[PKMN FULL] TRAINERS (IC)

[QueenNothing]

With Al and Pal leading the way, Gwen and Bethany had a way of not getting lost. While it was a bit of a detour, both trainers didn't mind as they believed they might have a chance at catching an ancient Pokemon.

Al and Pal both stopped walking after awhile at the sight of what they came across. Gwen bumped into Pal since she wasn't paying attention to where she was going.

"Shit! I'm sorry!" Gwen panicked. Pal gave no response.

"Oh my!" Al said with awe in his voice "We found something!"

Gwen walked in front of Pal who was blocking her view and saw a rock wall that was about Al's height.

"That's...Kinda lame."

"Sure it isn't much, but this is proof that somebody was here at one point!" Al pulled out a notepad and pen to enthusiastically write about his discovery as Pal pulled out a camera to take a picture of the wall "All my colleagues insist no such thing exists, but my partner and I just knew there had to be something here!" Pal noded.

Gwen and Bethany looked at each other both thinking the same thing.

"Guess th' ancient Pokemon was jist rumors." Bethany whispered.

"Ruins or something would have been more interesting than...half a wall." Gwen whispered back.

"Our discoveries won't end here!" Al put away his notepad "Come on trainers! On we go!" Al and Pal trekked onward and Gwen and Bethany followed. After this their hopes for ancient Pokemon had lowered.

As they continued to walk along, Al and Pal occasionally stopped to photograph and document some other minor evidence of civilization such that mostly ended up being more short rock walls. At some point Gwen tripped on something and when she got a look at what she tripped on it further piqued Al's interest.

"How fascinating!" Al picked up the object and examined it. It was made of stone, perfectly round and had a gem in the center of it "I have never seen anything like this in all my days of exploration!" Al held up the object for Pal to take pictures of.

"Y'know…" Gwen held her chin with her thumb and index finger "It kind of looks like a Pokeball."

"Yer rear's oot the th' windae!" Bethany guffawed "Pokeballs wouldnae hae bin invented for thousands ay years!"

"I wouldn't be so quick to write your friend off like that." Al said while still examining the object "Who knows what went on in the minds of the ancient people living here!" After thoroughly examining it, Al shoved the mysterious object into his bag "Now let us journey onward!"

It only took a few more steps until the group came to a dead end, another stone wall that had a simplistic stone podium leaning against it. Immediately as they came across it, Al began furiously jotting down information about it while Pal snapped some more shots of it.

On closer inspection the stone podium seemed to house some objects, a wide array of evolutionary stones and in the center of them another mysterious stone that had two dot markings and a crack in it that split near the bottom of the rock. Gwen thought it looked familiar.

"Y'know, that thing in the middle reminds me of a certain Pokemon." As Gwen pondered the subject Bethany swiftly yanked an Ice Stone off the podium.

"Fur 'Ulpix. She's gonna need it suin enaw."

Gwen shrugged "My Vulpix needs to evolve sooner or later as well." She said as she grabbed a Fire Stone "And Custard too. Think I'll grab a Thunder Sto-"

Gwen was interrupted by a noise echoing through the area they were in.

"My goodness!" Al cried, not sounding like his usual enthusiastic self "What was that!?"


Suddenly the stone in the center of the podium began to shake, its marking glew pink, and it began to levitate. As it levitated, the podium slowly sunk into the ground. The group was too terrified of what they were seeing to care about it.

"This is fascinating but also terrifying!" Al shouted. Pal continued to take pictures.

The noise that echoed through the room earlier was made again, this time clearly coming through the stone. Slowly a pearly purple fog exited through the crack on the stone, and the fog circled around the stone. When the fog stopped, green orbs came out of the dots on the rock, and were swirling through the purple fog. As they continued to swirl throughout the fog, the purple fog formed two green eyes and a mouth, all of which were connected.

"Oh! THAT'S what I recognized the stone from! It's Spiritomb!"

"G'endolyn, the isnae th' time tae shaw aff yer Pokemon knowledge! We're screwed!"

"Well young trainers, it's a good thing I brought you along." Al pulled a Pokeball from his bag and sent out his Pokemon, revealing it to be a Heliolisk.

"Woah! Heliolisk!" Gwen fawned. When Bethany sent out her Ponyta, Gwen realized her situation "Oh right! Uh, Tusk, come on!"

"Heliolisk, use Thunderbolt!" Al commanded. His Heliolisk opened his frill and shot electricity from it at the Spiritomb.

The Spiritomb seemed to be largely unphased by it but all the participating trainers knew that did enough damage. The Spiritomb shot a Shadow Ball out of its mouth that was aimed for Ponyta, but Al's Heliolisk jumped in front of it taking no damage.

"Hohoho! Good thing Heliolisk saved your Ponyta!" Bethany rolled her eyes.

"Tusk, Bite!" Tusk jumped up and tried to bite the Spiritomb but only ended up biting the stone. At least it damaged the Pokemon.

"Ponyta, Fairy 'ind!" Ponyta blew misty wind at Spiritomb, and while it was super effective, it was still a weak attack.

"Heliolisk, use Thunderbolt again!" As Heliolisk was opening his frill, the Spiritomb dashed towards him and punched him in the guy with one of the orbs in it's fog. This of course didn't stop Heliolisk from using Thunderbolt on Spiritomb. The Spiritomb grew angrier and indiscriminately fired a pulse of dark purple rings. It ended up going in Heliolisk's direction, which was avoided as Al commanded his Pokemon to dodge by using Dig.

"Tusk, use Dragon Rage!"

"Ponyta, Fairy 'ind!"

Tusk fired a light blue energy orb from his mouth that was shaped like a dragon as it was headed in the Spiritomb's direction. Simultaneously, Ponyta was blowing misty air in the same direction. The speed of Tusk's Dragon Rage was accelerated by the wind, and both attacks had combined to hit Spiritomb, doing more damage than one individual attack. Shortly after Spiritomb was hit by the combination, Heliolisk broke the ground behind Spiritomb and whacked it against the floor with his tail. When Spiritomb fell on the ground the purple fog part of it had been absorbed back into the stone of it's body.

"Yeh've given me enaw shite, ye total scunner!" Bethany shouted as she tossed a Pokeball at the Ghost-type. However on impact the Pokeball didn't open up and instead just bounced off it to Bethany's shock.

"Fockin' what!?"

"My my" Al said, pulling out his notepad "It just won't be caught. Maybe ancients had their own way of taming Pokemon, in which case I feel like it'd be a little cruel to take this one out of it's habitat. Besides I wouldn't want him causing any havok when he wakes up at the museum. Isn't that right Pal?" Pal nodded.

"Well...now what?" Gwen asked.

"I suppose we've found enough for today." Al put his notepad back "What a find I must say!"

Pal nodded.

Al and Pal walked in the opposite direction they arrived and Gwen and Bethany followed them. They might have not caught any ancient Pokemon but what they witnessed almost made up for that.

 

[Groc]

Vera Hill, Jordan Springs, Casey Holt
Chapter 4 - Responsible Adults?
Rock Tunnel, May 23rd

---

With the harrowing events of that side passage behind them, the group makes their way back to the main path, following the lanterns and leaving exploration for another time. The path takes them outside at one point, then back inside again.

Vera looks back at the boys. Jordan still looks a little stiff, but he'll probably be fine. Casey hovers uncertainly next to him, as he's been doing since they pulled Jordan out of the cave-in. He's barely said five words in the past half hour and even Vera notices how uncharacteristic that is. But rather than say anything, she just hugs Sapphire close.

The passage widens again as they enter another large cave. Not nearly as big as the one with the waterfall, but almost perfectly domed with a circular chimney at the top letting muted sunlight illuminate the center. The main path's lanterns continue along one wall and disappear into another tunnel, so Vera follows the lamps and the rest of the group follows her.

Just before they round the corner, they hear a voice. "...tellin' ya, Harper, I got a feeling about this one! Look at this metal thing I found!"

Vera stops when she hears the voice, Jordan and the distracted Casey almost running into her. "Someone else is here?" She didn't expect to meet anyone else in the tunnel.

Vera looks back toward the source to see a man wearing a puffy jacket and adorned with climbing gear emerge from yet another tunnel, this one on the opposite side of the domed cave. Half a step behind him is a woman who might be trying to make up for her short stature with the heels of her cowboy boots and the Stetson on her head. She presses something into his hand as they walk, her animated chatter ceasing only when he finishes his deliberate inspection.

"This is a bottle cap, Emmeline."

The short woman, Emmeline, looks disappointed, then thoughtful. "Hol' up… if they had bottle caps even back then, then that means…" Whatever thought she had gets derailed by the sight of the three teens. She actually stops, looking them over, then gasps and grabs the man's arm. "Harper! Look! Young cave enthusiasts! I'm gonna go talk to 'em!"

Vera is taken aback as the woman bounds over to them, over to her in particular. "Wait, who-" And then the woman is right in front of her.

"Well hi there!" Emmeline grins, tipping her hat to the teens. "Name's Emmy, I'm an archeologist! Say, you kids wanna uncover some old ruins with me?"

Vera glances at Jordan, doubtful that anyone in their party is looking for more adventure. "Um, actually…"

"There're actually ruins in here?"

Vera jumps, surprised that the question came from Casey. He's looking at Emmy intently, as if her answer is the most important thing he's going to hear today. Emmy grins. "Sure are! Reckon the whole place used to be inhabited. Folk tell all kinds o' fairy tales about this here tunnel, and my job is to find the source of the stories!"

Vera is still looking at Casey in confusion, but glances toward Jordan to gauge his reaction. He still seems a bit pale and out of it, but shrugs at Vera. She can tell Emmy's last statement intrigues him, but he also does not look very eager to explore fairy tales and ruins. Not at this moment, and with this strange woman, at least. She turns back to address Emmy. "That sounds fun, I suppose, but why invite us?"

"Well, I do like to foster an interest in archaeology amongst today's youth!"

"She likes assistants who can reach things for her." Harper says, his sedate pace finally bringing him into the conversation. His voice is rather flat, but Vera gets the feeling that it always is. "And nobody wants to come down here."

Emmy laughs brightly. "Suppose I do favor tall people, don't I?" Vera holds back a comment that most people are taller than her, while Emmy keeps going. "And just look at you three! Even the shortest of you is taller than Harper!" She specifically points to Vera, who bristles at the comment, feeling oddly attacked.

"You didn't hire me to reach things."

"Nah, hired ya to guide me through this cave. So get guiding!" Harper lets out a short breath, like the child of an exasperated sigh, but brushes past the teens. Emmy bounces in place before heading after him. "Y'all come along now!"

Jordan hangs back doubtfully. "Right. So what's the nicest way to decline that offer and keep going our own way?" He says quietly to his friends as Harper and Emmy wander out of earshot. Casey's already a few steps into following, but hesitates when he hears Jordan.

"Why would we decline?"

Jordan looks at him, bewildered. "Stranger danger, and emphasis on the 'strange'. Woman's an "archaeologist" dressed like a cowboy from some old, Western film! Besides, haven't we had enough adventure for a while?"

"Stranger- what? How do you make friends?" Casey doesn't stop to hear a reply, walking backwards with one hand on Parsley for guidance. The little group is all on the main path now, Harper and Emmy ahead but still visible. "They're obviously professionals. Bet they've got strong Pokémon with 'em and know what they're doin' and everything."

"All the more reason to get away from them before they decide to bury us alive in said ancient ruins for some sacrificial thing," Jordan glances down at his Pokemon, one cradling a plant and the other gently pecking at its own wing. "As much progress as we've made so far, we really only have a couple days worth of experience, and I don't think our Pokemon could stand up to those of… seasoned archaeologists." He puts air quotes around the last word, clearly still skeptical.

"I don't think Harper's an archaeologist. Maybe he's a spelunker! I'm gonna find out," Casey says, turning around to walk properly.

"That's not what I- wait-"

"Don't worry!" Casey shoots a grin over his shoulder. "I'm not gonna let anything happen to you."

Jordan's sputters are ignored as Casey quickly catches up with the woman and her companion.

Vera puts a hand on Jordan's shoulder, stopping his half formed protests. "On the bright side, he seems back to normal now. Would you prefer him to be all mopey and shell shocked like he was a few minutes ago?"

"I prefer us making it to the end of Rock Tunnel in one piece, but…" Jordan looks at Casey and the much more cheerful demeanor he is walking with now and sighs. "Okay. You're right. Whatever."

As they walk, Emmy strikes up a conversation with Casey. She seems eager to talk, and he seems just as keen on listening. "So there's someplace specific I plan on takin' y'all. Harper took notes, but I plan on comparin' it to this other room we surveyed this mornin'. See, I reckon there's somethin' there that all the other folk who've been through here missed, somethin' left behind by our ancestors!"

After walking for what feels like an hour, but probably was only half that, the party comes to a fork in the road. With the lanterns lighting up the right path, Vera assumes that that's the path that leads out. So naturally, Harper turns down the left path. He clicks open a Pokeball, sending out an Umbreon, which takes a glance around the dark tunnel before looking to Harper. He simply nods, and the gold markings on Umbreon light up with a steady glow, providing ample light to see by. He motions for everyone to follow, Emmy stopping to scratch behind Umbreon's ears as he does. The path angles down sharply, and Harper instructs everyone to watch their step.

"Looks like no one's been here in a while." Vera muses, noticing a heavier amount of dirt and dust on the ground. The passages they go through are wide enough for them to walk side by side, and are all roughly similar in size, as though formed by the same event or same hand. Despite the lack of lanterns, there are several caverns dotting the tunnel, each with a chimney or skylight letting the afternoon sun shine down.

Harper never slows, though his pace isn't exactly hurried to begin with, walking forward with sedate confidence. Emmy, in contrast, is a little ball of energy, rushing about each chamber with surprising speed for her size. She prattles on about caves the entire time, with Harper interjecting to correct her if she misspeaks. Caves seem to be much more his domain than hers, but he's far less inclined to share as they pick their way downhill.

"Fun fact! Caves can be classified as 'active', or 'relict', depending on… oh, we're here!" Emmy's expositional onslaught is cut short when they reach a particular chamber, but Vera would have guessed that even without her comment. This particular area is much larger than any of the ones they've passed so far, possibly rivalling the waterfall room in size.

Roughly pentagonal, the walls of the room slope steeply upward to meet around a chimney shaft in the center of the high ceiling. The wall opposite their entrance is cracked and crumbling, erosion from the water trickling down its face the likely culprit. The lazy waterfall splashes into a pool that spreads across the back quarter of the room, blocking access to another tunnel on the far left corner and flowing downhill into a tunnel on the far right. The rest of the floor is carpeted in lush green ferns, some growing tall enough to brush even Vera's shoulders as the group wanders in further.

Vera notices a tunnel to the right of the entry, but Emmy goes left, bursting from the tall ferns like a wild Pokemon. Part of the wall is covered by rocks, probably from a rockfall of some kind, which doesn't make Vera feel very comfortable. Harper stands in the center of the chamber, letting Emmy do her thing and keeping an eye on the kids. Casey follows Harper now that Emmy's distracted by her actual work. Vera can hear their conversation as she stands by the water, trying to see into the murky pool.

"Hey Harper, what's your actual profession? You're not just a guide, are you?"

"I do a lot of things," is Harper's ambiguous reply. Jordan shoots both Vera and Casey a concerned glance as Harper looks away. Vera makes a "go on" gesture with her hand, while Casey seems unperturbed.

"Yeah, but what's the main one?"

"Speleology, I suppose."

"Mostly fieldwork?"

Harper's slight pause is the only thing that indicates some sort of surprise. "Yes."

"Flash is a good one for Umbreon to know, then. Huh. I haven't really been thinkin' about how moves could be used other'n battling. What else did you teach him?"

"He knows Dig, Iron Tail, Protect, Moonlight, and Psychic."

"Huh." It's Casey's turn to pause, this one longer while he thinks about what he's been told. "Do you have other Pokémon that help too? Are they strong?"

"Fairly strong."

"I have some mighty strong Pokemon, too!" Emmy cheerfully volunteers from across the room, somehow popping open three Pokeballs at once. "Sandslash here is better at diggin' holes than a prairie dog on caffeine! And he's a lot cuter 'n any shovel, that's for sure! Rampardos is my sledgehammer, on account 'a the fact I can't swing one myself, and Bronzor here is a living metal detector! I also have 'bout a few Miltank and Tauros back in Ecruteak, but those are technically all Granny's Pokemon, seein' as she owns the farm an' all." Rampardos smashes its head against the wall, cracking open one of the loose rocks.

Casey grabs Jordan on his way over to ooh and ahh at Emmy's Pokémon, shamelessly putting his friend between himself and the Bronzor even as he inspects the creature. Parsley wanders over to drink from the pool next to Vera. Vera crouches down, dipping her hand into the water. It's surprisingly cold, and a little muddy, no doubt from being formed of crumbling rock runoff.

She suddenly feels something grab her arm, hauling her to her feet. A hand is clamped over her mouth before she can make a sound, and Harper shushes her. "Don't make any sudden moves or loud noises. Just turn around, and head back to the entrance." He lets her go, and she looks around in confusion.

Then she spots it: emerging from the tunnel opposite Emmy is a massive metal dinosaur, looking at the group and tiredly rubbing its eyes. "Is that an Aggron?!" Vera whispers hoarsely. Harper nods once, his eyes never leaving the Pokemon.

CRACK

Rampardos breaks another rock, and the sound jolts Aggron from its drowsy state. It roars loudly, the sound echoing through the cave and down the tunnels. Vera bolts for the entrance, but a sound from the tunnel makes her freeze. It sounds very similar to the Zubat swarm from earlier, many small creatures coming down the tunnel toward her. Fortunately, it's not Zubats.

Unfortunately, it's actually several dozen Aron answering the call of the Aggron.


A joint post between Godzil, Juno, and Aquacorde.

 

[Aquacorde]

Casey Holt & Jordan Springs & Vera Hill

Thursday, 23 May 2019
Afternoon • Day 4
Rock Tunnel

4-07.
battle!

Casey's the furthest from the wall, keeping a healthy distance between himself and Emmy's Bronzor. It's not that he doesn't trust it, or her, or his friends to help him- he's just.. wary. Doesn't like the idea of being telekinetically bound and thrown in the same way it's doing to the boulders Rampardos is knocking loose. The overlapping vine-shaped bruises across his ribs twinge. He hadn't liked what Parsley had done either. They'll have to talk later. Or now.

Where'd that Skiddo go, anyway?

Something brushes against his legs, far too short to be Parsley. Harper's Umbreon stares at him pointedly, turns his gaze backwards for a second, then makes a beeline for Emmy.

Instructions?

Casey swivels.

Uh oh.

The Aggron roars. Vera and Harper run and oh, there's Parsley, Ginger clinging to his horns as he chases after the humans. Casey runs too, shouting for Jordan, angling for the exit, but that's suddenly overrun with Aron of all sizes. Casey skids to a halt, Jordan almost crashing into him.

"Parsley!"

The Skiddo gallops over but before Casey can issue any real commands, Harper's voice carries across the chamber.

"Clear at least one exit! Emmeline, the right side of the rockfall is more direct." Harper enlarges a Pokéball. "You three, keep the Aron away from us. Push them into the tunnel if you can. I can handle the Aggron."

Casey only gets to hear the sharp sound of the PokéBall's release before Jordan's hand is in his face, forcing him to face the oncoming Aron. "What- Jordan, hey-"

"You heard him, come on!" Jordan pulls him towards their assigned post. He'll have to see what Harper's Pokémon is later, because the first few Aron are beginning to spill into the room and yeah, okay, that's their problem now, all these little Pokémon aiming to support their leader. Casey lets Jordan shove him closer to Vera, the three of them forming a defensive line between Harper and the Aron.

Well, they can't run.

"Razor Leaf!"

Parsley's coat rustles; sharp leaves whip into the crowd and glance off two or three Aron, who recoil only for a second before resuming their charge. Slows them down, but not a lot. Another Razor Leaf hits a few more. Parsley's not great at aiming that move yet.

"Good idea, Casey!" Vera offers encouragement as she tosses Sapphire into the fight. "Hit as many as you can with Icy Wind! That should slow them." Sapphire coats the first wave of Aron with a dusting of frost. They weren't that fast to begin with, though, and are replaced by more coming from behind.

"Nope, that doesn't work! Maybe try Pay Day?" Sapphire's charm glows, and a dozen pieces of what looks like real gold materialize in front of her. She grabs the coins and throws them at the Aron, who barely even react, except one who starts eating the coins. "Oh, come on!"

Casey huffs out a laugh, a Growth-strengthened Razor Leaf doing only slightly more to slow the onslaught. It's funny! Would be funnier if there weren't several dozen opponents, or there wasn't an Aggron at their backs, or there was an exit open to them. The situation is rather grim, actually. The leading Aron aren't very far away- one gets within spitting distance of Parsley and Ginger jumps forward to brawl, shooting him a disgusted look when Casey tells her to use Baby-Doll Eyes. Instead, she curls and rolls with the impact of a Headbutt as Casey glances to Jordan. "Ideas?"

Jordan's mouth is hanging open, possibly appalled at Casey and Vera's… strategies, but turns his attention to Casey when Casey gives him a "well, go on" gesture. "Y-yeah, how about we start with some moves that give us the type advantage?" he snipes, before motioning for Tangles and Hop to step forward, and throwing out two more PokéBalls. "And all hands on deck, we're going to need everyone!"

In a flash of light, the silhouettes of a Cubone and Skiddo appear amongst the ferns- Spirit scrambles to join Hop by Tangles' side, while Sage glances around for something, before apparently finding her target and charging towards Parsley. She gently knocks into his horns with hers as a greeting. Ginger rolls into Sage's legs, repeated blows of Frustration having little effect on the Aron shoving her steadily backwards. One of Parsley's vines tosses Ginger onto his back while the other whips the Aron back into the crowd.

Pepper appears in front of Casey with a yawn and deep stretch before shaking his limbs out and opening his eyes. Casey stifles a laugh, because he can see the exact moment his Pokémon thinks the equivalent of oh, shit, and stumbles into a ready stance. He doesn't have a stick and the only plants around are ferns but that's alright; Ember is just fine for driving a horde back. They've done it before! Though not with this many. And without the terrifying noises echoing from Harper's battle behind them. He chances a glance over his shoulder but sees only a whirling storm of water spiraling from the pool.

"Right! Just trying the… tactical approach, first." Vera responds, calling out both her Cubone and Rockruff as Casey snaps his attention back to his own problems. Bonnie looks at the situation with surprise, holding her club in a defensive stance, while Iggy barks happily as he runs around his Trainer's feet. Sapphire slinks back beside Vera, putting the other two Pokemon between herself and the Aron, which are really getting too close for comfort.

Pepper starts slinging Embers at Casey's command. Even his new power isn't quite enough to push the iron-clad Pokémon back, but each Aron hit flinches long enough for Parsley or Sage to grab and throw it back toward the tunnel. Vera has Bonnie front and center, swinging away at any Aron that gets too close. Sapphire stays back, breathing Icy Wind at clusters of Aron, while Iggy happily throws sand at the bigger ones. Vera doesn't look nearly as confident as she did before, but she stands her ground. Huh.

He'd think about that, but Jordan's setting up Hop and Tangles to work together the same way they did when they were facing the Machoke, glancing to the Skiddo just in time to see Sage snatch up a small, stunned Aron. Casey sees a proud smile flash across Jordan's face just for a moment before they both realize: instead of tossing it back towards the tunnel like Parsley is doing, Sage curls a vine around the squirming Pokemon and holds the reluctant passenger on her back. She attempts to shoo some of the larger Aron away, but it's not as effective with her other vine in use.

"Sage! What are you doing?!" Jordan shouts over to her. Her ears twitch at the sound of her name, looking over. "We're not keeping it! Keep doing what Parsley's doing!"

With more and more Aron building up around them, she sullenly puts down the small creature, who can't wait to get away from her. Returning to her post with Parsley and Pepper, the three are able to clear the surrounding Aron efficiently once again.

"This isn't getting us anywhere!" Vera complains. "Iggy, see if you can get past them, we can get out the way we came in!" The little Rockruff runs toward the advancing Pokemon, easily jumping over the first few and expertly avoiding Pepper's Embers. Iggy plows forward, shrugging off Tackles left and right, but few Headbutts stop his charge and a bigger Aron strikes home with a Metal Claw, throwing Iggy back toward the group. A few vines quickly dart out and wrap around his midsection.

"Nice catch, Tangles–" Jordan's praise is cut short as a wave of mud hits Tangles halfway through setting Iggy down. Hop drops into a pile of Aron with a surprised squak. Panicked, Jordan tries to make his way over as Tangles flings Aron after Aron out of the way in search of the Pidgey.

"Jordan, wait!" Vera tries to grab him, almost tripping over Iggy. Iggy whines and presses himself against her legs, earning a frustrated sigh. "Oh, you're fine! Take a short rest, but we might still need you." She returns Iggy to his ball, Bonnie and Spirit working together to cover for him.

"What're you doing?!" A frantic edge slips into Casey's voice and ooh, he doesn't like that, but what the hell is Jordan doing, diving into a horde of wild Pokémon? There's so many Aron, and they're not particularly weak, and Jordan's not even that strong, he's gonna get hurt again-

"Hop's gonna get trampled to death if we don't- oof!" Casey thinks he hears, before his friend trips over some of the Pokemon clustering around his legs. Casey curses and starts toward Jordan, Emmy's voice echoing from off to their right.

"Hey, what're you doin' over here? Heh, you're kinda cute, ain't you? Little- AH!" Casey whips around to see Rampardos knocking away some Aron as they emerge from the ferns. "They nibble!" Emmy yells, clutching her hand. "They nibble hard!"

"Damn it!" Vera kicks at the long grass. "They're sneaking through these plants! Hey, Pepper! Think you can clear some of these?"

Pepper glances to Casey, who really hasn't gotten very far in his attempt to get to Jordan "Worth a shot! Start burnin' plants, I guess." The Embers hit true on four, six, eight different fern clusters but only one truly lights, and just for a second.

"What are you guys doing?" Jordan finally rights himself. "Ferns are wet, you don't…"

Before he finishes his sentence, another wave of mud catches him by surprise, but it's covering the Aron instead this time. Panicked chitters drown out whatever he is trying to say, as the Iron Armor Pokemon around him bumble about, bumping into each other and trying to get the mud off. As the crowd around him thins, a small Pidgey stands in front of Jordan, ruffling his feathers.

"Did... you do that?" Jordan bends down cautiously, picking up the muddy Pokemon. He shakes his head. "I didn't know you could do that, but we'll have to explore that later. Hey guys, I found Hop!"

Casey exhales some of his tension. Jordan's fine, we're doing fine! A roar from behind him is quick to interrupt that optimistic thought. It's not the roar of an agitated Pokémon- it's not a vocal roar at all, just a rush of sound. He has barely enough time to stumble forward and drag Pepper up onto his hip before six inches of oh, that's cold! water slams into his calves, flattening ferns as it rolls into their battlefield.

"Get the Cubone!"

Casey's Party

Pepper Bomb lv17 • Ginger lv12 • Parsley lv11

Other Things

Anna's Additional Characters

​

 

[Groc]

Vera Hill, Casey Holt, Jordan Springs
Chapter 4 - Wave on Waves
Rock Tunnel, May 24th

---

Vera kicks at the ferns again, venting her frustration at her plan not working. How was she supposed to know that ferns don't burn like normal plants? It's not like her mother was a minor celebrity specializing in Grass types or anything! Not that Vera had ever listened to her mom talk about Grass. Or like it would be relevant here…

Her frustration is cut short by a wave of water, along with Casey yelling to grab the Cubones. She reacts on instinct, scooping Bonnie and Spirit up and hugging them close to her chest. Bonnie grabs Spirit's hand, grateful for the momentary reprieve. Parsley and Sage splash back toward their trainers as the wave washes through the gathering of Aron, pushing many of them back.

"Hey!" Vera turns to yell at Harper. His Jellicent is floating above the pool and facing down the Aggron, which looks a little stunned after taking the full force of Surf to the face. "Watch where you're aiming those! You almost hit our Pokémon over here!"

"Just keep them away," Harper calls, motioning for Jellicent to begin drawing another Whirlpool from the remaining water below her. The tide reverses, but not nearly enough to drain the entire fern-laden field.

Vera scowls, turning back to the Aron and setting down the Cubones. The Aron are slowly getting themselves back up, some prodding at the inch or so of standing water. "We need an actual plan, guys. Something to keep them focused on us and away from Cowgirl over there." She hooks her thumb toward Emmy, calling over her shoulder at her, "How's it going, Emmy?"

"This ain't as easy as it looks!" Emmy shouts back. "I'm tryin' to clear these rocks without bringin' the whole dang wall down on m' head!"

Casey, all of a sudden, is shouting commands- not just to his Pokémon but to everyone, gesturing with the arm not currently holding a Charmeleon. "Spirit and Bonnie, square up! Parsley, run down the left side- keep throwin' them toward the Cubone! Ginger, be his eyes! Razor Leaf when you can! Sage, do that on the right! Jordan, figure out what the hell Hop just did and have him keep doin' it! Vera, watch for breakthroughs!"

Parsley and Sage take off, instructions put to immediate effect, while Vera is caught off guard by how direct Casey suddenly is. "Oh, uh… right! Bonnie, use Bone Club on any Aron that get close! Sapphire… watch for Aron that get close, I guess." Bonnie is already doing that, with Spirit following suit, while Sapphire rolls her eyes at Vera. Casey starts a low conversation with Pepper, who is definitely falling asleep now that he's not moving around.

Jordan is still clutching his bird to his chest, but as everyone around him springs into action, he hesitantly puts the Pidgey down into the now wet and muddier ground. "That was a Mud Slap, right? Can you do it again?" Hop looks at him blankly, then starts preening his feathers. "You know, the thing you just did? Come on..." Jordan is visibly getting a little antsy, as one of the Aron makes a beeline for Hop, who has his back turned to it. "Watch out!"

The Aron behind him raises its foot and prepares to strike, and there is a brief glint in the Pidgey's eyes as he swiftly sidesteps the attack and retaliates with his own steeled claws. Something seems to dawn on Jordan as Hop's attack meets the top of the iron-clad Pokemon's head with a terrible, metallic screech.

"He's mirroring their moves! That's what happened!"

Casey looks delighted. "Get him in the way of those Mud Slaps, then- Pepper, no, hey, wake up, you got things to do!" He lowers Pepper to the soggy ground and the Charmeleon grumpily resumes shooting Embers, though they look much smokier than they had before.

"Yeah, good job, guys!" Vera chimes in, feeling kind of useless here. "On your left, there's-" Parsley grabs an Aron and drags it over to Bonnie, who knocks it away with a golf swing of her club. "Okay, good work, uh… oh! On the right! There's one crawling in the ferns!"

This Aron is pelted with coins, as Sapphire had already seen it. Sage notices the coins tink against the armor, grabbing Aron and throwing it back at the tunnel.

"Okay, doing good…" Vera looks around, starting to feel overwhelmed. "Emmy? Any progress?" She looks at the shorter woman, noticing Bronzor moving rocks with psychic power.

"Some, but this is trickier than a stripped screw on a… look, I need to focus, y'hear?"

Vera looks to Harper, but he's fully absorbed in his fight with Aggron, Umbreon forcing their opponent to the edge of the water while Jellicent pulls water from the pool to repeatedly douse it. Casey's shouting orders, confident and succinct, while Jordan directs his Pokemon quickly and precisely, especially Hop. Mud splatters everywhere as Sage and Parsley dash up and down the lines, continuing the funnel of Aron towards the Cubone in the center. Tangles assists as well, even though she is not nearly as mobile. Vera shrinks in on herself, resigning to just stay quiet and not distract the others.

Casey's commands are cut off by a fit of coughing and Vera looks over to see him obscured by a slowly dispersing cloud of smoke. Pepper looks rather sheepish. "No, that's okay- try again!"

Pepper inhales deeply and this time blows out a swirling cone of light blue energy. The standing water is shoved out of the way and all ferns in its path are yanked from the soil but the beam only glances off the Aron, who look no worse for wear.

Casey looks baffled. "What was- anyone know what that was?"

He doesn't give time for a response before shaking himself out of it. "Nevermind, it doesn't do much to 'em anyway! Pepper, take this-" Casey pulls his walking stick from its holster and hands it to Pepper. It's way too long for a Charmeleon and Casey seems to know that, since he's backing up and directing Pepper away from the other Pokémon. "Just swing at 'em best you can!"

While Pepper tries out his new toy, Vera gets another idea. "Sapphire, think you can freeze this water with your Icy Wind? It might slip up the Aron." Sapphire shrugs, dutifully breathing her cold breath at the water by Vera's feet. Frost momentarily forms on the surface, but rapidly becomes slush. Vera grumpily pushes Sapphire away with her foot. "Why would you test it on me? Whatever, I guess it's not cold enough to freeze water anyway. Ice over some ferns, maybe that will keep them away from Emmy…"

Casey cheers Pepper on as he presses forward, sweeping their attackers out of the way with each broad swing of the walking stick. He's making good progress, quickly leaving the line of defenders behind him, but that leaves room for more Aron to stream their way around him, aiming for the break in the ranks.

Vera frowns as Pepper breaks rank, especially once he starts letting Aron get past him. "Bonnie, Spirit, move up! Take care of anything Pepper misses!" Despite her initial misgivings, the fight was starting to turn in their favor. We might actually win this!


A joint post between Godzil, Aquacorde, and Juno.

 

[Ninetales]

Coralie Summers
Cerulean City
Age: 13
Gender: Female
Pokémon: Florian the Bulbasaur
Theme:




"Well, Florian, if I'm guessing correctly, then I'd say we've almost reached the end of Rock Tunnel! We'll be in Lavender town before you know it!" Coralie proclaimed eagerly, a bright smile plastered to her face.

"Bulba! Bulbasaur!"

"Have you heard what they say about Lavender town, Florian?" Coralie asked suddenly, turning around and casting her partner an expectant glance.

The Bulbasaur seemed quite puzzled. Florian shook his head.

"OOOOOHHH! Well, Florian, allow me to enlighten you." Coralie began before posing for dramatic effect.

"Rumour is that Lavender town is full of ghosts! REAL GHOSTS! Spooooky ghosts, too." She began, speaking in an incredibly overdramatic and animated fashion. Florian seemed unconvinced.

"You don't believe me, do you, Florian? Hmm. I knew you were a skeptical sort. Well, these ghosts have been primarily spotted in one specific location - Pokemon tower." She stated matter-of-factly, vivaciously wagging her finger at the Bulbasaur.

"And what's pokemon tower, you ask? Well, it's a place where pokemon are buried." Coralie explained, emphasizing the word "buried."

"And you see, the ghosts of these deceased pokemon are said to HAUNT THE TOWER!" Coralie paused, clamping a hand over her mouth as if she had revealed the secret to the universe.

She then creeped up to Florian and wiggled her fingers in the air, in a weak attempt to look menacing and to emulate the essence of an ultra-petrifying spirit. "BOOO!" She shrieked before she burst into a fit of laughter, unable to take herself seriously.

Florian remained unbothered but seemed slightly amused by his trainer's wild antics.

Just then, the tunnel lights began to flicker. Coralie gasped in shock and looked about anxiously.
"Oh no! The ghosts must have heard me!" With that, the tunnel was momentarily void of light and was completely encompassed by darkness.

"AAAAHHHHHH!" Coralie screamed, before scooping Florian up and taking off, charging through the darkness like her life depended on it.

The lights flickered back on in an instant.

Coralie came to a halt, breathing heavily. "M-maybe it wasn't a ghost after all." She was relieved. The thought of getting punished by a malevolent spirit seemed utterly horrifying.

"Bulba! Bulbasaur."

"WAAAAAHHHH!"

Just then Coralie and Florian were lifted into the air, a net encompassing and capturing them in an instant, leaving them suspended from the tunnel's ceiling.

"GOTCHA!" Just then, a tall girl appeared from around the corner, grinning mischievously. She had on khaki shorts with a matching khaki jacket, and a round hat fit for an explorer. Her long blonde hair was braided down her back and her warm, hazel eyes shone like sparkling gemstones.

"I FINALLY CAUGHT Y-oh, you're not a pokemon. You're just a little girl." The blonde said, evidently displeased with her capture.

"Little!? I'm NOT a little girl. Now LET ME DOWN!" Coralie hollered..

"Yeah, yeah." The girl scoffed, fumbling for a pokeball. After locating the capturing device, she tossed it into the air and a large insect-like pokemon appeared. "Scyther, slash the net." The girl ordered.

"WHAT!?!?!? NO-" With that, the Sycther cut the net, sending Coralie and Florian crashing onto the tunnel floor in a heap.

"Ouch." Coralie groaned, rubbing her head. "Are you alright, Florian?"

"Bulba! Bulbasaur."

Seeing that her pokemon was alright, she affectionately scooped it up and stood on her two feet.

"Now, what was the big idea with the net?!"

"I was trying to catch a pokemon to help me with something and well, I caught you instead."

"No kidding."

"Allow me to introduce myself. My name's Sadie Rivers and I'm a world class-explorer in search of the finest treasures! I've traveled across multiple regions, from the icy waters of lake Acuity in Sinnoh to the sun-scorched sands of Haina desert in Alola! I've seen it all!" She proudly declared.

"Wow, you're a real explorer? Have you actually found any treasure?" Coralie asked, her eyes shining with sheer curiosity.

This question seemed to deflate Sadie's ego slightly. "Well, I've found a few nuggets and pearls but nothing major." She admitted rather reluctantly.

"So what brought you to Kanto? I don't know of any hidden treasures here."

"Oh, allow me to explain to you, little girl-"

Coralie interjected, bemused at being referred to as a juvenile once again. "I'm not a little girl. My name is Coralie."

"Coralie, well, legend states that there are treasures within this very tunnel! There is said to be a strong pokemon guarding a hidden chamber beneath the tunnel full of riches, and everything you could imagine! No, MORE than you could imagine!"

"Wow, really? Is the legend true? I've never heard of such a tale!"

Sadie nodded, glancing at Scyther knowingly. "I believe so! I have a feeling, I call it an explorer's instinct!"

"An explorer's instinct? That's incredible! I wish I had such an instinct!"

"Hmm, well, only the most accomplished of explorers have it. Anyways, little gir-Coralie, why don't you join me on my quest to find the hidden treasure? The more the merrier, as they say!"

Coralie considered it for a moment before gazing at Florian to gage his reaction. He appeared quite indifferent.

"Alright! Florian and I would love to help you!" She squealed, imagining herself stumbling upon a hidden treasure chest surrounded by a sea of glimmering gold coins.

"Alrighttt, now come with me! I believe I have a hunch as to where the chamber lies." Sadie excitedly declared, marching past Coralie.

"Right! Florian, duty calls." Coralie instructed, attempting to sound serious, although the excitement in her voice betrayed her.

~

"Sadie, we've been walking forever now. Are we getting close to the hidden chamber yet?" Coralie asked rather impatiently. Her previous optimism about the exploration had since dwindled and her feet were beginning to ache. She wondered if perhaps she should've continued onward to Lavender town - she would've been there by now.

"Just a bit further, little-Coralie! Come on! Don't start slowing down now!"

Coralie moaned but tried to muster all of the energy she had left. Once they found the riches, it'd be worth it. She couldn't wait to show Elliott her findings - the two of them could go to the fanciest restaurant in Kanto and stuff themselves like two Munchlaxes on Christmas Day! She could only dream.

"Did you hear that, Florian? The hidden chamber's only a little further ahead. We can keep pushing on, right!?"

Coralie was now carrying her travelling partner. Initially, he had insisted on hobbling behind her. Although, he had run out of steam quickly and let Coralie carry him. They'd have to work on his stamina, she thought.

"Well, I think we've just about made it." Sadie announced, her tone laced with enthusiasm!

"Really!? Oh wow- wait a minute! This is a dead end!!" Coralie spluttered, looking about at the lack of treasure present. They had reached the end of their trek, or so it seemed.
Sadie giggled like a maniac. Coralie suddenly wondered if she was a psychopath who led her here as a prank.

"Not everything is how it seems." She simply said.

"Wait, don't tell me the treasure's invisible. That would be absurd, wouldn't it?!"

Sadie only laughed more. "Oh Coralie, remember when I said that the chamber was underground? Well that's where we're headed." She grabbed a Great ball before tossing it in the air, a Dugtrio appearing. "Diggsy here is going to help us get there. Hop on." With that, she jumped on the back of the triplet pokemon, motioning for Coralie to follow suit.

"Me!? Can Diggsy carry both of us?" Coralie asked hesitantly.

"Sure! This wouldn't be the first time Diggsy's transported multiple passengers! Now get over here before we leave you behind."

Coralie nodded, still relatively unconvinced. Despite her doubts, she followed Sadie's orders and in an instant, the two of them disappeared in a cloud of dirt.

 

[Juno]

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[tab=4-3]Chapter[/tab] ● [tab=dex9]Pokédex[/tab]

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Chapter 4: Steeling Against the Steel Army // May 23rd
carried by Joint post between Aquacorde, Gozdil & Juno​

Jordan hovers over Hop like a protective parent. The Pidgey is doing really well, actually, but he can't help keeping a closer eye on him than the rest of his Pokemon. Mirroring the Arons' moves with precision, his Mud Slaps seem to cover a wider area of effect even with just one wing in use, and the Aron are more affected by the move.

Two small figures scamper up to him, momentarily redirecting his attention. Bonnie continues to dutifully swing away at any Aron that make it past Pepper while Spirit gives his trainer a quick wave before catching up to her to do the same.

At this point, the Aron are corralled to a more manageable area— Jordan glances around, assessing the battlefield, and whistles sharply to catch the attention of the two Skiddo in the perimeter. "Parsley, Sage, good! Come back a little closer and help us in here!" Parsley bounds in first and Sage joins him to tighten in around the Aron. Vine Whips fly, still smacking the Aron toward the industrious Cubone. They are doing a decent job rounding up the little, armored Pokemon, but a couple slip through still, so Jordan quickly instructs Tangles to help the Skiddo out as well. She may not be as mobile, but she has reach and is far more skilled with her vines than the Skiddo.

Casey yells some combination of words that isn't at all a real sentence when Ginger leaps down from her perch atop Parsley and into the fray once more, powering her precise kicks to bounce from Aron to Aron and landing exactly where she wants to be- back-to-back with Pepper. Even though her hits are resisted, a smack to the head seems to be enough to turn a few Aron away.

"Ginger- get back- why are you- you're not even effective-"

It's hard to tell at this distance, but Ginger seems to be making some very rude gestures at Casey, who presses his hands to his cheeks and exhales sharply. "Just stay with Pepper, then! Augh."

Jordan almost laughs at her antics. "Where did she even learn to do that?"

"I've been tryna figure that out for a while," Jordan catches a quick shift in expression- Casey looks like he's been slapped in the face- but only for a split second and he's back to focusing on the battle. Jordan opens his mouth to question further, but squawks snap his focus back to Hop instead. He's taken to using his new move with absolute glee, mixing it in with Sand Attacks and Gusts that splash the standing water into his attackers' eyes. Jordan is still inclined to hover; Hop is way smaller than the Aron and still only working with one good wing.

"Okay! Good work, Hop, you just… keep doing that. Be careful!" Part of him really wants to call him back, but the Pidgey is holding his own, and seems to be having fun, even.

With Pepper and Ginger on offense, the Cubones on defense, and Grass types running interference, the teens are stemming the tide of Aron, with a few even turning tail and waddling back down the tunnel. Unfortunately, with Vera distracted watching the action, she forgets to keep an eye out for breachers, and one sneaky Aron manages to slip through without her noticing.

Sapphire's the first one to spot it. The little cat meows to get Vera's attention, but the Aron tries to hide amongst ferns and Sapphire leaps into action, Biting at the offending Steel type. It squeaks in surprise, inspiring some of its friends to run to its aid. One manages to Headbutt Bonnie out of the way, allowing it and another to break through and close in on Sapphire.

Even outmatched three to one, Sapphire fights back- she furiously swipes at the Arons, her claws barely leaving a scratch on their armor. A lucky shot hits an Aron distressingly close to its eye, eliciting a Metal Claw in return. A second Tackles her toward the third, who Headbutts her to the ground.

"Sapphire!" Vera pulls out her Pokeball and returns her to safety before she can get hurt more. "I'm sorry…" she whispers, holding the ball close. She looks more nervous than ever as she turns eyes on Bonnie. An Aron knocks her Cubone down into the mud, and Vera clutches Jordan's arm in panic.

His heart skips a beat.

Spirit steps up and knocks the Aron aside. One of the Skiddo quickly drag it away and Spirit offers Bonnie a hand up, which she happily accepts. Perhaps emboldened by Spirit and Bonnie's little moment, Jordan reaches over with his other arm and puts his hand over Vera's. She tenses momentarily, but keeps her eyes on Bonnie.

The Aron come at them with renewed vigor, shoving into Pepper and Ginger, leaving the former no room to swing. Jordan doesn't see it happen but he hears Casey's change in tone immediately- Ginger's gone down, knocked into the mud somewhere in the middle of it all. Pepper dives for her, on command, but that was a bad choice; they're both overwhelmed now, the Aron literally running over Pepper as he tries to both find Ginger and regain footing in the soggy field. And now Parsley's breaking ranks, also on command, and Casey's nearly diving in himself as he attempts to clear a path to his teammates while being shoved around by a steady stream of little metal Pokémon aiming for the gap he's left in the perimeter. There's just too many; he can't get a foot on steady ground.

Jordan calls out to Bonnie and Spirit, who rush toward their friends, trying to smash through the Steel wall surrounding them. Spirit, same as Casey, is pushed back no matter which way he goes as he tries to climb over the Aron. Bonnie, though- Bonnie springs into action. She hands Spirit her club and cups her little hands. Spirit seems to understand and he grins before backing up for a running start. With his speed and her strength combined, the now dual wielding Cubone is launched into the fray, batting aside Aron left and right. Tangles scoops up Bonnie and flings her after Spirit. She manages to Headbutt an Aron as she lands, making it flinch and stumble aside. Spirit tosses back her club, and together they clear a circle around Pepper and Ginger.

Pepper's up again, but his one-handed grip on the walking stick is tenuous. His other arm is occupied by Ginger, who's not moving. The Aron seem to sense vulnerability and a group tightens the circle around their three most dangerous opponents while the rest stream toward the Aggron. Parsley and Sage toss Aron after Aron away with their vines but they're unable to make headway against the turned tide.

Hop sweeps his good wing in a wide arc as a group barrels toward him, but the impact of mud on armored bodies is not the source of the thundering crash echoing through the chamber. Casey doesn't turn, powering through his breaking voice to command their Pokémon, but Jordan and Vera see Aggron collapsed at the edge of the pool. Harper's pulling his exhausted Jellicent back into its PokéBall and Umbreon is bounding towards the teens and into the mess of Aron, who are collectively looking quite unsettled at this turn of events.

There's a loud rumbling and an additional source of light illuminates the cavern. "Yee-haw!" Emmy cheers, hugging her Sandslash. "It's clear! Y'all get on in here!"

"You don't have to tell me twice!" Vera swiftly heads for the opening, almost dragging Jordan with her. "Let's go, boys!"

Hop perches atop Tangles and she chases after their trainer while Casey rifles through his backpack. The Aron, already starting to disperse nervously, scatter further as Umbreon bounds through with Parsley and Sage on his heels. Bonnie and Spirit scramble atop Sage, who helps Parsley lift Pepper and Ginger onto his back. Casey paces restlessly until the group reaches him and he can take Ginger from Pepper to gently slip a Revive into her mouth.

Vera, Jordan, and Harper meet Emmy at the newly open tunnel at the same time. Harper stops to put a hand on Emmy's shoulder, offering the smallest of smiles. "That was faster than I expected. Well done, Emmeline."

Emmy grins, tipping her hat to him. "Aw, shucks… You weren't too bad yerself, back there."

Vera doesn't stop, especially with the Pokemon coming up behind them. "Come on, let's regroup inside this cave. Whatever's in here has to be safer than out- whoa." She stops just inside the cave, looking around the chamber in surprise.

Pokédex

Pokemon on hand:

Tangela // "Tangles"

Ingrain
Constrict
Absorb
Vine Whip
Sleep Powder

Pidgey // Hop

Tackle
Sand Attack
Gust
Mirror Move

Cubone // Spirit

Leer
Growl
Bone Club

Skiddo // Sage

Tackle
Growth
Vine Whip
Play Nice​

Return to Top​

 

[Groc]

Vera Hill, Casey Holt, Jordan Springs
Chapter 4 - Rock Guardin'
Rock Tunnel, May 24th

---

While not as large as the chamber leading to it, this cave Emmy had cleared a path to is still a good size. A third of the ceiling is open, allowing natural sunlight to illuminate the place far better than the little chimney did for the chamber before. Vera is surprised to see actual flowers growing in this chamber, not just moss and ferns. Harper brushes past and she remembers to step out of the way, only now realizing that Jordan is still holding her hand. She shakes her hand free, hiding her embarrassment by heading towards a group of flowers.

"Pretty in here," is all Casey has to say when he finally enters alongside the remaining Pokémon. Ginger silently seethes in his arms. "Don't think we've seen flowers yet."

"The ground seems softer here." Vera toes at actual dirt instead of the rest of Rock Tunnel's sparse topsoil over hard stone. "Probably makes it easier for plants to grow."

Plants have taken root wherever they find purchase, but there is almost a pattern to them. As though they had started out in neat rows before being left to flourish. On one side, water gently trickles down the rocks to form a small pool at the base, much cleaner looking than the one before, if not as large. Rocks lay strewn about the chamber, some alone and others in clusters, and a few mushrooms even sprout in the darker areas.

"It's… kind of beautiful here, actually." Vera glances back to the group, grabbing Bonnie and holding her close. Her eyes catch Jordan's, who is looking directly at her. He drops his gaze as she looks back. "Yeah, beautiful…" he mumbles. Casey mutters something Vera doesn't quite catch, and Jordan gives him a swift smack on the back of his head. Casey takes it in stride.

"I knew there'd be somethin' here!" Emmy crows, looking around in delight. "That last room was just a mite too symmetrical for there not to be! You kids did great back there, by the way."

"Thanks," Casey says, though he seems subdued. Vera's concern turns quickly to irritation. He's starting to get quiet again, and getting him out of that funk was the main reason we started this whole "adventure"!

"Yes, thank you, Emmy." Vera tries to act casual, running a hand through her hair. "We've had some fun times in these tunnels. Maybe we should get a souvenir, like a flower, or…" She looks around the chamber, not seeing much else to catch Casey's attention. "...a rock."

"Hm." Jordan squats down and examines a few small rocks on the cave floor. He picks one up and twirls it around between his fingers. "Hey, this one's kinda shaped like you, Tangles." He beckons for his Pokemon and holds it up for her to see, and she regards it dubiously.

Vera scoffs at that. "Jordan, most rocks are shaped like her. She's round, like a ball. With tiny legs."

Ignoring the comment, he picks up another rock. "Hey Casey, this one looks like Ginger's… left foot?"

"Does it?" Casey joins Jordan, holding Ginger next to said rock for comparison. Ginger looks stunned that this is even a subject of discussion. Vera feels much the same, but at least Casey is showing some interest.

"Rocks, huh? That gives me a mighty fine idea!" Emmy starts grabbing some rocks, testing the weight and giving some a shake. "Let me show y'all a neat trick. Find some o' these here rocks, and y'notice how some 're lighter than others? Give 'em a shake. If y'hear a rattle inside, you got a winner!"

"What d'you mean, a winner?"

"A geode." Harper stands just inside the ring of sunlight with hands in his pockets, eyes turned toward the exposed rock layers above. "You'll need to break it open."

"Yeah, that." Emmy seems a little deflated. "They're all over this cave, though. Go on and get you one."

"Yay, more rocks. Bonnie, do you want to help me look for a geode?" Bonnie had been examining the flowers, but shrugged and followed her Trainer around the cavern. Vera didn't actually pick any up, letting Bonnie do the actual looking, the little Cubone occasionally glancing back to the flowers, which are what she really wants. Spirit's eyes follow her gaze, and he lingers by the flower patch.

Vera can hear her friends' chatter from across the cavern but not nearly as well as Harper and Emmy's conversation, even if she's not paying much attention to it. Emmy seems excited, but that's about par for the course. She's gesturing to the flowers, looking at the ground, even digging in the softer soil for a bit.

Bonnie tugs on Vera's pant leg, pulling her attention away from their guides. "What did you find?" Bonnie proudly presents Vera with a lumpy piece of limestone. It's roughly the size of a fist, and it rattles when Vera shakes it. It's not really her thing, but Bonnie seems very proud of herself, so Vera crouches down to pat her Cubone's head. "Nice work, Bonnie. Let's get the boys and crack these open."

Just then, Spirit runs up to them gleefully, with something in his hands. He stops next to Bonnie, before motioning for her to lower her head. When she stands back up straight, Vera could see a crudely constructed circlet sitting on the Cubone's head, similar to the flower crown Tangles had crafted for the Skiddo, but not as well made. Still, Spirit proudly leads Bonnie over to a pool of water, where she checks her reflection and gasps in delight. She even does a twirl, and the horns of her helmet keep her new tiara in place. She happily gives Spirit a hug.

"Aw, they make a cute pair." Vera chuckles. She's happy to see Bonnie having fun and making friends. Looking around for Casey and Jordan, she spots the pair and their Pokemon hunting for geodes of their own. She starts making her way over when a voice catches her attention.

"No, hang on. Just… just wait a minute…" Vera glances back, and sees Emmy looking deep in thought and just a bit troubled. "I was… but you said… no… are you KIDDING ME?!" Emmy's voice echoes throughout the chamber. She sounds mad and is glaring absolute daggers at Harper. "We've been here for weeks! And this whole time… this whole time?!"

"I assumed you knew," Harper replies, in his usual quiet and measured tone. Vera slowly steps back, unsure of what they're arguing about, but she can't help but wince at his next words: "The signs are clear." Not something you say to calm someone down.

"Oh, the signs are clear, huh? Well, pardon the hell outta me for not noticin' sooner!" She's not quite in his face, but not for lack of trying. "You could'a pointed these things out, so I could take notes! Now I gotta go all the way back, start documentin' everything from scratch!" She turns her back on Harper, fuming. Harper's gaze doesn't shift from where it lands on Emmy's back. His silence now seems to be a loss for words rather than a disinterest in saying anything.

Casey catches Vera's eye from across the way and tilts his head toward the door. Vera nods, wordlessly picking up Bonnie and motioning for Spirit to head back to his trainer, before heading for the exit. She has to pass by Harper, who notices her approach even in his current state. She points to the exit, and Harper looks over at Emmy, who is quietly but quickly writing in a journal. He nods, following behind Vera as they all get to the door.

"For Lavender Town," Harper says quietly, pulling out a notebook and beginning to scribble things down, "use the tunnel we entered from and go further down, then follow these directions. You will rejoin the main path near the exit." He rips out the page and hands it to Jordan. "Oh, uh, thanks." The boy says awkwardly, scrutinizing the writing. "Wait, what's this number over here?" He points to the bottom of the page.

"My phone number. In case you get lost. Just find a skylight, and the signal should get through."

"Thanks, Harper. And uh… good luck." Vera starts heading out. "We should get going if we want to make it to Lavender before nightfall."

"Tell Emmy we said bye. Uh. When she's not mad anymore." Casey motions for the Skiddo to keep near as the group starts to cross the larger cave. The Aggron has disappeared, presumably back to its lair, and there are no Aron in sight.

Hopefully it stays that way.



A joint post between Godzil, Aquacorde, and Juno.

 

[Dragon]

-------Noel ⏩ Rock Tunnel​

Stage Four: The Tunnel Act I​

A Mawile was cautiously strolling her way through the dark Rock Tunnel. She was more shy, docile, yet gentle and quiet than her other fellow inhabitants of the cave. The Zubat all flocked together, the Geodude rolled through the cave's surface, the Aron mostly slept, and the Machop practiced braking many rocks to increase their strength, but this Mawile was mostly by herself. She certainly was an oddity, the other pokemon mostly thought. All this Mawile mostly did was collect an assortment of rocks - something that the other Mawile in this cave were not known to do. None of the other pokemon knew why, but this particular Mawile always did that, while choosing to be alone.

To this Mawile however, there was an easy reason why she did what she did.
In memory of her former master.

Her former master was an elderly lady who's only family was her Mawile, who lived upon a humble home near the outskirts of Cerulean. She was a former trainer before she made friends with that Mawile a couple of years back, before she officially retired as a pokemon trainer, and the Mawile had been living with her ever since. The Mawile was as docile and shy as she was now, but she grew to adore the warm heart of her master. The two had a humble, quiet life, eating together, sleeping together, and even collecting together. Her trainer used to say, there was a deep meaning and understanding of each rock they found. One rock according to her was made from the aftermath of the tunnels that were made from a family of Diglett. Another was made from the aftermath of a battle between two rock-type pokemon. It made the Mawile appreciate the little things in life, no matter how small it was. She kept that ideological close to her heart...

...Even after that faithful day. Her master one day, had died peacefully from a very long life. After her funeral that was provided by a few of her old friends, the Mawile had vanished, before anyone could find out. Her heart was broken in two. The person she had loved was gone, leaving her all alone, secluding herself from involving with anyone else, to prevent herself from feeling that same pain ever again.

Her memory of her former master still was alive though. Ever so often, she collected rocks, and mumbled a tale about each one to herself. She even kept them nearby her own living space inside the cave. Today was no different. She collected some rocks she had found nearby a remote space in the tunnel, and carried each of them, until she was stopped by a pair of Machop, causing her to drop all of the rocks she had collected. The Machop seemed to have purposefully bumped into the gentle Mawile, and picked up one of the rocks she had collected. The Mawile begged them to be careful with that, as it held great value to her, only for her to see the Machop crush it in their own hands.

The Machop started to snicker and laugh. They seem to be enjoying crushing these rocks as they're tougher and sturdier than the general rocks they break for training, so it seemed fun to crush these rocks for a bit more of a challenge. The Mawile begged them to stop as they continued to do so. But as she approached them, one of the Machop used a swift Karate Chop to swat her away. They knew this particular Mawile was too passive to even think of fighting back, so they laughed at her as they smashed another one. Still determined to save her mementos of her former master, the Mawile stood back up, and approached the Machop once more to request them to stop. Not about to let the Mawile spoil their fun, one of them prepared another Karate Chop, as the Mawile had covered its eyes in preparation for her to be hit again, but ...

...But this time, it was blocked. The Mawile had opened its eyes. Its first sight was a small pink pokemon, who easily pushed the Machop aside, after blocking its attack. The Machop then tried to deliver a swift low kick, but the pink pokemon easily jumped to dodge it, then delivered a fierce Pound attack that knocked the Machop backwards, making it fall on its back.

The pink Pokemon glanced back at the Mawile, giving her a friendly yet cheerful pose. She had a flower on her forehead.. it could only be one pokemon. It was Luna the Clefairy. If Luna was here, then not too far behind...

"A fantastic entrance, my darling Luna!" then came a voice from nearby. It was a human voice. It could only have belonged to Noel. She clapped for her Clefairy after the show it gave. "A heroine always arrives just in time for the climax!" Luna cheerfully cried, as the Mawile looked on with confusion at both. Noel smiled at the Mawile, then looked upon the two Machop. "No one likes a bully, y'know."

The Machop that was not knocked down jumped towards its foe, attempting to deliver a swift Karate Chop attack. Luna quickly picked up the Mawile as she jumped out of the way carrying the Mawile with her, then set her back down when they landed out of the way from the Machop's attack. She then turned back to the Machop once more.

"Ready, Luna?" Noel signaled. "It's time for the fun to begin!"

 

[Ninetales]

​

Coralie Summers
Cerulean City
Age: 13
Gender: Female
Pokémon:

Theme:


The Hidden Chamber


"Oh this is it! We must be near the hidden chamber!" Sadie announced, emerging from the earth utop Diglett's back.

Coralie, who was rather disoriented from all of the underground exploration, hopped off Diggy's back, relieved to no longer be in motion.

"I didn't realize that Diggsy could dig so fast."

Sadie, ignoring the comment of the bubblegum-haired female, returned Diggsy to its Great ball before marching onwards into the underground tavern, beckoning Coralie to follow her.

"Treasure awaits!" She bellowed.

Coralie followed after the blonde, fearful of being left behind. There were no lights above Coralie and thus she was shrouded in a mystic fortress of darkness. The air hung around her, it was dense, stale and humid and a tightness in her chest grew with each inhalation. The echo of water droplets falling to the cave's floor from jagged stalagmites filled Coralie's ears. Coralie shuddered, holding her companion close. She could feel his anxiety grow with each and every step and she was suddenly regretting accompanying Summer on this expedition.

"Sadie?" Coralie croaked, rather weakly, waiting for her new-found friend's energetic reply to reassure her of the fact that she was not alone.

When no response came, Coralie found herself consumed by a sense of irrational panic and fear and she shook with worry.

"Bulba?" Her beloved pokemon seemed to be just as fearful as she was. Coralie then realized that she had to regain her composure for the sake of her pokemon. He would only feed off her uncertainty, after all, which wouldn't be beneficial for either party. She took a deep breath and focused on her footing, taking each step slowly and cautiously, careful not to trip on any loose stones.

"Hey, Coralie! I've found something!" A voice echoed through the darkness, instantly eliminating the last of Coralie's anxiety. Sadie seemed a bit far off but Coralie was relieved to know that she was not completely abandoned.

"Sadie! Alright, I'm coming-" With that, the earth beneath Coralie gave way, swallowing her up as she tumbled into a never ending pit of darkness.
Landing with a thud, Coralie coughed as a thick cloud of dirt and debris befuddled her vision and toxified her lungs.

She panicked momentarily, unsure of the whereabouts of Florian, before realizing that he was adjacent to her and seemed conscious. "Oh, Florian! Thank Arceus you're alright." She cried, her voice laced with emotion and apprehension. She clung onto her partner for dear life, droplets of water coating her wispy lashes and raining down on her cheeks.

Florian chirped in response, attempting to lift the spirits of his trainer. Coralie dabbed at her tears and giggled. "I know, I'm just relieved that you're alright, Florian." She sniffled.

Upon further inspection she noted that Florian had sustained a few scratches and cuts from their descent into hell, although they all seemed minor and he didn't outwardly appear to be pained. After ensuring Florian's safety, Coralie decided to analyze her surroundings. She would have to figure out a way to return to Sadie, after all.

She stood up, as a large boulder blocked her vision of the dungeon ahead of them. A distance away, she spotted a bright, indigo radiance that seemed more like a glow than natural sunlight. Still, it was a sign of hope, Coralie thought, as she raced to pick up Florian and immediately headed in its direction.

Coralie found herself in a very narrow tunnel that she was barely able to fit in standing straight up, which was saying a lot since she was 4'11" on a good day.

"Florian, I have a wonderful feeling about this."

As she entered the cave, Coralie gasped.

"Florian, We-" She was at a loss of words.

"We've found the hidden chamber!" She then hollered with excitement. All around her, bright crystals adorned the tavern's walls. They twinkled vibrantly, encompassing the dungeon in a bluish-violet iridescence. Coralie had never witnessed something as magnificent in her life.

"Bulba! Bulbasaur!"

"Oh, Florian, isn't in wonderous!? If only I had a canvas and some art supplies, I could paint a picture to capture the beauty of this place." Coralie beamed, in awe.

Florian hopped up to one of the crystals and gingerly touched it with one of his verdant vines, expecting it to shatter into a million pieces before his eyes. Only, it remained in one piece and seemed to glimmer more intensely.

"We have to show Sadie!" Coralie breathed, trying to formulate a plan on how to get Sadie to their current location.

"Noii." Just then, a screeching echo broke Coralie out of her thoughts. Snapping back to reality, she turned to find a bat-like figure directly above her. It dangled from a stalagmite carelessly and excitedly cooed upon getting her attention. She hadn't noticed it before as she was so entranced by the beauty of the crystals.

"Oh hello, there!" She greeted, sensing the Noibat's benevolence. Florian seemed a tad more skeptical.

The bat pokemon screeched in reply, before swooping down at Coralie at tremendous speed.

She managed to evade the dive narrowly, swiveling as she ogled the assailant. A mischievous smile spread across her lips.

"Would you like to battle?" She asked the pokemon as it swopped for her yet again, chirping defiantly.

She spun and swiftly dodged the Noibat's attack. "Bulbasaur." Florian leapt forward, elongating its vines in an attempt to threaten the Noibat. Coralie appreciated this over-protective gesture and winked at her pokemon cheekily.

"Hit it with Seed bomb, Florian." Coralie instructed, a bright sparkle in her eye.

Florian instantly shot a seed out at the Noibat that exploded upon impact.

"Now hurl it against the cave's wall to inflict additional damage."

Florian obeyed and sent out vines that slapped the Noibat aggressively, sending it crashing into the wall with a thump. The Noibat, injured from the impact, collapsed onto the cave's floor, bewildered by the sudden attack.

"Don't give it a chance to recover, use Take Down, now!" Coralie commanded.

"Bulba! Bulbasaur!" The Grass-type bolted towards the sound wave pokemon, however, it was too sluggish and the Noibat shook off the damage and spread its wings, becoming airborne in a matter of seconds. Florian stopped dead in his tracks as the avian-pokemon dove from above and used Supersonic. The move hit dead-on.

Florian spun around in a circle, now confused and rendered vulnerable to any of Noibat's attacks.

"Florian! Oh no! You're confused. Oh snap out of it, Florian! Snap out of it!" Coralie ordered, growing flustered as her pokemon hobbled around, uncertain of its own surroundings. The Noibat flapped its wings vigorously, sending a gust of wind in Florian's direction.

"Florian, move out of the way! Dodge to the left! Quickly!"

It was too late. Florian had succumbed to its confused status and fell victim to the flying-type move. He was blown back against a nearby pile of rocks as a result of the move. "Bulba" he wheezed, sounding weak.

"Florian, please!" Coralie pleaded, fearful that her pokemon would be knocked out and she would be unable to take him to a pokemon centre, considering the fact that she had no means of getting aboveground.

The Noibat cooed playfully before diving at the Bulbasaur, landing a well-aimed Tackle that did substantial damage.

"Bulba! Bulbasaur." The confused pokemon proceeded to smack himself repeatedly with his vines. Coralie again was at a loss of words. She was unsure of how to take control of the situation at hand. She didn't have any full heals or berries that would cure Florian's ailment. She observed as the Noibat readied itself for another attack, what would most likely be a finishing blow.

Coming to a realization, she fumbled about her purse for the plastic bag. The boobalabaa leaves! How could she have forgotten. Upon locating the bag she removed a single leaf from it before racing over to Florian, who whacked her with a vine. "Ouch." Coralie muttered as she leaned beside him. "Florian, hold still. I have just the thing to make you feel better, okay?" With that, she held the leaf to the seed pokemon. The leaf emitted a bright light that encompassed Florian.

Before she had realized, her companion was back to full health.

"Bulba! Bulba!" He thanked her, before sizing up his airborne opponent, fire burning in his eyes.

"Nyaaaa!" The Noibat screeched, accepting the challenge.

"Alright, Florian! Now that you've recovered we can win this thing."

"Bulba-saur!"

The Noibat didn't hesitate a second, it beat its wings and unleashed another Gust of wind.

"Dodge, Florian, to the right."

The Bulbasaur swiftly evaded the attack.

"Slice it with Razor Leaf!"

The Noibat dove in an attempt to avoid the attack but Florian reacted too fast and the razor-sharp leaves sent it reeling. Coralie was aware that it wasn't an effective move, however, it was a disorienting tactic.

"Follow it up with Take Down!" Florian charged forward and rammed into the flying-type pokemon, sending it crashing into a stone spire. The Noibat breathed heavily and seemed to be low on energy. It struggled to open its wings and get itself off the ground. Coralie knew the battle was at its climax and that the conclusion was near. Adrenaline pumped through her veins and in this moment, in this battle, her mind was crystal clear. Any doubt or anxiety that she had experienced before had vanished completely. She was in full control now.

The Noibat flew up and dove straight for Florian, its moves were graceful and precise like that of an acrobat. However, it wasn't as fast as before due to the damage it had sustained. Coralie was momentarily stunned before she realized that Noibat was her foe. Florian easily dodged without her instruction.

"Alright, Florian. Let's make use of your signature move, Stone Edge!"

Jagged stones from the ground jutted forward, like Sharpedo teeth closing in on prey. They pierced Noibat from beneath it as it was low to the ground. The pokemon instantly fell onto the cave floor in a heap, unable to recover from such a super effective hit.

"Florian, we did it! We defeated Noibat!" Coralie squealed. Initially, she was worried about the outcome of the battle after Florian became confused but it all worked out in her favour. She knew now the importance of having medicinal herbs and berries in battle and would stock up on them as soon as she reached Lavender town.

"Bulbasaur!" Florian leaped into her arms and she fell over, the two of them laughing gleefully.

"Now, let's catch Noibat before it awakens." Coralie declared, grabbing a vacant pokeball from her satchel and tossing it into the air. The Noibat was swallowed up by a bright light before entering the ball. Florian hopped onto the ground and Coralie stood, the two waiting expectantly. The pokeball teetered back and forth three times consecutively, before a clicking sound could be heard.

Coralie reached for the ball and held it to her chest momentarily.

"I think I'll call you Stella Luna. Stella for short." She said, a smile bursting on her face.

"Bulba! Bulba!" Florian approved of the name.

Coralie slipped the pokeball back into her purse, along with the bag of boobalabaa leaves.

"Now, Florian, let's get out of here! We need to reunite with Sadie!"

Stella Luna the Noibat

 

[Aquacorde]

Casey Holt & Jordan Springs & Vera Hill

Thursday, 23 May 2019
Evening • Day 4
Rock Tunnel

4-11. color theory

After a while, the passage opens up. The cavern they find themselves in stretches further than they can see by the beam of Jordan's flashlight and glow of Casey's lantern. It's far longer than it is wide- yet still too wide to call a tunnel- and the ceiling is low but fairly free of formations. Perhaps it floods frequently. That would explain the damp, silty soil underfoot. Said soil also explains the abundance of various mushroom species.

Harper's directions have them taking a quick right turn, ignoring this place completely, but it's here that Vera apparently can't take it anymore and calls a halt.

"Okay, we need to stop! I didn't want to say anything in the garden, and I definitely wasn't gonna say anything during the fight, but Harper and his stupid jellyfish have made this whole trip miserable. My shoes are soaked, and every step I can hear them go 'squish, squish', and that's super annoying, wet socks are a form of torture in some places, and it is cold down here! I can't feel my toes. It's going to take another hour or two to get out of here, and I'm not putting up with this for that long! Let's just stop for a bit, let our shoes dry at least."

Vera seems a little out of breath after that. Casey blinks at her, then looks down at his boots. They're not soaked, just wet around the ankles where the water went over the tops, but he can tell at a glance that Vera's canvas shoes are way less waterproof than his.

Hold on, he never did find out what Harper's Pokémon was.

"Jellyfish?"

"Yes, it was a… what's it called, it's pink…" Jordan's eyes dart to hers. He scoots behind Casey so that only Vera can see him, before frantically mouthing no, no, no, and subtly shaking his head. "Jellicent! Flooding the field like that."

Jellicent.

Casey's palms go clammy and he stares, unseeing, in Vera's direction. Right behind me, the whole time. He draws a shaky breath. He didn't know. Anything could have happened. It could have done anything to him and he wouldn't have known, not until it was too late…

He hears Vera's unsettled voice, but doesn't take in her words. "Hey, knock it off! I-it was just a big dumb Water type, not anything serious. This whole thing is uncomfortable enough without you staring at me like that…"

He didn't even try to look, he should have looked, he heard those horrible noises and still didn't look…

Jordan nudges him gently. "Hey, snap out of it. We wouldn't let anything happen to you. Right?" he nods at Vera.

"Yeah, of course! Just like you wouldn't let those Zubat do anything. We've got your back, Casey."

Yeah. Jordan knows. Jordan would've said something. Jordan did say something- well, he did something. Jordan didn't let him look and yeah, okay, that does make sense. And Vera was watching Harper more than they were, she would have noticed.

Nothing happened.

He's fine.

Casey shakes his head and focuses again. Jordan squeezes his shoulder reassuringly, and Vera lets out the breath she'd been holding. They're still in a cave. It's cold. He's hungry. Trail mix isn't dinner. Pepper can't cook; he's too tired. Also, yeah, Vera's original point still stands: they're all pretty wet around the shins.

Casey sets his backpack down near a few flat rocks and quickly switches his socks and swaps his boots for running shoes. Wet things do not go in the bag, he reminds himself, so he tucks socks into his boots and ties boots to the outside of his backpack. "Do you two have other shoes?"

Vera frowns at Casey and his shoes, grumpily crossing her arms. "No, Casey. No I do not. If I had other shoes, this wouldn't be an issue."

Jordan shrugs but bends down to feel his shoes. "I thought 'all-terrain, weather-proof' shoes were gonna be good enough, didn't really prepare for 'submerging my feet in several inches of cold water'-levels of waterproof. I guess I could change my socks, at least…"

Casey hums and chooses not to wander into a tangent about preparedness. "We're gonna wait a while then. I can't have Pepper come out and help. You saw him fall asleep standin' up earlier."

"Yeah, that's fine. It's not fair to make him do everything anyway."

Casey scuffs his feet on the stone below, making sure his shoes are tied properly. Now that he's in dry socks, he's realizing just how wet and cold his jeans are. And now that he's realized it, he can't un-realize it. That's annoying. "I'm gonna change pants."

"Wait, you're what?!" Vera quickly turns around, looking down the tunnel and trying not to blush. "But… you're not wrong… I guess… I should too…"

There's a quiet moment of everyone averting their eyes as they engage in awkward changing of clothes. Casey doesn't care if anyone sees him in underwear, but he's polite enough to not watch anyone else change. He switches his jeans for the other pair without even taking his shoes back off and spends most of the time threading his belt through the loops, surveying what little he can see of the cave around them. Peering into indistinct shadows is boring, so he resigns himself to eating a protein bar while he waits impatiently for Jordan and Vera to give the all-clear. Jordan swiftly pulls on a clean pair of sweats while stuffing his damp pants into his bag- which Casey tsks at as he folds his own jeans to hang outside of his bag- and when he's allowed to look again he sees Vera has arranged her jacket into a makeshift skirt, buttons down one side and sleeves tied around her waist. Casey makes an impressed noise.

Vera crosses her arms, probably trying to look cool and casual, but mostly covering her arms again. "What? I only had the one pair of jeans, and I'm not ruining my other pants." She looks away from the others, picking up Bonnie and hugging her close.

Casey grins. "That's smart!"

"Cute," Jordan comments. "Very… 90's-chic, you know, the whole trend with jackets around the waist and whatnot." Casey knows exactly how much fashion knowledge Jordan has. It's definitely not enough for him to be making comments like that. He wonders if Vera will call him on it- then wonders how much Vera knows about fashion. As far as he can tell, she prefers off-the-rack pieces and simple styles. Kind of a shame; she's got model-like proportions and could pull off most things. Should stay away from the yellow-green part of the spectrum, though, her skin's got some of those undertones…

Vera looks surprised, looking herself over again. She even does a little twirl, the jacket swishing lightly around her knees. "Really, you think it looks good?

Casey hums, and he sees Jordan nod in his periphery, too. He may not know much about high fashion, but he can style standard things well enough. Probably. "You're cute, so pretty much anything looks good on you. It'd be better with a nice blouse. A flowy one. In cream? I dunno, I'd have to see it together." He laughs. "That's for making it fashion, but I like our matching shirts! They're glowin' pretty good in here."

Vera brushes a lock of hair out of her face, a small smile forming as she looks at the shirt. "Yeah… I mean, of course they are! That's why I chose them, because they look good."

Before Casey can respond, an odd gurgling noise interrupts their conversation. It's coming from the left side of the cavern. Wait, actually, it's coming from Jordan. It's well past dinnertime, isn't it?

Casey sighs. No hot food, not tonight. They never did buy more matches- not that there's anything to light down here. "What food do we have that doesn't have to be cooked?"

They put together a poor semblance of a meal and eat sitting on the floor of the gloomy cave. Jordan and Vera seem content to relax, but Casey doesn't like to sit still for very long. Meandering about the cave occupies him for a while. The mushrooms glow faintly as he passes them by. Weird. Are they reacting to the vibrations of his footsteps? He wanders further, toward the cluster of larger mushrooms he'd seen while changing. Identifying things correctly when the ambient light is tinted is… difficult. But if you know your lantern is yellowish, and you know a little bit of color theory, then you can figure it out.

Casey figures out he is looking at a Parasect.

The Parasect lurches upright at Casey's sharp inhale. Casey takes hurried steps backward but it's far too late for that- the Parasect's mushroom shakes violently and a cloud of orange powder bursts from the Pokémon. Casey turns on his heel. He can't breathe it. He has to run. The dust is settling in his hair and across his shoulders, he's almost out of the area-

But.

It's hard to hold your breath when you're moving.

Casey gasps in a breath and the spores coat his throat immediately. He gags and coughs violently, inhaling more of the powder with each breath. Keeps moving. Drags his locking muscles a few more feet. He stumbles into clean air far too late. Knees hit the ground first, cushioned only slightly by silt. The luminescent mushrooms now glow brighter than the lantern that falls from his hand. He can't move his arms. He pitches forward, chest hitting first and head following, and the Morelull colony- no, not them too, please-! glow brighter than ever and throw strobing spores high into the air.

Casey's Party

Pepper Bomb lv19 • Ginger lv14 • Parsley lv13

Other Things

Anna's Additional Characters

​

 

[Eleanor]

Meeting Niels
🍀🍀🍀
Arianne and Aberdeen
Rock Tunnel - Day 4 - May 23^rd

Joint post with Skywalker
​

---

♫ - Pokémon Diamond Soundtrack - Route 210 (Night)
After all I went through in the tunnel, all alone, I was so happy to find another person. I even dared to think, anyone would have been fine, but in hindsight, I was glad to meet a familiar face once again. I… couldn't have asked more from Deen at that point, he really looked determined to help me and even held my hand for so long. I could notice him slightly blushing as he did, and I surely must have done the same along the way.

Only at that point, after a long time I was in that area, I finally noticed my mistake, though. I really believed the waterfall was right in the middle of the main path but, it turns out, it really wasn't. The sunlight and the fear must have misled me into picking a side tunnel… it all made more sense now.
I shuddered (probably without the boy noticing), realizing that if Deen wasn't there to help me out, I really was lost. No lamps to guide me anymore: once you lose them, you're done for. Still, I was sure I saw something that looked like lamps near the waterfall- no, they must have been some more Morelull or something. I made sure to thank him for helping me out when we would reach the main tunnel: not like I was ready to part ways with him, of course. But alas, it never happened.

The shaking I so much despised came back stronger than ever and ruined everything. The sea never shakes, waves are a completely different thing. They can be big and tall and crash down on you if you're not careful, but with the right weather they can lull you as if you were in a cradle, and it's just so relaxing. In that moment, though, the ceiling could have crumbled, I could have fallen down again, I… Deen?

"I recognize that rumble..." the boy mumbled, barely audible over the noise.
My hand was still in his, and I instinctively had grabbed it as strong as I could, basically planting my nails in it out of fear. Then the wall of the tunnel we were in actually crumbled down, and I couldn't process anymore. Only a greenish light brought me back to reality.
In front of me I saw Eric, who had actually remained out of its Pokéball this whole time to help out Deen with his wounds. Quick reflexes he has… I thought as he casted his Protect. Lulu had also moved up to the front line by jumping off from my arm, shining her Flash with much more intensity to reveal... no, I'm too scared to look.

A loud cry of… victory, almost, echoed through the tunnel. Lulu's light allowed us to see how the great amount of pebbles and boulders had almost blocked the entire section of the passage: but in no time, the rocks started to... disappear completely! I kept watching, almost petrified, while Lulu and Eric stood before me and Deen, until my eyes fixed onto… something else's eyes! Big, white eyes, on a giant face. It must have been an Onix, just like I anticipated before…
I now quickly jumped behind Deen's shoulder, ignoring the fact I'm definitely taller than him, while still trying to hold his hand as the same time (though, it was mostly a way to relieve my stress). But the Onix didn't attack at all, it just let out another roar. Shortly after, I heard a very distant voice saying "Good job!", before the Rock Snake Pokémon disappeared in a burst of energy.

It had to be a trained Pokémon, and its trainer was right there. I was still too scared to peek into the tunnel, but Lulu did, shining down her three mushrooms' light into the newly made tunnel and chirping in excitement.
I could feel Deen moving forward though. Still reluctant to leave his hand, I followed him without letting go.
"What a huge Onix you have!" I heard the boy say excitedly.
"Oh, hello there!" the other voice replied. "I sure do!"
"So huge that it might kind of be a bad idea to make lots of tunnels here where there is already a lot of tunnels, right?" Deen continued.

I showed my face as well, as my friend kept talking, and looked more closely at the young man - probably in his thirties, given his appearance. He was short but still quite robust, his curly brown hair showing up beneath a wide-brimmed hat. And with the equipment he was carrying - a large backpack, glasses, maps and scribbles - he was most likely an archaeologist at work. I saw him coming towards us with an enthusiastic look, as he answered my friend.
"Haha! No worries! Onix and other digging pokemon can fill the tunnels up behind themselves as they go, if they wish to."
"Ew," Deen said, almost flinching as he probably tried to imagine how that worked in some crude way.
"Uhm, hello!" I greeted the man, trying to fight off my fear. "What's bringing you here?"
"Well, there are some old, magical ruins deeper into the mountain. I'm sure of it… it's not just a fairy tale." he answered, with sparkling eyes. "Anyways, we need some introductions! I'm Niels, and the Onix you saw before is my Pokémon, Wolfram!" he smiled. "And you?"
"I'm Aberdeen! And this is my friend Arianne," Deen almost immediately said, more confidently than me. "We're journeying trainers from Cape College! Not going super well right now, perhaps. Gotten into a bit of a scrape in the tunnels, and Ari doesn't like tunnels in general."
"True." I shrugged. "But staying close to Deen is being helpful." I turned towards him, smiling, but still never let go of his hand. "So, these are my Pokémon, Eric and Lulu," I added, as my two companions greeted Niels themselves.
"Nice to meet you all" Niels replied, nodding. "Have you seen a waterfall around here, maybe?"
"Y-yes" I replied. "It should be… this way, I think, not too far!" I noticed Niels giving us a thumbs up.

"Well, my own little camp is near the waterfall because, even when Wolfram is digging new tunnels, he can still follow the noise of the crashing water. What do you say, wanna come there with me and rest for a while? I promise, the cave walls are sturdy there!" he then explained.
"A cave camp!" Aberdeen exclaimed, perhaps before he really thought it through. "How awesome!"
"B-but I… Lavend-" my feeble attempt at a reply faded along with my willpower. In some kind of miracle though, Deen actually caught on.
"Althoughhh… I think we want to get through the cave as soon as possible! Sorry," he said.
"Oh, I see. No worries! Actually, I can help you with that, maybe give you a bit of a shortcut! Wolfram knows this mountain well," Niels said heartily, but then changed his face to look a bit sad. "It is a pity though. I was hoping to get some help for a special treasure hunt..."
I could feel Deen's hand tighten around mine at that, and looked up. The adventurous glare was back in his eyes. Oh, no.
"Treasure hunt?" he apparently couldn't resist repeating.

At that point, part of me still wanted to leave the Tunnel as soon as possible, no matter what. The Pokémon, the crumbling rocks, the narrow paths, just… everything about this place made me uneasy. But in order to do that, it seemed I had to give up Deen's company, travel on my own once again, and just make a friend unhappy. Maybe staying with him really was the better option.

As I thought about what to do, Niels explained himself. "See, I work with a couple of friends of mine. We've set up a camp near the waterfall and, from there, we check new areas and dig new tunnels, in order to find those ruins I talked about before. Hm… I can take you there for a moment, alright?"
That suggestion was what definitely tipped the balance for me. "Uhm, alright! I'm coming with you!" I said, before turning to Deen. "Do I even need to ask you, Deen?"
He smiled as widely as physically possible, his eyes practically glittering as he winked at me. "No need to even ask, no! I'll be by your side."

"Alright, this way!" Niels beckoned us to follow him as he approached the waterfall once again. I did just that, with Deen walking beside me and looking very excited. "My base is nearby so that Wolfram can easily feel the waterfall even when he's digging."
I felt Deen almost jump with excitement next to me. How could this make him so happy? For me it was mostly the opposite, even if I could understand to some degree that it was interesting.
"I wish I could feel what it was like to have Onix senses!" he said.
I couldn't help but chuckle at that. Somehow, Deen's excitement was really helping me cope with my fear.

"You know what? I'd like to try too. Maybe I wouldn't be so scared of caves that way!" Right as I said that, my mind decided to focus on his hand again, and realized something: it was still holding mine, in spite of what my hand put it through. I could feel it with my fingertips. "Deen, I'm sorry about before, I was just scared and grabbed you instinctively… hopefully it didn't hurt too much!" I whispered, raising his hand upwards to catch his attention.
He looked down at our hands at that, and raised his eyebrows. "Oh, no worries!" he assured me, but I think I caught him glancing down at the red marks my nails had undeniably left on his pale skin there.

I, however, could also notice how Eric seemed to have caught onto our talk and started to use Heal Pulse on Deen one more time. Slightly relieved, I kept following Niels, until we all arrived at his camp. It really wasn't that far from the pond with the waterfall: the only reason why I didn't notice it before was because it was tucked away in another side tunnel. And now that Niels was showing me and Deen around the area, I could really start to notice all of the nooks and crannies of that place… including the various tunnels that Wolfram dug before.

I looked down to Eric, who was still walking beside Deen with a confident look, and to Lulu, who jumped up and down on her roots while trying her best to keep up the pace, and never stopped emitting light. I should've probably picked her up, but what if she wouldn't want to? Last time I did, it didn't work out well.
I then looked further up, at the little camp that Niels had set up. A couple lamps were lighting up a large tent, which - as Niels explained - contained mostly provisions, additional equipment and treasure from previous trips.
"Come on in and sit here!" the archaeologist gestured, opening up the main zip door into the tent and revealing a couple blankets and pillows on the floor.

Without hesitation (and without holding the flap of the tent open for me or anything of the sort), Deen walked in before me and practically threw himself onto a particularly fluffy blanket with his usual grin mounted on his face. He looked back at me, encouragingly.
And so, after recalling Eric and Lulu inside their PokéBalls, I kneeled down and sat inside the tent beside Deen. It looked more comfortable than I would have expected, with two more rooms on the sides. Niels opened up an additional door and pulled out from one of those rooms a couple of notebooks and other scribbled papers.

"Are you kids hungry, by the way?" he said then, looking at us as if it had been an afterthought.
"Is Pikachu yellow?" Deen exclaimed. I couldn't help but almost laugh at that. And it made sense too, seeing as he probably didn't have lunch in the cave beforehand. I mean, I did have lunch and I was already hungry again! But I didn't say anything, I just nodded, hand in my hair as usual. "Well I don't have anything too exciting… This really is everything but a restaurant." I heard Niels mutter as he pulled out some packs of crackers and offered us several each.

"So…" the archaeologist muttered while we ate, fiddling with the various papers. "I've just come back from exploring the depths of Rock Tunnel in this sector, which was my first task for today. Next up… Well I should have…" His eyes darted between the papers and us for a moment, as if he was thinking hard about something. "It's just a pity, this treasure that we found. Shame, really."
I could hear Deen swallowing everything in his mouth quickly then. "Treasure?"

"Yes! That's the next point on our to-do list. I'm usually not alone, but today my archaeologist friends didn't come. I can't wait to get this mission done, but it requires team effort! And… I can't let other people claim the treasure first." Niels showed us a hand drawn map of Rock Tunnel: a little home sign next to a waterfall marked the camp while an X was drawn somewhere further down what looked like a creek. It really looked like a pirate map, and the X alone was enough to get me excited… if only I wasn't afraid of caves.

"Alright, It's not the easiest trek but I'm sure we can pull it off!" he declared, probably blinded by his own enthusiasm. Well, he actually changed his expression as he saw me pout, but laughed it off soon after. "Yeah, I get it, you don't like caving. But we're here with you, right? Plus I may have something that can turn out useful." Niels tried to reassure me as he reached once again for something in the side rooms, this time fiddling with various objects for quite a while before coming back out of the flap with… two hardhats. He handed them to me and Deen with a smile, just as soon as we finished eating.

"Oh boy, now we're talking!" Deen said and excitedly put it on. "Do I look good, Ari?"
"Yeah, haha!" I chuckled, before trying on my hardhat and clumsily getting it to fit my head correctly. "What about me?"
"You look okay I guess," Deen said with a wink before turning his eyes back to Niels. The explorer was already standing at the tent's opening again. He was a bit like an older Deen, wasn't he? Not only they looked alike, but they seemed to be on the same wavelength too.
"Well, thanks!" I replied with a laugh, which Niels followed with his own. "Haha! No one down here really cares about looks. And that's fine by me!"

The camp really was a small and cozy shelter from everything going on outside. Only when I left the flap behind me and closed the zip I realized, I was still in Rock Tunnel and I wasn't leaving anytime soon. Yes, I wasn't leaving: despite my fear, I really had decided to follow those two all the way!
It was like I couldn't stay without them, and they couldn't stay without me. I needed their support to get through the cave, but they also needed my support to get the treasure! Speaking of which, I was almost sure I could have found a way to help out this time - even a simple Heal Pulse would have been enough. Unlike in Cerulean…

Soon I found myself near the waterfall for the fourth time that day and tried, once again, to orientate myself. The pond made up most of the cave floor, leaving just a crescent shaped stripe of rock on the side, from which most of the tunnels departed. If I was not mistaken, the main tunnel could be reached by going left and near the waterfall - but this time, we were walking in the opposite direction, eventually reaching the end of the exposed rock surface and stopping there.

Down to my right was a steep, rocky path that delved deeper into the mountain, and that ran just beside a foamy creek, surely the one from the map. It looked so cramped and unsafe, I wished we'd have found a different way. And yet, Niels proudly announced: "Here we are, this is where the treasure is. It wouldn't be that special if it was in plain sight, would it?"
He continued, after a deep breath. "Jokes aside, we're still about to venture inside an authentic, pristine cave. Let's be careful and stay together! I'm sure we can pull it off."

---

Arianne's team:

Eric •

Mulan •

Alice •

Mizar •

Lulu

 

[moon]

Arianne feat. Aberdeen
@ Rock Tunnel

And so the trio crawled into the darkness. Archaeologist Niels, of course, lead the way and climbed down a series of outcropping boulders into the side tunnel, before helping out the two younger trainers in their descent. Deen squeezed in ahead of Ari, but he didn't reach out to steady her or anything. Perhaps he was just eager.

In that spot, the rocks were almost creating a staircase… a steep, slippery, crooked staircase, that luckily soon ended and lead into a relatively flat and muddy cave floor. Not more than a meter away, the water flowed away from the pond into a swift creek - but by now, it was hard to see where it was if not with the help of a flashlight… or, in case of Arianne, Lulu. The girl, in fact, called out her mushroom Pokémon as soon as she felt stable enough to do so, and she happily lit up the area with Flash as she perched on her trainer's arms.

Ever since they met, Lulu wanted for Arianne to at least appreciate Rock Tunnel, rather than only being scared of it. It was her home after all… and a good one at that, a peaceful shelter filled to the brim with water and plants. Plants that all Morelull and Shiinotic would help growing, in exchange for some of their nutrients. And, even though her trainer didn't seem to understand that, she was still staying inside the caves, exploring them with her and giving Lulu more time to try and change her mind.

The group slowly moved forward, with Niels as the lead and Arianne as the last in line. The cave exploration was surprisingly uneventful at first, with just a bunch of wild Pokémon roaming the area without bothering the trainers. The girl tried not to notice, but as she heard the cries of various Zubats and recalled what happened to her before, she started becoming more worried, and started to follow their movements more carefully.

The tunnel kept going and going deeper into the mountain, turn after turn, with various steeper sections along the way. Its section seemed to increase too, as the creek started to become bigger and receive water from other drainage basins. Lulu kept lighting up the cave all around her, highlighting the numerous boulders and vines half submerged in water and occasionally chirping.

"N-Niels?" Arianne asked, probably much later than she could've done. "How can these plants grow in caves?" "Lulull!" her Pokémon echoed her words, apparently quite excited, from within her arms.

"Ah, see," Niels said joyfully from up ahead. "That is one of the big mysteries here! There is not enough sunlight to let keep normal plants healthy. Locals call it magic, some theorize that there is an ancient pokémon giving them lifeforce… While others theorize they've just adapted and don't rely on photosynthesis like land-based plants. Notice how they aren't exactly as green as the plants you're used to up above?"

"Yeah, I can see that" replied Arianne, visibly surprised and especially curious about the archaeologist's mention of magic. "And now that I think about it… do you really believe in magic?" she asked eagerly.

Niels just gave her a hearty laugh in response.

Deen, however, turn around to face her with a curious look. "Do you?" he asked.

"Me?" Arianne yelped. "I'm… really not sure. I don't know" she mumbled. "Maybe…"
The girl definitely wasn't ready for that question, and struggled to organize her thoughts. Maybe magic really existed but was always disguised as something else. Like Pokémon moves - they sometimes don't make any sense and yet we're all used to them. Or maybe magic was that thing that had to do with people such as Sabrina, who apparently had Psychic powers ferself… wait, that was probably just an urban myth. "You got me. But who knows, maybe I'll get a better idea as we go on."

"Maybe!" Deen said and turned back forwards again. "I don't believe in it, for the record. Unless it's pokémon."

Speaking of going on, the group was about to reach a new area. The creek turned into what seemed like another underground lake, this time even bigger and deeper than the pond with the waterfall - but also much darker. The only light came from Lulu, from Niels' flashlight, and… well, there were a couple little spots being lit up by sunlight. But the light didn't even spread much, as it came down for dozens of meters from very deep clefts. Once again the whole surface of the lake was dotted by boulders of various sizes, alongside the now humongous "magic plants".

Deen seemed fascinated by the plants, having run up to them and started poking them within seconds. It didn't last long though, as he soon had darted onwards to the edge of the water instead, where he crouched and peered down.

"Hmm… My friends told me that, if I wanted to find the treasure, I had to follow the creek until I could see sunlight again. Maybe they didn't mention this lake because it had to be a surprise? This doesn't make it easier, though: the ruins could be anywhere, maybe even under the water." Niels scanned the area, trying to come up with a good plan.

Hearing the archaeologist's remarks, Arianne called out Eric. "If you need to search underwater, maybe my Squirtle can help."

"And if you need extra help, maybe I can!" Deen exclaimed and took a leap. He landed, not entirely steady, on one of the boulders sticking up through the water. "I think the water is clear. Just very dark. Do you have a waterproof flashlight?"

"I do actually," Niels said, but his eyebrows were furrowed as he took a light out from a pocket. "The waters can be treacherous, young man. You should be careful."

That only made Deen look at Ari and Eric excitedly and wink.

Just like before at the waterfall, though, Arianne didn't seem in the mood for swimming. "We can have Eric explore the lake, maybe with Niels' flashlight… while we stay outside of the water. That should be a win-win, right?" she turned at Niels, who nodded and let the Squirtle have his source of light. The Water type hit the water soon after, making his way around all the boulders and mapping out the lake floor.

"And… now we wait, I guess." Arianne declared, Lulu still chirping in her arms.

As Ari and Niels sat down on the edge of the lake, at a safe distance from the water, Eric kept going in a zig-zag pattern, before finally stopping right under one of the lit up spots. It took him quite a while, but he was sure he'd finally found something at least mildly interesting.

In reality, all there really was on the bottom of the lake was something shiny, something a bit odd, buried in sand and pebbles. Not sure on how to let his trainer know, Eric came up to the surface and just shot a Water Pulse attack to the ceiling, hoping that she could see it. After that long search, he was definitely eager to let everyone in his discoveries, and to let Ari know, he didn't let her down.

"See, he found something!" Arianne eagerly jumped up. "That's the treasure you're after, right Niels?"

The man nodded, acknowledging Eric's effort, but still looked very serious. "That's quite far from here, and I really didn't expect we had to swim this much. I'm starting to believe this is not the treasure my friends found." he replied.

"B-but it's still a treasure, right?" the girl continued. "Didn't you mention that there could be some other scavengers and thieves in the area? We're going to help you retrieve it, right Deen?" she turned to the other trainer, who was still sitting on one of the rocks out in the water.

Niels, however, answered first. "I reckon someone needs to go there and tell me exactly what Squirtle's found. I'd do it, but I can't swim at all: maybe that's what my colleagues meant when they were talking about team work... Sorry, I'm rambling."

"Of course I'll do it!" Deen shouted loudly, at the same time as a rumbling noise could be heard from somewhere in the cave. It stopped after only a second or two though. Deen chose to ignore it and just started flinging off his backpack and clothes instead, spreading them across the wide boulder he was sitting on. "Squirtle, shine a light for me, will you?" he called out.

Eric, some distance away, looked for his trainer for confirmation, but he couldn't quite make her expression out in the murky cave, despite the lights sippering in from above here and there, and Lulu's Flash. So he just stayed put as Aberdeen jumped into the cold water, gave out a little shout from the sudden temperature shift, and started swimming up to him.

Arianne chuckled at his friend's yelp. "Alright, I think all you have to do is reach Eric and describe what he's found!"

"Got it!" Deen called back, and caught up with the water pokémon. "So, guide me down, will you? I hope it's not too deep… It's super cold!"

Eric nodded and wasted no time in going back under, the boy following him. They both disappeared under the surface, leaving Niels and Ari anxiously waiting at the edge of the pool. Just as they vanished from sight, another rumbling noise was heard though.

"Hmm," Niels said, and let his eyes scan the large chamber. "That…" He stopped himself though, glancing down at Ari, and just cleared his throat without continuing.

"That… what?" Ari asked, definitely starting to worry. "Niels-" she continued, as the archaeologist urged her to keep quiet, pointing at the ceiling of the cave.

Finally, the sunlight filtering down hit the source of the noise. A large, upset Bronzong, from whose metallic body were still falling some water droplets.

"That's like… a treasure guardian…!" the girl hastily announced.

"It's a dangerous wild Pokémon! Get ready…" Niels echoed her words, pulling out Wolfram's Pokéball just as soon as a deafening screeching noise covered his voice. "More… Pokémon!" the man tried to warn the younger trainer, as numerous Bronzor, coming from all around the cave, joined the battle.

"They're so many! What do I…" Ari whispered, reaching for her backpack and calling out every Pokémon she had. Eric was already in the water, and Lulu was already beside her. But she was still able to get Mulan, Mizar and Alice to join the battle. That still didn't look like enough Pokémon to fight against all of them though.

Arianne had a different idea then, and tried to reach for the boulder where Deen's stuff was, rummaging through it until she found his Pokéballs. It wasn't easy, actually, and she was about to fall in the water once, but her Pokémon still covered her back. She decided to call out Deen's Pokémon too just as the battle was starting to heat up, with various Bronzor using their Confusion attacks and Mizar, more than others, hitting them back with Ember.

"Everyone out!" she yelled, picking up and activating every Pokéball in sight.

 

[Eleanor]

Amethyst and Jade
🍀🍀🍀
Arianne and Aberdeen
Rock Tunnel - Day 4 - May 23^rd

Joint post with Skywalker
​

---

♫ - Evergrey - Currents
First, Aberdeen's starter appeared in a flash that almost sparkled. Pikachu came out and smiled widely at Ari before noticing the situation around them.

Next out were Pidgey and Grimer. The former seemed confused at the lack of Montany around her, and the latter seemed utterly devastated even. The Alolan pokemon clearly had quite high affection for her trainer.

A very small Whismur appeared next and immediately hid behind her companion, a Riolu with a facial expression that suggested he was already on edge and aware of what was going on around him.

But Ari was definitely not prepared for what came next. Aberdeen had been quite busy in the cave, apparently. It now became more clear why he was so roughed up when he first found her by the pond.

The last pokemon to emerge from Deen's 6 pokéballs was at least as big as Wolfram, and if possibly looking even rougher around the edges. The big Onix had materialized on the edge of the lake and curled its tail around the boulders for stability. His 'team mates' actually seemed afraid of him. Maybe he was completely newly caught?

But Pikachu ran up to the big stone snake before he could start roaring at them for waking him, and started shouting something in the incomprehensible language of pokemon. It seemed to make him reconsider, even if his teammates didn't exactly calm down. The Onix turned around and still roared, but at the Bronzong hanging in the ceiling instead of at the smaller pokemon.

"He was hiding an Onix himself all this time?" Niels said in disbelief, but not really unamused. "That works for me! Wolfram, join up!"

The explorer sent out his own rock snake and they both reached up and started flinging boulders at the levitating wild bell creature above the lake. Deen's Onix unfortunately with slightly less care about where the boulders landed if they missed.

Pikachu then said something to his other four teammates, before turning to Ari with a determined face. It seemed like he chose to trust her in Aberdeen's absence, even though the rest of them still looked uncertain and searched for their trainer among the fighting.

Arianne wasn't quite ready to give out commands though, especially at the sight of two huge Onix wreaking havoc in the cave. She tried to make her way to where Niels was, as the whole place was filled with rumbling noises, Pokémon moves, lights, and shaking. Lots of that shaking she despised so much.

Luckily, Arianne's brain kicked in at the right moment. With Eric in the water, she started looking for the next best thing - Mulan - and just grabbed her, knowing that she could count on her Protect. And with that added security, the girl could finally take a better look around the cave.

There were Bronzor coming from nearly all directions, even from above her head. Was the Bronzong's call really that powerful? The Rock Throw attacks were good enough at keeping the Bronzor distracted, but the Bronzong was a bigger threat. "Mizar, Pikachu, Alice, you can climb on the Onix and attack Bronzong from there! Pidgey, you can fly them up there!"

Now to the sides. "Lulu, Flash and Confuse Ray these Bronzor!" And… "Grimer, Riolu, Whismur, check that other side!" Arianne kept saying, now really feeling in charge of an entire army. As she pronounced those last words, though, she felt a drop of water falling on her hardhat, and then another… it had just started to rain. In a cave.

"Rain Dance, I guess… Bronzong knows what's up with your Bagon." Niels grinned. "This will be interesting."

Pikachu nodded eagerly at Ari's orders and moved towards Pidgey along with Ari's pokemon. But Pidgey backed away from them, and shot a very skeptical look at Deen's Onix who was practically trashing around further along the edge of the small lake now in its attempts to reach Bronzong. Pidgey did not approve of this plan.

Luckily, that's when Aberdeen and Eric decided to break through the surface of the water.

"Woooow I don't think I've ever held my breath for that long before!" the trainer exclaimed and kicked himself to the nearest boulder, panting deeply. "Hey Ari and Niels, we found something but we need some…"

He finally looked up and registered the calamity, along with the fact that all of his own pokemon were outside of their pokeballs. Including the volatile Onix. Oh. He switched gears instantly, even though he was still panting hard.

"Squirtle, get to Ari," he said before anything else.

The girl was still worried about the Pidgey not agreeing with her. "I can trust Wolfram right? Just climb him and not the other Onix!" she yelled, as Niels nodded and pointed towards his own Pokémon.

Only when Squirtle was at the edge of the pond, Arianne noticed. "E-Eric? But you can fight in the water! Go hit that Bronzong from behind, I know you can do it! And keep an eye on Deen…" she commanded. And so, albeit reluctantly, the Water type made his way back to where he was standing. It still made more sense to him - there were many other Pokémon there on solid ground, protecting her trainer, even without him.

Well, he made sure to at least shoot some Water Pulse attacks at Bronzong on his way there. With the rain coming down, it was even more powerful.

Deen had recovered somewhat when the Squirtle returned, clinging to a boulder in the water still. The boy looked confused at him before gazing more carefully at the shore. Ok, Ari had her hands full already. He had to help.

He swam to the boulder where his clothes were, and was met with the sight of Riolu, Whismur and Grimer trying to hold back numerous Bronzor floating in mid-air. But they were unfocused. Whismur mostly tried to hide until a Bronzor came too close, so she screamed at it until it ran off. Riolu had dove into a bunch of them and punched wildly in every direction but didn't hit much. Grimer though, was doing the most part of holding the Bronzors back, which was quite impressive considering her Acid Spray shouldn't really be able to damage them much.

Jumping up and pulling his shirt back on despite his skin still being soaked, he looked around to see where the rest of his pokémon were. Onix was easy to find, and he grabbed his pokéball from the ground, feeling like it might honestly be best to recall him soon rather than risk him injuring their side too. Pikachu and Pidgey had joined Ari's pokémon and Wolfram in attacking the Bronzong directly. And Arianne and her glowing mushroom pokémon were trying to keep Bronzor at bay on the other side of the Onix-Bronzong battle.

Niels was somewhere there as well. What a mess. That was the last time he went diving into deep cave lakes for several minutes at a time, that's for sure! He pulled his pants back on as well and started trying to direct Riolu and Grimer better, and reassure Whismur. They were doing ok. He glanced over his shoulder and hoped that Niels and Ari could handle Bronzong together with the pokémon at their disposal there.

Mizar was scanning the area with fiery eyes, ready to use Ember on any Bronzor in sight despite the rain, when suddenly the ground below him disappeared in a flash of light. He found himself in the water, struggling to get back to the edge, gasping for more air. Arianne was too late to stop Deen from calling back his Onix, and the Bagon was just probably just too eager to become a cowboy. "No wait De- whatever." was all that the girl could mutter before dashing towards her friend.

Arianne was once again late with her reflexes, there was just too much going on for her to process it all. She had to trust on her Pokémon's cries and on Mulan's Protect… and on her instinct, too! And that was the reason which brought her to the side of the lake, ready to pull up Mizar with all of her strength.

Of course, as soon as Mizar was up on solid ground again, he immediately ran towards the closest enemy in sight, still soaking wet. That happened to be a Bronzor close to where Lulu was fighting - the Dragon type couldn't resist but throw another Ember at it, which turned into a dense fog of steam and smoke thanks to the rain. And then another one, why not!

That was now Arianne's side, and overall it seemed to be going quite well. Mizar and Lulu alone were somehow able to stall the Bronzor, using attacks such as Flash, Confuse Ray, and taking advantage of the curtain of smoke. This gave the girl more time to focus on the rest of…

"Oh no!" her scream synced perfectly with Alice's own squeaking as she was thrown off Wolfram by a powerful Gyro Ball aimed at his head, from Bronzong. That was a quite heated situation as well. Arianne picked up Mulan once again and tried to make some sense out of it, whereas Squirtle was already coming to rescue Alice and brought her back to her trainer as fast as he could swim.

Bronzong was actually starting to show the first signs of tiredness. It had been at the center of a crossfire coming from Pikachu, Alice, Wolfram and even Eric - whose attacks were especially powerful because of the rain that the Steel type himself had set up. Even Pidgey disturbing his aim with Gust, but it was not enough. Determined to defend its cave and its treasures, not only did Bronzong hit Wolfram and made Alice fall off him, but prepared another kind of attack too. Even then… the whole fight didn't seem impossible, not even with the Bronzor circling around their leader and trying to confuse Arianne and Deen's Pokémon.

Now Deen's side. He was the one really in charge - after all his Pokémon still were wary of the other girl - but he still seemed to need some help. Alice, of all Pokémon, noticed this and decided to keep fighting on that front: no matter how weak her attacks seemed to be or how bad her aim still was, she wanted to help. Having a Pikachu helping her out and teaching her was galvanizing, after all.

What else could go wrong, right? All of the Pokémon involved just had to be careful not to get confused - after all, Bronzor didn't hit very hard and even Bronzong was being distracted. Arianne kept watching the show, her eyes jumping here and there without a real reason… but never looking right above her. And yet, the threat came from there.

A white beam of light came down from the sky, turning and quickly hitting the ceiling of the cave, right above where Arianne and Niels were standing.

"Watch out!" Niels yelled, moving aside as quickly as he could, but the girl wasn't quite fast enough. The falling rocks weren't that many or that large, but it still wouldn't have been fun for her.

Aberdeen saw it and dashed towards Ari as if he could have helped her somehow, but he was too far away, too slow.

Mulan saved the day with Protect, though. A green, translucent shield appeared on top of the girl's head and made all the boulders bounce away, leaving Arianne unscathed in the middle of a circular trench. Or at least, leaving her body healthy… The girl was trembling. Not only hearing and feeling the rocks falling on her head, but seeing them with her own very eyes? She hugged Mulan as tightly as she could, trying to recover. The new plan was to get this over with quickly.

Eric understood this too. But his mind was more concerned about… how did that Bronzong even dare to attack his Arianne? No treasure was worth enough to trade.

He swam towards the Steel type as a blinding white light engulfed him, before jumping out of the water as a Wartortle. His Water pulse now put a serious dent in the Bronzong, still busy fighting off Wolfram and Pikachu.

Deen was at her side then, wrapping an arm around her. "Are you alright, Ari?"

"E-Eric… it really happened!" the girl yelled, almost forgetting about the boulders falling, and jumping up in excitement as soon as her eyes caught onto what her starter had just gone through. And that was probably what the Water type wanted to see from her trainer, too.
She then turned to Deen. "I'm fine, I'm fine! Just a bit confused, haha!"

Deen lit up at that too. "Yeah, that's awesome! Think we can give that Bronzong a fight to remember now? I'll send out Onix again too!"

And he did, and his big rock snake reappeared at the lake's edge next to them, thankfully slightly calmer now than before. "That looks to me like one of your Rock Tunnel rivals," Deen teased it dangerously. "It's hurting all the other pokémon here. You're better than that, aren't you?"

Onix easily took the bait and dashed off, tossing a Rock Throw of huge proportions towards the psychic bell. It was surprised by it and the rocks brought it down closer to the cave floor. Easier for Eric to reach with his attacks now!

Wartortle couldn't ask for a better occasion, and readied up his best Water Pulse attack - which connected and apparently confused the Bronzong, too! The soaking Steel type didn't seem to know where to go, and just moved erratically without attacking for a while. More time to hit it with other attacks from Eric and Pikachu!

When Bronzong recovered, though, it made sure to let everyone know - including the Bronzor still fighting on the sides of the cave. Its Metal Sound really sounded like the last cry of a wounded dragon, determined to fight until the end. Right after that, the Steel type launched himself towards the newly appeared Onix with a Gyro Ball.

Onix was hit and knocked backwards into the cave wall. Some rocks dangerously fell down around the humans. But even though he was quite badly damaged by that, the Onix was spurred on by Deen's earlier words and didn't give up yet. Nobody bully others in his cave.

As Bronzong started rising back up in the rainy air again, the rock snake retaliated with a swift, hard Smackdown. The treasure guardian was slammed into the ground.

At that point, it was easy for Wartortle to land another strong Water Pulse, and this time the Steel type was knocked out for good. At such sight, all of the Bronzor eventually retired into the side tunnels, one after another, and the trainers could finally rest and return their own Pokémon into their Pokéballs.

"We… we did it!" Arianne shouted out a cry of victory. She ran towards Deen and hugged him, before quickly letting go. She didn't take into account the fact that the boy had just gone for a swim. "You're not gonna catch a cold, are you? Feeling weak for days on end is not fun."

Deen actually almost blushed, for some reason. "Nah, I'll be fine for sure! The fight got me all heated up again."

By then, Niels was a small figure in the distance. Without the two trainers noticing, he'd wandered off on his own… before coming back to them twice as fast.

"I got it! I got it!" the young man announced, holding a Great Ball in his hand. "I caught the Bronzong! It'll be a great asset for my exploration, and hopefully it will learn I have no bad intentions. And I'll name it Iridium!"

"Ari… Aridium?" Deen commented, wondering if he had heard correctly.

Niels took no notice beyond a quick smile; he was too excited. But Ari couldn't help but burst into laughter at that remark.

"As for you two… I was so enticed by finding the treasure that I brought you into it rather than waiting for my colleagues, and you still did great! So on one hand, I have to apologize to you. But on the other hand… thank you so much! You did an amazing job," the man continued, in a mix of happiness and embarrassment. "Now… uhm, one last thing? We claimed that treasure for ourselves but we need to bring it here to the edge of the lake! I can count on you again, right?"

Like before at the camp, Arianne couldn't help but pout at such a request. After all the things she'd already done, she also had to swim… In an underground lake and without her gear? She eventually decided to do it anyways, though. First, because after that there shouldn't have been any more roadblocks on her path to the Lavender Pokémon center, second, because Deen and Niels still needed her help and her swimming skills, and third, because she was already relatively soaked in water due to the Rain Dance.

She just needed to be careful not to catch a cold herself, of course, and needed to get by with just what she had in that moment. So, the girl laid out her sleeping bag on the cave floor, near the edge of the water, pulled out her definitely-not-big-enough towel, and took off most of her clothes until she only had on her shirt, gloves and underwear. She then let out Eric once again and started swimming after him.

"S-so cold… Deen, wanna come as well?"

But the boy was already diving back into the water as she spoke. He easily but perhaps a bit clumsily caught up to her and flashed her a smile that nearly caused him to swallow water.

"Am here!" he coughed. "Squirtle and I will show you where the thing is!"

"Perfect!" the girl replied as she followed them in the water, swimming towards the treasure. "But Eric's a Wartortle now, haha!"

"Ohhh," Deen gasped. "Of course! So cool!"

Now that there wasn't anyone to save, Arianne could really have time to enjoy swimming again, after staying away from water for so long back at Cape College. But doing so in an underwater lake was… almost mystical. The water felt much cleaner and almost transparent, and there was something special about the cold too - though once again, swimming with her shirt on wasn't optimal for Arianne.

"See, there's a metallic… something here! But we need to clear this rubble first." Deen pointed at what was supposed to be the treasure, before diving down and starting to move boulders and pebbles out of the way. Eric and his trainer started doing the same right after that, uncovering the treasure in no time.

"What is this…?" the girl asked as they surfaced, puzzled and amazed at the same time.

Deen spat out some water before he and Eric held the loot up between the two of them above the surface.

"A treasure chest!" he exclaimed. "But it's heavy. To the shoreline!"

It took all three of them to manage to pull the chest to dry land without sinking again, even though it was pretty small as far as treasure chests went.

Finally back up on their feet and with some degree of clothing on, the kids and the pokemon watched as Niels leaned over the treasure with anticipation.

"It doesn't seem to be locked," he said after touching it for a while. "At least not anymore. Alright, let's do this!"

Niels finally opened the chest, as the eyes of the two trainers were fixed on the treasure. Inside, waiting for them, were stones, rocks, metal artifacts: all, somehow, still in good shape despite what had likely happened to the treasure in the past.

"This is all so… fantastic! Stunning! Look at these…" Niels whispered in awe. "More of these colored shards, ancient coins, there's a bit of everything in here! I'll bring them all back to the camp and keep them safe. But… since you helped so much I can let you have part of the treasure!"

"Huh," Deen said, in the least excited tone Ari had heard the whole day. "Is there actually… Anything cool for us in there?"

"There are a couple items that you should find useful, yes, like… this!" Niels replied, pulling something that very unmistakably was a perfectly well preserved Thunder Stone out of the chest.

"It's perfect!" the two trainers yelled in unison, before turning to face each other, eyebrows raised.

They were still sitting on top of Ari's sleeping bag after all, as the girl tried to dry her hair enough to keep going.

"Hmm… You want it too? For Pichu, I guess? That's no good. Hm." His forehead creased for a second. "I'd love to battle you for the stone but our Pokémon are too tired… oh, I know!" he then said, still with sparkling eyes.

Arianne looked at him, mirroring his expression perfectly as the boy explained.

"We'll do Rock, Paper, Scissors! Ok, ready? Go!"

Three draws and many laughs later, Deen got Scissors on Arianne's Paper.

"The stone is mine!" he yelled triumphantly, as Niels handed him the prize. "Pikachu will be so happy!" he continued, and didn't seem to really notice how Arianne's face quickly changed into a pout, then into a sad expression, then into a half smile.

"Alright, you seem to need that stone more than me after all…" she whispered.

But the archaeologist just smiled widely and pulled out some more stones and relics.

"I found some more evolutionary stones, just choose your favorite!" he happily announced, placing the items in a row right in front of the girl.

She thought about it for a while, quite indecisive about what to pick, until a voice from beside her gave her a hint.

"You heard him, go for your favorite color! It'll bring you good luck."

"If you say so, Deen…" the girl blushed, grabbing the one purple stone that was laying on the sleeping bag. "It's… heavy!" she muttered, as Niels explained that she'd just picked a Dusk Stone.

"It does suit you after all!" the man continued. "And it's quite a rare stone, too!"

"That's great, Ari!" Deen said appreciatively. "I bet you can find another Thunder Stone somewhere, but who knows if you'll ever find another purple Dusk Stone?"

"You're right… and actually, this Dusk Stone is starting to grow on me already!" Arianne whispered, grinning.

Eventually, after some more chatting and resting, the group returned all the way to the base camp with the newly found treasure chest. Much like before, it was a long, but thankfully uneventful walk. From there, another long and uneventful walk through the main tunnel finally allowed Arianne and Aberdeen to reach the exit.

Of course, Niels stood beside them the whole time, acting as almost some kind of tour guide of Rock Tunnel. Lulu, who Arianne had called out for lighting up the cave, almost tried to act the same, pointing her Flash around and chirping enthusiastically everytime the archaeologist spoke.

Arianne should have probably known that Rock Tunnel wasn't that hectic in the first place, and that most Pokémon would have never bothered her unless she startled them first. But of course, she only noticed it now because she was too scared to do so before. And because Lulu, Deen and Niels were keeping her company.

Soon enough, though, the warm last light of the setting sun appeared from outside the exit. As they finally stepped out, Niels cleared his throat behind the kids, who turned around at the noise.

"Well," he said in a strange voice. "I don't really like goodbyes. And we have been through a lot, in only a few hours! But I will return to the camp and meet my companions there soon enough. So… This is goodbye."

"For now!" Aberdeen said cheerfully. "I'll come visit you someday!"

"Haha, I don't live in the tunnel, you know," Niels said. "I live in Lavender!"

"See you tomorrow then!"

"Ah, perhaps," Niels said, shaking his head and turning to Ari instead. "You did well in the tunnel, young lady. I think you are braver than you think you are!"

"I… thanks! I'm glad I could help!" the girl finally replied.

And with that, the two trainers waved the explorer goodbye and set off on the last short road down to Lavender Town.

---

Arianne's team:

Eric •

Mulan •

Alice •

Mizar •

Lulu

 

[Juno]

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background art cred​

[tab=4-4]Chapter[/tab] ● [tab=dex13]Pokédex[/tab]

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Chapter 4: Tunnel Vision // May 23rd
ft. Vera Hill & Casey Holt​

Jordan idly taps his fingers on his now-empty trail mix container as he and Vera sit side by side, waiting for Casey to come back from his little adventure. Nice as it is to hang out with just Vera, they are both on the quieter side, and he realized that they run out of things to say pretty fast, without Casey around to fill in the silence. Not that it was a bad thing, especially after their hectic day. A little time to rest and reflect feels good.

Their Pokemon seem to be enjoying the small break, too - Bonnie and Spirit in particular are still practically joined at the hip, whispering and giggling amongst themselves.

"Those two are too cute." Vera finishes off her water bottle as she watches the Cubone. "It's good for them to spend time together, I think they really like each other."

"Oh, yeah, I think Spirit's in love," Jordan grins back. He looks at her empty bottle. "Hm, I wonder if any of the water around here is good to fill our bottles with—"

Just then, a hacking noise draws their attention towards the depths of the cavern Casey wandered down. Jordan frowns. Could it be…? Nah, he's probably fine. They do need to get a move on though anyway, so maybe they should investigate.

"Hey, he's been down that way for a couple minutes now, think it's about time we haul his ass back and get on track again?"

"We probably should. It'll be dark soon if we don't get a move on." She steadies herself on Jordan's arm as she slips her shoes back on. Jordan smiles to himself, but decides to play it cool and not make a big deal of it.

They head down the same cavern, the glowing mushrooms catching Vera's attention. "They're so pretty… what do you think makes them glow?" She wanders closer, looking almost dazed.

"Huh? Oh, right, pretty." Jordan says absentmindedly. He's still thinking about the noise they heard earlier and is getting slightly concerned about Casey, so he hasn't really been paying attention to the figures that are playfully bounding along the cavern walls. He glances back at Vera again - something doesn't look quite right with her. Walking over, he holds a hand up to her face and snaps his fingers. "Hey…? Everything okay?"

Vera flinches from the snap, swatting at Jordan's arm in annoyance. "Yes, I'm fine! Just… looking at the lights. I've never seen mushrooms do this before, and it's cool. I'll bet Casey came over here, too. Just to… look at the lights…" Her eyes follow one of the dancing lights, and she's not paying attention to Jordan anymore.

"O-kay…" he responds hesitantly, before grabbing her shoulders and marching her straight down the cavern, shifting his eyes side to side at the Morelull steadily gathering around them. Is it the spores? Is it the... "Illuminate?" he mumbles to himself softly, vaguely remembering the bioluminescent trait some Pokemon have and use as a lure. Uh oh. Casey may be in more trouble than he thought. "Come on, we have to find him, now."

Vera watches the lights, not even complaining about Jordan pushing her. This all changes when they see a cluster of little mushrooms, illuminated by the glow of Casey's fallen lantern. Concern seems to break whatever spell had been put on her, and they realize the mushrooms are actually a colony of Morelull.

With Casey lying facedown in the center of them.

"Casey!" Jordan shouts, looking for an opening he can break through to get to his friend. Parsley bleats in alarm, shoving forward to reach his trainer, but Vera grabs his horn. "Wait, Parsley! Sapphire, thin them out!" She tosses the ball, revealing Sapphire, still a little sore from fighting the Aron. "Icy Wind!"

Sapphire dutifully exhales her frigid breath, coating several Morelull (and Casey, unfortunately) in frost. The Morelull do not like that, and Vera lets go of Parsley. "Knock 'em clear with Vine Whip!" Parsley charges in, whipping the Morelull and clearing a path to Casey.

"Give him a hand, Sage," Jordan instructs the Skiddo, who looks at him inquisitively. "Vine, I mean. A vine. Or two. Just- Vine Whip!" He explains exasperatedly, as Sage finally helps pick off Morelull around them.

The Morelull are relatively easy to drive off, as though they weren't expecting a fight and aren't used to it. Before Jordan or Vera can move in, the Morelull slink back into the mushrooms, which begin moving ominously. Three large mushrooms creep forward, attached to the backs of large bugs. A trio of Parasect emerge, stepping past Casey's unmoving form, their pale, sightless eyes staring dead ahead.

Vera steps back instinctively, looking scared suddenly. "Look out, Parsley! These things look tough!" Parsley ignores her and rushes for his Trainer, kicking one of the Parasect when it blocks his path. "Parsley!" For the moment, she sounds more annoyed than afraid. "Sapphire, while they're bunched up, use your Icy Wind. Try and slow them before Parsley gets hurt. But… keep your distance." Sapphire meows loudly before using her cold breath, giving Parsley time to leap back and avoid the blast.

Jordan looks around, assessing the situation. Vera is right, the Parasect would be difficult to defeat, but… maybe they could be driven back just enough to get Casey out, which is all they need to do. "There's no time! I'm going in, too. Keep them off us!" Before Vera could interject, he follows Parsley towards the motionless Casey. Sage and Tangles follow, while Hop stays with Vera and Sapphire to keep the Parasect at bay.

Jordan breathes a sigh of relief as he finally gets close enough to reach for Casey, but as he approaches him, something doesn't look… right. He drops down next to his friend. Concerned, he reaches out and lightly taps Casey's cheek with the palm of his hand. Casey's eyes flick rapidly between Jordan's face and his Pokemon's. "Hey, what's wrong?" Jordan mutters with a tinge of panic in his voice, as Parsley noses at his trainer's hair. "Come on, there's no time - let's get you outta here. Help me, guys-" Jordan pulls Casey's arm over his shoulder with Parsley supporting his weight. Casey is almost completely unresponsive; his head lolls as the two struggle to move him, but his eyes are alert and tracking. Jordan lets out a frustrated sigh, setting the boy back down, as Sage charges towards a Parasect heading their way, with Tangles in tow.

In his periphery, he can see the Parasect his Pokemon are fighting; the Skiddo and Tangela are not particularly effective against the Bug-type, but they were holding it back and he knew with Vera in charge of Hop and Sapphire, she wouldn't let them be in too much trouble. His bigger concern is what the hell is wrong with the 220lb-boy next to him, and how they can haul him out of here if he's not going to be able to move at all.

As he watches the Pokemon and tries to think of an answer, he still manages to instinctively call out a well-timed "Tackle!" for Sage, just as the Parasect made a move that looked like it was ready to strike. A cloud of orange dust barely misses the Skiddo as she knocks the Parasect back just in time - she sneezes, but it does not seem to affect her otherwise.

"Jordan, do not get close to those spores!" Vera yells at him from a distance. "They'll p-poison you, or knock you out, or all kinds of nasty stuff!"

Ah. Stun Spore. It finally clicks.

He takes a deep breath. "O-okay, don't panic. This is fine. It'll be fine." Jordan wasn't sure if he was telling this to himself or Casey, but his friend's frantically darting eyes isn't making things seem too fine. He had studied the effects of Stun Spore on other Pokemon before, of course, but how does it affect a boy…? He shakes his head. Now's not the time to think about this. We just have to get him out of here. "Alright, up we go. Guys, come back!" Parsley is still hovering around his trainer and ready to help, but Sage comes scampering back as well, as Tangles continues to guard them against the Parasect, who have been pushed back just enough to give the group enough space to pass through.

With the help of both Skiddo, Casey's weight is a bit more manageable, and they slowly make their way towards Vera. "It'll be okay," he keeps reassuring Casey and himself. "We're almost there."

Pokédex

Pokemon on hand:

Tangela // "Tangles"

Ingrain
Constrict
Absorb
Vine Whip
Sleep Powder
Poison Powder

Pidgey // Hop

Headbutt
Sand Attack
Gust
Mirror Move

Cubone // Spirit

Leer
Growl
Bone Club
Headbutt

Skiddo // Sage

Tackle
Growth
Vine Whip
Play Nice​

Return to Top​

 

[moon]

Ralph

Rock Village, Wednesday May 23nd, morning

Ralph and Joseph arrived in Rock Village long before lunchtime. Turns out they hadn't been camping far off at all, which somewhat bothered Ralph to discover. Maybe she could have pushed through and reached the pokémon center on her own after all. Without needing this brotherly guardian person babysitting her now. She didn't voice any of this out loud, of course, as Joseph left his pokémon to rest at the pokémon center and went off to stock up on food and other supplies in the weird small stores in the village. She did like food, and hated cooking it, and he liked both. For now, he could be good to keep around. Especially considering the next leg of her journey, according to professor Palm, would be a long route through a mountain area.

While their pokémon were being healed up, Ralph took the opportunity to borrow a room at the small pokémon center and freshen up a bit. She took a shower and spent some time scrubbing dust out of her hair, before making sure it was tucked back into a big knot atop of her head. As she got dressed, she found herself wondering if it would be cold inside the cave. No sunlight, but also no wind. It wasn't a cold season, and weather for most of May so far had allowed them to walk outside without much in the way of jackets. But still.

She left her dirty clothes for a quick wash in the Center's facilities. Her current outfit now consisted of a grey hoodie, short to show off the teal top below, above dark blue jeans, at least as tight as the black ones she wore before. She put on some make-up, including dark purple lipstick and heavy eyeliner and mascara, but she skipped on the eyeshadow. She'd probably just smear it out in the cave somehow anyways. Her nose ring and earrings were in tip top shape despite the recent adventures, and overall, she finally felt human again. Maybe it would be even worse when they arrived in Lavender. But she had Joseph with her, and he even had a Lycanroc now, even though it didn't exactly seem to like him much. She was probably pretty safe. Probably.

That made her wonder about how the other trainers would be faring. Were they already in the cave? She hadn't seen them around the pokémon center, so they would either have come here earlier or later than her. Probably they hadn't gotten here yet, as she and Joseph had camped closer to the village than they had, and it was still pretty early. But she wouldn't know unless she asked them.

She glanced at her pokégear. No, she couldn't message Ari. She just couldn't tackle that situation right now. And she didn't really feel like talking to Deen now, nor go through the cave with his annoying energy, to be honest. Others… Some other Leftovers were also journeying now, but they hadn't exactly said that they would cooperate or tag along with each other. It wasn't really like they were friends, the older Leftovers she had been hanging out with after class. Not like she and Casey had been. Although that was long ago. They didn't really hang out much in the College. Casey was popular and did well, and even if he was one of the oldest students, he still got along with everyone and had lots of real friends.

Whatever. Ralph didn't need to think about this. She stretched out on her back on the bed in her borrowed room for a while and tried to just think about pokémon battles and strategies until her clothes were washed and dried.

Fetching her pokémon again at the counter downstairs, she perfectly timed Joseph's return. She didn't think his massive backpack looked any bigger than before, but he was looking very pleased with himself so she had to assume he had found what he was looking for in the village.

"Lovely shopping tour?" Ralph asked as she retrieved her pokéballs from the nurse behind the counter.

"Absolutely," Joseph assured her. "I've been here plenty of times before and know most store owners well. Even got a discount at the herbs shop when I told them that I was going to journey with a trainer again!"

As he put his backpack down on a couch while he stashed his pokéballs and double checked his inventory, Ralph glanced at him pensively. He seemed really happy about this. How long had he been stuck working at the farm for? Not that she was going to ask him. His personal life wasn't her business. And hers wasn't his, although she had a feeling he would start prying in attempts to be polite or 'bond' soon enough. He seemed just like the type to do so, also judging from the conversations the other night.

"And you look good," the man suddenly said, which abruptly tugged the girl out of her thoughts.

"What?"

"I mean, not all rough after the road anymore. Jeez, relax, I'm not coming with you as a creep. Are you always going to be this tense?"

Ralph just huffed and put her own backpack tightly. "Is there a pokémart here?"

"Well, not exactly," Joseph said. "But there's a small shop here in the pokémon center, didn't you see it?"

Ralph looked around and noticed some items on display in some shelves. She hadn't paid them attention before, as she'd mostly been desperate to get a room and a shower when she arrived. "Alright. I'll get some pokéballs I guess."

"Gathering a big team?" Joseph asked encouragingly.

She just shrugged. She didn't have many left, and you never knew. If she did run into an exciting pokémon, even if it wasn't a Bagon, she didn't want to be left standing with zero balls and opportunities. She tossed in an antidote and a paralyze heal to boot. Palm was generous enough when it came to allowing trainers on the graduation journey to spend money on pokémon related items. Nothing else though; shopkeepers who allowed discounts for Cape College-stamped credit cards knew what was up, and those who didn't definitely knew to reject trainers who, for example, tried to buy fancy brunches or irrelevant souvenirs with Palm's card.

Joseph didn't say anything a she made her purchases, but he spoke up afterwards. "I've got plenty of Super Potions too, should we need them," he said, and meant it supportively. But it annoyed Ralph. As if he meant to poke her about forgetting Potions or something.

They left the pokémon center at last, and headed east for the tunnel entrance. The sun was high, with only a few lazy clouds above. Ralph peered up and realized that she was going to miss the sky. Caves were not her thing, she thought. Not that she had spent much time in them so far in her life, but if they were anything like being stuck in a classroom or college corridors, she was pretty certain of it.

They came up towards the entrance, which looked surprisingly unremarkable. There was a clear road going inside the small mountain, and a sign outside that simply declared "Rock Tunnel -> Lavender Town". But the tunnel itself was just a hole, and not as big as Ralph had expected.

"Got a flashlight?" Joseph asked.

Another annoying comment. "No," Ralph snapped.

"We'll stick to the main tunnel then. Don't worry! It's illuminated."

Disgruntled, Ralph took the lead as they went inside.

 

[Ninetales]

Coralie Summers
Pokémon: Florian the Bulbasaur & Stella-Luna the Noibat
Theme:





Ambush

"So, Florian, how do you figure we get back to Sadie? I'm sure she's wondering where we scampered off to-or where we got lost." Coralie queried aloud, although Florian didn't seem to hear as he was momentarily distracted by the glimmering crystals.

Coralie sighed, unable to come up with any sort of solution. She slumped down, her back against the cave's sturdy wall, crystals twinkling all around her. "This is hopeless."

Florian, sensing his trainer's despair, rushed over towards her and hopped in her lap.

"Bulba! Bulbasaur!"

"Oh, Florian, thank you for attempting to cheer me up but-"

The sound of burrowing cut Coralie off as she intently listened to the peculiar sound, casting Florian a curious glance.

Before she knew it, a Dugtrio sprang up from the earth right before her eyes. It was Diggsy, no doubt!

"Dug! Trio! Dug!" The ground type greeted her. It seemed quite frantic for whatever reason.

Coralie sprung up, a smile bursting on her face. "Oh, Diggsy! I'm so glad to see you! Sadie must've sent you to find us, is that right? Oh, Florian, we're saved!" Coralie practically swung the grass-type pokemon around, she was so ecstatic.

"Bulba-saur." Her pokemon croaked, now dizzy.

Coralie hopped on Diggsy and in seconds they were transported underground.

They emerged from the earth in a cloud of dust. Coralie bounced off the Dugtrio's back, grateful to be back where they once were. "Thank you again, Diggsy! Now, Florian, we'll have to watch out for any more pitfalls, alright?"

"Bulbasaur!" Florian chirped, promising to keep his eye out.

"Well, if it isn't Coralie! I'm thrilled that Diggsy was able to find you, I was searching everywhere. I thought that you found the hidden treasure and had run off with it yourself!"

Coralie giggled. "No, I was following you and Florian and I fell into a pitfall. We did find a tavern full of luminous crystals though. Oh, it was really beautiful. If only you would've been there."

Sadie smiled, trying to envision such a place. "Well, I'm glad we're reunited. Whilst looking for you, I think I may just have uncovered the treasure's location-straight ahead!" Sadie announced, pointing in the direction of a dark tunnel.

"Well, that's wonderful! Treasure, here we come!"

With that, the two of them stepped into the tunnel, Sadie leading the way. Coralie, who was fearful of getting lost once again, made sure to remain in close proximity to her explorer of a friend.

"I think I see a light up ahead." Sadie whispered. Coralie inhaled, the anticipation causing her heart to beat rapidly. She couldn't wait to see what treasure they'd unveil. She wondered if perhaps they'd stumble into another chamber of crystals. Whatever lay ahead, Coralie knew it would be marvelous.

As they neared the source of light, Sadie stopped dead in her tracks and gasped.

"What!?!?" Coralie asked rather impatiently as she desired to see what the chamber contained.

Sadie moved forth and stepped into the chamber and Coralie was now able to see what Sadie had been in awe of. A large chest lay in front of them. It looked incredibly old, ancient even. Coralie's eyes glimmered with wonderment as she examined the chest in all of its splendour.

"Sadie we-"

Her words were cut short as a Sadie dove into her, the two crashing roughly onto the ground. Coralie was bewildered but quickly realized the reason behind Sadie's action.

A pokemon, not overly large, was standing a few feet away from them, silver blades shining as it readied itself for another attack. It had lunged at Coralie without her even noticing. Sadie tackled her in order to protect her from the rogue pokemon's incoming assault.

Sadie immediately jumped up to face the pokemon, as Coralie lay beneath her upon the cold, cavern floor, still trying to process what was occurring around her.

"Pawniard, we don't mean any trouble, we just came to-" With that, the pokemon launched itself at her. Diggsy, sped forwards and knocked into the pokemon, sending it reeling.

"Pawn! Pawniard!" More of these armoured pokemon began to show themselves and Coralie realized that they were completely surrounded with no chance to escape. Their only option was to battle their way out, as Sadie's attempt at diplomacy had evidently failed.

Coralie picked herself off the ground and dusted off her overalls. After ensuring that Florian was unharmed, she prepared herself to take on these opponents.

Suddenly a Bisharp appeared, staring daggers at Sadie and Coralie. It seemed to be the leader of the Pawniard as they all gathered behind it, like soldiers awaiting the instruction of their commander.

"Bi-sharp!" The pokemon cried as it did a battle dance.

"That's swords dance, it's powering up." Sadie commented, her eyes growing wide at the spectacle.

"Pawniard!" The rogue Pawniard all cried in unison, a gesture meant to intimidate.

Coralie shuddered. She could tell just how powerful these pokemon were. It wouldn't be an easy battle but she knew that Florian was strong and would rise to the occasion. With Sadie by her side, there was no way they could lose.

Bisharp rushed at Sadie who reached for a pokeball. In a flash, Scyther appeared.

"Scyther, use X-scissor now!"

The Bug type clashed with the Bisharp, who blocked the attack easily.

Sadie observed as the Pawniard rushed to guard their leader. She closed her eyes momentarily before reaching for yet another ball. "Damian, I need your help!"

A Darumaka appeared in a burst of flames. It bounced around playfully before noticing the seriousness of the situation at hand. "Damian, help out Scyther with flame charge!" The Zen Charm pokemon dashed towards the group of Pawniard who were charging at the Scyther. Upon collision, they became engulfed in Damian's flames and were sent flying.

"Wow! That Darumaka is very powerful!" Coralie breathed, stunned by the small pokemon's impressive strength. "It took them all down like bowling pins."

"Not exactly, look!" Sadie motioned to the Pawniard who were already recovering.

Her attention was diverted as Scyther was sent crashing into the cave walls after receiving a direct hit from Bisharp's iron head.

"Scyther, hang in there!" She hollered, her voice laced with concern.

Coralie looked at Florian in horror. "Alright, Florian, let's help out Damian and Scyther, alright? They need us!"

"Target the Pawniard. Scyther and Diggsy should be able to take down the Bisharp."

"Right. Ok, Florian, fire off a seed bomb at the Pawniard!" Coralie urged.

Florian leapt forward before launching the grass-type move at the cluster of Pawniard. A few were able to avoid the hit but the rest were impacted by it and became disoriented. Damian saw another opening and scorched the Pawniard with Incinerate, which momentarily immobilized them.

"Florian, take down, now! Hit them while they're hurt!"

The Bulabsaur began gaining speed and crashed into four Pawniard, sending them spralling backwards, before taking aim at another Pawniard.

"Watch out, Florian! Look up!"

The Bulbasaur reacted too slowly and was intercepted by another Pawniard who slashed Florian. Florian recoiled after the hit but didn't appear to be too hurt. Another Pawniard flung itself at Florian, aiming its blades. Damian dashed in front of Florian, blocking the attack, before retaliating with fire fang.

"Bulba! Bulba!"

"Makaka!"

The two pokemon smiled at each other before preparing to take on the remaining Pawniard.

Meanwhile, Bisharp was proving to be a difficult opponent for Scyther and Diggsy, who were both growing increasingly fatigued from the intense battle.

"Scyther, Diggsy, don't give up yet!"

The Bisharp aimed a Night Slash at Scyther, which Scyther skillfully blocked using its scythe-like arms.

"Mud-slap, Diggsy!" The mole pokemon flung mud at the steel-type. Bisharp easily shook off the attack and aimed an iron head at Diggsy, who managed to retreat underground at the right moment.

"Slash, Scyther, hit it while it's distracted." The Bisharp managed to evade the attack and landed an Iron Head, which sent Scyther reeling.

"Oh no! Scyther!" Sadie yelped, fearing for the health of her trusted partner pokemon. She was relieved to see it get up, despite all of the damage it had sustained. She knew that it could only take so much.

"Florian, razor leaf!" The Bulbasaur launched a flurry of jagged leaves at the Pawniard. The attack hit. One Pawniard attempted to sneak up on Damian but Florian took notice and wrapped the pokemon in its vines before hurling it into the chamber's wall.

The Pawniard collectively were beginning to lose momentum. Damian and Florian proved to be a magnificent combination who shielded one another from the onslaught of attacks whilst firing back their own. The two of them were in perfect sync.

The Pawniard, who were growing desperate, sensing their impending defeat, used one last-ditch effort to attempt to disorient and overcome their foes. Each of the Pawniard began to rub their blades together in a rapid fashion, creating a horrid, deafening screeching sound.

Coralie instantly covered her ears as did Sadie in an attempt to block out the unpleasant noise. A few Pawniard who realized the impact of this lunged at Florian and Damian, striking them both with Night-slashes that landed dead-on.

Both Pokemon stood their ground but took severe damage as a result of these brutal attacks.

"F-florian, do your best to block out the sound! It isn't over yet! Fire a seed bomb to stop this racket!" Coralie's voice shook as she fell to her knees due to the ear-piercing noise.

"Damian, help out Florian and use your Incinerate!"

The two attacks combined into one, with the seed becoming encompassed by flames. As it exploded it cast fire all over the cavern floor where the Pawniard were, surrounding them with blames and filling the chamber with billowy black smoke.

When the smoke dissipated all of the Pawniard were revealed to have fainted.

"Yes! You guys did it!" Coralie hollered, failing to realize that the Bisharp was still battling Scyther and Diggsy and was now infuriated at the loss of its comrades.

In its rage, it sliced both Diggsy and Scyther with one lightning-fast night-slash, before turning its attention to Florian and Damian.

"Scyther! Diggsy!"

The Bisharp raced at the two of them with incredible speed.

"Florian, dodge it to the right! Get out of there!" Coralie cried, knowing that her companion wouldn't stand a chance against one of Bisharp's super-powered attacks.

"Damian, meet it head on with flame charge! Let's end this here and now" Damian's body was surrounded by a vibrant blood-orange flame as it raced at the Bisharp. The two collided in a brilliant burst of energy.

Both endured significant damage. Bisharp stood strong before it was engulfed by a sudden flame, a symbol that it had sustained a burn.

Scyther had gotten up, desperate to finish the fight.

"Alright, Bisharp's hurt! Damian, incinerate! Don't let it recover. Scyther, Vacuum wave!"

"Florian, help out, too! Use your razor leaf!"

The barrage of attacks blasted the Bishar, causing an explosion as a result of the overload of energy.

The Bisharp faltered before falling over, now unconscious.

"We did it!" Sadie cheered running over to hug her pokemon, Damian running towards her and hopping in her arms. She returned all of her pokemon to their respective balls, murmuring thank yous.

Coralie scooped up Florian affectionately before returning him to his pokeball. "You deserve a good rest, Florian."

Sadie turned to Coralie expectantly. "Now, let's look at the treasure chest before the Bisharp and Pawniard recuperate. I don't think we can manage a second victory."

Coralie was so preoccupied with battling that she had completely forgotten about the chest altogether. She observed it and simply nodded.

Sadie walked up towards it, in front of it as she carefully inspected its exterior.

"Do you think this could be a trap?"

Sadie gave Coralie a ridiculous look, as if she had declared that she was indeed an Octillery and not a human being.

"Well, haven't you seen those adventure movies where as soon as they find any sort of treasure the entire cave collapses?"

Sadie chuckled. "Oh, Coralie, you're imaginative, aren't you? Now come here so we can see what's inside together."

Coralie giggled and came over, kneeling beside her blonde-haired friend, gazing at the chest.

"Ready?"

"Yes."

Sadie opened up the chest and inside were two large golden nuggets.

Coralie was somewhat underwhelmed but Sadie seemed thrilled! "Oh we've found the hidden treasure of Rock Tunnel! Coralie, we did it!"

She scooped up the two nuggets, handing one to Coralie. "Here, one for you, one for me. These might not look like much but they're worth a lot."

Coralie inspected the nugget carefully and smiled at Sadie. "Thank you." She then shoved it into her black purse, thinking of how she required a larger one in order to carry all of her belongings.

"Now, let's get out of here!"

~

"We've almost reached the end!" Coralie exclaimed, relieved to see the end of the tunnel, Lavender town sprawled out just beyond them.

Sadie stopped in her tracks and Coralie nearly bumped into her.

"Well, Coralie, it was fun to explore with you, truly. I think this is where we part ways, I'm afraid."

"Sadie-"

Sadie smiled and looked down at the cave floor. "I found what I was looking for. My next destination is Hoenn. I'm off to explore Mt. Chimney, I heard there's a secret tunnel that leads to the centre of the volcano. I'd like to investigate and see what kind of pokemon inhabit such a place."

Coralie flashed her friend a smile. "Wow, Sadie. You're one fantastic explorer. Good luck and be safe on your future explorations. If I hear that you've fallen into the pit of the volcano, I'll never forgive you."

Sadie chuckled heartily. She then reached into her bag and motioned for Coralie to hold out her hand. She placed a small, metal badge inside of her palm. "I want you to have this. It's an exploration badge. I got it years ago and it's not something I need. I want you to have it so you can remember me and our exploration, okay?"

Coralie's eyes were spilling over with tears. Despite meeting Sadie mere hours ago, their experiences together had united them. She would really miss her friend.

"Thank you, Sadie. I'll hold onto this, don't worry. I won't forget you either, no way!" She said, her voice quavering as she dabbed at her eyes.
Sadie laughed and sent out a pokeball, Diggsy appearing. She proceeded to hop onto her ground type companion. "Alright, we're off to Vermillion to catch our boat. Diggsy, full speed ahead."

"Dugtrio! Trio! Dug!" with that the two zoomed off. Sadie turned around to wave at Coralie before she disappeared over the horizon.

Coralie sniffled. "That girl never rests, does she?"

Taking a deep breath she stepped out of the cave, feeling the golden rays of sun on her face, a wondrous feeling indeed. She looked forward to her adventures in Lavender town.

 

[Eleanor]

The Cinnamon Girls
🍀🍀🍀
Arianne, Courtney and Coralie
Lavender Pokémon Center - Day 4 - May 23^rd

Joint post with MysticalNinetales
​

---

♫ - Ray (theme song) - 季節のシャッター
Arianne was able to get out of Rock Tunnel at an actually reasonable time of day, but still didn't have time to think about Lavender Town or breathe in its atmosphere. Not in those conditions! She just followed the signs to the Pokémon Center as if she still had tunnel vision, hastily walking through town until she entered the hall and rushed to the counter.
Arianne then headed straight for her room as soon as she was given the key, threw herself under a proper hot shower and, once she was clean again, looked at herself in the mirror.

• The girl's attention was caught by her own lilac bangs, which were still looking the way they should despite all that they'd just gone through. And to think her hair looked so messy and ruffled when she came into the room! Now though, it was time to dry them for real and look presentable for dinner. At least the Pokémon Center had provided her with a hair-dryer!
• Wounds? Nothing serious… somehow! Just a couple little bruises here and there: that was surely because of Mulan's intervention, but also because of Arianne's gloves, which turned out to be so much more useful than even she had thought in the first place. They weren't even that damaged, too!
• If anything, Arianne had to be more scared of cold. The inside of Rock Tunnel was freezing compared to the outside, and she was soaked with water - a perfect storm. And while the hot shower lifted her spirit and made her feel much better physically, she may have still caught something…
• And speaking of cold, the girl had been swimming in cold water with clothes on. She now had to take all of her soaked items and get them washed and dried in time for when she'd leave the town. Until then though, her less adventurous outfit would have worked just fine: jacket, blouse, skirt and sneakers.
• And to avoid swimming in those conditions again, she also had to look for something she'd apparently forgotten to bring with her: a good swimsuit! Sure, it wasn't necessary right away, but it was something to add to her bucket list.
• But… she also had to fight with all of her Pokémon in the cave. And she noticed how some were much stronger than others. Now though! Isn't the role of a trainer to train evenly all of her Pokémon? Arianne couldn't help but feel sorry for them - and for Alice, especially.
• This was made even more important by the Gym that the girl would have soon had to challenge. An Electric-type gym, as she was told, meaning Eric was at a disadvantage! Lulu and Mizar would have been better choices.
• Before challenging the Gym, therefore, Arianne decided to explore all of Lavender, in search of other training opportunities but also of some relief and peace of mind. Or even, in search of familiar faces to spend some time with!

Arianne had already been staying inside her room for a while when Coralie bee-lined it for the Pokémon center, which she was able to locate easily. Upon entering the building, she was greeted by the Pokémon nurse. Coralie walked up to the counter of the Pokémon center, reaching for her pokeballs before gingerly handing them over to the nurse. "I'll heal your Pokémon up for you. It'll only take a few minutes." She informed the pink-haired girl, smiling. "Thank you, miss." Was Coralie's response. She observed the Pokémon center's lobby, where a few trainers mulled about, and decided not to linger there. Instead, she walked towards the back end of the facility where she noticed a sign for a small, modern restaurant. Coralie could practically feel her stomach cry out and urge her to step inside. No, I can wait until Florian and Stella are healed. Coralie thought.

She headed back to the lobby and waited until her Pokémon were fully recovered before booking it to the restaurant, excited by the thought of food.

With all of those thoughts still in her head, Arianne got dressed up and headed to the ground floor of the Pokémon Center, where the bustling, noisy restaurant room was waiting for her. Not only a place to eat a fulfilling hot meal, but also to keep up to date with the latest rumors, get to know Lavender, and possibly make more friends! Or better, acquaintances - regardless, anyone's company would have still been appreciated.

And yet, not only was the room much less crowded that she expected, but there didn't seem to be anyone she already knew, not even her camp friends from the night before. Most of the trainers in the room were already grouped up, chatting by themselves or ordering their dinner. Only one person seemed somewhat recognizable…

Arianne's eyes landed on a pink haired girl sitting by herself at a table, intently reading the menu. Maybe she could have joined her for the time being!
"Hello there!" she introduced herself, now feeling as if she had seen that face before somewhere. "Uhm, may I sit here for dinner?"

Coralie was observing the menu at the restaurant in the Pokémon center, as hunger had gotten the best of her. As she looked at the multitude of options on the plastic menu she glanced up to spot a young woman wearing an elegant blouse standing near her, a smile upon her face. She politely asked to sit down. Upon closer analysis Coralie realized that it was Arianne, an acquaintance of hers that she had met in Cape College. "Oh, Ari-hi! Yes, of course you can sit down! The more the merrier as they say." She beamed, feeling foolish for not initially recognizing her former classmate.

As the other girl looked up from the menu, Arianne could easily identify her as her classmate Coralie. "Coralie!" she yelped, with an almost surprised tone. "Thanks, you're so kind." The older girl sat down and picked up a menu of her own to read. "So… did you just arrive in Lavender? How did Rock Tunnel go?" she eagerly asked.

"Yes, I arrived not too long ago, actually. Rock Tunnel was really something. Let's just say I got myself into trouble on multiple occasions and made a few friends along the way." Coralie giggled as she reminisced about the previous events. "How did it go with you? Did you get lost at all?"

"I don't know if you know but I don't like caves." Arianne sighed. "And yet it was… very cool! I found some friends that helped me out, got into trouble, but came out on top! Not sure I'd do it again though." Her eyes took a glance at the room and at the two waiters still walking around the tables. "Oh, right, silly me. We should order our dinner first…" she laughed, picking up the menu once again. "Suggestions?"

"Yes, after that whole experience, I'm not so sure if I like caves either." Coralie glanced at the menu again. "The mac and cheese looks delicious! But, so does the pizza, oh and the Caesar salad! Oh, I can't decide!! It all looks so scrumptious. OOOH! There's a dessert menu as well. Oh, this restaurant has it all!" Coralie giggled. "Sorry, Ari, I'm so indecisive. Hmmm. I think I'll go with the mac and cheese! Yes, I've made up my mind." She proudly declared, placing her menu back onto the surface of the wooden table.

"Not as much as me it seems…" Arianne whispered as she kept reading her menu thoroughly. Eventually, though, even the older girl made up her mind, so that they could both make their order. "Done, finally! Ok, where were we?" she announced. "Rock tunnel was… not great, so what about Lavender? Do you like this place? Have you explored a bit?"

Coralie shook her head. "I have not. I most likely will tomorrow, it seems like there's a lot to explore here. It's vastly different from Cerulean, for sure." She commented, her mind drifting to her hometown and she smiled. "Have you? Or are you just as tired from Rock Tunnel as I am?"

"Me neither… I ran straight to the Pokémon Center as I was soaking wet! But I had a refreshing hot shower and now I'm feeling better. I mean, do you think I could've gone through Rock Tunnel dressed like this?" Arianne remarked. "But so far… yeah, Lavender looks interesting!"

Coralie giggled. "How did you get soaking wet? Was there a hot spring inside the tunnel or something?"

"It's a long story… but it's basically what you said, except the water was freezing and I had no swimsuit with me. Annoying." Arianne shrugged.

"That sounds very unpleasant." Coralie deadpanned. "But, it's something to remember. That's one thing I love about travelling, there's so many memories to be made. You'll look back at that event and laugh about it in the future."

"I g-guess so…" Arianne replied, her voice still a bit unsteady as memories resurfaced in her mind. Some of her past adventures and mishaps really did make her laugh now, but that couldn't be said for some other things she'd done or got caught into. If anything, those events were still trying to haunt her when she lowered her guard. And case in point…

Coralie, sensing her friend's sudden shift in demeanor, decided to change the subject of discussion. "Initially, acquiring gym badges didn't interest me, I just wanted to travel and have fun with my Pokémon, But now, I think it's something I would like to do! It'd be fun to give it a shot. What about you, Ari?"

"Oh, I'm in it to win!" was the obvious answer. But it wasn't Arianne who was speaking. "And yet, look who I've just found! A wild Cinnamon girl who also wants to be a trainer!"

Arianne's eyes moved to her side, surprised and slightly worried, towards the girl who had just appeared in the room and took a seat near Coralie and her without even asking for permission. She was wearing a teal shirt, blue shorts, and had fairly messy, red hair.

"C-courtney?" Arianne whispered, still visibly worried. "I didn't expect to-"

"Did you think you could forget about me? Well then, I'm the one who should be surprised!" the red haired girl interrupted her. "But it doesn't matter now. I'll make sure to just be ahead of you from now on, Arianne!" she declared with defiance, as her friend's eyes turned back to Coralie… as if they were searching some comfort and some help. "Well, I guess that explains it. I'd love to get Gym Badges and just do my best as a trainer, yeah…"

Coralie glanced at Arianne and gave her a questioning look that said "did you invite her?" Before turning to face Courtney. "Courtney, right? I'm Coralie! It's nice to meet you!"

"Hello Coralie! Nice name." the girl replied. "Yes, I'm Courtney, and I'm Arianne's childhood friend! Which means you'll let me stay for a while, won't you? Did you already order?"
"A-alright for me? What do you think, Coralie?" Arianne added, her eyes still nervously looking around.

"Yeah, of course you can stay! No, we haven't ordered yet but I've decided on the mac and cheese!" Coralie declared, her stomach growling audibly, causing her to giggle. "Courtney, why don't you have the soup and salad special? It looks delicious!" Coralie suggested, holding up her menu and pointing at it so the red-haired female could see.

Arianne's look was more eloquent than words when she turned to Coralie once again. You should've said no, because I can't! she thought, but without talking. "Not spicy enough, haha! But thanks, Coralie!" Courtney remarked instead, as she quickly scanned the menu in search of some familiar names. "Pasta with peppers, uh? Now that sounds like what I need right now!"

"Yeah, you haven't changed at all." Arianne shrugged, before actually smiling slightly. "We chose the same dish!"

As if on cue, a leggy, raven-haired waitress appeared, an artificial smile plastered to her angular face. "Alright, are you guys ready to order?" She asked, sounding rehearsed. Coralie nodded. "Yes we are!" The three young women proceeded to give their orders as the waitress scribbled them down on a pad of paper, murmuring a "thank you" before she briskly walked in the direction of the kitchen.

"So, you guys are both from Cinnabar? I've never been there but I've heard many wonderful things. What's it like?" Coralie asked, eyeing both Arianne and Courtney expectantly.

"Oh, it's great! It's cozy and very peaceful, especially in Winter, then it becomes bustling with tourists in Summer!" Arianne starts talking. "True, there are beaches, clubs, hotels… and a dazzling Pokémon Gym, of course!" Courtney echoes. "And then of course there's the sea!" Arianne continued.

"That sounds like such a lovely place!" Coralie gushed, trying to envision Cinnabar island in her mind. "My hometown of Cerulean is much different. It's a lively city with lots of unique places to see. We may not have an ocean view but we are situated east of Mt. Moon, which is a beautiful mountain, may I add. It's a place my brother, Elliott, and I always wanted to explore." Coralie felt sentimental talking about her hometown and the mention of her brother made her long for him. "So, is it true that Cinnabar has a volcano?"

"Yes!" the two girls responded in unison. "But it has kept quiet since before we were born." Courtney explained. "It's a double edged sword, it's dangerous but it makes Cinnabar even more special of a place!" Ari added. As she said that, a chill actually went down her spine. "We just don't think about it, do we? Cinnamon girls have no fear!" the red haired girl chuckled, winking at Arianne as she visibly blushed.

"Cinnamon girls? Is that the name of some group you guys are in?" Coralie questioned, cocking an eyebrow.

"It's nothing-" Arianne tried to answer, before Courtney hushed her friend. "It's an exclusive club of popular girls from Cinnabar! We even have our personal island, right Ari?"

"Uhm, yeah! We just swim together and play together…" the black haired girl replied, her hand in her hair.

"And get all the boys."

"Courtney!?" Arianne raised an eyebrow. "I for one have never…"

"Cinnamon girls are still the most popular of our age, right?" Courtney questioned. "You'd better keep the squad going. I'm still in, right?"

"Uhm, yeah… I don't think there's any going back once you're in! But it should've been a secret…" Arianne pouted.

Coralie was a bit flabbergasted at the awkward exchange between Arianne and Courtney and thought there was more to the Cinnamon girls than they were revealing. "You have your own personal island? That's so cool." She gushed, playing dumb. "So, what do you mean when you said "there's no going back"? Was there an initiation of some kind? And who decides who gets to join the group?" She gazed at Arianne, gauging her friend's reaction to her query.

"Once you know about the island… yeah, you know! That's the initiation!" Arianne announced, even though it wasn't completely true.

"And of course Ari decides who should get in, for some reason. Like why did you even let Serenity in?" Courtney added.

"We were close friends?" the black haired girl shrugged. "And she even swam to the island!"

"Yeah yeah, you and her have been glued together since when she arrived. Poor girl!"

"What's so special about this private island? Is there some island secret or something?"

"It's just a rock in the middle of the sea." Courtney began. "Yeah, but it's ours, because no one bothers to go there! Not even tourists. You just need to swim for a while…" Arianne explained. "It's not comfortable at all though, that's for sure!"

"For a while you say? I assure you it's much longer, and it's not worth it. You want peace? Just go near the crater." Courtney smirked. "Ugh… that sounds so bad!" the other girl facepalmed.

"So it's not really an actual island?" Coralie noted aloud, it was meant to be a question but it came out as more of a statement. Just then, the same raven-haired waitress from before arrived with plates of food in hand. She set each plate down, asked if the girls needed anything else, to which they all collectively shook their heads, and then scampered off to another nearby table. Coralie, smelling the divine aroma of her meal, completely forgot about the conversation and instantly began to eat, savouring her first bite as much as she possibly could. "Mmmmm! This is scrumptious!" She gushed, her eyes glistening with satisfaction. "It's just like the way my mom makes it!"

"This is amazing as well! Right Courtney?" Arianne smiled, her eyes sparkling at the sight of her food and her tongue burning up just at the perfect intensity. "Not spicy enough!" the other girl laughed, before clarifying: "Just kidding of course, this is perfect!"

"Speaking of mom, though…" Courtney questioned hastily, in between bites. "Last time I checked your parents didn't want to send you on any journey. And I've never seen you around my school."

Arianne sighed and rolled her eyes. "Well it happened eventually… but I went to Cape College, and that's where I met Coralie!" she explained. "I was already old, Palm convinced my parents, and I made it through!" the black haired girl smiled, proud of her accomplishment.

"That's right! Ari and I studied together on occasion, we helped each other out a lot. Cape college was a lot of fun. There were so many amazing people and it was a wonderful experience overall. I learned so much about pokémon and the ins and out of battles, too." Coralie exclaimed, reminiscing about fond memories from Cape College. "I'm sure your parents are glad that you went, Ari! I mean, look at you now, look at us now, we're exploring the Kanto region as official trainers!" Coralie then directed her attention to Courtney. "Where did you go to school?" She asked, taking another bite of her entree.

"Fun you asked… I went to Safari Academy, the best trainer school there is!" Courtney explained, excited. "And I got held back one year, too, but now I'm here on my journey, and you're not going to bring me down!" she exclaimed, as if she was waiting to say that for months.

"Why not Cape, Courtney?" Arianne asked, moved to pity almost. "You know what? I'm not even sure why. Safari doesn't really have the best classmates after all - but the courses are good, it's close to home, and you don't have to do chores. Can you imagine Ari doing chores?" the other girl laughed sarcastically, earning herself a pout… even if Arianne herself had realized she wasn't completely wrong.

"Wait, does it mean all of those people are from Safari too?" the black haired girl questioned, as she turned towards the groups of people sitting at the other tables. "Yeah…" her friend sighed. "See that one? The first day she came on a yacht, while I came on a cargo ship. She kept being annoying about it, so she must be so envious." Courtney let out a genuine laugh.

"Oh, Safari Academy, I've heard good things about it! I had a friend who went there." Coralie beamed, trying to reassure Courtney.

"Yes, it's a great place! I dreamed about going there myself…" Arianne echoed. "Hah, Ren could have covered all your expenses." Courtney teased her, getting back another pout from her friend. "Serenity here, Serenity there… come on!"

"Serenity's not trying to be a trainer, I guess. And you also don't need to." Courtney clenched her fist. "What!? I'm a trainer because I wanted to. So?" Arianne, who had calmed down in the meantime, started to feel quite uneasy again.

"What about battling to see who wants to be a trainer the most then? Safari vs. Cape!" Courtney grinned. "J-just… calm down, alright? Courtney…" Arianne called out, feeling quite lost on what to do at that point. She turned her hopeful eyes towards Coralie, praying in her head that the younger girl would settle things down… but deep inside, she didn't even want to battle.

"If a battle's what you want, a battle's what you're going to get!" Coralie announced, jumping out of her seat, her eyes burning with anticipation. She winked playfully at Arianne. "But don't underestimate us Cape girls, we won't be going easy on you, miss Courtney!" Coralie teased. Remembering where she was, Coralie returned to her seat. "Let me just finish my mac and cheese first! OOOH, I have an idea! How about whoever loses has to pay for dessert?" She smiled to herself, as if she had just proposed the greatest idea in the history of great ideas.

Arianne looked at Coralie astounded, and still somewhat surprised by her younger classmate's reactions. "Well, maybe we need to find a partner for Courtney first… and make it a proper Multi Battle! I really like them actually." she whispered to Coralie, before the red haired girl would suggest a little change. "I like your spirit! But I propose doing this a bit later, and get ice cream on that one shop I've already spotted down the road. And also…" she continued, "my Pokémon are still at the counter being healed."

"Sounds like a plan! Eek! I'm so ecstatic for this battle!" Coralie felt the adrenaline pumping through her veins. "Courtney, why don't you go ask one of your former classmates to be your battle partner?" She suggested, motioning to the table where her fellow Safari Academy graduates sat.

"You know what? That's a terrible idea, they'd look down on me and not help. Except, maybe…" Courtney's eyes also sifted through all of the other trainers. "Maybe I know who to ask, but I'll need help. Once we're done with dinner, we can go, alright?"

Coralie giggled. "Oh, nonsense!" She gestured toward her now empty plate. "There's no better time than the present! Besides, if we don't do it now, they might leave before we get a chance to ask! I'm sure they won't say anything rude and if they do, I'll give them a scolding." Coralie sprung up from her seat and smiled kindly at Courtney. "Don't worry about a thing! If you want, I'll ask for you." Coralie then turned on her heel and proceeded to walk in the direction of Courtney's acquaintances.

"Ok, ok!" Courtney rolled her eyes. "See that girl right there? That's who I want, haha!" she said, following Coralie all the way to her table. About six different people were sitting there, making up the biggest group in the entire restaurant. "Sarah? Hello! Can we ask you a little favor?" the red haired girl asked amidst the chatting. Sarah, a somewhat timid brunette, quickly turned to greet her classmate with a smile, but looked at Coralie with more surprise than anything. "Yes, Courtney?"
Coralie smiled at the table full of trainers, who all seemed to be astounded by her and Courtney's sudden interruption. She then cast Courtney a reassuring glance, as the red-haired female seemed a tad unsure of herself.

"I've been challenged to a multi battle and I'd like you to team up with me! It's going to be great… Safari team against Cape team. And we can do it later this evening!" Courtney explained.

"The losers have to buy the winners ice cream after the battle!" Coralie piped up. "You'll be facing off against Arianne and myself." Coralie added, gesturing to the dark-haired female who was sitting a few tables away and was watching them intently. She giggled then, returning her attention to the Safari Academy graduates. "We'll see how good you Safari kids really are. It'll be a lot of fun! But get your trainer cards ready, because I'm going to want a large waffle cone with extra sprinkles!"

"Wow Coralie… food at Cape must have sucked." Courtney laughed, though this time she probably shouldn't have said anything. Sarah, on the other hand, tried her best to explain she and her Pokémon were too tired, and didn't really care much about a battle with the red haired girl as a teammate…

"E-excuse me, Courtney. I-I" A boy began. He was situated at the end of the table and had neatly trimmed sand-coloured hair and thick round spectacles. "I would like to be your teammate, if you want… if not, t-that's okay too! I-It's just that I got a few new Pokémon that could use s-some training… and I.. well.. I want to help you out." The boy flashed Courtney a weak smile as he awaited her reply, although he seemed to expect immediate rejection. He appeared to be quite accustomed to rejection.

"Oh no Francis… you're not coming because you want to train your Pokémon, you're fighting for the win! But if you promise me you'll do your best, why not?" Courtney smirked. After all, with Sarah out of the equation, anyone would have been a good partner in her mind.

"Oh, thank you, miss Courtney. I-I promise I won't let you down." Francis replied, his cheeks a deep shade of pink. He was grinning so much, he resembled a Cheshire Meowth.

Coralie giggled. "Aww, how sweet. Well then, it's settled. It'll be Francis and Courtney against Ari and I! Ooh I'm really excited about this!"

"Perfect! But as I said already, no going easy on you!" Courtney laughed, before returning to her seat with the Cape girl. "Thanks Coralie, even if it didn't go the way I planned we still have a fourth trainer!"

"So we're all set, right?" Arianne asked eagerly as the two girls returned.

"Yep!" Coralie declared, grabbing her purse from her chair. "Let's go pay and then we can get prepared for this battle!"

"Alright! I g-guess I'll just do my best too. I couldn't stand losing…" Arianne whispered to Coralie as they all lined up near the counter.

"Can you turn for a second?" Courtney asked from behind her friend, just to grab her lavender hair bangs. "I almost forgot. But what is that?" she grinned.

"I dyed some of my hair…? I like them a lot now!" Ari explained. "You did? You could've dyed them all and turned into a Lavender girl!" Courtney tried to pull out a joke once again.

Coralie laughed at Courtney's joke. "Well, Arianne, I for one like your hair." She then moved closer to her former classmate and whispered. "There's no way we can lose. That Francis guy seems scared of his own shadow! Just think about the delicious ice cream we're going to get out of it. And if Courtney makes another comment about your hair, just take your ice cream and stick it in hers." Coralie began to giggle hysterically before clamping a hand over her mouth as Courtney cocked a brow at her.

"Haha, you know I wouldn't, Coralie." Arianne replied, even though deep inside, the idea enticed her. "That said, do you know about a place where we can fight?" she turned to face Courtney.

"I for once know of a park not too far away. But there are many other great places in Lavender that I still haven't seen!" the red haired girl answered. "And I guess there's the Pokémon Center battlefield, but that's so boring!"

"Pokémon centre it is! It's getting dark out so maybe we should stay nearby. I've heard there's lots of ghost types that roam about at night! Anyway, Courtney, you better go tell Francis where we're meeting." Coralie advised.

"Alright alright… let's meet up in the hall in thirty minutes, alright? We can get our Pokémon back from the nurse in the meantime." Courtney smirked before going back to Francis and Sarah. "You better be there!"

At that moment, Arianne let out a sigh of relief. "Let's just pay and get out of here, alright?" she asked Coralie, as she pulled out her own credit card.

Coralie nodded and dug in her purse for her trainer card. The girls then proceeded to pay before they exited the restaurant. "Yeah, I need some time away from Courtney." Arianne finally explained, laughing but in a somewhat forced way. Coralie nodded. "I thought so. You seemed a bit… unsettled the entire time we were with her."

---

Arianne's team:

Eric •

Mulan •

Alice •

Mizar •

Lulu

 

[budube]

Bruno Dillinger
May 23, Thursday

Chapter 4, Part 3: Riddles​

---

Afternoon, Rock Tunnel, Orb Room

The woman took off her backpack and crouched in front of the rock, holding a small wrinkled paper she was keeping on her pocket. She also took out a notepad and a pen and made some signals to Bruno to come help her.

"You'll write." she said, vehemently handing him the pen and the notepad. She didn't say any other thing after yelling at Bruno, but it was clear that she was angry at both, him and Bumblebee, so the boy decided to return the Psychic-type to his PokéBall for the better at least until they got out.

The rock was pentagonal and faced contrary to the pentagon the orbs were placed in. Each side of the rock had different scribbles on it. Bruno wasn't sure about how she was going to translate that, but she seemed to be very sure about it to even doubt of her skills.

---

Some minutes passed by the time Bruno stopped writing and the water level didn't raise much for the two humans and Shiinotic, but it did for Sableye who quickly climbed up its trainer's shoulders.

The woman took back her notepad and gave a quick read through the five pages just to rip them off afterwards and putting the notepad back in her pocket. She sat over the rock and took another read through the papers, now taking a bit more time in that. Bruno wanted to sit too, but the whole space was occupied by Shiinotic who with the disadvantage of having short legs had a lot of trouble climbing up there, but even if it weren't there, Bruno was still too afraid of her to even get close.

"Riddles!" the woman suddenly said. "Five of them."

Bruno kept quiet, limiting himself to only nod slightly, but he wasn't sure if the woman saw that.

"Don't just stand there, kid. Do something!"

"Oh…? Y-yes…!" Bruno said, clumsily walking another step forward, just for him to encounter Shiinotic's smiling face in front of him.

"You can feel it from your four sides, but will always be unseen" she started, reading the first riddle. "Either a breeze or even- Oh, never mind. I see you already answered this one." She said, showing him the paper and pointing at something the boy wrote that said the wind in some sloppy caligraphy.

Bruno struggled to react to that but in the end he nodded. "It- it was the easiest one of the five. B-but… It is only a q-quick answer, it could be wrong..."

The woman raised an eyebrow and took another quiet read at the riddle. "I don't think it is." She finally said. "So we have the wind here… we also have this white orb. I think we can relate them."

Bruno nodded.

The woman grumbled and passed through the other pages. "Is this the only one you answered?" She asked.

Bruno nodded.

"Okay, then. Second one." she said, picking a random paper. "It's resting for years, quiet as it sleeps. Awake under a dark cloud with no water to be seen. It roars like that of three beasts. And with rage devours everything within."

"Fire…?" he quickly replied, but then he shook his head and muttered a No.

"No, that wouldn't make sense." the woman answered ignoring Bruno's muttering. "The dark cloud has no water, so it's not a storm either. It could be smoke."

"Or ashes… A volcano?" Bruno said, a tad dubious at first, but after thinking again about the riddle his eyes opened. "Yes, a volcano! The first sentence talks about its dormant state, then eruption, and the last sentence is more about lava!" he continued, suddenly raising his voice much to the woman's surprise who just pushed him away when he tried to take the note to show her.

"Keep your distance, kid!" she yelled. "Why are you so excited all of a sudden?"

"I… sorry."

She tsked and changed to the next riddle. As she started reading this one, her voice turned a bit more calm. Not the kind of calm that scared Bruno back in Nugget Bridge, though, it was really calm "It strikes the ground in one quick jump, and miles away it falls once more. After catching a glimpse of it, you will hear its coarse growl. It lives in the mountains, as it likes to aim high. And if you touch it, you will surely die."

Bruno didn't even start thinking for the answer when the woman started reading the next riddle.

"It's the thunder" she said after being interrupted by the boy's stuttering. "I just happen to have heard that one before." both trainers stared at each other for a while. Bruno knew that she was hiding something, but she wouldn't tell him anything. He wouldn't ask either. "Got a problem with that?!"

With nothing for both of them to say, the woman kept reading."It is life and it is abundance. It comes from the sky or travels through land. As you read this, it will climb. But it may stop in... five?. Five what?"

The boy shrugged. He was sure he didn't miss anything, and the woman confirmed that after reading the riddle back on the stone. It really did end up in five. In Bruno's head, that number was referring to time. It could be five minutes, five hours, five days and it still won't mean anything. Bruno quickly shifted from clueless to desperate. Unconsciously, he started walking in circles, and fell once more in the realization of how much the water had raised: It was now just a few inches below his knees. The first thing that came into his mind was that they still had time. But just half an hour. He suddenly thought, remembering that he couldn't swim. Half an hour. his thoughts echoed on that line.

"How long have we been here?"

"Twenty minutes? Half an hour, even." the woman answered. "Why is that?"

"Half an hour…" he repeated in a lower voice. He was very sure that the woman was talking to him at the moment, but he paid no mind to her.

In half an hour the water reached his knees. And in another half it will probably reach his chest.

It will climb up to my chest.

He was 4'11'' and the room, he calculated was around 16' tall. The water would reach that height in… he tried calculating the time in his head, but that was too much of a pain for him now that he gave up. He instead just looked at how high the water level was and used that imagery to calculate the rest. The result wasn't exact, but good enough for this, he thought. If that was correct, the water would reach the top in four hours and a half and some minutes more.

"That makes five hours..." he thought in a low voice.

"Kid! I'm talking to-!"

"It's the water!" he interrupted.

The woman looked at him with bewilderment, and even after his explanation she still showed some doubt on the answer. It took her some time to think of it herself to finally give that answer a pass with no words, only switching to the fifth and last riddle.

"Rain and sun are enough to make the call. Fortune and joy over you could fall. From its two ends it'll raise, but in reality none you'll find." she said. This one was definitely easier than the last one, but the last sentence was a bit tricky. However the first sentence was enough for both of them to understand that the answer was the rainbow.

With the five riddles solved, the only thing left for them was find an order for the orbs to be placed, but the riddle-orb relation the two trainers came up with was as follows: Brown-Volcano, Red-Rainbow, Yellow-Thunder, White-Wind, Blue-Water.

The conclusion the woman came up with was that each orb was to be placed in front of it's own riddle, hence the way the stone and the pillars were placed, but there was something wrong. When both trainers placed the orbs, nothing happened. The water continued pouring down and they were still trapped inside. Thing was, both trainers were very sure there was no way their conclusions were wrong, so something was amiss.

The woman went back to sit on the pentagonal stone, to analyze the riddles. She was there for a few minutes, with her Shiinotic sitting by her side giving a thoughtful look too as if it was trying to help. The Pokémon was often pointing at the riddles with its long fingers, but its trainer totally ignored it which made the Illuminating Pokémon give up and get up. Bruno himself was examining the rock to see if he could find something there, but other than the five riddles, there was nothing.

It took a few minutes of waiting for Bruno and swearing from the purple-haired trainer, but after muttering Finally! she got up from her seat and walked to the Thunder Pillar. She took away and put the orb back again, and far away from the room, both trainers heard something fall.

"Yes!" the woman cheered. "Kid, I figured it out! Go to the Red Orb, take it away and put it on the pillar!"

"A-are you sure? W-what did you do?" he asked.

"No questions now! Just obey!"

Bruno nodded, and walked as fast as he could to the Rainbow Pillar, now with the water covering all of his lower body, and did as he was told. Something fell again from outside the room.

"Go to the White Orb now!" she ordered just after putting the Brown Orb on its place and hearing the same something outside the room. It was getting closer.

Bruno did as told. He tried walking faster, but fell on his knees. The boy's clothes became totally wet and he had trouble getting up. He took a hold of one of his trekking poles and got up with a bit of trouble. He could hear the woman saying What an idiot on the background, but he ignored. He placed the White Orb on the Wind Pillar and the same sound was heard.

The woman placed the last orb. First, the water stopped pouring down, then, the wall contrary to the entrance they came through started shaking, raising a cloud of dust from the floor that was consumed by the water, and an exit opened.

Sableye was the first one to walk outside, followed by both trainers and then Shiinotic. It wasn't until they got through that gate that Bruno took Bumblebee outside once more.

Shiinotic took the lead to illuminate the next room. Walls of stone with gems and weird stones embedded on them were shown in front of the team. The woman grinned and Bruno himself was also amazed at that view. To the right of that room, was another path.

Sableye returned to its trainer chewing on a black stone, which apparently was to hard even for its sharp teeth. The woman took it.

"A Dusk Stone." she said with a smile. "No fossils, no ruins. But money, nonetheless"

Bumblebee also had his fair share, taking a golden nugget for himself and putting it over his head in exchange of his pearl.

"We're not taking that with us, buddy." Bruno said. Thinking that it will probably not work with its psychic powers and finding no need in taking anything either. Bumblebee groaned and shook his head with a frown. "H-how did you know that was the order?"

"Huh? Oh, that." she said, too concentrated on gathering the gems and stones to pay him any mind. "I found it weird that the seven colors weren't mentioned in the Rainbow one, so I examined it closely. I realized there was only one number in every riddle and all of them were from 1 to 5."

After minutes of looting the room, the woman was finally able to go. Now it was her turn to help Bruno get out of the cave, and following the only path they had, they went in search for away to return to the main one. However, they didn't realize that there was something following them as the walked.

---

Bruno's Party:

​

 

[Aquacorde]

Casey Holt & Jordan Springs & Vera Hill

Thursday, 23 May 2019
Evening • Day 4
Rock Tunnel

4-13. fear is cold

Spindly legs crawl over him and Casey would shudder if he could. A questing Morelull finds the bare skin of his hand and latches on, roots glowing and pulsing; Casey's fear is the only thing keeping him awake as the creature saps his energy. His vision swims and he forces a blink to clear it. He's dimly aware of Jordan and Vera calling commands to their Pokémon, but his focus is on the mushrooms lining up near his hand as if waiting their turn. How long can he stay awake? Not long enough, he despairs, as the first Morelull hops off and is immediately replaced by another. His vision wavers again. Even if he can stay awake, what then? He still can't move- another course of adrenaline pumps through him at the reminder- can't get away, can't get the spores out of his lungs, can't MOVE, come on, I need to move, please-

There's a sharp pull as the Morelull flies from his hand. Vines sweep across the ground next to him, gathering squeaking mushrooms and tossing them away. Jordan's here and Parsley's with him but Casey can't even be relieved because he can't answer, can't tell Jordan what's wrong, can't communicate at all beyond the fear he knows is in his eyes. This is so, so much worse than being simply restrained could ever be; he has no agency, no control, can only beg for help within the confines of his own mind. The utter helplessness of his own thoughts shocks him, but it's true, isn't it? He can't do a thing; if Jordan can't help, if he can't figure it out, how long will he be stuck like this? How long until the spores metabolize into his bloodstream and- what then? Will it get worse? Will all his functions fail? His breathing's already shallower, he's well aware of that; if things get worse…

Jordan says something again. The words mean nothing- Casey can't hear through the ringing in his ears- but they're enough to shift his focus back toward the real, the here and now, the warmth of Jordan's hands and the damp brush of Parsley's nose across his forehead.

Jordan drags him upright and Casey knows this isn't going to work, even with Parsley pushing up into his side. He's right, of course he is. Jordan sighs and- no, don't- Casey's set down again, but at least he's kind of sitting, slumped against Jordan. He can see, that's important; he tries not to think of it as all he can do right now. Sage takes a Stun Spore to the face and Casey's heart stutters before he remembers. Grass types. And now Jordan understands. With new determination and both Skiddo, Casey is carried back to their picnic area, Vera's orders trailing off as the threat is left behind.

Safe.

Relief washes through him for a fraction of a second before his blood turns to ice. No. Not safe. How can he be safe if he can't move, can't help himself, can't even speak? They barely made it to the other side of this cave, how are they going to make it out of Rock Tunnel like this? They can't, that's the simple answer, that's the only answer. They can't get out. No, wait, not true- he can't get out. He's the one who can't walk; Jordan and Vera, they could leave at any time, could walk right out of Rock Tunnel and get help and come back for him-

He's dizzy, breathing shallower and faster, vision going fuzzy at the edges. Don't leave don't leave don't leave-

"What's wrong with him? Why isn't he responding?" Vera's voice is distant and echoey even with how close she is.

"He must have been caught in a cloud of Stun Spores, he's paralyzed." Jordan's voice doesn't sound much better.

He can't see either of them. Casey focuses on what he can hear, and the world becomes a little less distorted. Sounds of zippers and rummaging through bags; looking for something. Vera sounds both angry and scared, which is validating, in a way, but does nothing to dispel the panic waiting to overwhelm him. "Oh, come on! We don't have anything to fix paralysis? No medicines, not even a Berry? Did you get anything useful in that village?"

"Uh, n-no, I-" Jordan stutters for a moment, recounting the things he bought in no particular order. "Let's see… we got these shirts, and I picked up some potions, got Tangles a plant…" His voice trails off. "The plant?"

The plant?

"What plant?"

"The plant, Vera!" He repeats again, more enthusiastically. "Oh, I hope Tangles still…" Shuffling and thudding preface a small squeak. "No, I'm not taking the whole thing, I promise! ! Just- Tangles, please…"

Moments later, he feels Jordan plop down by his side again. "Okay, she let me take a few leaves, I think that should be good enough."

"Again, what plant?"

Jordan takes a deep breath, before launching into an explanation to catch her up. "Before we ran into you, we went to this little plant shop with all sorts of weird flowers and herbs - you know that pot Tangles has been carrying the whole time? We got it there, and, well, I kinda forgot it's more than just a cute little pink plant until now. The lady that sold it said something about making muscle relaxants from the leaves? Neutralizes some Pokemon moves...? I don't really remember word for word, to be honest, but… it's worth a try, right?"

"It's perfect, actually! Better than the nothing we had before."

"Now, how do we do this?" He mumbles. "She said crush the leaves… normally, I'd use a mortar and pestle, but we don't really have that option right now… maybe a decent sized rock will-"

Vera snatches the leaves from his hands, compacting them in her fist. "Open up, Casey!" She forces Casey's jaw open and shoves the leaves directly into his mouth. "Now chew, big guy!"

Ew, that's weird, why would you- and that thought is enough to push back the panic for a moment. If I can't move then I can't chew, Vera! is what he wants to say, but again. He can't move. Can only let the bitterly floral taste coat his mouth, can only watch his friends and his Pokémon hover with expectant expressions.

A few agonizing minutes pass before the distraction wears away and fear seeps back in, running cold through his veins. It's not working, it's not working, it's not working- He's shaking, body trying to dispel the imaginary chill; he's definitely hyperventilating and he can't even stop himself- I'm gonna be stuck here, I can't move, don't leave- he can't do anything but curl in on himself, squeezing his eyes shut against the dim light of Jordan's flashlight and digging nails into his palms, trying desperately to break the pattern of his gasping breaths. "Don't go, don't leave, don't leave me here-"

"Casey! Calm down, it's okay!" Vera grabs onto his upper arm, trying to shake him from his panic. "We're right here, we're not going anywhere! Not without you, you big lug. We wouldn't leave you."

"I-" he says, and the words die in his throat. But they've made it there to die in the first place. And he can uncurl his fingers, and open his eyes to dart between Vera's concerned frown and Jordan hovering over him. Letting even a fraction of the tension drop from his body is enough for him to know- he can't stay awake. "The, the Morelull-" he chokes out. He hates the way he sounds, hates the shuddering breaths he still can't control, doesn't want to say what he's about to. "Drained my energy. I can't- I have to sleep."

"We know! We know, it's okay. You're okay now," A smile of relief stretches from ear to ear on Jordan's face as Casey starts talking. "Just get some rest now, alright? We'll get outta here as soon as you can walk."

Casey's Party

Pepper Bomb lv19 • Ginger lv14 • Parsley lv14

Other Things

Anna's Additional Characters

​

 

[Ninetales]

Coralie Summers, Arianne Chandler, & Courtney Nair

Lavender Town, May 23^th

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

[tab=team]Pokémon[/tab] ♡ [tab=music]Theme song[/tab]

Coralie's team:

• Florian the Bulbasaur
• Stella-Luna the Noibat

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A Battle with Spice

"Alright Coralie! We still have some time to prepare. Did you book a room for yourself before dinner?" Arianne let out a big sigh of relief as the doors of the restaurant closed behind her, tried her best to calm down, and directed her train of thought onto something else for a moment. "Once we do, we may as well stay in our rooms until it's time to battle!" she added - the black haired girl had somewhat accepted the fact that she'd have to fight Courtney in a Pokémon battle, but still wanted to spend some time away from her and her spiciness.

"I didn't, no. I completely forgot about that." Coralie admitted. "But, we can go to your room! We can think of a strategy to mop the floor with Courtney! While we do that maybe we can paint each other's nails, or braid each other's hair, it'll be fun!" Coralie giggled. She recognized how tense Arianne seemed and sought to lighten the mood and cheer up her friend.

"We can… really? It's been a long time since I last did that." Arianne remarked, quite surprised. "But before that, you should still book a room, right? And I should get back my Pokémon! They've been waiting for a while now." The girl walked closer to the counter.

"Oh, yes, that's a good idea! I'll head to the check- in desk and we'll meet in the lobby after!" With that, Coralie headed down the hall to the other side of the Pokémon center in the direction of the check-in desk. Upon reaching her destination, she approached the desk's receptionist, a thin woman with circular glasses and a friendly smile. "Hello, how may I assist you today?" She asked the younger girl, her voice as smooth as butter. "Hi, I'd like to book a room for tonight, if there are any rooms available."

"Yes, of course. You can stay in room 12, here, I'll fetch you a key." The receptionist then walked to a drawer where she extracted a small silver key before handing it to Coralie. "Your room will be just down this corridor, on the right hand side." She informed the bubblegum-haired girl, gesturing to a corridor adjacent to them. Coralie then handed over her trainer card which the receptionist momentarily scanned before giving it back to Coralie. "Alright, everything's good to go! Enjoy your stay! If you need anything, feel free to ask. There'll be staff able to assist you all night."

Coralie smiled at the woman. "Thank you so much." She placed the key into her purse and scampered off towards the lobby, where Arianne would be waiting for her.

In the meantime, Arianne had to queue up behind a couple other safari trainers before reaching the Nurse's counter and getting her team back. Apparently, all her Pokémon were able to recover quite quickly from the battle, and were all in top shape.

The girl was still near the counter when she spotted Coralie, who had already retrieved her key. She eventually reached her, one of her PokéBalls still in her hand, putting some distance between her and the other trainers at the same time. "All good, Coralie? Let's go then!" Arianne cheered, beckoning Coralie to follow her upstairs… where her room was.

"Alright!" The two girls then proceeded onwards to Arianne's room. The older girl opened the door into a somewhat small, modern room, but cozy nonetheless. Wooden beams supported the roof, which housed a small window. The bed was tucked away in one side of the room, giving more space for a fairly big desk and two chairs to fit. Arianne's backpack was already occupying one of them, while most of her stuff was spread out on the table. "I guess it's not the best… but we can still peek out slightly and look at Saffron!" Arianne announced.

"OOOH this is SUCH a cute room!" Coralie gushed, spinning around the tight space. "Oh! Look at that skyline, Ari! It's breathtaking. Saffron is truly something. I've always wanted to go there!" Coralie stood in front of the window, her hands clasped together, gazing at the dazzling sight before her. She then turned to Ari. "Well, let's not waste any time! While we admire the view we can get manicures!!" She set her purse on the desk and began rummaging through it, before unveiling various shades of nail polish, nail polish remover, cotton pads, and a nail file. "Which shade do you fancy? There's ocean blue, blossom pink, and sunshine yellow! Take your pick!!"

"Wow, you're really committed…" Arianne chuckled. "And you even found space for all of that stuff in your bag?" she carefully looked at the different options. "I don't even have polish remover with me, just so you know." the girl whispered, trying to buy some more time to choose a color. She wasn't even sure she wanted the nail polish now - her nails weren't perfect after what happened in Rock Tunnel.

"Oh, Arianne, never underestimate how much a girl can fit in her purse! I betcha I could fit my kitchen sink in here if I wanted to." Coralie giggled. "Alright, sit down and relax and just let me take care of your nails for you." Coralie glanced at her friend's neglected hands. "It'll be a bit of work, but with some love, your nails will be looking fabulous!" Coralie pulled out a nail file and began buffing her friend's misshapen finger tips. "Now, tell me more about Courtney. You always seem to tense around her. Did something happen between the two of you?"

As much as Arianne didn't want to keep talking about her, she still tried to. She was feeling more at ease now, not only because Courtney was far away, but also because of her friend's care. "Alright, I'll try to explain! As you saw in the restaurant, she's turned out to be quite the spicy girl. When we were kids it was all in good fun, but now? Feels like I did something bad to her, when I'm sure I didn't." the girl said, her voice a bit unsteady as she tried to process her thoughts into words. "Oh maybe you should know about Serenity! She's this girl who moved into Cinnabar some years ago and looks like me, but with blonde hair and clear blue eyes. And, like, she's very rich. We're friends, we used to hang out often, but maybe Courtney didn't like this?"

Coralie nodded, as she took Arianne's other hand and started buffing her nails, having finished the other one. "Spicy, now that's a perfect word to describe Courtney." Coralie laughed. "I think her heart's in the right place though. As spicy as she may be, I can tell she's a good person. Of course, I don't know her as well as you. Perhaps she's jealous of your friendship with Serenity. She did have a few choice words for her earlier." Coralie stated, recalling Courtney mentioning Serenity in their conversation at the restaurant. "Have you ever talked to her about it?" Coralie asked, gazing at her friend momentarily, before returning her attention back to perfecting Arianne's nail shape.

"Talk to her? I've always been a bit afraid to do that. She's still my friend and I don't want to just push her away… but if she keeps behaving like this, I don't know what else I can do. And yeah, jealousy is probably the right word. She's right when she says Cinnamon Girls are supposed to be popular: I and my closest friends were all quite well known at school, and we were even the first people to talk to Ren when she joined our class." Arianne sighed, once again letting her thoughts come out spontaneously. That was much easier to do than she expected when she was alone with Coralie. She really put her at ease!

"If she's your friend, I'm sure she'll understand. You have to have hard conversations with those you love sometimes. It doesn't have to be today or anytime soon, but as her friend, it's your responsibility to be honest with her and to share how you feel. If you continue to hold in your feelings regarding this situation, you might explode!" Coralie giggled lightheartedly. "I've had similar conversations with friends and it wasn't easy. Friendship's a powerful thing and I believe that true friends can overcome any obstacle." She paused for a brief second or two before reaching for a bottle of nail polish. "Here, I think ocean blue would look ravishing on you, don't you think?"

"I'll trust you, blue it is!" Arianne giggled. "But I still find it hard to talk with her. Can't I just hide from Courtney for now? We're going to different schools and travelling with different schedules." an awkward pause followed. "Anyways, thanks for the manicure, it's looking great so far!"

"You can if you want to, but if you do your issues will never be resolved." Coralie began carefully applying the polish on one hand. "Thank you! I come from a large family and my sisters taught me everything I know! I used to make my brother Elliott let me paint his nails all the time!" She giggled, reminiscing about her siblings. "I'll be finished soon, after this I'll have to put another coat on and they'll have to dry." Coralie explained, as she sensed that Arianne hadn't received a proper manicure in quite some time.

"Yeah… I can't deny I still need some help with that. And-" Arianne paused, as her mind finally made that connection. A similar thing was happening with Ralph, wasn't it? "You know, I'm afraid of what others may think of me. Would Courtney change her mind? Or…"

"I guess that's something you'll have to find out. You'll have to take a leap of faith, as my mom would say." Coralie smiled reassuringly. "Anyways, your nails are done! Look how beautiful they are!" She gushed. "Well, what do you think? I think the blue looks great on you! It brings out your eyes, it makes them sparkle!"

"Aww thanks! Yeah, I love it. It almost feels like…" Arianne eagerly began. No, it wasn't quite the same feeling as having her hair dyed for the second time, after having finally embraced that look. But it was still a nice feeling. "Yeah, feels like when I dyed my hair, remember that?" the girl chuckled. "Now, does it mean it's my turn? Let's see if I still remember how it's done."

As Arianne said all that, a smile always on her face, she was actually thinking about what Coralie has said previously. Leaps of faith… sounded very relatable. Isn't that what the girl did when she went to Cape College in spite of what her parents really wanted? Maybe it was really time to try that again.

Coralie smiled at her friend. "I don't know if we have time for my nails! We'll have to meet Courtney and Francis right around the time yours are finished drying. No worries, though! We can do mine another time!!" Coralie returned all of her beauty supplies to her purse and she turned to smile at Arianne. "I'm super glad you love them! Painting nails is so much fun especially when we have such a gorgeous view as our backdrop." Coralie glanced out the window once more, her smile growing. "Now, have you thought about which Pokémon you're going to use?"

Arianne looked out of the window as well, the lights of Saffron still visible as the sunlight was about to disappear entirely. "Alright, but I guess I owe it to you now!" she grinned. "As for Pokémon, I'm not sure! If I can, I'll probably just train some of my newer companions, like, uhm, Morelull! And you? Maybe we can set up a good strategy!"

"I think I'm going to give Stella, my newly captured Noibat, a chance to shine! Florian, my Bulbasaur's really strong but he's battled so often lately and I think he deserves a bit of a rest! Of course, I will bring out Florian as a last resort. Either way, Courtney and Francis don't stand a chance. I'll knock the spice out of that cinnamon girl!! We'll show those Safari kids who's boss!" Coralie declared, her eyes burning. "Ari, we're the dream team! And we're going to get some delicious ice cream out of it, don't forget. It'll be SO much fun!"

"You sure have a lot of energy, Coralie! I'll definitely try my best as well." Arianne replied as the enthusiasm slowly built up inside of her - clearly, it still was nowhere near Coralie's level of competitiveness. "And since you have a Noibat… oh, we could try airborne tactics!" she continued, excited about the idea.

"Yes, that's precisely what I was thinking!" Coralie giggled. "Stella's quite fast, too, which will work to our advantage. Still, we'll have to see what types of Pokémon Francis and Courtney have."

"Francis… no idea. But Courtney? It should be easy to guess… assuming she got to choose the Pokémon she wanted." Arianne teased Coralie, seeing whether or not she could find out. To tell the truth, not even the older girl could've been sure of it but… Courtney's admiration for a certain trainer in Cinnabar was just undeniable, and fairly easy to notice.

"So she has a fire-type, right?" Coralie concluded, catching on. "Anyways, we should probably head to our meeting spot, it's almost been a half hour! We didn't really come up with a strategy but oh well! Sometimes it's more fun to wing it!"

"Well, to be fair, I don't know. But it's very likely. And now we're going to find out, aren't we?" Arianne cheered, trying to brace herself for another dose of Courtney spiciness. "Alright, I'm ready! Let's get there." the black haired girl exclaimed after a deep breath, before getting back up and heading out towards the hall of the Pokémon Center. Coralie grabbed her purse before following the older girl into the hall.

Courtney and Francis were already waiting in the hall when their opponents arrived. "How many Pokémon does everyone have right now? I have three!" the red haired girl asked, impatiently, before taking a look at a certain detail that caught her attention…

"So that's what you've been doing as we waited and planned a strategy?" she laughed, pointing at Arianne's hands.

"Yes, gorgeous aren't they?" Coralie gushed, coming to her friend's defense. "I have two Pokémon right now so we could do a two on two battle, if that's alright with everyone?"

"Works for me!" Arianne added. "And you?" she asked, turning towards the boy.

"U-uh, if it's alright with Miss Courtney." He turned towards her, awaiting her approval.

"But of course, haha!" the girl laughed. "Let's just begin before the battlefields are closed, then! It's going to be double fun…" she headed first towards the arena, followed by the other three trainers.

The door, on the back of the Pokémon Center, led to a relatively quiet green area. One single battleground stood in the middle of the area, in between a couple paths and street lights. The whole area would have been dark if not for them, by now.

Coralie and Arianne arranged themselves on one end of the battlefield whilst Courtney and Francis moved to the other. "Arianne, are you ready?" Coralie asked, looking at her friend and smiling.

"Sure, Coralie!" the girl replied, now realizing that she was the right person to be close to when Courtney would have made her feel uneasy. "Time to battle, Lulu!" she announced, calling out her Pokémon, just as the Morelull's first opponent also appeared on the battlefield. Courtney had just called out her Shinx!

"Yanny, ready for battle!" Francis hollered, a Yanma Pokémon bursting from its pokeball. Its clear wings glimmering in the lamp light..

Coralie closed her eyes momentarily before she extracted a pokeball from her purse, enlarging by pressing the white button at the center. "Alright, Stella-Luna, the spotlight's all yours!" She released her pokeball into the air and her Noibat emerged, beating its wings vigorously. It flew about playfully. "Stella, I want you to do your very best! I know just how capable you are. Now, let's have some fun!"

"Nyah! Nyah!" Her Pokémon chirped happily as it turned to face its opponents.

"So, w-who has the first move?" Francis asked suddenly. "We could flip a coin, perhaps?"

"Whoever's faster!" Courtney grinned, especially after noticing how Morelull seemed to be quite slow and defenseless. "Shinx, Tackle on Morelull!" The Electric type quickly moved forward, eager to fight. But Lulu and Arianne were expecting such a move. "Confuse Ray!" Arianne commanded: Shinx couldn't avoid it. "Coralie, maybe Noibat could lift Lulu up if this happens again!" she whispered, knowing that her Pokémon's biggest weakness was in her movements.

"Sure!" Was Coralie's reply.

"Yanny, use Sonic Boom on the Morelull!" Francis commanded, adjusting his glasses. The dragonfly Pokémon send out multiple pulses of air in Lulu's general direction. "Stella-Luna, intercept it with gust! Protect Lulu!" Stella deflected Yanma's attack back at it, which did significant damage to the unsuspecting bug type.

"Yanny," Francis grunted. A hard hit already. He desired to impress Courtney and knew that he had to retaliate. "Quick attack! Now, aim for the Noibat!"

In the meantime, Shinx still hadn't come back to his senses. He had stopped running towards Lulu, who was now bouncing up and down on her small root and sent out a Flash attack his way, and was wandering around aimlessly. "Shinx, no! Come on… are you scared of a squishy mushroom?" Courtney teased her own Pokémon, telling him to try Spark this time. And, it somehow worked: Shinx slowly built up speed as he ran towards Lulu, his body engulfed in electricity. "Grab Lulu please!" Arianne yelped, as the Mushroom Pokémon tried to distract Yanma with another Flash.

Stella dove for the Morelull and scooped her up quickly, before she fell victim to Shinx's spark. Yanma was momentarily blinded by the intensity of flash and Coralie decided to use this to her advantage. "Tackle, let's send that Yanma flying!" She instructed.

"Yes, it's working!" Arianne exclaimed. "Lulu, hit with Astonish as well!" As Stella-Luna got close enough to her target, Lulu struck Yanma as well with a surprise attack.

"Ugh, not fair! Can't you take my Shinx up there?" Courtney complained to Francis. It probably was the worst idea ever, since Shinx was an Electric type with no ranged attacks, but she was too focused on what Morelull and Noibat had just done.

"S-sorry, I don't think Yanny can carry Shinx." He admitted rather hesitantly, his voice quivering as if he expected Courtney to reprimand him. He watched as his Yanma struggled to shake off the damage it had sustained and silently urged it to recover quickly, as he feared that Courtney would erupt like a volcano if the battle continued in their opponent's favour.

"Stella-Luna, Lulu, you two are brilliant! Now, let's aim for that Shinx. Use tackle again!"

"Alright, then, I'll just stand here and twiddle my thumbs." Courtney remarked, pouting at her battle partner. "Shinx, get ready! Tackle as they get close!" she ordered, and it worked. When Lulu tried to use Astonish once again, Tackle knocked her off Stella and onto the ground. "Absorb!" Arianne ordered, as Shinx prepared another attack.

"Stay on Shinx, Stella-Luna, use Absorb as well." The Noibat swooped down at the Shinx, not giving it a single moment to harm Lulu, and dug its fangs into the electric type, consuming its life energy.

Meanwhile, Yanny was finally able to recover. Sensing an opening, it sprung into action. "Quick Attack! Aim for the Morelull."

"Distract Yanma with Flash!" Arianne tried to limit the damage of the attack, while on the other side of the battlefield Courtney still called out for Shinx to recover. "You could hit now!" the black haired girl hastily added, hoping that Stella would help.

Stella only sank her fangs deeper into the Shinx, to absorb as much energy as possible while increasing the damage of the attack on the electric Pokémon. Meanwhile, Yanny crashed into Lulu, despite the use of flash.

"Excellent, Yanny." Francis applauded, satisfied that he was finally able to land a hit. He looked over as Shinx was struggling with Stella-Luna latched onto its back. "Use Sonic Boom! Knock Stella off of Shinx." He ordered the Yanma sent multiple pulses of air in Stella-Luna's direction. "Fly up, Stella!" The Noibat instantly flew up and evaded the attack, however, Shinx was bombarded with the Sonic Booms, much to Francis's horror.

The Electric type and his trainer both pouted at Francis - nothing good in store for him now. "If we win, I take your ice cream! It's decided!" the red haired girl shouted, as Shinx eventually got back up and used Charge in that window of free time. On the opposing side, in fact, Lulu was also struggling noticeably. Yanma still landed a perfect Quick Attack despite the Flash. "Come on, get up Lulu! Absorb!" Arianne called out. "Lulu just can't do much against Yanma, I'll need you to keep it in check." she then added, turning to look at Coralie for a brief moment.

"M-miss C-courtney, I apologize for my incompetence! I-I promise to do b-better…" Francis croaked, his face paling at Courtney's remark. Coralie nodded at Arianne, smiling. "Stella-Luna, use Tackle on the Yanma!" Francis knew he had to take control of the situation, if Yanma sustained any more damage, he would be one Pokémon down. "Dodge, Yanny! Don't let it catch you." Yanma zoomed away from Stella-Luna. "Pursue it!" Coralie urged, refusing to give up. The two flying types flew through the sky, Stella on Yanma's coattails, they darted about, as if they were dancing through the sky. It had now become an aerial battle. "Stella, use Gust, quickly! Let's blow this Yanma into oblivion." Francis smirked. "Yanny, Sonic Boom." The Sonic Boom collided with the gust, creating a miniature explosion. "Quick Attack!" Taking advantage of the smoke caused by the energy burst, Yanma raced towards Stella-Luna, landing a hit and sending it tumbling out of the sky.

"Stella!" Coralie cried, fearing for her Pokémon as it landed on the ground below.

"Sonic Boom, Yanny!"

"Stella-Luna, get up, if you can!" Coralie was growing noticeably worrisome. She drew in a deep breath and did everything she could to remain calm. "Become airborne and evade it by flying up!" Stella managed to pull itself together and darted away at the last second. "Now, climb up high!" Coralie urged as her Pokémon flew upwards, gaining momentum.

And that left Shinx and Lulu alone on the ground - not the best scenario for the Grass type, perhaps. Especially because the Shinx, on Courtney's command, was now charging towards Lulu with a powered up Spark, and there really wasn't much she could do. "Just try to dodge if you can!" Arianne shouted. Lulu managed to avoid the attack, but not by much. Shinx launched another Spark in its direction.

"Don't let it escape, Yanny, Quick Attack!" The Yanma darted after Stella and was approaching swiftly. Coralie smiled, her plan had worked. "Gust, now!" Stella-Luna rapidly beat her wings, creating a turbulent breeze that hit the bug-type dead on. "Keep at it, Stella!" The force of wind pushed Yanma to the ground below and it collided with Shinx below, both Pokémon becoming encompassed by Shinx's electric move. The attack was so unexpected and both Pokémon inevitably fainted.

"Stella-Luna, you did it! Oh, you're tremendous!" Coralie cried enthusiastically, enveloping her Pokémon in a hug and spinning around before releasing it.

"H-how?" Courtney mumbled, completely flabbergasted. "How could you be so lucky?" she continued to scream, probably waking up some early sleeping trainers. The situation was made even more heated by Lulu opening her eyes again, right after bracing for an impact that never came, and still chirping in surprise. "Let's get things back on track now, no more playing around! Come out Magby!" Courtney proudly let out her Starter Pokémon, who immediately let out a somewhat playful Ember. "Next time hit your enemies, not the sky."

"Ack! Yanny, return." Francis mumbled despondently, returning his fallen Pokémon to its pokeball. He reached for another pokeball and tossed it into the air, a tiny Swinub appearing. "Frosty, come on out! Let's help miss Courtney, alright?"

"Nub! Swinub!" The ice type Pokémon cheered, sizing up its opponents.

Coralie giggled. "Oh this is so much fun, isn't it Arianne? All we gotta do is take out these two Pokémon, and victory will be ours!"

"Yes, I-" the girl started her answer only to be interrupted by a strong gust of hot air. "Oh no!" she cried out as Lulu stood on the ground, knocked out by a perfectly executed Ember from Magby. It didn't matter that the Grass type was already quite weakened: the little Fire type was still definitely a threat to watch out for!

On the other side of the battlefield, Courtney laughed proudly. "Finally gone! What will you do now, Cinnamon girl?" she teased Arianne, as she thought who to send out next - Mizar or Eric? She had just made the promise to train up everyone in her team, yes, but given how things were going Eric seemed a better choice. She just didn't want to lose, not only because Courtney was her opponent, but also because of Coralie! Arianne owed it to her anyways, didn't she? She really deserved to win. "Eric, it's your time to shine!"

"You put out the big guns, finally!" Courtney remarked, trying not to show that feeling of insecurity that had just appeared in her mind at the sight of a strong Water type. What could a Swinub and a Magby do against a Wartortle after all? "Use Smog!" she ordered, a somewhat evil-looking grin on her face.

"Use Gust and send that Smog right back at it, Stella!" With that, Stella-Luna flapped her wings and blew the poisonous cloud back towards fire-type.

"Frosty, use Ice Shard!" The Swinub hurled a shard of ice at the Noibat. "Stella, dodge to the left!" It was too late, the attack hit and sent Stella-Luna crashing to the ground. "Stella!" Coralie cried as her Pokémon struggled to pick itself back up.

"Yes Francis! Good job… for once." Courtney grinned, as her Magby let out another Ember to dispel her own attack. Arianne, in the meantime, tried to reassure Coralie. "It's ok, don't worry! I'll take care of that Swinub, it's definitely the bigger threat." she whispered, before commanding Eric to use a full power Water pulse on the boy's Pokémon.
The red haired girl, however, seemed to catch onto that strategy. "Help Swinub! Smokescreen!" she yelped. Apparently, now it was Magby's turn to be a distraction.

"Awww, s-shucks. Thank you, miss Courtney." Francis stuttered, his cheeks turning a bright shade of vermillion.

"Stella-Luna, can you get up?" Coralie asked, her eyes welling up with concern.

"Nyah! Nyah!" Her Pokémon cried reassuringly. It managed to become airborne again, but Coralie knew that her Pokémon's health was low and she had to be cautious from now on.

Francis adjusted his glasses as he deliberated his next move. "Ice Shard!" The move connected with the Water Pulse and the two collided. "Now powder Snow!" Frosty unleashed a flurry of snowflakes that shot out from the cloud of smoke, hitting both Eric and Stella-Luna simultaneously.

Stella collapsed on the ground in a heap and had succumbed to the super-effective ice-type attack. "Stella-Luna, return!" Coralie breathed, her Pokémon disappearing back into its pokeball. "You did well, I'm very proud of you!" She murmured before looking intensely at Arianne. "No more playing around. Florian, I need you!" She threw her pokeball forwards and the Bulbasaur popped out of it, emitting a battle cry.

"Let's try that again! Water Pulse on Swinub!" Arianne commanded in the meantime, as Eric focused on the small Ground type. Courtney instead, eyed the Bulbasaur that had just appeared on the field, somewhat glad not to see another strong Water type or something like that. "This will be easy! Fire Spin the Bulbasaur!" she called out, as Magby charged her attack.

"Nice try, Cinnamon girl, but I'll show you what real spice looks like." Coralie winked cheekily at the red head. "Florian, dodge to the left." Her Bulbasaur easily evaded the attack. "Now, use your Stone edge!" Florian shot up jagged rocks from the ground, encasing the fire-type whilst dealing immense damage.

"Mud-slap, Frosty!" The ground-type attack hit the Water Pulse, bursting it. "Now, use Tackle on the Wartortle!"

"Again?" Arianne muttered, somewhat disappointed that Swinub would always break Eric's Water Pulse, but still unsure of how to counter that strategy. "Withdraw now!" she ordered as the opposing Pokémon came close, before turning to Coralie. "Maybe if we trap Swinub as well, we can take it out! Let's try now since we have some time." she said, after her starter comfortably withstood the attack from inside his shell.

"What the heck is that!?" Courtney complained once again. "Try jumping out… or something!" she tried to say, still in shock for what had just happened to her Magby and unsure of what to do. "Buy me time, you!" she then commanded… to Francis.

"What a fabulous idea, Ari! Alriiiiight! Florian, use leech seed on Swinub, let's immobilize it!"

Florian released a seed that landed on the ice and ground type Pokémon. A vine emerged from within the seed and surrounded the Swinub completely, slowing sapping its health.

"F-frosty." Francis was stunned and he felt Courtney's glare. "T-try to shake it off." But it was no use, the vines were wrapped too tightly around the pig Pokémon.

Coralie giggled. "Now that's what I call a strategy!"

"Get ready for this then!" Arianne replied with sparkling eyes. "Water Pulse once you're close!" she told Eric, who quickly ran towards the now stuck Swinub before creating a large water bubble all around it… and sneaking inside, too! The large Water Pulse lifted Eric and Swinub above ground before bursting, causing heavy damage to Francis's Pokémon.

Meanwhile, Magby had just climbed up the wall of rocks that surrounded her. "Go for Bulbasaur again! We can catch it I'm sure!" her trainer commanded, fiercely, before her starter let out another Fire Spin attack.

"Florian, dodge to the left!" Coralie commanded. However, the fire attack engulfed the grass-type in flames, dealing serious damage. Florian was now trapped in the vortex of fire. "Florian!" Coralie yelped, covering her hands with her mouth. Regaining her composure, Coralie knew she had to act swiftly or this all could be over. "Florian, stone edge around you!" Jagged pieces of rock sprung up from the earth in a circle around the Bulbasaur, bursting through the ring of fire and freeing Florian.

"Yess! Alright, now, let's show that fire-type what you're made of! Take down!" Florian dashed straight for the Magby at an incredible pace and smashed straight into it.

Meanwhile Swinub was reeling from the water-type attack combined with the leech seed that was slowly draining its energy and restoring Florian's health. "F-frosty, try Ice Shard." The Pokémon began to form the ice type attack, which took longer than usual due to its weakened state.

"Come on, Smokescreen now!" Courtney yelped just in time. And so, as Florian hit Magby, a large cloud of smoke emerged from her beak, and left the Grass type right in the middle of it.

Somewhere else on the battlefield, instead, Swinub's attack was once again blocked. Eric, once again, took the hit without problems, this time by using Rapid Spin and breaking the ice into even smaller shards. "Keep going Eric, and use Water Gun at the same time!" Arianne giggled as she said that. Her starter was now spraying water everywhere, trying to dispel the Smoke Screen. "And now, hit Swinub!" Eric charged up one last attack, almost sure to knock out the Ground type, as soon as he got back up on his feet.

"Be more careful, you're soaking me!" Courtney teased Arianne, as a couple water drops reached her body.

The smokescreen cleared and there lay Swinub, unconscious. Francis shrieked in horror! "F-frosty!!!" He was at a loss for words as he called his Pokémon back to its pokeball. "H-how!?" He hung his head in shame. "M-miss Courtney, I-i..."

Coralie smiled at her friend. "Arianne, that was FANTASTIC! You cleared up all the smoke and took out Swinub. Your Eric's really strong." She redirected her attention to her opponents. Only Magby remained. "Cinnamon girl, it seems you're all out of spice." She giggled. "Alright, Arianne, let's combine attacks and win this!"

"Sure thing!" the black haired girl cheered. "Get ready too, Eric! Water Pulse!" she exclaimed, as her eyes eventually fixed upon Courtney. Do I really need to win like this? Don't I just need her not to bother me? she thought, before telling herself once again that she was doing this for Coralie. Even if her battle partner's behavior perhaps wasn't the best to follow in that scenario.

The other girl finally saw nothing but utter defeat coming for her. Maybe it was supposed to be like that because Cape trainers had been travelling more than her, or maybe she deserved it for all she said before. But not like this! Magby did not deserve this.
"Leer, then get ready to dodge!" the girl shouted, with one last glimmer of hope. It's not over until it's over, right?

"Stone Edge, Florian!" Stones sprung up at a rapid pace moving toward the fire-type Pokémon. Francis adjusted his glasses as he watched in anticipation.

Magby tried her best to dodge, but was still launched upward because of the rocks. Just… just as a powerful Water Pulse was coming her way. There was no way she could have kept battling afterwards, and even Courtney had to realize it. Eric and Florian were just too strong for her starter.

Just as the Water bubble was about to collide with its target, Magby disappeared in a flash of light. The attack burst spontaneously further away from the battlefield and, once it did, revealed a resigned Courtney, looking down with a Pokéball in her hand. "Yeah, it's over. You win." she muttered, still hardly believing it.

"WOOHOO! OH, ARI, WE DID IT!" Coralie hollered, hugging her friend. Arianne happily accepted the hug and let herself go, despite being much taller than her friend. "I guess your spice couldn't handle all of this sweetness!" Coralie teased Courtney before returned Florian to his pokeball. "Oh you did wonderful. I couldn't be more impressed."

"You did amazing, Coralie! And you did too, Eric." the older girl finally exclaimed, before turning to Courtney herself. After not even wanting to fight against her, she almost felt bad for how she took her defeat. But at least, they had now settled their arguing with a battle, right?

"Courtney, you put up a good fight. Your Pokémon are really strong." Coralie smiled at the red-haired female. "That was a lot of fun! You were great, too, Francis."

"T-thanks. You really are strong… but I'll definitely get better myself, and eventually we'll have a rematch!" Courtney seemed to regain the usual light in her eyes. "I'll keep an eye on you from now on, haha!" she grinned, looking straight at Coralie.

Coralie smirked. "I'm looking forward to our rematch."