Route 5
@PKMNB0Y

“Nidooo…” The ball sailed through the air, plonking the Nidoran right between its ears. The pokeball closed, capturing the Nidoran within. As soon as it fell to the ground, it shook once, twice, thrice…and with a somewhat suspenseful pause, it would finally give a click as the Nidoran was successfully captured within.

“Nidoran was Successfully Captured!”
“Sara rose to level 8!”



Just as he was celebrating his victory though, the phone on his pokedex would start beeping. An incoming message from Laurel?

Some miscreants are bothering the folk at that dig we saw on the way in. I can definitely handle it myself, but if you’re available it would make things go smoother. Please hurry if you are.

Well, it seemed like she was asking for help in her own way. What did Richard do? There was a Falinks nearby that looked like it needed help. With the gym being a dark type, it might be a good idea to grab one. Laurel could handle herself, totally.



Stellar Toy Factory
@Vertigo@XxFellsingxX@Savo

The old production room was massive. Lines of conveyor belts, large shelves reaching to the ceilings, making an almost veritable maze of shelves and old, left behind containers. If not for the clearly marked signs every so often, it would have been quite easy to get lost in this place. Yuu, taking the initiative would turn away from the window and conveyor belts and he’d find himself heading towards an area that was marked ‘Break Room’, being the nearest exit and most easily accessible room.

A group of Rattata crossed his path, seeming unbothered by the interruption as they’d start nibbling on some old crates, and chewing on some old wrappings and things that had been left behind. He could ignore them, though they were directly in his path.

Jill, talking her time to heal up her newly acquired Magnemite would be thankfully left alon and accosted by any other pokemon in the area as Yuu headed off on his own.



Stellar Toy Factory
@Crusader Lord

The strong wind ripped down the hallway, though considering it was just from a Murkrow - Clarissa’s hair and clothing would take a beating and look a little worse for wear, but she’d otherwise be fine. Sir Lopsalot on the other hand…

The Buneary sailed through the air, managing to avoid most of the strong attack with a display of acrobatics that would put other Bunearys to shame. Not having expecting such a display of bravery, the Murkrow could only watch as that little fist came right down on its head as Sir Lopsalot landed right on top of the dark type, sending them both tumbling and crashing to the ground!

“Muuuur…!” The Murkrow would shove the rabbit off of itself, pecking at the Buneary with an annoyed fervor, and while the Murkrow didn’t show signs of slowing down, it was certainly starting to look like it was hurting from the battle.

Now, how did Clarissa take advantage of the temporarily grounded Murkrow…



Ancient Grove
@Pyromania99@Thayr

“Who said I was concerned?” Yasu responded brusquely. “And yeah, you’re welcome I guess…” Hatty waltzed over, hopping lightly on Islas foot in mild annoyance before continuing onto Yasu and hiding behind her ankles where it proceeded to stare at Isla and Camila both. “But yeah, lets get going. The less time I spend out here, the better…ugh…I am not built for…pokemon stuff….”

Grumbling Yasu aside, the rest of the trip would remain mostly peaceful. The aggressive Heracross didn’t seem like it was going to return, and the scuffle had scared off the other pokemon that would have otherwise been in the area. It didn’t take long, then for them to reach their destination.

Soon, the forest opened up. The old, worn path now flanked by small markers and old lamps, though the neglected path was still overgrown. At the far end of the path, was an old shrine much like the one that had been in the old temple. Made of wood, with depictions of Celebi carved into several ornamental pillars on either side that flanked the area. The shrine itself, now having been neglected and left to the elements, was mostly a ruin, however. The roof had collapsed in one area, and the doors to it had long since fallen off. Whatever offering or objects that had been placed inside once upon a time, was long gone.

In fact, some of these disturbances seemed recent. A few burn marks were scorched into the shrine's wood. One of the ornamental pillars had been knocked over, so that it was leaning on a nearby tree. One of the pillars had also clearly been cut in half, as though something exceedingly powerful had cleaved it in two halves.

And standing in front of the shrine, was a lone woman.

An older woman, dressed in a grey jacket and skirt and a black blouse. She was standing there. Perhaps, a bit menacingly, not having noticed the approach of Camila or Isla. She was looking towards the shrine, though she didn’t seem to quite be…looking at the shrine itself. She seemed a bit out of place, all things considered.

“...uh.” Yasu frowned, patting Hatty who had found her way into the girls arms on the head. “Hatty doesn’t like that lady...” Hatty proceeded to jump onto Camila's shoulder and poke her repeatedly. "...Someone go say something to her, I'm not good at people."

The speed at which the battle had ended had left Richard somewhat less tense than he had expected himself to be, especially after the close call that was catching Sara just a little while earlier. Briefly, the young man considered if he was being too hasty in capturing Pokemon as he watched the ball he had just thrown shake and shudder.

That thought was promptly discarded as the Pokeball clicked shut, and Richard simply strolled over to pick it up and stare at the Nidoran inside.

"Poison, rock, and grass... Honestly, that's not too bad of a core team," he muttered to himself. "Everyone covers someone else's weaknesses to an extent, so we should be good for a bit..."

Though he was briefly lost in his thoughts as Sara calmly sidled back up to him, the beeping from his Pokedex pulled his attention back to reality. Choosing to pocket the new Pokeball for the moment and resolving to get his new teammate in battle-ready condition sooner rather than not, Richard pulled out the device to see what it was that he was being messaged about.

Troublemakers, it seemed, were the issue at hand. After a brief glance towards both Luna and Sara, the young man returned the latter to her Pokeball and motioned with his head in the direction of the dig site he had seen on his way into the route.

"Looks like trouble's brewing. Luna, we're headed back; be ready for a battle once we arrive, okay?" he asked. The Snivy was a bit hesitant at hearing those words, but after quietly gripping the bell at her neck for a moment, gave Richard a nod.

With that, the young Trainer began to beeline to where Laurel had directed him to go; any other wild Pokemon could wait when there were more important things to handle right now.

@Rune_Alchemist

The rest of the travel to the shrine was pretty peaceful and uneventful. That was a good thing at the least. The not so good thing was when they got to the shrine and it seemed... Devastated. It'd be one thing if it was just the ravages of time messing up the roof and doors... But there was the burn marks, a knocked over pillar and a pillar cut clean in half. Then, there was a woman standing there. Hatty didn't seem to like her at all.

"Alright, alright. No need to poke my cheeks like that Hatty." Camila mentioned to the Pokemon. The Pidgey perched on her arm took the air as she reached for Hatty and placed it in Yasu's capable hands once again before giving it a pat. Camila then stepped forward. She wasn't sure the best way to approach this. She didn't know the woman or anything but she gave off a weird feeling. The assistant took a deep breath before speaking.

"Excuse me, Miss. How do you do?" Camila asked, observing the woman in front of her. "My name is Camila. The others are Yasu and Isla." The assistant mentioned, motioning toward the other two humans present. "May I ask for your name? And perhaps if you know what might have caused these burn marks here?" She added, curious about those since she laid her eyes on them.

CRASH

THUNK

FLOP

THUD!!!

Clarissa endured the Gust as best as she could, though the beating her hair and clothes took was certainly not unexpected. Thank goodness it wasn't a far stronger Pokemon, or else-....well, she didn't want to think about it. Getting thrown back into a wall or down a flight of stairs wasn't appetizing as a thought or a thing to have to deal with on the conceptual level. However, for now at least, the Murkrow was on the ground now. Sir Lopsalot was too, for that matter. That much made the psychic glad to some extent, though, as she quickly reached back into her things for a moment while seeing the scene in front of her.

Not that Sir Lopsalot seemed to find what was going on all very palatable, admittedly, given he was hitting at the Murkrow's beak with his little fists to try to defend himself now as well. In some capacity, really, the two Pokemon looked like two siblings fighting over something stupid until both of them were bruised and beaten up. But perhaps that was a bit of well-wishing? Ah, well, or something of the sort. But what could the adventerous duo do at a time like this? With the enemy in such a position, it was the perfect time to try to do something effective! They had come here to battle and catch one of these Pokemon, after all.

“Muuuur…!”

"Bun!"

Perhaps it was time to chance a Pokeball now? It seemed reasonable enough, even if it wasn't a perfect guarantee in the end. Worst case? Ah, Sir Lopsalot could....oh! That could work well, at least if it came through. Er, at any rate, she'd been practicing her throwing a good bit before coming to Byjerfal in the first place at least. So maybe they could have a moment to try something to better the odds for the time being, if nothing else, and see if the hurt put on the Murkrow was enough to catch it as well. Either way it would further the goal of trying to complete their mission here! THhough hopefulyl thhey'd meet up with the others before eventually escaping this place and going to the Contest!



"Prepare a Power-Up Punch, and be ready to attack it immediately, if it breaks out of the Pokeball!"

Even if the Pokeball merely brought them a moment's reprieve, if it was enough time for Sir Lopsalot to get a good attack ready....then they might have a chance! Still, if the Pokeball hit the Murkrow and interrupted the two Pokemon's battle Sir Lopsalot would nod as he did what his trainer had told him to. Albeit he would wince in pain....the damage was racking up for sure in the fight. But he had to perservere! He would not stop until the battle was won! Such was the seriousness of his incredible resolve. (Though if the Pokeball for some reason didn't hit the Murkrow and try to capture it, Sir Lopsalot would just try to smack the Murkrow back into the nearest wall with a Power-Up Punch instead.)

Would the fist of justice once again crash into Sir Lopsalot's foe before the day was through? Would the attempt to catch the Pokemon previal? Only the whims of fate and chance could tell now....

@Rune_Alchemist

---

Location: Ancient Grove
Mentions: @Pyromania99

The rest of the journey through the worn path was fairly peaceful despite Yasu's love of complaint. She wasn't built for Pokémon stuff...Isla snorted long and harsh through her nose at the thought. She wasn’t either, had handled herself relatively well, though Camila was probably right. The trick was half-baked, desperate, and really could have gone sideways yet any and all of the reasons the young girl had from the moment seemed somehow impotent as Isla thought through them. It hadn't been a great plan, but it had halfway been something. Such battles were definitely outside of her usual routine, and she couldn't help but scratch at the two on her shoulders in that subconscious reminder. No, the rest of the walk was fairly calm and Isla struggled to catch a glimpse of any other Pokémon in the brush.

Isla stopped in her tracks at the sight of the grove itself. It would have looked beautiful, magical, wondrous…had it ever been maintained. Markers dotted the clearing, something she recognized from older traditions in Johto, many crowned with moss and vine as they jutted out from the growth underfoot. The shrine itself reminded Isla of the temple, and the crumpled roof was in one way or another heartbreaking. It could have been better. It could be made to become far better. The inside of the shrine was as barren as could be…were there supposed to be objects inside for Celebi? Would such items annoy the Pokémon? Isla most definitely didn’t know. Other bits and pieces brought the worry further to the forefront, burn marks and a recently cut down pillar.

Of course, the woman standing there among all the history and ruins, standing there in front of the shrine, completed the image of unease. The woman most definitely did not seem to be among the faithful, nor among those concerned with the restoration of the shrine. Something about her clothing and posture gave that sense. Hatty wasn't enthralled by the woman, either…the psychic feeling might be off? Isla wasn't sure on that either.

“...uh. Hatty doesn’t like that lady...Someone go say something to her, I'm not good at people."

"Excuse me, Miss. How do you do? My name is Camila. The others are Yasu and Isla. May I ask for your name? And perhaps if you know what might have caused these burn marks here?”

Well, there's someone, she ruely observed, letting Dancing and Swiper jump down off her shoulders. Something definitely wasn't right, not at all, though Isla didn't want to bombard the woman with questions. That sort of thing surely could be annoying and if there was a way to talk through things with the strange lady then annoying her wouldn't work towards it. No, better to wait and see.

---

Route 5
@PKMNB0Y

Leaving behind the grassy plains he had chased the Nidoran into, it was a quick jaunt for Richard back to the main road and ultimately the Ruin where trouble was supposedly brewing. The dig itself was fairly simple. Standing stones arranged in a semi-circular pattern half buried in the ground. A few old stones that were once part of a building stood nearby. One of the tents that had been up earlier though, was now knocked over, and there was clearly a commotion that could be heard as he was walking up.

“Awfully uncouth of you cretins.”

Laurels voice, noticeably loudest among them.

“No need to be like that miss. We’re not here to cause trouble.” A different, unfamiliar voice. Male, this time. A bit gruff. “We just need everyone to clear out while we take a look at this place ourselves. You society types have no idea what you’ve got going here.”

“I don’t care.” Laurel replied with a huff. “You interrupted Verdue and Munchlax’s Lunch time, and you should know, that is an unforgivable sin.”

“Jeez lady, you’re a piece of work…”

Getting close enough to properly see now, Richard could see a duo of unfamiliar people. A rough looking red-headed older male. He was standing, arms crossed. At his side, was an aggressive looking Pawniard that was sharpening its bladed hands against one another.

“Can we just beat her up? Simple. Two of us vs. a bougie little baby.” Next to him was a younger looking woman wearing a much more severe, cold expression.

“I beg your pardon-! Ah, Richard! Over here! Help me send these two packing, will you?”

Most of the archaeologists and researchers had taken a few steps back, not wanting to immediately get involved.

Stellar Toy Factory
@Crusader Lord

The ball sailed through the air, the Murkrow too focused on its single minded assault on Sir Lopsalot to notice the ball sailing through the air at it.

“Krow!”

A surprised cry as it was bonked on the head with the pokeball.

Once…twice…three times…

Four times-!





The danger immediately over, Clarissa was free to catch her breath a bit. She was still locked in the factory, but she at least was probably fine, for now. Well. Sir Lopsalot had taken a bit of a beating and was looking a bit worse for wear, but that was probably fine now that she had got what she came for.

That said…

Before she could actually pick up the pokeball, the Gastly from earlier would phase through the wall, grab the ball in its mouth, give a ghostly laughed before zipping through a door - consequently throwing it open in the process.

She’d probably want to give chase. Unless she didn’t want to keep the pokeball.



Ancient Grove
@Pyromania99@Thayr

The woman didn’t immediately respond. Instead, she’d turn on her heels, quickly and a bit abruptly turning to the trio. Her right hand rested on her hip, her left arm was halfway extended to her side, palm side up, a bit like she was holding some invisible wine glass or something. Her expression though, was distant as she’d gaze at Isla and company.

A long few seconds passed. If Isla or Camila were about to speak again, they’d find themselves being interrupted rather suddenly.

“...ah, sorry. My mind was elsewhere.” The woman responded, voice soft but distant and perhaps a bit haughty. “Forgive me, I wasn’t expecting guests. I am Leah. What are you three doing here?”

“...we were looking for something of mine.” Yasu curtly replied. “I lost it here.”

“Did you now? Well, perhaps we should consider this lucky. I do not believe in chance meetings. Perhaps you three could entertain an old ladies question? Do you have any…particular dreams? Or perhaps, desires, wants, it doesn’t matter. Something you wish to accomplish.”

“Don’t have one. If I did, I wouldn’t tell a weird old hag like you.” Yasu responded as gruffly as she ever did.

“No? Well isn’t that sad…what about you two?” She notably said nothing about the burned bits of the forest or the recent destruction of this temple.

---

Location: Abandoned Stellar Toy Co. Factory Mentions: @Savo @Rune_Alchemist @Vertigo

---

Once Jill was done healing the magnemite, she took a couple steps back and looked over her new Pokemon with curiosity before nodding to herself. "That looks better," she said, putting her hands on her hips. "Now I guess you'll need a name. Hmm..." She raised her eyes towards the ceiling as she tried to think of something. She'd named Aster after a flower, one that has a similar color scheme to the Aipom herself. There weren't any flowers that were grey - at least, as far as Jill was aware - and none that really brought to mind her new companion. She tried to think of other plants... sage? Onion? Chive?

... her stomach gave a small rumble. Okay, maybe don't think about food right now.

After thinking for a moment, something clicked in her mind. She remembered reading somewhere about a type of plant that could be used to generate electricity, which perfectly fit her new friend. Now, what was it called?

"... Oleander," Jill eventually said. "I'll call you Oleander, Ollie for short." She tilted her head to the side. "Does that sound alright?"

'Oleander' looked at her for a long moment, before slowly bobbing up and down. Apparently, it didn't seem to mind that too much.

Jill gave a big smile. "Alright, Oleander it is!" She turned to look at the other trainers, only to see Yuu leaving the room. "Oh! Are we going now?" she said, glancing over at Chloe. She glanced over at Aster, who was pushing herself up to her feet. Her movement were very jerky, and she was constantly shaking herself to try and rid herself of the static. "Erm, perhaps I should keep you in your Pokeball until we're able to-" However, she didn't get to finish that sentence before Aster shot her a glare. Jill put her hands up. "Okay! It was just a suggestion."

She made her way over to Chloe. "Thanks, by the way!" she said. "Don't know how I would have been able to handle that if it had just been me and Aster."

Given how he had plenty of time to recover after sprinting after the Nidoran, Richard chose to simply jog through the fields as he made his way towards the ruins that had been so conspicuously in his sight when he had first entered the area. With Luna keeping pace behind him, the young man soon found himself witness to the situation that Laurel had put herself in.

While he didn't necessarily catch everything in the conversation at hand, it became quite apparent to Richard that the situation was probably a bit more complicated than Laurel being offended by an interrupted meal.

"Hey, am I too late to join in on the fun?" the Trainer asked as he quickly moved between Laurel and the two people trying to commandeer the site for themselves. "Jokes aside, if you're going to try and posture for a battle, would it kill you to move away from the ruins? They're not going anywhere, and it'd defeat the purpose of coming here if you broke everything in the process, right?"

Though a battle would be good for more experience, Richard felt that trying to defuse the situation would be the best course of action here. It wasn't likely, granted, but at the very least he could try to reduce collateral damage and push them into a more neutral location if conflict was unavoidable.

"...Though I do have to question why you'd need to kick everyone out to look at things in the first place, much less cause a fuss by damaging these reasearchers' belongings and causing chaos besides. This is the era of modern technology; unless you're trying to steal a rock or destroy the place or something, you could've just... I dunno, asked to take some pictures? Or, well, just asked in general, really. Simple courtesy goes a long way."

All things considered, insulting the methodology that these two were using probably wasn't going to defuse the situation...

But by this point, that bridge had probably long since been burnt down. Luna seemed to have picked up on the situation and was mentally preparing herself in case she did need to fight, but it remained to be seen if these people would go so far as to attack a person in their attempts to get access to this place to begin with.

@Rune_Alchemist

---

Location: Ancient Grove
Mentions: @Pyromania99

Isla watched, listened, taking each piece as it came. She could tell right off that the woman wasn’t entirely normal, not by any means, and wasn’t entirely present in the moment. She was distant, she was thinking of something else, or she simply had to think of something else by compulsion. It was an off putting sort of thing, for someone to look at you and yet not look at you, almost as though they were staring off at another just behind. A shiver ran up the young girl’s spine at that thought, that another might simply be there and she wouldn’t be aware. Nonetheless, she listened as well as may be; some hint of what might be going on could be found in the words, and again, it did nothing to be so confrontational.

“...ah, sorry. My mind was elsewhere. Forgive me, I wasn’t expecting guests. I am Leah. What are you three doing here?”

Guests. She wasn’t expecting…Guests. The woman couldn't live at the shrine…could she? Eyes scanned over the destruction of it, the ruin of it. No, that couldn’t be. Guests…looking out beyond all of them. What did she see, what was there? And her name, Leah…Isla knew that Celebi was something of a traveler, moving through and among time wherever it may be. Could she be one of those caught among one of those journeys? Could Celebi even make such a mistake? Isla wasn’t sure. There were too many questions and knowledge that could only be found among a native of the region. If that was true, unlikely as could be…would she act in such a way?

In any case, Yasu responded, saying that something was lost…she’d said before that she was looking for Celebi, now says it is…’something’. Yasu was being ambiguous, vague. She didn’t want to reveal the reason. Why? Did she know of this woman, this Leah? The tone given by the priestess was deliberately brief, as brief as may be. Isla swallowed, staring more.

“Did you now? Well, perhaps we should consider this lucky. I do not believe in chance meetings. Perhaps you three could entertain an old ladies question? Do you have any…particular dreams? Or perhaps, desires, wants, it doesn’t matter. Something you wish to accomplish.”

Deams. Dreams and guests and a name, Leah. What…what did she want to know of the thing? Why did she want to know about dreams? It almost matched certain trainers Isla had met at Trainer Tower, that style, that attitude, the distance and contemplation and wonder. She knew them as psychics, ones who could lift Pokéballs with concentrated gestures, who asked so much and put all off so much. And yet…something was more about this woman, about Leah. There was something beyond even those cursory contemplations, those gestures. It was the tone, true, and the distant eyes, and the words here and there.

Again, Yasu responded. Weird old hag. She wasn’t as guarded as before. There was something there, some friction, some question that didn’t want to be answered. The thoughts and wonders came and went as Leah turned her attention to Camila and Isla with a single question.

“No? Well isn’t that sad…what about you two?”

“I am living my dream, as well as I could.” Isla didn’t want to answer it, not fully, not when there was still that question of why. She remembered psychics who could glean the loud thoughts…what could something else do with greater focus, or a different set of talents? The worry was there, sure, and a thought of a question in return gathered about to distract herself. Her tone was far less solid than that of Yasu, distinctly so. “When ah…when do you expect ‘guests’, if you ah…if you don’t mind my asking? Ma’am?”

---