although their attitude toward you has changed considerably – several of them pass by and mutter an embarrassed “thanks”, “good job” or simply throw you a quick look of admiration before resuming their activities, now largely reduced to cataloguing evidence and rushing to deliver equipment from the nearby vans to the POLTs inside the building for their investigation.

Felicia’s father has begged for your forgiveness and offered to provide any explanation you may want, and life-threatening as it was, the events brought about by the girl’s less-than-healthy state of mind picked your curiosity. Stacey agrees to listen to the old man, half-heartedly joking about a towel to lighten the mood, but he seems to take it seriously.

- Absolutely, it should have been my foremost concern! I apologize for my lack of manners… please come to my house, you should be in dire need of a bath and shelter after what you went through because of my daughter… I won’t take no for an answer! And I promise to explain everything once you’ve made yourselves more comfortable.

The invitation catches you off-guard. Both of you have travelled enough to know better, to be wary of strangers no matter how harmless they may seem… but this old man seems genuinely invested in repaying you for the trouble Felicia caused, and you find the young woman staring at you with a warm smile – a radical change in posture, come to think of it, from the frightened and confused girl of mere moments ago.

- Daddy, we’re having visitors? It’s been forever since we’ve had anybody over!! Oh please, you must accept!

She walks over to you, holding Stacey’s hand and pulling gently, as if encouraging to come along, smiling all the while. Just like a little girl…

You look at one another, hesitating briefly. But it’s obvious that the only way you’ll be getting answers is by complying for now, and you really could use a warm bath and some towels… Nodding, you decide to accept the invitation. Somehow, it just doesn’t feel right to leave the man alone with his daughter in this state anyway…

The four of you walk slowly, mostly due to the man’s pace, but at least it’s a much-welcome moment of tranquility. All the while your eyes keep turning to Felicia, who still seems delighted with your company – as if the previous events never happened. She playfully talks to Dwemer and Kristen, remarking she had never seen a live Golett before and how the Snorunt looked positively adorable with her artist gear on. The father, meanwhile, won’t take his eyes off of Felicia either, a look of concern clearly visible in his face. You can only imagine what kind of torment it must be for him to endure her erratic behaviour every day…

It’s well past dusk by the time you arrive. The air feels chilly, all the more so while blowing on wet clothes and skin. Felicia’s father invites you inside, closing the door behind him as he asks you to make yourselves comfortable. The front door leads to the living room, it seems, with a door on the far wall leading to another division and a staircase to your right giving access to the second floor.

- Welcome to our home. The bathroom is on the second floor, first door to your right. Feel free to take your time, and if you need a change of clothes, Felicia may have something that fits you… I’ll get to work on supper in the meantime, if you’d care to join us. It’s the least I can offer after what we put you through, and we’ll be able to talk calmly over at dinner.

Felicia excuses herself and goes up the stairs to her own room. Her father heads to the kitchen, the division beyond the living room where you are now, leaving the two of you alone. You’re now free to discuss what to do next, or each of you can do as you prefer: take up the offer for a warm bath, dry clothes and a meal, go take a look around the house by yourselves, talk to either Felicia or the old man or simply leave altogether.

What do you do?


empoleon_dynamite: You see the opportunity to ask the old man about the event. After all, "original Gym Leaders" had a nice ring to it...

Turning around to face you, the man smiles; then, retrieving a pair of sunglasses from his pocket, he puts them on and clears his throat.

- Well, new blood wants to test his mettle against the veterans, heh? Well, it's been a while since I've done this, but... Hello! I'm Clyde. I used to be the guide for Trainers challenging the Pokémon Gym. Take this to commemorate the occasion!

Suddenly, he dashes toward a nearby vending machine, he pops in a few coins and selects an item. Then, running back to you, he hands you a Fresh Water.

- Used to have more of these at hand, you know. I'm retired now, so... oh well. If you lose, you owe me 20 coins for the bottle.

He removes his sunglasses again and points at the counter some feet away from where you're standing, where several people are gathered and a good number is walking away with a disappointed look in their faces.

- Head over there and apply for registration. Heard they have some demanding criteria though... you can't just have anyone taking the Gym Leaders' precious time. They only accept some Trainers... why don't you go try your luck?

Saying goodbye to Clyde, you hurry over to the counter. After waiting a good fifteen minutes in line, your turn arrives; the person before you had apparently been rejected as well...

-Hello sir. Here for the Gym Challenge, yes? You need to meet some requirements, I'm afraid. First, we require an official Pokedex. Please place it on the counter. Next, you need to own at least two official Beginner Battle Trophies and one Advanced Battle Trophy. If you have these, please place them next to your Pokedex. Lastly, you will need to register a team of six Pokemon to enter the competition with - all of which at Level 50 or above. If you meet these requirements, please register them in the computer to your left.

The lady then hands you a pen and paper.

- And when you're done, please fill in this form.

You glance at the paper; it consists of three simple questions, amidst all the bureaucratic text and emblems:

"1) What are your favourite and least favourite Pokemon Type?
2) What are your preferred and least preferred terrain for battle?
3) What are your preferred and least preferred battle styles - Single, Double or Triple Battle?"

The selection criteria are indeed very strict... If you still meet all the requirements, show them to the woman at the counter and fill out the form to proceed!


Ion Island

Storm Lake

Myahoo: You’ve had just about enough of Cam’s speeches, that although predictable still hit home in unnerving fashion. You begin to wonder if he’s saying all those things just to spite you and make you lose focus, or just the opposite.

Whichever the reason, you realize you’ll have to pull out the big guns soon if you’re going to beat a fully evolved Ampharos who already has a distinct advantage so early on in the match. Wildfire is looking around, disoriented, desperately trying to sort out the mess in his head… but the soft sand seems so appealing, so inviting to bury his snout in again…

Cam’s Ampharos begins to charge up electricity, small blue sparks escaping its body, indicating a different kind of charge – it’s preparing to release Thunder Wave, and if it connects, the combination of paralysis and confusion will certainly prove too much to overcome.

As the opponent releases the blue jolt of electric current, you yell at your Cyndaquil to snap out of it and fight back with Heat Wave. The plea seems to make it through, as Wildfire inhales deeply and blows a wave of blazing-hot wind at Ampharos. The mass of heated-up air is strong enough to dispel the electric wave and travels all the way toward Ampharos, who can’t dodge it due to having begun charging up for Thunder already, scoring a direct hit on the Electric-Type for considerable damage!

Cam smiles at the outcome, but doesn’t issue any new commands. Ampharos resumes charging up for his strongest attack, the sand around its feet rising and floating as if magnetically-charged (which it likely is), signaling the immense electrical power building up inside your opponent…

You plan to carry on with your strategy, moving in at close range with Wild Charge, but the although the first order had been successful, the string of instructions proves too much for the confused Cyndaquil, who just can’t remember what he was supposed to do next. You watch in horror as Ampharos unleashes a massive Thunder that travels at frightening speed toward Wildfire, arching in the air before crashing down on your Pokemon, whipping up a large amount of sand around it.

As the dust settles, you look on worried sick, wondering what the attack might have done to your poor Cyndaquil… only to discover him hurt, but still hanging on just fine! How?...

Just then, you hear Cam laugh. Genuine laughter too, not the sarcastic type... You take a while to realize what’s going on, but when you do, a smile involuntarily forms on your lips as well. Wildfire’s snout is buried deep in the sand, and it acted as a ground! In his confusion, it seems he failed to resist the urge to play in the sand like earlier, and his long nose probably helped drive most of the current into the electrified sand, dispersing it and only somewhat hurting your Cyndaquil. And it seems Cam has loosened up a bit too, at least for the moment…

It was a lucky break, but it means you still have a fighting chance, especially when you realize Wildfire is looking at you expectantly, awaiting a new set of orders – he snapped out of confusion!

With this new opportunity to turn the tide in your favour, you have to think carefully about your next orders. The opponent has taken more damage overall, but both Pokemon are healthy enough to go on for a while longer. Ampharos has the size and power advantage, but you can seemingly use the terrain to your advantage and Wildfire might just have the edge in terms of speed…

What will you do now?


Glacier Island

Boreal Wastelands

Trepie: The choice is evident to you; the closest you’ll get to guaranteeing Pandora’s survival is by relying on these men. Reluctant, you wait for them to wrap up whatever it is that they came to do, mentally yelling at them to hurry it up…

You watch your two unexpected saviours while they maneuver around the dead Beartic they unearthed. One of them drops to his knees and pulls a knife from one of the suit’s pockets, then proceeds to scalpel a small area on the bear’s front legs, severing hair from flesh and storing it a small plastic container that the other man hands him. Then, he cuts off a portion of the exposed flesh and places it in a separate container. They work in complete silence, and their coordination makes it obvious they’ve been doing this for a while – but it still stirs all sorts of doubts and concerns in your head. Was that kind of procedure what they planned to do with Pandora too?!

The men return to the snowmobile soon afterwards. Motioning for you to get on, one of them starts the engine as the other sits directly behind him. You do the same, sitting at the far end of the snowmobile, wary of falling during the ride back to whatever they were headed. But it had to be done, for your Cloyster’s sake.

The journey itself is mostly quiet; the two men don’t address you at all, for what seems like a good thirty minutes of riding. You take a look at your surroundings, familiar from your background. The Glacier Island spreads as far as the eye can see all around you, a frozen plains of lifeless silence; the sky above, still painted by the aurora from before, with its undulating green hue, seems more alive than the land beneath it. And yet, when that notion last crossed your mind, you were attacked by three hungry bears. You quickly dismiss the thought lest you’re proven wrong again.

- Funding’s not gonna last forever if all we retrieve are remains of dead Pokemon. It’s been an entire week like this!

- Yeah, well, like you said, Beartic DNA is resistant. Guys down at Lab C can prime it for research.

- It ain’t the quality of the samples I’m worried about, it’s the amount of tissue. Priming only gets you so far, PCR doesn’t account for intra-species variations, let alone sporadic mutations, and end-product viability depends on how stable it remains in the event it mutates. You know the suits want us to get results faster; we need live specimens, no way around it.

The men sound thoroughly disappointed by their latest trip, it seems. And while the topic remains uncomfortable to you, you notice they don’t bring up Pandora; for what it’s worth, it seems they intend to uphold their end of the bargain and simply nurse it back to health. If that’s the case, maybe you can be at ease.

After a while, you spot something in the distance; several structures standing out in the middle of the empty plains. As you approach them, you realize they’re tents – huge tents, surrounded by an iron fence all around, establishing a considerably large perimeter. The snowmobile passes through the open gates as two men, equally clad in orange, close it behind you.

You’re now standing in the middle of the campsite; several people move around hurriedly, some wearing orange suits, others lab coats, and some others in what seems like a military outfit. One such man comes to meet the three of you as the driver switches off the snowmobile’s engine. As he salutes your rescuers, you take a better look at him – probably in his sixties by now, he wears a dark green uniform with a camo pattern and three medals across the chest. White hair shows beneath his peaked cap, and he sports an impressive moustache. There’s an aura of authority about him, made all the more evident when the two explorers stand at attention at his salute.

- At ease, men. Any news?

- Nothing good, sir. I’m afraid we only turned up some more samples… dead Beartic this time. Although it probably wasn’t a natural death this time.

You catch on to their meaning as one of them motions with his head toward you. The man in military uniform turns his attention to you for the first time.

- Oh? Seems dead remains wasn’t all you picked up.

- No sir. This young man was on site when we arrived. He needs assistance with a wounded Pokemon, it’s all we know.

The older man gives you a long, silent look. His expression is unreadable, but the tone of voice with which he addresses the men hints annoyance.

- Nebula doesn’t do charity work, Doctor. Unless we suddenly got permission to research human DNA and I wasn’t briefed. Be that as it may… how many Beartic were there?

- Th-three, s-sir…

- I see. And his Pokemon’s condition?

- A Cloyster, s-sir. Critical. Shell won’t open.

The military man walks over to you and extends a hand with a faint smile. Or is it a grin?...

- Seems you might be a blessing in disguise after all. I am Comander James Kessler, overseer of this little project and Chief Officer for ground missions. Now, it seems to me we have something you need… and you might have something that we require in exchange.

The man you handed Pandora to steps forward and hands Commander Kessler the Pokeball.

- We’ll be going on a field mission soon; as you might have pieced together by now, our research requires live Pokemon to be successful. None are harmed, and we release them back in the wild when done, if you’re the type to be concerned about those things. But we simply cannot remain in activity without some specific specimens to resume the studies. What I require from you, in exchange for nursing your Cloyster back to health, is your collaboration in capturing these Pokemon. Someone who defeated three Beartic on his own is likely more capable than a good number of these imbeciles I got stuck with.

Twirling Pandora’s Pokeball in his fingers, he looks at you awaiting an answer.

- What do you say? Make no mistake about it – if you refuse, your Pokemon dies. I know what my men mean by “critical condition”, it’s not just an expression. Our medics are trained and equipped to resolve these situations, but the only way they’ll admit an outside Pokemon is with military-grade clearance, so…

The offer for help still stands, but you can’t ignore that you’re practically being coerced into accepting Commander Kessler’s terms. While accepting to hunt down wild Pokemon for research purposes – especially not knowing what kind of research – sounds unethical, playing along seems like the only way of assuring Pandora’s survival. On the other hand, the Commander did make it seem like nobody will be harmed, and maybe this research does serve a noble cause… You clearly weren’t offered enough details to make an informed decision, but how much leeway do you have anyway? Could you perhaps try to bargain your way around, or is it better to just play along for now?

What do you do?


Silver Ocean

Auronos Caverns

ApertureScience: You feel it’s your duty to explain what really went down, lest Sean mistakes you for a more formidable Trainer than you actually are. Not everyone would have chosen to be truthful in this situation, and fortunately for you, the Gym Leader takes it rather well – seems it’s in his nature to be laidback.

- Nah man, it’s cool! Wicked stroke of luck you got there, heh? But wait… I didn’t know Buizel could learn Metronome! How did you teach ‘im that?!

Easily excitable too, it seems. The “surfer boy” first impression apparently wasn’t too far off.

- As for how I saw the battle, well… I wouldn’t just send my Sharpedo off into the unknown without keeping an eye on it, would I? – he asks with a wide green as he fetches a pair of goggles from under the seat.

Walking to the far edge of the boat, he retrieves a large backpack and lays it at your feet.

- First rule of deep-sea diving: always bring extra gear in case something goes wrong. So look in there, I got an extra oxygen mask you can attach to the mini-tank over there. Nice to find someone with a drive for adventure, mate! See, what we’re gonna do here…

He gears up, strapping an oxygen tank of his own to his back and sitting on the edge of the boat.

- … is we gonna bust some myths! There’s a huge underwater cave in particular I’ve been meaning to explore in the last months. So if you’re still up for it, suit up and meet me down there!

And with that, he dives. You're left alone in the boat, and Max urges you to hurry up before you lose Sean. You hastily rummage through the bag and retrieve the mask, and struggle to fit the other oxygen tank over your shoulders like a backpack, much like Sean had done. The guy is probably a bit out there, but his conversation sparked your interest. What did he mean by "busting a myth"? When you think you got it all working, you jump out the boat and into the water, with Max close behind.

At first you have a little trouble adjusting to the underwater view, but after a while you spot Sean swimming down a bit further ahead. The oxygen seems to be flowing fine, which is reassuring, and you start flapping your legs hard to go deeper. You swim by a school of Finneon, who scatter as you approach, and further down you see a rocky formation taking form up ahead. Sean seems to know his way aroundm but he slowed down noticeably for you to join up with him; you double your efforts, your legs already hurting a bit, but you persevere - after all, you might have a decent supply of oxygen, but Buizel only has his natural reserves; enhanced in comparison to other Pokemon who can't Dive, but he's no fish. You have to hurry.

Sean seems aware that you can't afford to go sightseeing and resumes swimming at full speed; after a while of following him, you spot a large opening in the rock wall and head inside. Sure enough, it seems to lead to a cave, as the Gym Leader slowly starts swimming upwards. You do the same, and before long your head is out of water again, stone walls all around you - you made it to the surface, and just in time too, as Max jumps out of the water in distress and inhales deeply three or four times before throwing you an angry stare that read "why the bloody hell did you take so long?!"

You make it to shore and sit on the cave's rocky ground for a while to rest your legs as you remove the mask. Sean doesn't seem as tired, but he's clearly done this many times before.

- Not bad mate, glad you could keep up! So, what do you think? A bit chilly, but what's that for a couple of fearless adventurers, right?

Maxwell rolls his eyes. You get back to your feet and look around the cave - it's big indeed, and there seems to be a tunnel leading deep inside the rock on the far wall.

- Now, let me explain a bit better. As you might know, Cascadia has been a prime location for the spotting of exceedingly rare Pokemon, what the general population would call "Legendaries". Well, I've made it my life's goal to disprove a theory about the status of the Pokemon known as Lugia. See, people say it's a one-of-a-kind creature. I disagree, and I've pleaded my case several times with the Pokemon League to let me capture and train a Lugia to use in my Gym on grounds that it actually isn't a single specimen. I've been laughed out of the building every single time, obviously... So now I'm here to hunt for Lugia eggs!!

He puffs his chest, as if that added to his credibility.

- There have been several reports of Lugia sightings around Brine Island, and I have good reason to believe it might use this cave as its nest. So what we do is we split up and search; if you find anything relevant, you let me know and vice versa! And how do we do that? We shout! Well, let's get going! Good luck mate!!

Deeply convinced that his theories and his plan are flawless, Sean starts running toward the tunnel on his own, and before you know it you lose sight of him. You're left all alone in the cave entrance... You reluctantly head for the tunnel as well, Maxwell following close, and sigh as you reach a crossroads: a path on the left, dark and with salt water dripping from the ceiling, and one on the right, illuminated by a flickering green light. You carefully think about what to do before you make your choice to enter either tunnel.

What do you do?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MarbleZone

Glacier Island

Boreal Wastelands

Trepie: The choice is evident to you; the closest you’ll get to guaranteeing Pandora’s survival is by relying on these men. Reluctant, you wait for them to wrap up whatever it is that they came to do, mentally yelling at them to hurry it up…

You watch your two unexpected saviours while they maneuver around the dead Beartic they unearthed. One of them drops to his knees and pulls a knife from one of the suit’s pockets, then proceeds to scalpel a small area on the bear’s front legs, severing hair from flesh and storing it a small plastic container that the other man hands him. Then, he cuts off a portion of the exposed flesh and places it in a separate container. They work in complete silence, and their coordination makes it obvious they’ve been doing this for a while – but it still stirs all sorts of doubts and concerns in your head. Was that kind of procedure what they planned to do with Pandora too?!

The men return to the snowmobile soon afterwards. Motioning for you to get on, one of them starts the engine as the other sits directly behind him. You do the same, sitting at the far end of the snowmobile, wary of falling during the ride back to whatever they were headed. But it had to be done, for your Cloyster’s sake.

The journey itself is mostly quiet; the two men don’t address you at all, for what seems like a good thirty minutes of riding. You take a look at your surroundings, familiar from your background. The Glacier Island spreads as far as the eye can see all around you, a frozen plains of lifeless silence; the sky above, still painted by the aurora from before, with its undulating green hue, seems more alive than the land beneath it. And yet, when that notion last crossed your mind, you were attacked by three hungry bears. You quickly dismiss the thought lest you’re proven wrong again.

- Funding’s not gonna last forever if all we retrieve are remains of dead Pokemon. It’s been an entire week like this!

- Yeah, well, like you said, Beartic DNA is resistant. Guys down at Lab C can prime it for research.

- It ain’t the quality of the samples I’m worried about, it’s the amount of tissue. Priming only gets you so far, PCR doesn’t account for intra-species variations, let alone sporadic mutations, and end-product viability depends on how stable it remains in the event it mutates. You know the suits want us to get results faster; we need live specimens, no way around it.

The men sound thoroughly disappointed by their latest trip, it seems. And while the topic remains uncomfortable to you, you notice they don’t bring up Pandora; for what it’s worth, it seems they intend to uphold their end of the bargain and simply nurse it back to health. If that’s the case, maybe you can be at ease.

After a while, you spot something in the distance; several structures standing out in the middle of the empty plains. As you approach them, you realize they’re tents – huge tents, surrounded by an iron fence all around, establishing a considerably large perimeter. The snowmobile passes through the open gates as two men, equally clad in orange, close it behind you.

You’re now standing in the middle of the campsite; several people move around hurriedly, some wearing orange suits, others lab coats, and some others in what seems like a military outfit. One such man comes to meet the three of you as the driver switches off the snowmobile’s engine. As he salutes your rescuers, you take a better look at him – probably in his sixties by now, he wears a dark green uniform with a camo pattern and three medals across the chest. White hair shows beneath his peaked cap, and he sports an impressive moustache. There’s an aura of authority about him, made all the more evident when the two explorers stand at attention at his salute.

- At ease, men. Any news?

- Nothing good, sir. I’m afraid we only turned up some more samples… dead Beartic this time. Although it probably wasn’t a natural death this time.

You catch on to their meaning as one of them motions with his head toward you. The man in military uniform turns his attention to you for the first time.

- Oh? Seems dead remains wasn’t all you picked up.

- No sir. This young man was on site when we arrived. He needs assistance with a wounded Pokemon, it’s all we know.

The older man gives you a long, silent look. His expression is unreadable, but the tone of voice with which he addresses the men hints annoyance.

- Nebula doesn’t do charity work, Doctor. Unless we suddenly got permission to research human DNA and I wasn’t briefed. Be that as it may… how many Beartic were there?

- Th-three, s-sir…

- I see. And his Pokemon’s condition?

- A Cloyster, s-sir. Critical. Shell won’t open.

The military man walks over to you and extends a hand with a faint smile. Or is it a grin?...

- Seems you might be a blessing in disguise after all. I am Comander James Kessler, overseer of this little project and Chief Officer for ground missions. Now, it seems to me we have something you need… and you might have something that we require in exchange.

The man you handed Pandora to steps forward and hands Commander Kessler the Pokeball.

- We’ll be going on a field mission soon; as you might have pieced together by now, our research requires live Pokemon to be successful. None are harmed, and we release them back in the wild when done, if you’re the type to be concerned about those things. But we simply cannot remain in activity without some specific specimens to resume the studies. What I require from you, in exchange for nursing your Cloyster back to health, is your collaboration in capturing these Pokemon. Someone who defeated three Beartic on his own is likely more capable than a good number of these imbeciles I got stuck with.

Twirling Pandora’s Pokeball in his fingers, he looks at you awaiting an answer.

- What do you say? Make no mistake about it – if you refuse, your Pokemon dies. I know what my men mean by “critical condition”, it’s not just an expression. Our medics are trained and equipped to resolve these situations, but the only way they’ll admit an outside Pokemon is with military-grade clearance, so…

The offer for help still stands, but you can’t ignore that you’re practically being coerced into accepting Commander Kessler’s terms. While accepting to hunt down wild Pokemon for research purposes – especially not knowing what kind of research – sounds unethical, playing along seems like the only way of assuring Pandora’s survival. On the other hand, the Commander did make it seem like nobody will be harmed, and maybe this research does serve a noble cause… You clearly weren’t offered enough details to make an informed decision, but how much leeway do you have anyway? Could you perhaps try to bargain your way around, or is it better to just play along for now?

What do you do?

---

Auric's stomach turned as he watched the men from a distance. Of course it wasn't so much what they were doing but the fact that he was responsible for their deaths. The 'We had no choice' excuse played over and over in his head. The night had started with a quiet celebration and quickly devolved into chaos. It wasn't the first time he had been that close to death and it wouldn't be the last. Still he felt terrible about the Beartic and what he put Ares and Pandora through. Shivering in the night air he stood up to get the blood pumping again. Compared to the what the workers were wearing Auric may as well have been dressed for a day at the beach. He had lost his gloves digging for Pandora, his feet were soaked, and his coat was pretty much frozen but he pulled it tighter around himself anyways. 'Cold hardy, fool hardy too' he laughed to himself. Looking down at his hands he saw how scratched up they were from digging through the ice and even though they hurt like hell they never seemed to get cold.

With the strange workers finishing their work Auric headed closer to the snowmobile. He was fighting every urge in his body to just take the snow mobile and run. But the reality of the situation was clear, Pandora needed help and these people were his best and likely only chance. All he could do was hope that their intentions were pure. When they returned to Auric was about ready to deck one of them for taking so long. They motioned for him to climb on and so he did. The engine hummed to life, the machine jumped forward and they were off.

Thankfully the ride was quiet. The strangers didn't seem much like talking which was fine by Auric. His mind was racing about everything that had happened and the last thing he wanted to do was make chit chat. The snowmobile skidded through the drifts of snow for what seemed like ages. With the wind sweeping the snow across the landscape and the aurora casting a glow in the sky, it at least gave himself something to calm his mind. Of course the thought of the Beartic cropped into his head again. The more he thought on it the more it was bothering him. Suddenly a voice broke his train of thought . He was overhearing a conversation between the strangers. While it was hard to make out everything over the engine what he did gather was informative at least. They were a part of a research team, though who was funding them was still a mystery. They were harvesting DNA samples from dead pokemon. The next part was considerably more disturbing as they let loose some of the more intimate details, including something about mutations and the need for live specimens. Not the whole story but enough for him to keep his guard up. As long as they helped Pandora, Auric was at least willing to entertain whatever he needed to for the time being.

After their conversation something finally stood out on the horizon. There were a few lights highlighting a series of tents. With the snowmobile coming up to it fast Auric noticed the whole site was entirely fenced off. Two men manning the gate closed it as they pass through, leaving a caged feeling in his gut. The snowmobile skidding to the stop in the middle of the settlement. There appeared to be a mix of personnel around, including some well armed soldier types. Meaning this place was either military run or mercenary run. 'Either one could be trouble'Auric thought to himself. When the engine was turned off all of their attention turned to a man who approached the snowmobile saluting the two men. The man was later on in years and very stoic in appearance. The two men stood at attention as the addressed the man. Auric got off the back of the back of the snowmobile to listen to the conversation. It wasn't long until the topic of conversation turned to their hitchhiker and his wounded pokemon. Time was ticking by with Pandora in dire straights. When he walked closer to Auric an uneasy feeling began to creep into his mind.

"Seems you might be a blessing in disguise after all. I am Comander James Kessler, overseer of this little project and Chief Officer for ground missions. Now, it seems to me we have something you need… and you might have something that we require in exchange."

Auric was only half paying attention to the man, instead staying focused on Pandora's pokeball. He was frustrated and it was growing. Resisting the urge to tell the man to get to the point he turned his attention back to the Commander.

"We’ll be going on a field mission soon; as you might have pieced together by now, our research requires live Pokemon to be successful. None are harmed, and we release them back in the wild when done, if you’re the type to be concerned about those things. But we simply cannot remain in activity without some specific specimens to resume the studies. What I require from you, in exchange for nursing your Cloyster back to health, is your collaboration in capturing these Pokemon. Someone who defeated three Beartic on his own is likely more capable than a good number of these imbeciles I got stuck with." Commander Kessler said as he cavalierly spun Pandora's pokeball in his fingers. "What do you say? Make no mistake about it – if you refuse, your Pokemon dies. I know what my men mean by “critical condition”, it’s not just an expression. Our medics are trained and equipped to resolve these situations, but the only way they’ll admit an outside Pokemon is with military-grade clearance, so…"

Blackmailed and caged. Blackmail was the wrong angle if this Commander was looking to make an ally. Instead, in that instant he became Auric's enemy and a threat. This all felt rotten even with all of Kessler's assurances. Auric really didn't have a choice and he knew it but that didn't mean he liked it. His only advantage at the moment is that they didn't know a thing about Auric except that he needed their help. They didn't know his past. They didn't know how far he would go to protect his pokemon and they didn't know how acclimatized to the cold he was. So for now his best option was to let them have the upper hand. To play along, play it stupid, and play it quiet. If there was ever a chance for him to make a move to change the status quo, he would take it.

Looking at the Commander dead in his eyes Auric wanted to make sure he was clear in what he was going to say. "If you can heal my Cloyster then I'm in. Just know that I will hold you to your word Commander. I accompany you on your field trip, you help Pandora. But If anything happens to her I will hold you responsible. While that may seem like an empty threat from a civilian against all your fire power and fences, I promise you it's not. So let's get this party started then shall we? Oh, and don't expect me to salute you." Auric said walking away from the Commander.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by kaisap112

Ruin Island

Amor Temple

OkikuMew: ”Well, Abra’s are pretty infamous for sleeping most of the day unless they’re in immediate danger…maybe it’s sleeping?” Elena scratches her head a bit. “But since it can sense danger, it’s not a solid plan to try and surprise it in its sleep. I think I heard some trainer try that with his Pikachu and that didn’t end too well.” She shivers a bit, indicating that the battle in question hadn’t ended happily, and then turns to call Milly back into her Pokéball. You turn over to Max, your buddy attempting to make friends with the wild Poochyenas. The older one growls a bit quietly, but the younger one pounces right at Max – she looks eager to play with Max! After watching Max and what you are starting to believe is the wild Poochyena’s little sister having a play-fight for a few moments, the bro-Poochyena inches closer. He doesn’t seem especially eager to be best friends for life with Max, but as long as he’s not aiming for the throat you’re happy.

Elena suddenly stiffens right before pushing you into the bush you both had jumped out of before, diving in after you with a finger on her lips. You peek out from a small hole between all the leaves: to your astonishment and fear, a big canine of black and grey color is walking over to the Poochyenas and not looking very happy. Your eyes reach the size of big plates as you realize that you’re staring at a Mightyena. The canine starts growling at bro-Poochyena, the latter growling back, like they’re having some sort of conversation. Panic crosses your mind: what if this thing is in cahoots with the Abra? What if it’s dangerous? Could Max stand a stand against his evolved form? Mightyena eyes Max for a brief moment before snatching sis-Poochyena by the neck; is she their mother, perhaps? Before you can move a muscle, Bro-Poochyena looks at Max, and then cocks his head toward the Mightyena. The family of three starts walking toward the temple - with Max following right behind them.

Elena lets out a held breath. “Looks like we’re getting somewhere…don’t think that Mightyena’s going to want to see us around anytime soon though. What do you want to do? Should we go after them?”

What will you do?

---

After Okiku theorized aloud why the Poochyena were currently not mind-controlled by the Abra, Elena threw in her own theory:

"Well, Abra’s are pretty infamous for sleeping most of the day unless they’re in immediate danger…maybe it’s sleeping?"

"True, true," Okiku nodded in agreement, having forgotten that trait typical of Abra.

“But since it can sense danger, it’s not a solid plan to try and surprise it in its sleep. I think I heard some trainer try that with his Pikachu and that didn’t end too well.”

The Pokémon Breeder's face was surely a giveaway to Okiku about how bad it went. While Elena called back her Miltank, Okiku looked over Max, who is trying to socialize with the other Poochyenas. The big brother-looking one seemed to snarl under his break but still looked somewhat respectful towards him, but the younger one surprisingly was no longer afraid, happily and playfully pouncing on Max!

"Cuuuute," Okiku giggled.

Before she could continue to enjoy the adorable scene, Elena suddenly pushed her into a bush. Okiku opened her mouth to ask why did she do that, but she was cut off by Elena signalled her to stay quiet. She returned her signal with a confused look, then peeked through the leaves towards the Poochyenas: They were now accompanied a mighty... well, aptly-named Mightyena. Okiku's expression changed into a surprised and understanding one, her jaw slightly open in a way she could have muttered 'Ooooooooooh. Crap.' The evolved Pokémon seemed to be exchanging words with the brother Poochyena, then grabbed the playful young one by the neck like a mother would do. Panicking a bit, Okiku pulled out the Pokéball of one of her Pokémon... but then the brother Poochyena tilted his head to the side towards the Mightyena to ask to join them. The little family walked towards the temple, and Max followed them.

"Looks like we're getting somewhere..." Elena sighed, "don't think that Mightyena's going to want to see us around anytime soon though. What do you want to do? Should we go after them?"

Okiku looked at her feet, thinking.

"Well, I would've thought of maybe sending one of my Psychic Pokémon after them to spy on them and report back to us, but none of them have developed their Psychic abilities enough to be able to speak to me telepathically yet," she frowned and sighed in disappointment. "Well, it seems that the Mightyena either doesn't use her sense of smell much or doesn't mind the scent of humans, as she didn't go after us even if we were hidden only from her sight..." she bit her lip, knowing the risk her other plan could imply, "so I guess we should try to follow them... as subtle as possible. Hope and pray the wind blows on the front of us, and not on our backs..." reminding herself some tricks her father used to not get detected by the Stantler, Deerling and Sawsbuck he (legally) hunted.

Aduro Island

Geyser Park

Hayward: Look here


Aduron Chasm

takkupanda: Look here


Ruin Island

Amor Temple

Stark: Awaiting your edits to the latest reply.


Lily Island

The Red Forest

PikaGod: Look here


The Silver Forest

hen da man: Look here


King Ghidorah: Look here


jolteonjak: Look here


Crater Island

Iridi Beach

kaisap112: Look here


Brine Island

Salin City

Arc_Angel & lilbluecorsola: Look here


empoleon_dynamite: Look here


Ion Island

Storm Lake

Myahoo: Look here


Glacier Island

Boreal Wastelands

Trepie: The situation was abundantly clear to you: you either complied, or Pandora would be left for dead. Determined to save her – as her life-threatening injury was, at least in part, your responsibility -, you accept the assignment, at the same time planning to bide your time until you could turn the situation in your favour.

Making a point not to sound subservient, but rather make it clear that you can see right through his intentions, you stand up to the Commander, issuing a very blunt threat of your own. Whether you’d be able to follow through with your claims or not, however, remains to be seen. Commander Kessler for one just smirks, before patting you on the shoulder.

- Guts and skill? Seems you’re a keeper. We leave in an hour; join the party at the front gate when you’re ready.

You turn away from the Commander without another word. Having overheard the conversation, another man in military uniform runs over to you and offers a handshake (instead of a salute, you notice).

- Hey man! Welcome aboard! Heard you’re joining us; that was pretty ballsy of you! A word of caution, though… Commander Kessler might seem calm and collected, but rub him the wrong way and you’re gonna regret it… Trust me, step out of line or compromise any small part of this assignment and you might never see your Pokemon again!

You try to ascertain whether this is another threat, but you conclude that this guy’s just giving you heartfelt advice. From his tone, you can tell he’s genuinely concerned about you, which is a welcome change from the norm so far.

- Haven’t introduced myself yet. Name’s Sid Gapp. I’m just a lowly Private around here… but I got picked to join the mission! Seems the Colonel – sorry, the Commander – noticed the effort I put in… Can’t let him down!

He seems to notice you picked up on his correction, as you give him an inquisitive look.

- Oh, that… Commander Kessler was originally in the Navy; that’s why we call him “Commander”, that used to be his rank. But something happened that forced him to join the Army instead, he never talks about it though… and nothing good ever happens to the scrub who asks. We figure he should technically be the equivalent to a Colonel by now, and a lot of the men hate being bossed around by a Navy guy, so we call him Colonel between ourselves to make his orders easier to bear… What’s a regiment without its pride?

He then points to one of the tents.

- That’s where you should head now. There’s a PC inside, make sure to choose which Pokemon you’re bringing along carefully. There are also some supplies in there, you should stock up. The rest of the crew will be by the gate, I’ll introduce you when you get there!

You thank Private Gapp and head to the tent – there’ll be time for small talk on the way to the mission site, you figure. As you enter, you realize just how fully equipped these guys have come: a PC is indeed switched on and ready for use, and several large shelves and crates are piled up and filled with various supplies: rations, medicine, Pokeballs, ammo, etc. No firearms, but you figure those must be stored elsewhere and inaccessible to outsiders like you.

You first head over to the PC, and after a while, you decide on the party that will accompany you*. Next you rummage through the shelves, looking for anything useful. You find 2x Potion, 2x Ice Heal and 1x Escape Rope, that you store in your Bag. Finally, you begin to hear some commotion outside, and figure the team is gathering by the front gate, so you take a deep breath and exit the tent.

You slowly approach the group, seven men in total, all with thick orange overcoats on top of their uniforms. Gapp spots you and hands you an Orange Overcoat** too; it has a purple “N” embroidered on the right arm, which you assume stands for “Nebula”, based on Commander Kessler’s previous speech.

Kessler himself joins up with you shortly afterwards, dressed in similar fashion. Not saying a word, he jumps on one of the snowmobiles and motions for the team to mobilize. Everyone runs to their snowmobiles in pairs, each vehicle carrying two soldiers. Gapp calls you over to his, motioning for you to sit behind him. You figure he’s probably the best company you can ask for right now and accept the lift. Everyone starts their engines and soon you’re moving through the snow again, passing the front gate into the frozen plains once more.

James Kessler leads the formation, driving with purpose – seems he’s absolutely certain of the route to follow, even if everything around you looks exactly the same. The other four snowmobiles speed up behind, the frigid wind blowing against your face, but you barely feel the cold at all; you’ve been used to it your entire life, apparently unlike the troops. If it were up to you, you wouldn’t have brought an overcoat at all, but why turn it down? If you make it out of this alive and well, at least you can keep it as a souvenir – if the journey ends up being one to remember fondly, anyway. So far, it’s looking pretty grim…

You start thinking that you know absolutely nothing about any of this; who is James Kessler, what are these guys truly after, what is Nebula, why they require live Pokemon so badly… You realize the trip is likely going to take a while longer, and Gapp seems like someone you can trust – or at the very least talk to. You might try asking him a few questions, though there probably won’t be time to ask everything that’s been bothering you…

What do you do?

((* Please specify which Pokemon you’re bringing with you in your next reply;
** Not an official FB or Pokemon game Item, but you can still add it to your Inventory and wear it on your character in the future or keep it as a souvenir.))


Silver Ocean

Auronos Caverns

ApertureScience: Look here

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MarbleZone

Aduro Island

Geyser Park

Hayward: In a sudden moment of inspiration, you decide to at least try to minimize the casualties, refusing to accept a scenario where someone gets left behind. Banking everything on the chance that Teddiursa is a wild Pokemon, you pick a rare Chocolate Ball and pray that this works as you hop back on Skarméo to simultaneously rescue the man.

Your Skarmory skillfully maneuvers around the falling boulders, making it exceedingly hard to aim at Teddiursa in the process. As a particularly large rock falls just next to you as you were about to throw the Ball, you’re forced to postpone the attempt lest you fall off the bird’s back. But time’s running out, as the entire cave is about to collapse!

Skarméo grabs the man by his shoulders with her large talons; however, lifting him up with you already riding on her back proves challenging for the Skarmory, who for a brief moment seems unable to fly back up, seconds that look like decades as rubble keeps falling all around you. You see it as an opportunity to attempt the throw, and hurl the Pokeball as hard as you can across over the fissure, hitting the tiny cub and pulling it inside. However, before you can witness the result, the tunnel gives in and a number of large rocks come crashing down on the place where Teddiursa stood, making it impossible to spot the Chocolate Ball…

From then on, everything happens way too quickly. Skarméo finally manages to take flight again, carrying both of you, putting her under enormous strain as she dodges most of the rubble as best she can. Immediately behind you the entire tunnel gives in, collapsing at alarmingly fast rate, with the Sarmory just barely staying ahead of the cave-in. Again her natural instincts, stemming from her past life as a wild Pokemon of Aduro Island, start to kick in, as if she knows exactly where to go. And just as it seems you’ll be crushed under the enormous boulders falling all around you, the bird spots a crevice on the ceiling leading outside – no doubt a large fissure that formed after this last earthquake. Flapping her metal wings as hard as she can, she heads for the crack on the tunnel ceiling, managing to pass through just as you duck and hold on to her neck as hard as you can – the hole seems too small to pass through, but somehow, some way, she pulls it off. You feel a sharp pain on your back as Skarméo flies through the crevice, a sharper rocky edge leaving a large cut, though fortunately not too deep, between your shoulder blades. And the next thing you know, you’re tumbling down hard, your Pokemon unble to fly any higher… but you’re on solid ground. Shoulder and back badly hurt, bleeding, but alive – as well as the man you rescued. Skarméo lies on the floor not far from you, eyes shut, having blacked out from exhaustion. You close your eyes shut for a split second, just a second to regroup, that’s all you need… just a minute… just ten minutes…

----

The sun shines bright and painful to your eyes. You try to move; you can’t. The pain coursing through your left arm and back won’t allow it. You feel the clothes pressed between your skin and the rocky soil moist, the cut must be bleeding. You look around confused, still laying face-up on the ground… It’s still daytime, so you can’t have been out for too long. Then, a child’s voice. At first imperceptible, but soon you realize what it says; one word.

- Dad? Dad! Daaad!!

Struggling to roll over to your right side, you indeed spot a young boy kneeling over the man you rescued. He’s still passed out, and the kid is trying to wake him up. His son, no doubt. Next to him is an older woman, looking on with great concern, possibly his wife. She looks you’re your way; seeing you awake, she rushes toward you with the angriest expression you’ve ever seen on a woman before.

- What have you done to him?! Answer me!!

Oh boy. This seems to be a fine day for misunderstandings; first the man, now his wife! Before you can answer, another, more familiar voice echoes through the air. An alarmed, painful “Skaaaaaaaar!”. To the left of the boy you spot Skarméo, still grounded, and pinned down by a relatively small Kangaskhan who’s having no trouble keeping the wounded bird on the ground. It seems she was made captive by the family’s Pokemon to ensure she wouldn’t harm them…

- What did you do to my husband? What did you do to him?!

The woman kneels down and slaps you across the face with tears in her eyes. While the pain is nothing compared to what you’ve been through already, it’s enough to make your blood boil, after all you went through to save that bastard…

Weakened, in dire need of medical treatment and fearing for the safety of Skarméo, as well as wondering, in the back of your mind, if the Teddiursa ever made it, your next words to the woman – and how convincing you sound – will be critical in deciding whether you’ll earn her help… or be left for dead.

What do you do?

---

On Aduro Island, the trainer William Hale awakens to find himself in excruciating pain, lying in a pool of his own blood, staring up at the sun shining brilliantly over head. Seeing this welcome sight, he lets out a grateful sigh knowing that his Skarmory Skarméo was able to carry both himself and their attacker out of the collapsing tunnel to safety. Closing his eyes, he tries to replay the last few moments underground, but it all seems like such a blur, and he is suddenly filled with anxiety to know whether Teddiursa is safe.

Just then, a nearby shout catches Will’s attention and interrupts his thoughts. The lad glances around to find an older woman and a small boy kneeling next to the prostrate form of the Cascadian man which he and Skarméo just rescued from the caverns. Will immediately reasons that they must be the man’s wife and son and wonders what their reaction to their loved one's return will be. The youngster sobs for his father, while the woman, seeing that Will has regained consciousness, puts on an angry expression, stands up, and quickly hurries over, demanding to know what's going on.

It’s at that moment that Skarméo lets out a pained screech, and Will swivels his head around to see the giant steel condor pinned to the ground by an energetic little Kangaskhan. Will motions to Skarméo to lie still and not fight as the woman repeats her questions. Before Will can answer, however, the woman gives him a stinging slap to the face, causing his eyes to water with pain. Realizing he's in no condition to do anything but lie there on the ground and bleed, Will fights back his anger at the woman's ungrateful behavior by gritting his teeth in disgust, before slowly beginning to explain what happened.

“I was in... ...the caverns,” Will gets out between labored breaths. “Looking for... ...a lost Ursaring.”

“Your husband... ...thought I... ...was some kind... ...of poacher,” Will continues weakly. “I’m not.”

He glances at Skarméo and a feeling of fierce pride suddenly surges within him as he thinks back on how she risked her life and bravely flew him and their wounded attacker out of danger.

Breathing ragged, Will goes on. “That’s when... ...the whole place... ...started to come down... ...Somehow... ...Skarméo carried us... ...out here to safety... ...There was also... ...a wild Teddiursa... ...it was trapped... ...I tried to... ...rescue it... ...with a Pokéball but... ...didn’t get to see... ...if it worked.”

With a slight groan, Will closes his eyes and lays his head back in utter exhaustion, anxious to know about Teddiursa and wondering how the woman will respond...

Aduro Island

Geyser Park

Hayward: You struggle both to remain conscious and to refrain from lashing out at the woman for the injustice – something you’re in no position to do right now, as she and her son are your only hope.

Reluctantly, you limit yourself to telling your version of the story, explaining how you meant no harm to anybody in the first place – not toward Aduro Island’s Pokemon, and certainly not toward her husband. Intentionally, you only refer to the man’s misjudgment of character, not to how he attacked you inside the tunnels; making him seem like the bad guy here would lower your chances. Exhausted, you close your eyes, desperately fighting to stay awake while awaiting the verdict.

The woman stands silent for what seems like an eternity. Then, she turns around and walks away from you. You reopen your eyes to see where she’s going, unable to follow or so much as call her.

- Terry, let’s go. With need to get dad to the hospital. Hurry! And bring Kangy along, we don’t need another one being poached.

She and her son Terry help the man up, each draping one of his arms across their shoulders and pulling him up. The woman then reaches for a Pokeball in her belt and releases another Kangaskhan, considerably larger than the boy’s, and urges it to carry her husband. With little difficulty, the 7-feet-tall Pokemon places the man across her shoulders in an impressive display of Strength. You notice her pouch is empty... was her infant the one that was poached, like the woman said?

The family starts to walk away, leaving you to your fate. Suddenly, a faint voice, filled with pain, is heard.

- No… stop…

The woman turns around, startled.

- B-Barry? Dear, are you okay?! Don’t talk, save your strength! We’re taking you to a hospital right now, honey!

- Kelly… t-the boy… where is he?...

His wife, apparently named Kelly, throws you a confused look.

- He’s over there… what did he do to you?! He deserves to be left there for putting you through…

- He s… saved me… He said the… the truth. I owe him my life... Now p-please, save his…

Upon hearing this, the young Terry makes his way over to you running.

- Is it true? You saved daddy?! Thank you!! Mom, we can’t leave him here, he’ll… he’s not gonna be okay!

Kelly ponders on it for a brief moment, then acquiesces.

- You’re right. We… if my husband’s right, then we’re in your debt, stranger… Terry, have Kangy carry his Skarmory. You and me will help the young man.

----

It’s morning. You adjust your eyes to the light and try to figure out where you are. There’s a roof over your head, and everything looks so… white. There’s a curtain in front of you, you’re lying on a bed. There’s a needle in your right hand and one on the right side of your neck, each with a tube attached, and the left half of your thorax and upper left arm are tightly bandaged. There are two sacks hanging from a metallic support; one with a transparent fluid, the other with blood, each draining slowly to its respective tube.

You try to move, but you’re still weak. As long as you stay still though, you feel no pain at all, which is a clear improvement over the last time you were conscious. You must be in a hospital now…

- Awake, heh?

You look to the side. Next to you is the man you rescued, Barry. Not as banged up as you are, but still made to rest in his own bed for precaution, he tries to muster a smile.

- I’m sorry boy. I took you for someone you’re not, even though you tried to open my eyes repeatedly. I feel like I owe you an explanation in addition to an apology, though… When we’re both feeling better, I’ll walk you through what’s happening on the island and why I reacted the way I did. In the meantime, I do have some good news… Terry, can you come in please?

The young boy opens the door and enters the room. Seems he was expecting to be called.

- While you were asleep, I asked my wife to talk to the Nurse down in the Pokemon Center on the first floor. She accessed the records of recent PC deposits and contacted the Aduro Pokemon Lab in my behalf. We thought you might like this back.

Terry, with the largest grin you’ve ever seen on a child, hands you something haphazardly wrapped in a tissue. You smile back and open the gift, your eyes lighting up as you realize what it is. A Chocolate Ball… your Chocolate Ball.

Pressing the red button in the center, you open the Pokeball, its contents materializing on your lap…

- Teddi, Teddiursa!!

It takes a while for the realization to set in, but your mind can finally be at ease: you’ve captured a Level 4 Male Teddiursa!

The young cub gives you a hug, clearly grateful that you rescued him from that horrible predicament. He curls up on your chest and closes his eyes, clearly still tired from the ordeal, and quickly falls asleep. You can’t help but smile at the huge success your rescue attempt turned out to be… ignoring the fact that you’re confined to a hospital bed, that is.

Suddenly, a cell phone rings. It’s Barry’s. He reaches to his bedside table and picks up.

- Yes? Honey, hi! I’m doing fine, we already gave W…. what? What’s wrong, why are you talking so low? You.. WHAT?! Hostage?! What do you?... Kelly? KELLY!!

His face has turned pale. He looks at you delivers the news.

- Kelly… she’s downstairs at the Pokemon Center. Says five guys broke in with their Pokemon, wiped the security and are holding everyone hostage… Says she doesn’t know what they’re after and hung up. I… what do we do? She might be kil…

He stops mid-sentence and turns to Terry.

- Son, stay here. Whatever you do, do not go downstairs no matter what! Will, please… please keep an eye on my boy. I have to do something!

Struggling to get up, he puts on his shoes and walks out of the room limping, closing the door behind him. You’re left alone with Terry and the Teddiursa, still sleeping.

- Daaad! Don’t go, don’t leave me here!! Mister, we have to do something, we gotta help mom and dad!!

The kid’s desperate pleas are heart-wrenching, but what can you do? You feel you might try to muster the necessary strength to get up, after pulling off the needles, but you’re far from your best condition and even walking around will be a chore. You’re on the first floor, and the Pokemon Center is immediately below… but your other Pokemon are down there, too! Skarméo was delivered for healing, and Kelly handed your other remaining Pokeballs to the Nurse for safekeeping as well… Your only partner right now is the recently captured Teddiursa.

You look out the window; there’s a tree branch you might be able to reach and climb down to get outside, physically punishing as it would be to try and pull it off, but it’d be a way to escape and take the boy to safety. On the other hand, his parents are down there, and there’s no guarantee the captors won’t harm them. You can try to get the boy to safety by fleeing the building, or go down to the floor below and see what you can do – but what will you do with Terry in that case?

What do you do?


Aduron Chasm

takkupanda: Look here


Ruin Island

Amor Temple

Stark: Awaiting your edits to the latest reply.


Lily Island

The Red Forest

PikaGod: Look here


The Silver Forest

hen da man: Look here


King Ghidorah: Look here


jolteonjak: Look here


Crater Island

Iridi Beach

kaisap112: Look here


Brine Island

Salin City

Arc_Angel & lilbluecorsola: Look here


empoleon_dynamite: Look here


Ion Island

Storm Lake

Myahoo: Look here


Glacier Island

Boreal Wastelands

Trepie: Look here


Silver Ocean

Auronos Caverns

ApertureScience: Look here

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MarbleZone

Silver Ocean

Auronos Caverns

ApertureScience: You feel it’s your duty to explain what really went down, lest Sean mistakes you for a more formidable Trainer than you actually are. Not everyone would have chosen to be truthful in this situation, and fortunately for you, the Gym Leader takes it rather well – seems it’s in his nature to be laidback.

- Nah man, it’s cool! Wicked stroke of luck you got there, heh? But wait… I didn’t know Buizel could learn Metronome! How did you teach ‘im that?!

Easily excitable too, it seems. The “surfer boy” first impression apparently wasn’t too far off.

- As for how I saw the battle, well… I wouldn’t just send my Sharpedo off into the unknown without keeping an eye on it, would I? – he asks with a wide green as he fetches a pair of goggles from under the seat.

Walking to the far edge of the boat, he retrieves a large backpack and lays it at your feet.

- First rule of deep-sea diving: always bring extra gear in case something goes wrong. So look in there, I got an extra oxygen mask you can attach to the mini-tank over there. Nice to find someone with a drive for adventure, mate! See, what we’re gonna do here…

He gears up, strapping an oxygen tank of his own to his back and sitting on the edge of the boat.

- … is we gonna bust some myths! There’s a huge underwater cave in particular I’ve been meaning to explore in the last months. So if you’re still up for it, suit up and meet me down there!

And with that, he dives. You're left alone in the boat, and Max urges you to hurry up before you lose Sean. You hastily rummage through the bag and retrieve the mask, and struggle to fit the other oxygen tank over your shoulders like a backpack, much like Sean had done. The guy is probably a bit out there, but his conversation sparked your interest. What did he mean by "busting a myth"? When you think you got it all working, you jump out the boat and into the water, with Max close behind.

At first you have a little trouble adjusting to the underwater view, but after a while you spot Sean swimming down a bit further ahead. The oxygen seems to be flowing fine, which is reassuring, and you start flapping your legs hard to go deeper. You swim by a school of Finneon, who scatter as you approach, and further down you see a rocky formation taking form up ahead. Sean seems to know his way aroundm but he slowed down noticeably for you to join up with him; you double your efforts, your legs already hurting a bit, but you persevere - after all, you might have a decent supply of oxygen, but Buizel only has his natural reserves; enhanced in comparison to other Pokemon who can't Dive, but he's no fish. You have to hurry.

Sean seems aware that you can't afford to go sightseeing and resumes swimming at full speed; after a while of following him, you spot a large opening in the rock wall and head inside. Sure enough, it seems to lead to a cave, as the Gym Leader slowly starts swimming upwards. You do the same, and before long your head is out of water again, stone walls all around you - you made it to the surface, and just in time too, as Max jumps out of the water in distress and inhales deeply three or four times before throwing you an angry stare that read "why the bloody hell did you take so long?!"

You make it to shore and sit on the cave's rocky ground for a while to rest your legs as you remove the mask. Sean doesn't seem as tired, but he's clearly done this many times before.

- Not bad mate, glad you could keep up! So, what do you think? A bit chilly, but what's that for a couple of fearless adventurers, right?

Maxwell rolls his eyes. You get back to your feet and look around the cave - it's big indeed, and there seems to be a tunnel leading deep inside the rock on the far wall.

- Now, let me explain a bit better. As you might know, Cascadia has been a prime location for the spotting of exceedingly rare Pokemon, what the general population would call "Legendaries". Well, I've made it my life's goal to disprove a theory about the status of the Pokemon known as Lugia. See, people say it's a one-of-a-kind creature. I disagree, and I've pleaded my case several times with the Pokemon League to let me capture and train a Lugia to use in my Gym on grounds that it actually isn't a single specimen. I've been laughed out of the building every single time, obviously... So now I'm here to hunt for Lugia eggs!!

He puffs his chest, as if that added to his credibility.

- There have been several reports of Lugia sightings around Brine Island, and I have good reason to believe it might use this cave as its nest. So what we do is we split up and search; if you find anything relevant, you let me know and vice versa! And how do we do that? We shout! Well, let's get going! Good luck mate!!

Deeply convinced that his theories and his plan are flawless, Sean starts running toward the tunnel on his own, and before you know it you lose sight of him. You're left all alone in the cave entrance... You reluctantly head for the tunnel as well, Maxwell following close, and sigh as you reach a crossroads: a path on the left, dark and with salt water dripping from the ceiling, and one on the right, illuminated by a flickering green light. You carefully think about what to do before you make your choice to enter either tunnel.

What do you do?

---

“Just a TM I got from some guy. He changed it to be able to be taught to anything. So now Max here has a bit of a wild card.” James told him, avoiding the complete story on how he obtained the attack. Sean threw him a bag, and James started pulling things out while Sean explained what was going to happen, something about busting myths. Odd, but James didn’t think much of it and set up his oxygen tank. “Okay, let’s go Max. Wouldn’t want him to be waiting on us.” James dived off the edge of the ship, with the Sea Weasel following behind.

And for once, James was able to see the true beauty of the ocean. He had never really been able to see: he was afraid of opening his eyes underwater. The very thought of it stung his eyelids shut. The fish pokémon were beautiful as well: including a group of Finneon. James quietly considered attempting to find one before being punched in the shoulder and passed up by his Buizel. The two ahead of him took no time to sightsee and blazed ahead towards the cave they supposedly were heading to.

Eventually, the group reached the cave with seconds to spare as Maxwell jumped ahead into the stone cell, breathing deeply and glaring at his trainer. Sean took a few seconds, and still as insane as ever, started finally explaining his plan, which included capturing a Lugia and using it in his gym to maul challengers. Sean told him to shout if he found anything, then ran off without them. “Well, just us again, huh? Might as well keep moving.” James said and dusted himself off as he got up. “To the caves!” He said, and moved forwards to find treasure.

Eventually, he found a crossroad: one path lead to a flickering green light, another in to pitch darkness. “I don’t know about you Maxwell, but I’d prefer the lighter side. Agreed?” Maxwell nodded to this, and bounded down the path to the light.
Statistics

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MarbleZone

Glacier Island

Boreal Wastelands

Trepie: The situation was abundantly clear to you: you either complied, or Pandora would be left for dead. Determined to save her – as her life-threatening injury was, at least in part, your responsibility -, you accept the assignment, at the same time planning to bide your time until you could turn the situation in your favour.

Making a point not to sound subservient, but rather make it clear that you can see right through his intentions, you stand up to the Commander, issuing a very blunt threat of your own. Whether you’d be able to follow through with your claims or not, however, remains to be seen. Commander Kessler for one just smirks, before patting you on the shoulder.

- Guts and skill? Seems you’re a keeper. We leave in an hour; join the party at the front gate when you’re ready.

You turn away from the Commander without another word. Having overheard the conversation, another man in military uniform runs over to you and offers a handshake (instead of a salute, you notice).

- Hey man! Welcome aboard! Heard you’re joining us; that was pretty ballsy of you! A word of caution, though… Commander Kessler might seem calm and collected, but rub him the wrong way and you’re gonna regret it… Trust me, step out of line or compromise any small part of this assignment and you might never see your Pokemon again!

You try to ascertain whether this is another threat, but you conclude that this guy’s just giving you heartfelt advice. From his tone, you can tell he’s genuinely concerned about you, which is a welcome change from the norm so far.

- Haven’t introduced myself yet. Name’s Sid Gapp. I’m just a lowly Private around here… but I got picked to join the mission! Seems the Colonel – sorry, the Commander – noticed the effort I put in… Can’t let him down!

He seems to notice you picked up on his correction, as you give him an inquisitive look.

- Oh, that… Commander Kessler was originally in the Navy; that’s why we call him “Commander”, that used to be his rank. But something happened that forced him to join the Army instead, he never talks about it though… and nothing good ever happens to the scrub who asks. We figure he should technically be the equivalent to a Colonel by now, and a lot of the men hate being bossed around by a Navy guy, so we call him Colonel between ourselves to make his orders easier to bear… What’s a regiment without its pride?

He then points to one of the tents.

- That’s where you should head now. There’s a PC inside, make sure to choose which Pokemon you’re bringing along carefully. There are also some supplies in there, you should stock up. The rest of the crew will be by the gate, I’ll introduce you when you get there!

You thank Private Gapp and head to the tent – there’ll be time for small talk on the way to the mission site, you figure. As you enter, you realize just how fully equipped these guys have come: a PC is indeed switched on and ready for use, and several large shelves and crates are piled up and filled with various supplies: rations, medicine, Pokeballs, ammo, etc. No firearms, but you figure those must be stored elsewhere and inaccessible to outsiders like you.

You first head over to the PC, and after a while, you decide on the party that will accompany you*. Next you rummage through the shelves, looking for anything useful. You find 2x Potion, 2x Ice Heal and 1x Escape Rope, that you store in your Bag. Finally, you begin to hear some commotion outside, and figure the team is gathering by the front gate, so you take a deep breath and exit the tent.

You slowly approach the group, seven men in total, all with thick orange overcoats on top of their uniforms. Gapp spots you and hands you an Orange Overcoat** too; it has a purple “N” embroidered on the right arm, which you assume stands for “Nebula”, based on Commander Kessler’s previous speech.

Kessler himself joins up with you shortly afterwards, dressed in similar fashion. Not saying a word, he jumps on one of the snowmobiles and motions for the team to mobilize. Everyone runs to their snowmobiles in pairs, each vehicle carrying two soldiers. Gapp calls you over to his, motioning for you to sit behind him. You figure he’s probably the best company you can ask for right now and accept the lift. Everyone starts their engines and soon you’re moving through the snow again, passing the front gate into the frozen plains once more.

James Kessler leads the formation, driving with purpose – seems he’s absolutely certain of the route to follow, even if everything around you looks exactly the same. The other four snowmobiles speed up behind, the frigid wind blowing against your face, but you barely feel the cold at all; you’ve been used to it your entire life, apparently unlike the troops. If it were up to you, you wouldn’t have brought an overcoat at all, but why turn it down? If you make it out of this alive and well, at least you can keep it as a souvenir – if the journey ends up being one to remember fondly, anyway. So far, it’s looking pretty grim…

You start thinking that you know absolutely nothing about any of this; who is James Kessler, what are these guys truly after, what is Nebula, why they require live Pokemon so badly… You realize the trip is likely going to take a while longer, and Gapp seems like someone you can trust – or at the very least talk to. You might try asking him a few questions, though there probably won’t be time to ask everything that’s been bothering you…

What do you do?

((* Please specify which Pokemon you’re bringing with you in your next reply;
** Not an official FB or Pokemon game Item, but you can still add it to your Inventory and wear it on your character in the future or keep it as a souvenir.))

---

Having parted ways with the Commander for the time being Auric felt oddly relieved. He wasn't normally so aggressive with authority figures. The night, this night, had him on edge. Before he could get to far he was stopped by another military man. His out stretched hand was a gesture he had yet to be offered since the ice cave. Auric gave the best smile he could and shook the mans hand.

"Hey man! Welcome aboard! Heard you’re joining us; that was pretty ballsy of you! A word of caution, though… Commander Kessler might seem calm and collected, but rub him the wrong way and you’re gonna regret it… Trust me, step out of line or compromise any small part of this assignment and you might never see your Pokemon again!"

Again with the veiled threats. Every time these people gained a little bit of trust from Auric they seemed to be tearing it away. If their goal was to keep Auric suspicious then they were doing a bang up job.

"Haven’t introduced myself yet. Name’s Sid Gapp. I’m just a lowly Private around here… but I got picked to join the mission! Seems the Colonel – sorry, the Commander – noticed the effort I put in… Can’t let him down!"

The minor slip of the tongue was large enough to peak Auric's interest. "Colonel?"

"Oh, that… Commander Kessler was originally in the Navy; that’s why we call him “Commander”, that used to be his rank. But something happened that forced him to join the Army instead, he never talks about it though… and nothing good ever happens to the scrub who asks. We figure he should technically be the equivalent to a Colonel by now, and a lot of the men hate being bossed around by a Navy guy, so we call him Colonel between ourselves to make his orders easier to bear… What’s a regiment without its pride?" Sid replied before pointing to a near by tent. "That’s where you should head now. There’s a PC inside, make sure to choose which Pokemon you’re bringing along carefully. There are also some supplies in there, you should stock up. The rest of the crew will be by the gate, I’ll introduce you when you get there!"

Auric nodded to Sid. "Alright. Thank you for your help Private." With Sid now departed, Auric made his way to the tent and stepped inside. What he saw made him do a double take. Who ever these guys were they were well equipped. The tent was lined with shelves of supplies. They may be struggling out here but they weren't in dire straits for surplus just yet. Still he didn't want to pull too many resources from them. Well let's get this done. he thought to himself moving to the PC. It was a step up from the model PC used in Pokemon centers. Looking through his team he saw each of their profile pictures flashing on the screen. He paused on Pandora's picture for a minute. "I promise I'll be back for you Pandora. Please be ok..." he spoke quietly to himself before minimizing her profile.

He had to consider the conditions outside and who would be viable out there. 'Hyperion couldn't fly in this cold, Athene would freeze, Pontus and Eris are too inexperienced. Zephy and Perseus don't have the greatest traction as it is, Chiron's too heavy for the ice to support his weight, Midas would freeze up, Phrixus would be scared of all these people and I couldn't trust Thanatos around other people' He thought to himself, minimizing window after window. It didn't take him long until the screen only had a few profiles left standing.

Charizard- Ares
Houndoom- Iris
Nidoking- Odysseus

It was a decent line up. With Pandora down his team was lacking another ice type, so he'd have to rely on Pokemon who were their own heat source or simply too rugged to be bothered by the cold arctic air. Plus with Iris along for the ride Ares wouldn't have so much weight on his shoulders if they were to get into trouble. Powering down the PC Auric turned his attention to the supplies. On the first shelf he came to he picked up 2x Potions, and 2X Ice heals. A few feet away on a bottom shelf he grabbed 1X Escape rope just in case they ran into another situation where they were backed into a corner. Not wanting to over take he left the tent and headed back towards the gate.

It wasn't a huge crowd but it was much larger then Auric was used to working with. Private Gapp walked over and handed Auric an Orange overcoat. It wasn't really Auric's style, but his current jacket was still frozen. So Auric smiled and took the coat. Slipping it on he noticed a purple 'N' on the sleeve. Nebula he thought to himself as Kessler headed over to the group. When Kessler gave an order his people were quick to follow. Everyone pairing off onto snowmobiles. Private Gapp motioning for Auric to his snowmobile. Here we go was all he could think as the fleet of snow mobiles sped off into the night.

The adventure was on. Commander Kessler leading his team deep into the unknown tundra. At least this time his coat wasn't frozen. Still, there was an opportunity to be had being stuck on this snow mobile with the nicest member of this group he had talked to. Time to see if he could gather some information. Maybe they were good, or maybe not, but Auric didn't have enough information yet to make a call either way and there might not be another time.

"Sorry if this is overstepping a little, but I have to ask. What is Nebula and what the hell are you guys doing out here? I mean I know you're looking for certain strains of Pokemon DNA, and live specimens have been hard to come by, but what is all this for?" Auric asked hoping the sound of the engine would drown out their conversation to the others.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MarbleZone

Aduro Island

Geyser Park

Hayward: You struggle both to remain conscious and to refrain from lashing out at the woman for the injustice – something you’re in no position to do right now, as she and her son are your only hope.

Reluctantly, you limit yourself to telling your version of the story, explaining how you meant no harm to anybody in the first place – not toward Aduro Island’s Pokemon, and certainly not toward her husband. Intentionally, you only refer to the man’s misjudgment of character, not to how he attacked you inside the tunnels; making him seem like the bad guy here would lower your chances. Exhausted, you close your eyes, desperately fighting to stay awake while awaiting the verdict.

The woman stands silent for what seems like an eternity. Then, she turns around and walks away from you. You reopen your eyes to see where she’s going, unable to follow or so much as call her.

- Terry, let’s go. With need to get dad to the hospital. Hurry! And bring Kangy along, we don’t need another one being poached.

She and her son Terry help the man up, each draping one of his arms across their shoulders and pulling him up. The woman then reaches for a Pokeball in her belt and releases another Kangaskhan, considerably larger than the boy’s, and urges it to carry her husband. With little difficulty, the 7-feet-tall Pokemon places the man across her shoulders in an impressive display of Strength. You notice her pouch is empty... was her infant the one that was poached, like the woman said?

The family starts to walk away, leaving you to your fate. Suddenly, a faint voice, filled with pain, is heard.

- No… stop…

The woman turns around, startled.

- B-Barry? Dear, are you okay?! Don’t talk, save your strength! We’re taking you to a hospital right now, honey!

- Kelly… t-the boy… where is he?...

His wife, apparently named Kelly, throws you a confused look.

- He’s over there… what did he do to you?! He deserves to be left there for putting you through…

- He s… saved me… He said the… the truth. I owe him my life... Now p-please, save his…

Upon hearing this, the young Terry makes his way over to you running.

- Is it true? You saved daddy?! Thank you!! Mom, we can’t leave him here, he’ll… he’s not gonna be okay!

Kelly ponders on it for a brief moment, then acquiesces.

- You’re right. We… if my husband’s right, then we’re in your debt, stranger… Terry, have Kangy carry his Skarmory. You and me will help the young man.

----

It’s morning. You adjust your eyes to the light and try to figure out where you are. There’s a roof over your head, and everything looks so… white. There’s a curtain in front of you, you’re lying on a bed. There’s a needle in your right hand and one on the right side of your neck, each with a tube attached, and the left half of your thorax and upper left arm are tightly bandaged. There are two sacks hanging from a metallic support; one with a transparent fluid, the other with blood, each draining slowly to its respective tube.

You try to move, but you’re still weak. As long as you stay still though, you feel no pain at all, which is a clear improvement over the last time you were conscious. You must be in a hospital now…

- Awake, heh?

You look to the side. Next to you is the man you rescued, Barry. Not as banged up as you are, but still made to rest in his own bed for precaution, he tries to muster a smile.

- I’m sorry boy. I took you for someone you’re not, even though you tried to open my eyes repeatedly. I feel like I owe you an explanation in addition to an apology, though… When we’re both feeling better, I’ll walk you through what’s happening on the island and why I reacted the way I did. In the meantime, I do have some good news… Terry, can you come in please?

The young boy opens the door and enters the room. Seems he was expecting to be called.

- While you were asleep, I asked my wife to talk to the Nurse down in the Pokemon Center on the first floor. She accessed the records of recent PC deposits and contacted the Aduro Pokemon Lab in my behalf. We thought you might like this back.

Terry, with the largest grin you’ve ever seen on a child, hands you something haphazardly wrapped in a tissue. You smile back and open the gift, your eyes lighting up as you realize what it is. A Chocolate Ball… your Chocolate Ball.

Pressing the red button in the center, you open the Pokeball, its contents materializing on your lap…

- Teddi, Teddiursa!!

It takes a while for the realization to set in, but your mind can finally be at ease: you’ve captured a Level 4 Male Teddiursa!

The young cub gives you a hug, clearly grateful that you rescued him from that horrible predicament. He curls up on your chest and closes his eyes, clearly still tired from the ordeal, and quickly falls asleep. You can’t help but smile at the huge success your rescue attempt turned out to be… ignoring the fact that you’re confined to a hospital bed, that is.

Suddenly, a cell phone rings. It’s Barry’s. He reaches to his bedside table and picks up.

- Yes? Honey, hi! I’m doing fine, we already gave W…. what? What’s wrong, why are you talking so low? You.. WHAT?! Hostage?! What do you?... Kelly? KELLY!!

His face has turned pale. He looks at you delivers the news.

- Kelly… she’s downstairs at the Pokemon Center. Says five guys broke in with their Pokemon, wiped the security and are holding everyone hostage… Says she doesn’t know what they’re after and hung up. I… what do we do? She might be kil…

He stops mid-sentence and turns to Terry.

- Son, stay here. Whatever you do, do not go downstairs no matter what! Will, please… please keep an eye on my boy. I have to do something!

Struggling to get up, he puts on his shoes and walks out of the room limping, closing the door behind him. You’re left alone with Terry and the Teddiursa, still sleeping.

- Daaad! Don’t go, don’t leave me here!! Mister, we have to do something, we gotta help mom and dad!!

The kid’s desperate pleas are heart-wrenching, but what can you do? You feel you might try to muster the necessary strength to get up, after pulling off the needles, but you’re far from your best condition and even walking around will be a chore. You’re on the first floor, and the Pokemon Center is immediately below… but your other Pokemon are down there, too! Skarméo was delivered for healing, and Kelly handed your other remaining Pokeballs to the Nurse for safekeeping as well… Your only partner right now is the recently captured Teddiursa.

You look out the window; there’s a tree branch you might be able to reach and climb down to get outside, physically punishing as it would be to try and pull it off, but it’d be a way to escape and take the boy to safety. On the other hand, his parents are down there, and there’s no guarantee the captors won’t harm them. You can try to get the boy to safety by fleeing the building, or go down to the floor below and see what you can do – but what will you do with Terry in that case?

What do you do?

---

In a medical facility somewhere on Aduro Island, the trainer William Hale comes to and finds himself in a sterile recovery room, dressed in a plain hospital gown, hooked up to an IV, with the upper half of his body wrapped tightly in clean bandages. The pain he felt after having escaped from the collapsing cavern has lessened considerably, however as he attempts to reposition himself, he quickly realizes that he still has some soreness and that his strength hasn't fully returned yet.

Just then a voice comes on to remark that Will has finally awakened, and the lad bolts in surprise when he looks to one side to see that the speaker is none other than Barry, the man he and his Skarmory, Skarméo, had rescued from underground danger. Before Will can say anything however, Barry goes on to apologize for everything that happened earlier, then promises to tell Will why he responded so harshly once they have both fully recovered. Will nods and assures him not to worry about it, and the man suddenly calls for his son Terry to come into the room. Almost immediately, the youngster enters, wearing an enormous smile on his face and carrying something hastily wrapped in a thin, tissue-like covering. Terry holds it out to Will who gratefully accepts the gift and eagerly opens it to discover that the item inside is none other than the Chocolate Pokéball he tossed at Teddiursa.

Pressing the round trigger switch, the candy-coated capture capsule quadruples in size before cracking along its midline to release a mass of white energy which molds itself into the form of a tiny bear cub, then fades to reveal a chestnut-colored male Teddiursa who coos his species' name as Will lets out a grateful sigh that his rescue attempt was successful and that the little Pokémon is alive and safe after all. As Teddiursa snuggles up to Will, clearly appreciative of the boy's heroic acts on its behalf, the lad confesses that he simply acted on impulse in the cavern and never really considered at the time that he was actually acquiring a new teammate. Turning to Teddiursa, Will inquires if it would in fact like to accompany him and his companions on their travels, and the tiny cub nods enthusiastically in agreement before suddenly drifting off to sleep, still somewhat exhausted from the whole ordeal.

Just then Barry's phone rings, and the man answers to hear the panic-stricken voice of his wife Kelly on the other end. He gapes his mouth as he listens to her talk for a moment, then exclaims in shock at the woman's awful news that the downstairs floor of the hospital has just been taken hostage. Will and Terry look on in stunned silence as the man tries to gather more information from his terrified wife, but to everyone's horror, the call suddenly cuts out mid-sentence, and Barry turns to the two boys with a grave look on his face. He sternly warns them not to leave the room or go downstairs, then struggles out of bed, slips on his shoes, and limps off towards the door, exclaiming that he is going do something about their current threat.

Once Barry has left, Terry cries out in anguish that he wants to help too, and pleads with Will to let him follow his father. However, Will has finally just gained the Cascadian man's trust and is hesitant to disobey his order now. Dragging a hand through his short brown hair, Will glances at his surroundings and thinks hard to come up with a plan. Through an adjacent window, he spies a tree branch, and wonders briefly if they could climb down to the ground below and sneak off to safety before being spotted, but then realizes that in his present condition, it would be an extremely difficult task. Besides, he doubts that Terry would want to be separated from his parents, even if it meant that the youngster himself was safe. For a moment, Will considers consenting to Terry's plea to follow Barry to the ground floor and possibly lending a hand, but with only Teddiursa available for action, Will speculates that the hostage-takers might have them outmatched.

As difficult as it may be, for the time being, Will feels that the best course of action is simply just to stay put and lie low as Barry instructed, while waiting to see what develops. A veteran of many travels, Will realizes though that he should take precautions and do his best to be ready for anything. He rouses his still sleeping Teddiursa, who he has decided to nickname Urséo, and quickly explains their situation before remarking that while they wait he plans to teach it some new skills that may help to defend both themselves and Terry. Urséo nods in understanding, and as Will grabs his nearby courier bag, the rocky helmet he found in the Dream World suddenly tumbles out and lands on the floor with a loud thunk! Seeing this, Urséo scrambles off the bed to retrieve it, but rather than handing the thing back to Will as everyone expects, the little Pokémon places it on its head instead, having apparently taken an instant liking to the stony headgear.* Will grins that it's a good look, then states that besides being a one-of-a-kind item, the rocky helmet will also help Urséo defend itself in battle. Urséo nods knowingly and tightens the adjustable chinstrap as Will withdraws a metallic, silver colored Pokéball and switches it with the tiny bear cub's Chocolate Ball, stating that as an official member of his squad, it should be kitted out in the same colour as the rest of its mates. ** The junior grizzly gives a joyful grin, and Will reaches into his bag once again and this time withdraws a number of small technical machine discs, inserts them into his TM case, then quickly instructs the tiny bear cub how to perform the new techniques.** With that intensive training complete, Will comments that all they can do now is wait...

* Teddiursa has now been given the rocky helmet item to hold wear.

** Teddiursa has now been deposited into a Steel Ball and his Chocolate Ball has been discarded. **

*** Teddiursa has now learned Roar, Hone Claws, Shadow Claw, Brick Break, Headbutt, Ice Punch, Facade, & Sleep Talk ***

The wounds Chad suffered slowly began to heal as he listened to Baro and Saint both explain what it was exactly he drank in the first place. Chad became immediately interested once Saint started to explain the term "Users" and why he thought he was one.

Saint opened a drawer in the table again and took something out of it. He laid it on the table. Chad noticed it was a rose. It did seem familiar to him, and his eyes widened. Was it perhaps a Glass Rose?

"This is a Magical Glass. By the look in your eyes, I'd say you're acquainted with it, which further proves my point," Saint explained. "Users are just that... Trainers who know more than a regular one should."

"I've heard of them," Chad replied, "but I've never seen one in person." He bent over to look at it more closely. He wondered how Saint got one.

"You may not realize it, but you're part of something far greater than you can imagine, and far older than you've been told," Saint continued. "A select number of Trainers, not only in Cascadia but the entire land of Fizzy Bubbles, have been blessed since ages long past with the ability to wield particular items that most others don't even know exist." Chad listened intently. "Had I shown this Glass Rose to any other Trainer, they would have dismissed it as an ornament; but you know better, you're familiar with its purpose."

Chad wondered if his parents or even his brother knew about this, if they managed to become one of these Trainers. Next he thought about Heracross, still out in the forest.

"Baro, take our guest to the Old Wall. Maybe he'll understand, like you did." This request seemed to have shocked Baro. It shocked Chad too, but he wasn't about to divulge this.

"Saint, are you?" Baro asked. "Yes, Saint."

"Go with Baro," Saint returned the Glass Rose to its drawer. "There's something important you need to see if you're to comprehend the magnitude of your role in this land." Saint was smiling at Chad. Surely he had plans for him. Sometimes he, too, wondered what his role in this land, world even, was. "Until you do, there is little you can assist me with, but return here after you've been to the Old Wall, if you so wish. I might have something to ask of you then."

Chad stood up. He was about to ask about getting Heracross back, but Baro motioned it was time to leave the tent. Chad could tell not many outsiders visit this village when he saw the crowd of people staring at him exiting the tent. The good thing about being Baro's size was that he was easily able to disperse the crowd. He walked towards the gates. Chad had to practically power-walk to keep up with the large strides he was making.

It seemed like a long walk. Maybe it was. Or maybe it was because of the silence. Chad decided to break the silence. "Are we going to get Heracross before going to the Old Wall?" he asked. Baro ignored him, but he stopped anyway.

"Saint believes you are a User," he spoke without even facing him. "If he's right, then you have nothing to worry about; your Pokemon will find you wherever you are if you know how to call it. But you see," he turned around finally and was angry, "I think Saint it wrong about you. You're nothing remarkable, just another trespasser like so many before;" Chad wondered where this was all coming from, "the fact you happen to own those Pokeballs proves nothing about you. Saint's been waiting so long for a true User to come about that I think it's taken its toll on his judgment."

Baro began to raise his fingers to his lips, "Because there is no way," he whistled a melodic tune, unlike anything Chad had ever heard before echoing throughout the woods. "There is no way you're the same as me!"

With that, Chad felt the ground beneath him shake a little. From out of the ground a large Pokemon appeared. The Pokemon had metallic claws and a sharp-looking helmet. Chad had never seen anything like it before, so he checked his Pokedex:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Pokedex

Excadrill, the Subterrene Pokemon and the evolved form of Drillbur. Forming a drill with its steel claws and head, Excadrill can bore through a steel plate, no matter how thick it is.

---

Baro's Excadrill looked tough, and it also looked like it wanted a fight. "Prove me wrong boy," he said, "and I'll accept you as a User. I'll even teach you how to summon your Heracross and take you to the Old Wall!" Excadrill began spreading its claws ready to battle. "But if you fall to me, and you will, I'll return to Saint with proof that you're not all he hopes you to be."

"I wasn't really looking for a fight, but if that's how it has to be," Chad replied as he took out a Pokeball. He wished it were Heracross's. "Cyndaquil, time to shine!" he tossed the Pokeball to call out his most trusted Pokemon.

"Quill?" Cyndaquil said after looking at Excadrill.

"Yes, this is our opponent," Chad replied. He thought Cyndaquil seemed a little nervous. "Don't worry, I believe in you." Chad sized up his opponent. Luckily, Excadrill was vulnerable his partner's Fire-type moves but not much else. He also worried about setting another forest on fire. "We'll have to be smart. Start off with Flame Charge, and use that momentum to do a Double Kick. If you're still in close range, use Will-o-Wisp." If Chad had learned anything, it was not to underestimate anyone. He had a feeling this battle was going to be a long one!


Stats

These are somewhat shorter than usual, but I think they’re adequate given each scenario. The writing isn’t fantastic, it’s been a tough couple of weeks, sorry. :/

A personal request for all my updatees: in your replies, try to minimize quotes; by this I mean, there’s no need to literally repeat everything the NPCs just said to you in the previous update… I kinda remember what I wrote. :P
I know there’s no way around it sometimes, and it’s okay to do it within reason, but other times it just feels like unnecessary repetition that makes your replies longer, but not necessarily richer in content. Thanks for understanding.


Aduro Island

Geyser Park

Hayward: You’re a veteran in adventuring, and you’ve learned to play the waiting game over the years. You realize that rushing in anywhere in your condition is a risk you can’t afford, and that diving head-first into a disadvantageous situation would be shooting yourself in the foot. But as you finish preparing Urséo for what may come, you realize that not everyone has the same degree of experience that you do…

- Mom and dad are down there! How long are we just gonna stay here?! If you’re not gonna save them, Kangy and I will!!

Terry isn’t going to just sit idly while his parents are in danger. And while waiting seems like the most sensible thing to do in your mind, you neglected the fact that Terry is still a child that needs things to be properly explained; and for a kid concerned about his parents’ well-being, there’s nothing worse than just waiting around. In a way, the youngster is right; if the hostages are being held on the bottom floor, what good would waiting in the hospital wing upstairs do? If Barry and his wife are both down there defenseless, who does this waiting game really benefit?

Holding a Pokeball in his hand – which, you presume, houses his young Kangaskhan -, Terry storms through the door, much like his father had done previously. Remembering that he was left at your care, your try to urge him to stop, but it’s too late; you and Urséo are the only ones that remain in the room.

You run through your options; escaping the building is hardly a choice now, if you want to honour your commitment to Barry. You can still leave if you so wish, but what would happen to the family that healed you? You could also try to follow Terry, bearing in mind the possibility that you’ll be outnumbered – something you’ve already equated, but then again, you don’t even know how many enemies you’d be facing…
You also wonder why nobody in the upper floors seems to have raised the alarm; the perpetrators are only one floor below! Why is the Hospital security oblivious to it? Either they are remarkably silent, not having raised any suspicion thus far, or something else is up. Whichever the case, the time for waiting seems to be behind you.

What will you do?


Aduron Chasm

takkupanda: Look here


Ruin Island

Amor Temple

Stark: Awaiting your edits to the latest reply.


Lily Island

The Red Forest

PikaGod: Look here


The Silver Forest

hen da man: Look here


King Ghidorah: Look here


jolteonjak: Despite your best intentions, you’re still dragged into a fight with Baro; he’s clearly been against you from the very first moment you two met, and now it seems like he has free reign to vent his frustrations. In the meantime, all you want is to find Heracross and head to the Old Wall, like Saint requested… Still, it can’t be helped; an Excadrill stands in your way, and even though you never faced one before, it’s pretty obvious what you have to do.

You order Cyndaquil to speed things up with Flame Charge, to which the small fire mouse complies; its body is engulfed in flames and he dashes head-first into Excadrill, scoring a direct hit; the remaining flames swirl around Cyndaquil’s feet briefly before dispersing, and it seems your partner is now more agile with their boost. Before he can chain the Double Kick as you instructed though, the opponent swings one of his dangerously large Metal Claws and shoves Cyndaquil back a few feet, though the hit didn’t seem very severe.

With that opportunity lost, your partner dutifully follows up with a Will-o-Wisp, shooting three flaming blue orbs at Excadrill. The opponent, however, Digs his way underground, avoiding the attack!

- You are much too small to stand against the power of a trained Excadrill, let alone a User’s. You did well to choose a Fire Pokemon to capitalize on your opponent’s Steel part, but don’t forget that his playground is the earth itself, as a powerful Ground-Type as well!

Just then, you realize something: Baro didn’t need to issue a single command to his Pokemon! Did that come with being a User too? How did that even work?! You can’t help but wish you somehow had the same skill, the ability to give instructions to your Pokemon without voicing them; imagine the edge that would give you! Actually, you are experiencing it firsthand right now, only… on the receiving end of that strategy.

- Like I said, there’s no way you’re like me. You’re not a true User! You can’t even track your missing Pokemon, let alone rely on your partner to battle! You shout each and every order pitifully, like this is the first time you battle with that Cyndaquil! A User doesn’t need to speak once he truly knows his partners, once he genuinely bonds with them. They are one mind, one soul, and words become futile! How can a simple, unremarkable Trainer like you compete with that perfect synchrony?

You look around, alarmed. There’s no telling where or when that Excadrill is going to emerge! If only there was some way of knowing… Cyndaquil is quite healthy, the opponent’s Metal Claw having had less effect than his Flame Charge, and his movement speed is now clearly faster than Excadrill’s. Still, the foe now holds the element of surprise, as well as a distinct power advantage…

What will you do?


Crater Island

Iridi Beach

kaisap112: Look here


Brine Island

Salin City

Arc_Angel & lilbluecorsola: Look here


empoleon_dynamite: Look here


Ion Island

Storm Lake

Myahoo: Look here


Glacier Island

Boreal Wastelands

Trepie: You decide this is an opportune moment to get some insight on the whole thing; Gapp seems trustworthy enough, and the sound of the engines should drown out the more sensitive dialogue. You figure it’s best to find out who exactly you agreed to work for, and what these people are really after. Private Gapp speaks louder for you to hear him over the snowmobile’s noise.

- You’re askin’ all the tough questions, aren’t you? To be honest though, there ain’t much I can tell you… Nebula is the scientific branch of the government-funded Plasma Works Foundation. See, a number of years ago there was this criminal organization, Team Plasma… you probably heard of them. Had some crazy ideas about Pokemon liberation, got disbanded of course. But they did have an impressive amount of research being conducted before their dissolution, and the Government decided to claim and expand it. Mind you, some of it was pretty dark stuff, I hear, but they had also made some significant breakthroughs on Pokemon genetics. Don’t know the details, I’m just a soldier.

Up ahead, Commander Kessler motions to the formation to turn right, as a ridge begins to take shape in the distance – icy mountains lining the horizon, and it seems to be where you’re headed.

- Anyway, some bright minds took over a number of Plasma projects and reworked them all into a brand with a modified message. They figured it’d be good publicity to say that they could turn Plasma’s twisted ideals into a positive initiative, and the common folk liked it. To be fair, if those guys hadn’t been lying all along, some of what they said actually made sense, if you ask me… Be that as it may, this excursion here is part of Nebula’s many experiments. They work to perfect Plasma’s research and modify it to be beneficial for society, people and Pokemon alike. And in each of their field missions, they bring along a regiment; we got picked this time around.

Not a single Pokemon catches your eye as Gapp and the others speed through the vast icy plains. Inhospitable for even the resident Ice-Types, you begin to realize why they were having such a hard time finding live specimens; very little could survive out here, without so much as shielding from the unforgiving wind, no food or shelter. Perhaps a further testament to how dangerous those Beartic from before were, having endured these conditions for God knows how long before you ran into them.

- It’s an honour to be sent here, to be honest. Most of us wanna work Nebula assignments; battle a bit, catch some Pokemon, nothing too demanding, and the pay’s nice. Besides, it does wonders for our curriculum, since Plasma Works is deeply connected to the Government these days. I can’t really tell what they’re investigating, though. We don’t get briefed on that, it’s strictly need-to-know for us military. All we’ve been told is to catch as many live Pokemon as we can, and that Water and Ice-Types are particularly valuable; hence why we were dispatched here, of all places in Cascadia.

The mountains are very close by now. You spot Commander Kessler slowing down his snowmobile, the rest doing the same, until they eventually stop. Kessler dismounts and turns to his seven soldiers (and you) for the mission briefing.

- Alright men, listen up. As you know, we’re tasked with obtaining living Pokemon for Nebula’s lab coats back at the camp. We’ve been less than successful thus far, but our geography experts assured me that Pokemon in Glacier Island tend to seek shelter in these mountains, unable to survive out in the plains, which would explain our limited success. We will enter the mountain tunnels and capture any and all Pokemon we find for the next three hours; after that, we’ll rendez-vous back here. Remember, Water and Ice-Types are our top priority. As usual, you will be using Nebula’s Link Balls, and you’ll be working in pairs. Team up, grab your gear and get moving! As long as it’s still alive, it’ll do, so don’t hesitate to engage!

Again, that last remark makes you uncomfortable, but you have little time to dwell on it as Gapp pulls you over and opens the snowmobile’s trunk. He hands you 10 Link Balls and a transceiver*.

- You heard the boss. These Pokeballs are Nebula’s special devices; they are transferred to the Lab almost immediately after closing, meaning it doesn’t really matter if it locks the Pokemon in or not; just hurling it at one and getting it inside is enough to start the transfer, which makes mass-capturing a lot easier. The transceiver is basically just a walkie-talkie, though I’m not sure how well they’ll work inside a cave… Anyway, you’re with me. Only guy you can trust, right? Besides, I’m probably the only one with enough patience to show you the ropes…

Smiling, he motions for you to join up with the others at the large cave entrance where the group is already gathered. Like clockwork, they run inside two at a time, and branch into different paths. You and Gapp go in last. In front of you, the cave entrance spreads out into several tunnels; Gapp points to one in particular, unexplored by the previous teams. It’s the sensible thing to do, covering as much ground as possible to maximize chances.

Soon enough, a pair of Zubat fly above your heads, their sleep disturbed. Before you can even ask, Gapp swiftly reaches for two of the Link Balls in his pouch and throws them at the Zubat; drawing the Pokemon inside, the balls close and immediately vanish before even touching the ground. Now you understand what he meant about “mass capturing”…

- See, it’s pretty easy. They’re no Ice-Types, but I’m sure the brains over at the lab can put them to use. Your turn to try, there’s one more!

Indeed, you spot a third Zubat flying in your direction. As you ponder on what to do, reaching for one of your own Link Balls, you feel a strong tremor that almost makes you lose balance, forcing you to drop the Ball to the ground. But as you struggle to regain your footing, a second quake, much more intense than the fist, makes the entire tunnel shake violently, and suddenly… the tunnel itself starts to give in all around you! Cracks form on the icy walls, ceiling and ground, as the earthquake continues; Gapp has fallen to the ground, and just as you’re about to go check on him, a large fissure opens right beneath your feet, and you fall.

----

It’s a long way down, as the crack on the ground grows large enough for you to fall through. You tumble and crash down hard after what seems like an eternity of free-falling, a sharp pain running through your back and left arm, which met the ground first. It seems you fell deeper into the cave, a large frozen area all around you; a sublevel of the cave beneath the tunnels. Icicles have formed on the ground and ceiling. You then realize that the pouch where you kept the Link Balls was ripped open during the fall, and is now empty; fortunately, your own Pokeballs remain firmly attached to your belt.

You look up; you can’t even see where you were before, it must have been quite the journey down into the icy depths of the mountain… but what the hell was that earthquake? And what is it with you and caves collapsing on your head lately?!

You struggle to get to your feet; your left arm is almost devoid of strength, and although the cold helps to ease the pain, you wonder if something isn’t broken or out of place, given that you can barely raise the arm above your chest. Also, you realize you landed on the transceiver and it’s now irreversibly broken. Cursing your luck, you reason that the only solution for now is to muscle through and try to find a path leading back to the surface, catching some Pokemon along the way to help out with the mission – although, without the miraculous Link Balls, that might be more trouble than it’s worth...

All of a sudden, you feel another tremor – almost as violent as the one before! This one, however, subsides faster, but is replaced with a rhythmic tremor akin to a… gallop? And its intensity is increasing… there’s something headed your way!
Sure enough, looking at the wide tunnel leading out of the frozen room you're in, you spot something coming in your direction; something very large, very heavy, very brown. It’s…

- SWIIINE! MAMOSWIIINE!!!

The rampaging giant is dashing straight in your direction; was it angered by the troop's invasion? Is this its territory? Whichever the reason, that thing’s about to ram you!!

What do you do?!

*Items exclusive to this adventure.[/size]


Silver Ocean

Auronos Caverns

ApertureScience: The crossroads didn’t provide much of a doubt to you or Maxwell; put off by the darkness, not wanting to be forced to brave through unknown territory without visibility, you opt to take the more illuminated route. You wonder if Sean made the same choice, or if you’re actually moving away from him, but you don’t dwell on it for long; there’s treasure to be found! Or so you hope.

Survival is the most basic instinct of man. He naturally adapts to the environment to best protect himself from outside menaces, and instinctively chooses the safest routes to travel. No matter how much technology progresses, people will always be like that in their very essence. So choosing the path with the most visibility seems like the obvious choice… But there is one thing you have neglected.

In a dark, deep underground cave, with no evident natural sources of light, shouldn’t most narrow passages, tunnels and corridors be dark? Indeed. Anything that glows in a place devoid of fire or artificial lighting should elicit suspicion, but following your survival instinct, you have neglected that detail. As you go deeper into the road you chose, you hear something. A growl, then crackles, then silence… You turn a sharp corner, occasionally having to duck a sharper rock edge pointing from the ceiling; the tunnel is very narrow, both in height and in width. Suddenly, you hear the growl again, low-pitched, closer than before… Something is glowing brightly at the far end of the tunnel. You decide to approach it with caution, considering the only other alternative is to head back the same way, since the tunnel hasn’t branched again…

Then suddenly, almost too quickly to see, a jolt of lightning strikes dangerously close to your feet! The mysterious glow in the distance begins to close in fast, and before long you finally realize what it is – the source of the eerie light that you mistook for a boon earlier…

- Eel! Eelektrik!!

The large eel Pokemon stops close to you, its body crackling with energy as it radiates light from its circular patterns. It then starts to Coil… it’s going to attack!

What will you do?!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MarbleZone

These are somewhat shorter than usual, but I think they’re adequate given each scenario. The writing isn’t fantastic, it’s been a tough couple of weeks, sorry. :/

A personal request for all my updatees: in your replies, try to minimize quotes; by this I mean, there’s no need to literally repeat everything the NPCs just said to you in the previous update… I kinda remember what I wrote. :P
I know there’s no way around it sometimes, and it’s okay to do it within reason, but other times it just feels like unnecessary repetition that makes your replies longer, but not necessarily richer in content. Thanks for understanding.


Aduro Island

Geyser Park

Hayward: You’re a veteran in adventuring, and you’ve learned to play the waiting game over the years. You realize that rushing in anywhere in your condition is a risk you can’t afford, and that diving head-first into a disadvantageous situation would be shooting yourself in the foot. But as you finish preparing Urséo for what may come, you realize that not everyone has the same degree of experience that you do…

- Mom and dad are down there! How long are we just gonna stay here?! If you’re not gonna save them, Kangy and I will!!

Terry isn’t going to just sit idly while his parents are in danger. And while waiting seems like the most sensible thing to do in your mind, you neglected the fact that Terry is still a child that needs things to be properly explained; and for a kid concerned about his parents’ well-being, there’s nothing worse than just waiting around. In a way, the youngster is right; if the hostages are being held on the bottom floor, what good would waiting in the hospital wing upstairs do? If Barry and his wife are both down there defenseless, who does this waiting game really benefit?

Holding a Pokeball in his hand – which, you presume, houses his young Kangaskhan -, Terry storms through the door, much like his father had done previously. Remembering that he was left at your care, your try to urge him to stop, but it’s too late; you and Urséo are the only ones that remain in the room.

You run through your options; escaping the building is hardly a choice now, if you want to honour your commitment to Barry. You can still leave if you so wish, but what would happen to the family that healed you? You could also try to follow Terry, bearing in mind the possibility that you’ll be outnumbered – something you’ve already equated, but then again, you don’t even know how many enemies you’d be facing…

You also wonder why nobody in the upper floors seems to have raised the alarm; the perpetrators are only one floor below! Why is the Hospital security oblivious to it? Either they are remarkably silent, not having raised any suspicion thus far, or something else is up. Whichever the case, the time for waiting seems to be behind you.

What will you do?

---

On the second floor of a hospital situated somewhere on Cascadia's Aduro Island, Terry feels frustrated at their current situation and hollers out that he intends to do something about it. He withdraws a Pokéball, which Will reasons must contain Kangaskhan, then suddenly storms out of the room with a determined glint in his eyes. The youngster's rash behavior causes both Will and Urséo to bolt in shock, but after exchanging a worried look, Will admits that he would have done the exact same thing had he been in Terry's position, and therefore really can't blame the boy for wanting to protect his family or for reacting the way he did.

Dragging a hand through his short brown hair, Will thinks hard about what to do, but after only a moment, concludes that the choice is clearly obvious, which choice is to go after Terry, and immediately makes up his mind to follow him down to the first floor. Will remarks that after all, he did promise Barry to look after the boy and he intends to honor his word. Besides, the rest of Will's Pokémon team, close companions with whom he has traveled across much of the vast, curious realm of FB, and with whom he shares a strong bond akin to the kind found between siblings, are also somewhere in the medical facility and might be in danger or in need of help too. He confesses that he worries for their safety, and like Terry, is willing to do whatever is necessary to protect the ones he regards as family. Urséo nods sagely in understanding while Will, wasting no more time, carefully withdraws the needle from his arm and extricates himself from the IV, preparing to depart. The lad then swings his legs over the edge of the bed and begins gently massaging his aching body, trying to rub some life into his stiff muscles and limbs. As Urséo hops nimbly to the floor, Will gathers his belongings, slips out of his hospital gown, and changes into his usual attire.

A moment later, Will is fully dressed and ready to head off into the hospital in pursuit of Terry. He grabs his grey, side-strap courier bag and slings it across his back, then turns and makes for the exit with Urséo shambling along beside. As the lad slowly turns the handle, eases the door open, and quietly steps out into the hallway, he knows they will have to be careful, as there's no telling what fate has in store for them...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MarbleZone

Glacier Island

Boreal Wastelands

Trepie: You decide this is an opportune moment to get some insight on the whole thing; Gapp seems trustworthy enough, and the sound of the engines should drown out the more sensitive dialogue. You figure it’s best to find out who exactly you agreed to work for, and what these people are really after. Private Gapp speaks louder for you to hear him over the snowmobile’s noise.

- You’re askin’ all the tough questions, aren’t you? To be honest though, there ain’t much I can tell you… Nebula is the scientific branch of the government-funded Plasma Works Foundation. See, a number of years ago there was this criminal organization, Team Plasma… you probably heard of them. Had some crazy ideas about Pokemon liberation, got disbanded of course. But they did have an impressive amount of research being conducted before their dissolution, and the Government decided to claim and expand it. Mind you, some of it was pretty dark stuff, I hear, but they had also made some significant breakthroughs on Pokemon genetics. Don’t know the details, I’m just a soldier.

Up ahead, Commander Kessler motions to the formation to turn right, as a ridge begins to take shape in the distance – icy mountains lining the horizon, and it seems to be where you’re headed.

- Anyway, some bright minds took over a number of Plasma projects and reworked them all into a brand with a modified message. They figured it’d be good publicity to say that they could turn Plasma’s twisted ideals into a positive initiative, and the common folk liked it. To be fair, if those guys hadn’t been lying all along, some of what they said actually made sense, if you ask me… Be that as it may, this excursion here is part of Nebula’s many experiments. They work to perfect Plasma’s research and modify it to be beneficial for society, people and Pokemon alike. And in each of their field missions, they bring along a regiment; we got picked this time around.

Not a single Pokemon catches your eye as Gapp and the others speed through the vast icy plains. Inhospitable for even the resident Ice-Types, you begin to realize why they were having such a hard time finding live specimens; very little could survive out here, without so much as shielding from the unforgiving wind, no food or shelter. Perhaps a further testament to how dangerous those Beartic from before were, having endured these conditions for God knows how long before you ran into them.

- It’s an honour to be sent here, to be honest. Most of us wanna work Nebula assignments; battle a bit, catch some Pokemon, nothing too demanding, and the pay’s nice. Besides, it does wonders for our curriculum, since Plasma Works is deeply connected to the Government these days. I can’t really tell what they’re investigating, though. We don’t get briefed on that, it’s strictly need-to-know for us military. All we’ve been told is to catch as many live Pokemon as we can, and that Water and Ice-Types are particularly valuable; hence why we were dispatched here, of all places in Cascadia.

The mountains are very close by now. You spot Commander Kessler slowing down his snowmobile, the rest doing the same, until they eventually stop. Kessler dismounts and turns to his seven soldiers (and you) for the mission briefing.

- Alright men, listen up. As you know, we’re tasked with obtaining living Pokemon for Nebula’s lab coats back at the camp. We’ve been less than successful thus far, but our geography experts assured me that Pokemon in Glacier Island tend to seek shelter in these mountains, unable to survive out in the plains, which would explain our limited success. We will enter the mountain tunnels and capture any and all Pokemon we find for the next three hours; after that, we’ll rendez-vous back here. Remember, Water and Ice-Types are our top priority. As usual, you will be using Nebula’s Link Balls, and you’ll be working in pairs. Team up, grab your gear and get moving! As long as it’s still alive, it’ll do, so don’t hesitate to engage!

Again, that last remark makes you uncomfortable, but you have little time to dwell on it as Gapp pulls you over and opens the snowmobile’s trunk. He hands you 10 Link Balls and a transceiver*.

- You heard the boss. These Pokeballs are Nebula’s special devices; they are transferred to the Lab almost immediately after closing, meaning it doesn’t really matter if it locks the Pokemon in or not; just hurling it at one and getting it inside is enough to start the transfer, which makes mass-capturing a lot easier. The transceiver is basically just a walkie-talkie, though I’m not sure how well they’ll work inside a cave… Anyway, you’re with me. Only guy you can trust, right? Besides, I’m probably the only one with enough patience to show you the ropes…

Smiling, he motions for you to join up with the others at the large cave entrance where the group is already gathered. Like clockwork, they run inside two at a time, and branch into different paths. You and Gapp go in last. In front of you, the cave entrance spreads out into several tunnels; Gapp points to one in particular, unexplored by the previous teams. It’s the sensible thing to do, covering as much ground as possible to maximize chances.

Soon enough, a pair of Zubat fly above your heads, their sleep disturbed. Before you can even ask, Gapp swiftly reaches for two of the Link Balls in his pouch and throws them at the Zubat; drawing the Pokemon inside, the balls close and immediately vanish before even touching the ground. Now you understand what he meant about “mass capturing”…

- See, it’s pretty easy. They’re no Ice-Types, but I’m sure the brains over at the lab can put them to use. Your turn to try, there’s one more!

Indeed, you spot a third Zubat flying in your direction. As you ponder on what to do, reaching for one of your own Link Balls, you feel a strong tremor that almost makes you lose balance, forcing you to drop the Ball to the ground. But as you struggle to regain your footing, a second quake, much more intense than the fist, makes the entire tunnel shake violently, and suddenly… the tunnel itself starts to give in all around you! Cracks form on the icy walls, ceiling and ground, as the earthquake continues; Gapp has fallen to the ground, and just as you’re about to go check on him, a large fissure opens right beneath your feet, and you fall.

----

It’s a long way down, as the crack on the ground grows large enough for you to fall through. You tumble and crash down hard after what seems like an eternity of free-falling, a sharp pain running through your back and left arm, which met the ground first. It seems you fell deeper into the cave, a large frozen area all around you; a sublevel of the cave beneath the tunnels. Icicles have formed on the ground and ceiling. You then realize that the pouch where you kept the Link Balls was ripped open during the fall, and is now empty; fortunately, your own Pokeballs remain firmly attached to your belt.

You look up; you can’t even see where you were before, it must have been quite the journey down into the icy depths of the mountain… but what the hell was that earthquake? And what is it with you and caves collapsing on your head lately?!

You struggle to get to your feet; your left arm is almost devoid of strength, and although the cold helps to ease the pain, you wonder if something isn’t broken or out of place, given that you can barely raise the arm above your chest. Also, you realize you landed on the transceiver and it’s now irreversibly broken. Cursing your luck, you reason that the only solution for now is to muscle through and try to find a path leading back to the surface, catching some Pokemon along the way to help out with the mission – although, without the miraculous Link Balls, that might be more trouble than it’s worth...

All of a sudden, you feel another tremor – almost as violent as the one before! This one, however, subsides faster, but is replaced with a rhythmic tremor akin to a… gallop? And its intensity is increasing… there’s something headed your way!
Sure enough, looking at the wide tunnel leading out of the frozen room you're in, you spot something coming in your direction; something very large, very heavy, very brown. It’s…

- SWIIINE! MAMOSWIIINE!!!

The rampaging giant is dashing straight in your direction; was it angered by the troop's invasion? Is this its territory? Whichever the reason, that thing’s about to ram you!!

What do you do?!

---

The fall didn't feel entirely real to Auric. It felt almost like a dream or more accurately a nightmare. Well at least until he hit the icy ground at the bottom. As far as reality checks go, hitting the ground that hard was damn fine. Pain shot through his back and arm and the wind was knocked out of his chest. It took a few moments but finally he managed to pull himself off the ground, quickly realizing that his left arm was in rough shape. "Well I was just starting to worry I wouldn't walk away from this with enough injuries and then earth opens up and swallows me. Your luck is aces Auric, just aces." he said to himself shaking his head.

Further examination found his transceiver in pieces and his supply of link balls were missing, not that he cared too much about that. Regardless of their intentions Auric wasn't fond of Pokemon being used in any sort of live testing. At least now he could say he lost all his Link balls while narrowly avoiding death in an icy pit. He could see he was in an ice passage deep in the mountain. It was very dim and hard to see, but on the plus side at least there was more rock than ice here. The last thing he needed was a repeat of the Beartic cave. Taking a moment he took his jacket off, wincing as he pulled his arm free, then tucking it back in under the jacket. It wasn't the same as a splint but it would do for now. Still he couldn't help but curse to himself a little while getting it situated. This was going to put him down to a single arm. Not good news if he ended up having to climb.

Just as he finished zipping his jacket up a tremor shook the ground, then another, and another. Auric froze and scanned his surroundings. Looking deeper into the cavern a shape began to form in the shadows. The shape of something massive. "SWIIINE! MAMOSWIIINE!!" The mammoth Pokemon bellowed as it charged at Auric.

".......Just aces....." Auric muttered to himself as he stood squarely in the path of the Mammoswine. Waiting until the beast was a little closer he reached to his belt and pulled a Wareball off and threw it at the ground in front of him. A flash in the darkness and then the dark hound stood proudly staring at the ice behemoth that was heading straight towards them. "Hey there pretty girl, feel up for a fight?"

"Dooom! Howooooon!" She barked in excitement.

He was ready this time. The best thing for this Mammoswine was for Auric to knock it out to quiet it down. If it made much more noise the expedition members would find it and capture it for sure and he wanted to avoid that. Knock it out, camouflage it the best he could and move along. Of course that would be easier said than done. "Alright Iris, let's do this. Get in there and hit it with a Sucker Punch once it's hit go for the legs with a Foul Play. If it comes in close to attack use Dark Pulse to push it back." It was all up to Iris now. Her opponent was bigger and definitely angrier but Auric knew Iris. She'd handle this the same way she approached everything, with temperance and patience that helped her to know when to strike and when to defend. If anything was truly working against them it was time. He wanted to keep this Mammoswine out of their science project but every minute that passed was one closer to them finding it.

FB Stats(Look for Orange text for Iris's stats)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MarbleZone

Lily Island

The Silver Forest

jolteonjak: Despite your best intentions, you’re still dragged into a fight with Baro; he’s clearly been against you from the very first moment you two met, and now it seems like he has free reign to vent his frustrations. In the meantime, all you want is to find Heracross and head to the Old Wall, like Saint requested… Still, it can’t be helped; an Excadrill stands in your way, and even though you never faced one before, it’s pretty obvious what you have to do.

You order Cyndaquil to speed things up with Flame Charge, to which the small fire mouse complies; its body is engulfed in flames and he dashes head-first into Excadrill, scoring a direct hit; the remaining flames swirl around Cyndaquil’s feet briefly before dispersing, and it seems your partner is now more agile with their boost. Before he can chain the Double Kick as you instructed though, the opponent swings one of his dangerously large Metal Claws and shoves Cyndaquil back a few feet, though the hit didn’t seem very severe.

With that opportunity lost, your partner dutifully follows up with a Will-o-Wisp, shooting three flaming blue orbs at Excadrill. The opponent, however, Digs his way underground, avoiding the attack!

- You are much too small to stand against the power of a trained Excadrill, let alone a User’s. You did well to choose a Fire Pokemon to capitalize on your opponent’s Steel part, but don’t forget that his playground is the earth itself, as a powerful Ground-Type as well!

Just then, you realize something: Baro didn’t need to issue a single command to his Pokemon! Did that come with being a User too? How did that even work?! You can’t help but wish you somehow had the same skill, the ability to give instructions to your Pokemon without voicing them; imagine the edge that would give you! Actually, you are experiencing it firsthand right now, only… on the receiving end of that strategy.

- Like I said, there’s no way you’re like me. You’re not a true User! You can’t even track your missing Pokemon, let alone rely on your partner to battle! You shout each and every order pitifully, like this is the first time you battle with that Cyndaquil! A User doesn’t need to speak once he truly knows his partners, once he genuinely bonds with them. They are one mind, one soul, and words become futile! How can a simple, unremarkable Trainer like you compete with that perfect synchrony?

You look around, alarmed. There’s no telling where or when that Excadrill is going to emerge! If only there was some way of knowing… Cyndaquil is quite healthy, the opponent’s Metal Claw having had less effect than his Flame Charge, and his movement speed is now clearly faster than Excadrill’s. Still, the foe now holds the element of surprise, as well as a distinct power advantage…

What will you do?

---

As the fight began, Chad wasted no time going on the offense. Excadrill looked very well trained by the way it seemed to execute its attacks. 'Wait, why did it attack? I didn't even hear Baro give any orders,' Chad thought as he watched Excadrill swat Cyndaquil with Metal Claw. "Are you psychic or something?" he yelled to Baro. "I didn't even hear you give an order!"

This realization of who he was truly dealing with really threw Chad for a loop. He couldn't figure out how they were communicating. "Like I said, there's no way you're like me," Baro boasted. "You're not a true User! You can't even track your missing Pokemon, let alone rely on your partner to battle!"

"What do you expect? I've never had a Pokemon go missing before!" Chad replied.

"You shout each order pitifully, like this is the first time you battle with that Cyndaquil! A User doesn't need to speak once he truly knows his partners, once he genuinely bonds with them."

Chad immediately thought to himself, 'If I don't shout out orders, he and his Excadrill won't hear them.' Now it was time for Chad to see if this would work. "Cyndaquil get closer to me!"

"They are one mind, one soul, and words become futile! How can a simple, unremarkable Trainer like you compete with that perfect synchrony?"

"Perfect syncrhony, eh?" Chad said to himself while he waited for Cyndaquil to get closer. "If I disrupt that synchrony, I wonder what would happen. Once Cyndaquil got close enough, Chad said to him, "Cyndaquil, keep moving until Excadrill surfaces. If you run by the hole Excadrill dug, shoot a Swift down it. Oh, and if you see Excadrill resurface, hurry and try another Will-o-Wisp!"

Chad immediately returned to thinking, 'How do I disrupt their synchrony?'


Stats