More people? Heh, it's a freakin' invasion. xD Anyways, guys, because the interest far exceeded my expectations I'm going to have to make some very harsh cuts here, because there are only so many people who can be reasonably fitted into the plot, so I'm afraid I'll have to prune the pending list; A LOT. It's unfortunate, but this means I'll have to cut some people I would really have accepted simply because so many others were even better. For that, I deeply apologize. T_T
@GhostPrincess: Yeah, since you asked for this by PM your sign-up is now officially discounted. Thanks for the interest. :3
@Porygon-Z: A good, solid profile right there, and under the pain of the paper too.
~Accepted~ you are.
@PikaPal: I would like to accept you but I just have to draw a line for the number of people here at some point and all these later signers have pushed the average quality through the roof. ;.; So, with a heavy heart, I settle on
~Declined~ Welcome back the next time I start an RP, though. ^-^
@Charchic: Sorry, but you just don't make the cut in this crowd.
~Declined~ Better luck next time around.
@Glajummy: There's slight improvement, but due to dramatically increased standards I'm afraid it's not enough. Sorry, but you are
~Declined~
@Aegis: Well, you maintained the quality to the end so as promised you are...
~Accepted~
@King Cosmic: Awright, the paragraphing thing goes for you too: every change of speaker in a conversation and every change of subject in description calls for a new paragraph; and that means a full new line since these forums can't handle indenting properly. Still, overall profile quality is good so I'm going to have to stall this decision out a bit. You will remain at
~Pending~ for now.
@PKMN Trainer Joe o.o: Sorry, but for a new person you ended up with some very heavy competition.
~Declined~ Don't be discouraged, though; with that quality you should get into the vast majority of RPs here. :3
@Kogenta: Awesome thus far, but it's still not finished.
~Pending~
@chomp: Well, since you asked for criticism you have a tendency to overuse 'and' (Typically that's one per sentence because it gets repetitive very easily). You've also got a bit too much on the front of commas; there are only so many of them you can put in a single sentence without turning it messy, so try putting full stops down a bit more frequently. Overall, good quality and I like the character so I'm taking you into the
~Pending~ group for now.
@Orange: Sorry, but claiming that last slot will really take a top-notch profile, and I'm afraid that this just doesn't cut it.
~Declined~
@Key: Alright, you've still got a shot at this since you haven't finished yet, but the competition is going to be tough.
~Pending~
Awwright, here's the deal: I've placed a cast limit at
eight members, myself included. This means that, as hard as the decision is, I'll only accept
one more. The RP will start tomorrow at around 13.00 GMT and I'll announce my decision at that point, so if you people who still haven't finished don't have your profiles up by then you're out. I'm afraid it has come down to survival of the fittest, folks. :3 To those of you who are accepted: don't worry, I won't be changing those. To those remaining at pending: if you have any last minute edits now is the time to make them. My thanks to all of you for your interest in my little RP and to those who weren't accepted this time around: hope to see you again in some other RP. ^_^
EDITNESS: Okay, I'm behind schedule but better late than never, right? First off, I shall make this official:
~SIGN-UPS ARE NOW OFFICIALLY OVER~
Now aren't you just awed by the style of that official statement? The list of accepted RPers is as follows:
Aegis
Alter Ego (surprise! =O)
Art_Critic_Cubone
chomp
Kogenta
Nigma
Phanima
Porygon-Z
Random_Fan
The rest of you are, unfortunately,
~Declined~. Thank you for your interest. ^^
If you aren't one of the listed people, please don't post in this thread anymore, thank you. If you still feel a need to comment on the RP, then kindly do so in the OOC Discussion. And yes, I did up the maximum members limit by one because I felt like it. So sue me. =P
Now, without further ado:
IC:
It was a quiet night on Traverse Island. The storm that had ravaged the seas for the past few days had finally died down, and in its place it had left a few moments of perfect calm, the collection of sandy brown houses with their tiled roofs and the countless walkways and dwellings seemingly carved out of the rock face itself seemed, for once, to be completely at ease with their place in the world, the normally turbulent sea surrounding the town now making its presence known only through the slow, distant crash of waves against the cliff face, far below. Not even the Wingulls who normally tormented the townspeople with their constant cries had woken up yet. If the ominous clouds rolling in from the north were any indication, however, this was only the calm before a storm the likes of which not even Traverse Island was used to handling.
"Still..." a figure who had been watching the peaceful scene from the roof of his house mumbled for himself, "Sometimes storms are for the best. They clear the air..." the speaker in question stepped back from the railing, absent-mindedly running a hand through the slowly thinning mane of wavy, pale blonde hair which almost reached down to his shoulders. The storm would be good from an aesthetic viewpoint too, he concluded; his hair had always looked more stylish with a bit of wind blowing through it and making it flow behind him.
The man shook his head slowly in an attempt to dislodge that vain little thought. He was approaching forty now and no amount of dramatic weather effects would turn him into the handsome young pokémon champion from twenty years ago. Besides, he had to concede, neither the weathered, dark green shirt, nor the white trousers and white lab coat which together constituted his current attire were doing him any favors in that department.
Just as he had concluded this line of thought, a sudden commotion broke out in the streets.
"Thief!" barked one voice, soon joined in by others; "Where's the thief?! Stop the thief!" it didn't take long for the chorus of noises to be joined by the distinct barks of Houndour and Mightyena. A swarm of uniformed figures surged out from one of the nearby buildings, flashlights in hand and pokémon in tow. From thereon, the cacophony spread like wildfire, household after household getting stirred out of slumber and adding in their own objections about the situation.
"So much for my tranquil morning..." the spectator shook his head in distaste at the scene, wandering over to the spiral staircase leading into his house and descending a full two floors. Library, that was the only word that could possibly have described the room he was now in, tall bookcases filled with countless books and research notes covering every wall on the entire floor, and of course, like in any respectable library, there was a secret switch; this one cunningly disguised as a copy of Barney the Purple Tyranitar - The Novel. With the appropriate whirring sound, the heavy bookcase swung on its hinges, revealing a plain stone corridor, the walls and floors bearing the same sandy brown color as all other stones on the island seemed to do. After a brief walk, the corridor widened, revealing a makeshift lab of sorts, countless machines with a plethora of colorful buttons, switches and dials to their names sharing the space with a number of tables and, of course, the ever-present mountains of paper.
"The Skitty's out of the bag." the blonde man remarked, shutting the bookcase door behind him before stepping inside, nonchalantly procuring a gilded pocket watch from the depths of his lab coat and inspecting it, "And at 11.55 PM, too. You lose the bet, Jade, and with five minutes to spare too."
An inconspicuous shadow by the far right wall scoffed, detaching itself from the corner and turning out to be an individual clad in black from top to bottom, complete with a thick-collared shirt and a plain black mask which concealed the person's features.
"Figures..." the shadow muttered, wandering over to the table where the blonde-haired man was inspecting a laptop plugged into one of the bizarre devices, "Now that you're suitably satisfied with that, are you finally going to tell me what was so special about that?" the black-clad individual nodded towards an obscure shape suspended within one of the machines by means of a light green fluid of some sort, various tubes connecting to pieces of its silhouette.
"Patience, my dear Jade..." the man replied, tapping a few more commands into the computer, "Patience...it will all become clear, right about...
now."
The shaded figure didn't seem to share the other's enthusiasm, gawking somewhat dispassionately over his shoulder. The screen was dominated by the scan of a brain of some sort, a complex code of colors covering the picture while a number of vital readings occupied the sides of the screen, "I don't see what's so special about-hey, wait!" now both had their eyes all but glued to the screen, "What in Arceus' name is
that?!"
The blonde one smiled airily in return.
"Hope."
-------------------------------------------------------
Two weeks later, in the somewhat less scenic environment of the Slateport harbor, a certain Alexander Gabriel Maxwell was facing another pressing question, which - while not quite as suspenseful or hard to answer as Jade's - was quite pressing nonetheless.
"Is this
really it?" the red-head raised an eyebrow sceptically, ushering a few unruly strands of the mass of crimson that occupied his head back into its alloted place as he dug around in the pockets of his jeans for the letter. Sure, this fitted the directions perfectly, but...surely this still couldn't be it? Still clinging to the hope, Alex straightened out the ominous letter that had arrived at his dormitory a mere week ago, carefully re-reading its contents:
"Dear Alexander Gabriel Maxwell,
I have recently made a most enticing discovery, one which - I believe - would be of greatest interest to an aspiring young trainer such as yourself. However, due to certain circumstances beyond my control it would not be prudent for me to come and visit you in person, and truly this discovery is, I believe, something better experienced than described. As such, I have arranged for a modest exhibition seminar, to be held at my residence on Traverse Island.
If you are interested in attending the seminar, kindly board the S/S Wavedancer, moored at pier five of Slateport harbor between 8.30 and 9.30 on the 7th of April. From that point onward, my associate Jade shall look after your well being. Kindly do not bring anyone with you or the boat shall not depart. I apologize for these tiresome games, and for not being able to disclose my true identity as of yet, but it is imperative that word of this seminar does not spread to undesired parties.
Sincerely,
L.A.
P.S: Kindly do not try to circumvent these arrangements or do anything that might compromise the secrecy of this seminar. Should such behavior occur I regret that I can not guarantee your safety."
Alex's heart sank as he finished reading. The rest was just instructions on how to get to Slateport. No, he had not been mistaken; this was definitely the ship. He looked up again, staring in disbelief at the ship in front of him. Considering the posh wording and envelope of the letter and the fact that there was going to be nine of them, he had expected something a bit more...well, grand; a small ferry at least. The vessel in front of him, however, looked like little more than a motorboat with a small indoors compartment at the front. It looked so...cheap.
Alex shook his head at the obnoxious thought, his golden earring moving on queue. No, that was nonsense; he couldn't let something as stupid as a cramped ship stop him. This was undoubtedly the S/S Wavedancer mentioned in the letter, and if this was what he had to board to save his family then so be it.
With this in mind, the teen re-adjusted his backpack, wandering over to the edge of the pier and jumping onto the deck. The boat had four seats at the back, and Alex already knew that he didn't want to be one of the poor bastards seated there, at least not if his memory about the spring time weather around Traverse Island served. The front of the boat seemed to have some indoor space, right below the as-of-yet unccoupied steering wheel and the plastic eye-protection screen in front of it. Noting that the air was still somewhat chilly, thanks in part to the thick mist that was hanging about, Alex decided to move indoors.
"Anyone here?!" he hollered, having to crouch slightly to get in through the door. The inside was surprisingly large, housing a number of sofa-like seats with dark red cushioning on the far end, placed around a wooden table rooted into the floor at the middle. Cramped but at least dry, Alex concluded, tossing his backpack over to occupy one of the seats and slumping down next to it. No-one else seemed to there yet, so the task of the moment was waiting. The teen groaned, absent-mindedly flicking aside another cluster of hair in front of his face. Waiting...what a drag.
OOC: Okay, so yeah: everybody navigate your way to the ship in your first IC, thank you. Jade will make an entrance a bit...later. For now, it's just assembling, greetings, the usual stuff. :3 Also, there may be personal touches to the letters everyone got, but the instructions are the same for everyone, just thought I'd include that in case someone wants to make use of it. ^-^
