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[color=FFC6C6]Word Count: 478 (+1 exp)
[u]Level[/u]: [b]7[/b] - [u]Total EXP[/u]: 169/70 
[b]Location[/b]: The Under - Colorless Woods[/color]
[color=gray]𝙱𝙿[/color] [color=gold]●●●[/color][color=gray]●●[/color]
[color=2E2C2C]D34C25[/color][/center]They may have escaped the worst of the ambush thanks to immediately resorting to violence, but Primrose was anything but comfortable while the six of them were surrounding by man-eating spiders. Animals and monsters couldn't be reasoned with even if they hadn't been under Galeem's influence. Primrose was sure that as soon as any of them let their guard down, the predators would dive in.

The largest spider among them, which the dancer could only assume was their queen or equivalent, did just that. With a flash of light she was upon them, right in the middle of where the Seekers were making their stand. The sudden displacement of air and the force of her bulk landing on top of them threw Primrose off of her feet. She rolled backwards, scrambling to stand as the pyromancy in her hand expanded into the Flame Fan. A couple of the smaller spiders (at least compared to Silitha) had tumbled nearby, getting a face full of fire as Primrose waved the fan to ward them off.

The Seekers were afforded a brief look at the brood mother in all her terrifying glory before she would teleported again. Silitha was huge, standing at least two and a half times as tall as a man, letting alone the width of her legs. Her body was scaled with hard chitin, several glimmering red eyes embed in her face, and her maw was absolutely filled with needle-like teeth. From that mouth the spider queen's harsh voice screamed out, though Primrose could barely make out the words over the cacophony of noise around them.

Chaos was the rattling, staticky noise of the spider brood circling and taking their chances while Silitha teleported in another flash of dark light and brought her legs down hard in a smashing motion. She was less like a spider and more like a complete monster, and as the most dangerous thing here presently she needed to be dealt with. 

While Kamek's summons handled keeping the area clear, the rest of them could focus on the brood mother - and while Silitha was focused on the largest of the Seekers, Primrose could perform another empowering dance. Steps one, two, and three were Sealticge's Seduction. The sultry movements were for the wizened Koopa wizard himself, spreading the effects of his shield spell to the rest of the Seekers. Surely it would be invaluable against those heavy forelimbs, preventing any of squishier Seekers from being smashed. 

In addition to the dance, Primrose went on the offensive this time. Her own short range teleport put her behind the spider queen's abdomen, and she leapt up to stab at it's underside with her dagger swelling with dark magic. She maneuvered herself back in order to use the Ravaging Confession once more to catch up should Silitha teleport again, prepared to test the limits of her borrowed ability.
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[color=salmon]Word Count: 2025 (+3 exp)[/color]
[color=salmon][u]Level[/u]: [b]9[/b] - [u]Total EXP[/u]: 166/90
[b]Location:[/b] Edinburgh MagicaPolis[/color][/center]
So there was someone out there freeing people from Galeem's influence - that was good news! It was a shame that Frisk's friend had disappeared, but hopefully they were alright out there wherever she was. A curse seemed like serious and unpleasant business, but it would have been nice to point her in the direction of the Alcamoth to get help with it. 

Her two other pals were less lost, and the "sentient orb of pestilence" earned a curious look and a brief [color=salmon]"Er, hi there,"[/color] unsure if said orb was capable of replying. With a promise of introducing them to another freed person later, the group got around to finishing up the stage and props. 

Once everything was set up they still had some time before the show actually began. The Spheals were just about ready too, and while they were cute and the Ace Cadet liked them fine, he hadn't expected that Sierra would assign him the task of trainer.

[color=salmon]"Huh? Me?"[/color] He pointed a finger at himself, making sure he heard her right. He looked down at the Pokémon and then back up. Sierra was going over her expectations and other information, and by the time she'd handed him the scarf there was no time to protest - as Band, Red, and Lucia moved on to scope out the area. The Cadet held the scarf in his hands, wanting to at least admit one thing to Sierra and Frisk before he gave the whole training thing a go.

[color=salmon]"I've never really done anything like this before, so, uh... well I'll try my best,"[/color] he told them, wrapping the show fabric around his neck. [color=salmon]"So no [i]blubbering [/i]if it's not perfect, that goes especially for you, Dumpy."[/color] In response, the Spheal rolled over onto it's back.[hr]
After what felt like the shortest fifteen minutes ever, the show began. Though he didn't feel completely prepared, he could wing it with the best of them. He had a bucket of fish at his feet and a partner across the stage, what could really go wrong? For the Cadet, "stage fright" was not even a word in his vocabulary. He broke out into a wide grin when Sierra introduced him, waving both of his hands over his head at the crowd. When the stars of the show arrived, all eyes were drawn to them. The Cadet glanced at Frisk, turning his smile on her and mouthing '[i]just like we practiced![/i]'

With a quick, sharp whistle the Cadet called the Spheals attention over to himself. He couldn't claim to know a lot about showmanship, but he didn't need to in order to know they should start off simple and gradually ramp up to the most exciting tricks. "Exciting," of course, being subjective. At any rate, the Cadet picked up an [url=https://i.ibb.co/WHf3gkZ/Pok-mon-Camp-Tympole-Ball-icon.png]inflated[/url] [url=https://i.ibb.co/k3HZKhK/Pok-mon-Camp-Practice-Ball-icon.png]ball[/url] in each hand, about as large as the Spheals themselves. He showed them off the audience briefly before tossing them to the sisters Happy and Sadie. This trick was a piece of cake for the Pokémon - they bounced the balls high into the air and between each other, passing to Glenn and Dumpy as well so that all four were juggling them, and catching thrown fish whenever they didn't have the ball. After about a minute or so the Ace Cadet pointed the Spheals toward Frisk, where she was holding up some hoops.

The Pokémon easily bumped the balls through the circles, earning the applause of the audience. Glenn and Dumpy hopped up onto the fountain's edge and clapped their flippers together happily, while Sadie and her sister swam up behind them. The two of them nudged Glenn and Dumpy from behind until they rolled backward, and then there were Spheals balanced on top of Spheals. With surprising balance and strength the Spheals turned to swim back toward Frisk, bouncing and tossing their fellow Pokémon towards the hoops like they were balls themselves. The would-be trainer had to pitch herself to one side in order to make sure one of the thrown Spheals actually made it through the hoop, but otherwise it had been a pretty flawless maneuver. The Cadet was surprised too, and joined in to applaud once he was finished up preparation for the next routine.

While the crowd's attention was focused on the Spheals on Frisk's side, the Ace Cadet had been setting up the show's little target stands. Sierra had assured her two new trainer hires that the Spheals knew what to do, they just needed some prompting, and so far she'd been completely right. At the moment the big balls of fur were swaying to the music, perfectly in sync with each other as Frisk tossed them fish one at a time and turned their blubbery bodies back in the direction of the Ace Cadet. Target shooting (the Cadet wasn't sure if there was some special term for it here, but that was basically what they'd be doing) was technically the second part of the next trick. The first part would be getting them over to the target area, or else risk their Water Guns going wide. 

Frisk led them along the front of the fountain, walking along the outside while the four Spheals rolled along it's edge following the scent of her fish bucket. The was pretty cute, especially with the happy, dopey smiles on the Pokémon's faces, but why the crowd seemed to get so excited over just the Spheals rolling the Cadet would probably never know.

Once they were close enough to Ace and the targets, Frisk nudged the Spheals back into the water and left them in the Cadet's care. [color=salmon]"Here we go!"[/color] he said, mostly to himself, as he dangled a fish above the first target. 

The first Spheal popped up out of the fountain where it'd been submerged and fired it's Water Gun at the target while it was airborne. It was a classic bullseye shape, but as long as the Pokémon hit the target that would be good enough for the first time trainers, no matter how far from the center the shot was. Thankfully, Glenn had good aim. [i]Oh, wait, maybe that's Happy?[/i] It was a bit hard to tell in motion when they all looked so similar to each other.

Either way the move hit it's mark and the Spheal splashed back down into the water. It held it's face above the surface, mouth open and eagerly awaiting it's prize, which the Cadet tossed to it. The next few minutes followed that pattern: a Spheal would pop itself into the air and shoot the designated target, earning a cheer from the crowd and a fish from the Cadet before it sunk back down and waited for another turn. The targets gradually got smaller and harder to hit, but the Spheals were professionals! Only one Water Gun missed, Dumpy's move dousing the Cadet in frigid water. He was all too glad that he'd managed to find some good winter clothes before this or else he'd freeze, but it was no harm done besides some laughs from the audience. With some luck, maybe they'd think it was part of the show.

It was a good thing that they'd decided to go with Water Gun for this segment, because apparently the Spheals had practiced the same trick with Ice Beam too. There was some other kinda of beam they'd be moving on to as well... after another small break.

[color=salmon]"Good job!"[/color] the Cadet said, kneeling down to quickly ruffle the fur on the Pokémon's heads as they gathered up again and wobbled their spherical bodies to the beat of the music. [color=salmon]"And no hard feelings,"[/color] he whispered to Dumpy. 

They'd soon be going into the finale, if the Cadet remembered their plan correctly. A quick glance over at Frisk confirmed that she'd been setting up a ramp in the mean time, the segment immediately before the end. The same way that Frisk had led the Spheals over to his side before the Cadet mimicked now, slowly leading them along the fountain and letting the crowd get their fill of their rolling along the edge. Really, they went wild over this part for some reason.

The ramp part that they'd gone over in that brief fifteen minutes before the show was deceptively simple. The Spheals would line up near Frisk, and she'd lift them and place them at the top. Then with their Powder Snow, the Spheals would freeze the sturdy ramp as they went down it. It was the trick with the best chance for each Spheal to show off their personalities, while also being the one with the greatest risk of going wrong with the amateur trainers. It was a staple of the show, so they couldn't just leave it out. [i]Fingers crossed![/i]

Dumpy was first, and she happily took Frisk's offer of fish before being hoisted up to the top of the ramp. She swayed there for a moment, eyes closed and happily enjoying the spotlight and the music. The audience waited with baited breath. Then the Spheal tipped forward, rolling head over tail down the ramp toward the water. She picked up speed and soared off the end and into the air, where she waved her flippers around before landing back into the fountain with a splash. The crowd cheered for her, and were clearly excited for the Spheals that would follow.

[i]...wait, was she supposed to freeze it?[/i] the Cadet thought, watching off to one side. Maybe Dumpy was first just to show off how the basic ramp worked? 

Glenn followed her up, and he did freeze the ramp in front of him before sliding down. The ice extended the ramp slightly, making his jump a little higher, and when he rolled off of it he did the same cute flipper wave as Dumpy and splashed back down. Happy went next, building on Glenn's ramp with a truly intense ice curve, making it into a half-pipe. When she rolled down the angle of her ice sent her straight up - and naturally she landed back on the ramp, completing another roll back to the start. And then again. Sadie waited at the top of the ramp, nestled between Frisk's hands while the audience cheered for the continuous stunt. When Happy's momentum was gone and she finished, she sat dizzy and satisfied in the middle of the ramp until the Cadet waded into the fountain to pick her up after some not-so-subtle gesturing from Sierra. Perhaps a minor hiccup, but nothing Sadie couldn't pull them back from. She unleashed the Powder Snow and froze the ramp into a loop, then wasted no time in throwing herself down it. She zipped through and spun in the air off the jump, barking happily all the way down until she splashed into the water.

And just like that, the hardest parts of the show were over. The Spheals cooled down with another music break, bobbing up and down and eating their rewarded fish for a job well done. 

The finale was something that the Spheals had done so many times that Frisk and the Ace Cadet hardly had to do much at all, besides give them a helping hand up to the fountain's middle section. There the Spheals spread out and rolled in a circle around it, stopping only to wave at the audience and do a cute little turn before rolling back the opposite way. The final act saw the Pokémon come to a rolling stop and look into the air for their cue. Ace and Frisk took turns tossing the last of the fish high over the fountain where the four Spheals aimed at it and released their Aurora Beams all together. When the rainbow energy crashed together overhead it was with a burst of beautiful color. The crowd [i]oooh'd[/i] and [i]aaaah'd[/i] at the light show, mini auroras forming overhead like the name of the move suggested.

The music swelled and cut off with the final fish, the show finishing with a wave of rainbow. The Spheals turned to the audience and clapped their flippers together, once again drawing an applause.