What did Dusk do to make his opponent flinch? It was rather simple, he just tried speaking like his human but in Litwick, appearing in its face as if a 5'8 dark skinned, bald man saying surprise mother fucker had just appeared out of the blue. This but a smol, blue flamed candle.

Soon after that, despite Dusk taking a heavy hit from a move Steph had assumed correctly the Wingull had, the attempted chip stealing bird was Steph's first catch, the girl watching the ball roll around a few times in quiet anticipation before hearing a click that satisfied her much more than she thought it would. Soon after, her Poke...dex...phone? Rotom doo-hickey, whatever. It began making more noises, but as she pulled it out and looked at it it seemed to be good noises? Oh she had more money.

So thats how much catching a pokemon like a wingull was worth? She hadn't expected that much to be honest, Wingulls were pretty common after all. That must mean anything considered 'common' was worth this much? She would have to find something a bit rarer then, to test what was considered in this tier, what wasn't and how much it was worth compared to the trouble to acquire. Not that it would change much in all honesty, but she was just curious. And she wasn't no Meowth, so curiosity wasn't going to kill her.

Seeing the option to name, she thought for a moment before nodding. Steven sounded good enough, she couldn't think of why, something about it just seemed right to her.

Hearing a voice behind her though, Steph nearly jumped out of her skin and began to juggle her phone, catching it just before it would hit the ground as she looked behind quite bewildered that someone had approached her while she was lost in her little train of thought...only to have to have look further up.

Dang, how many Weet-Bix did this sheila eat every morning?

Dusk for his part was basking in his 'defeat' of a water type, seeming quite happy with himself when he found a shadow looming over him. Poor guy fell over trying to crane up to look that high, what with no neck and all....So Steph would pick him up and hold him at the girls request to patch him up.

"Waell, ineh' ya a swaythot? Id appraeciate ih' thighnks." Handing Dusk to her, Steph would scratch the back of her head sheepishly before offering a hand out to shake. "Nymes Steph boy the boy, whaht breengs yah round heah? Locul? Anuhthah triner? Aw yah heah t' chaeck eow' thiies shady soundin stohl oolsao? If sao, wahnna gao chaeck ih' eow' tohgethah? Uncle and Aunty oolwhys tawld me if a dayl is too good t' be true, thaen ih' usually is ya knaow? Dawnt wahnna laeh' some crook swoindle some good fawlk."

"It was. Thanks for indulging me," he said. He then glanced at the tuckered out buneary. The expression on Sir Lopsalot's face was hilariously cute. Poor pokemon, hopefully his pride wasn't wounded too badly. "You're a mighty little buneary. We couldn't have asked for a better sparring partner, right?"

Sir Lopsalot just turned his head away a little bit more in response, arms crossing a bit tighter....and then suddenly Clarissa's right index finger lightly poked his cheek. The Buneary almost seemed to mumble a bit, before another light poke caused him to react by batting a little back at Clarissa's right hand with his two paws now. But it did at least get him to look forward again and stop crossing his arms, much to the intent of Clarissa herself in this case, before a sudden redirection of her fingers to scritching the Buneary's favoirite ear caught him off-guard and unawares! Enough so, at least, that after a few seconds the Buneary's mood seemed to be a little better than before now.

He would glance at Nils for a moment before speaking more loudly this time, at least after a small sigh on his part.

"...Bun. Bun bun."

...Was that some kind of 'thank you for the battle' or such? Either way, Clarissa seemed pleased enough with the result as she turned her attention back to Nils and co.

"We should probably get these guys healed up,"

"Indeed, and there's a Pokemon Center nearby as well I believe. Then perhaps we-"

Before Clarissa could finish, Amelia approached and, despite being redder than a tomato, began to talk as well. Talk about the battle in particular, it seemed, in this instance.

"It... it was a good battle. I... I think it was... a bit in Tors' favor though. Tors is studier and only got more sturdy as the battle went on. Sir Lopsalot would need to move more unpredictably to make use of it's better speed. But Tors had a move that had a type-advantage against Sir Lopsalot while Sir Lopsalot didn't have one for Tors... S-sorry." She said, mumbling the apology while looking at the ground, her face growing steadily redder.

Without a thought, Clarissa reached out a hand and ruffled the top of the smaller child's head, a thing that felt as familiar to do as she could remember a hand doing the same to her little head years ago. It was such a strange reflex, however, that the psychic paused for an actual moment in a bit of personal surprise, before visibly more awkwardly pulling her hand and arm back to her own side again. Ahem. Something about this girl made her want to....well, she supposed be a bit extra nice to her. Not that she'd done anything wrong, she was just sharing her thoughts on the battle was all. Still, the familiar note she felt from her was still, as it had been since seeing her first in the building, present and accounted for. Hmm.

"S-Sorry. Ahem.

But there's nothing to be sorry about on your end. You made a thought out and astute observation there, Amelia, and one that happened to be along the same lines as my own post-battle thoughts on the matter as well. Tors was a most defensive opponent, and we lacked move coverage to best counteract the defensive advantage. It was one reason I went with trying to get our attack up higher, enough to try to get the lead, and by leveraging our speed as soon as we could start."

Indeed, Amelia had voiced her own thoughts well enough by happenstance there. But while a loss did...well...sting a bit at the start, though, it was otherwise almost a relief to get the 'first loss' out of the way so early. They would have to work hard at this, yeah? Sir Lopsalot wasn't a stranger to such a thing, she felt, but he did have a bit of pride in his little body there. He had enjoyed the battle well enough as well, though, to her eyes. Buuut he did have the power of sulking on his side when he got worked up enough over something, fun or otherwise. Just had to calm down a bit was all, even if it meant the brief fury of tiny paws being evoked on her part to get him caught off-guard in a good way.

Still, in the end Clarissa looked between Nils and Amelia, motioning with her free hand for them to come with her to the Pokemon Center if they like as she turned a bit to do so as well.

"By the way, I know I mentioned investigating the sewers back there. It's a very strange request, but, well, my gut instinct feels that something peculiar is down there that's worth finding. But I....a-also wish to travel in a group overall if I can."

She'd speak as they all walked along, if the other two did so, or talk to them if they ended up staying put where they were. Either way, the nerves of asking and attempting an explanation were getting to her a little. Just a little, but enough to breifly pop out as she began to speak there for a second at least. Yet, in the end, practiced thoughts and a little breathing seemed to get her back into her 'normal' once more all over again.

"If either of you are amenable to come along, I'd appreciate it. There's safety in number as well, after all. But....if you do not wish to come along, I am more than amenable myself to meeting back up later after my investigation and such down there. Perhaps, say, at this Pokemon Center once more in a few hours? I do not wish to force my, ah, desires upon you both unwillingly in any case."

@Joshua Tamashii@Shazamrock@Remram

Chasing the little blue blur was definitely tiring, even with Rover acting as aerial observation and Jason, as he and his partners followed it deeper into the wooded area, quickly found himself tired and annoyed. "Come on, little one, I just wanna see what you are!" He finally stops and leans against a tree as Rover lands on a branch overhead while Slayer joined his trainer in utter exhaustion and panting. "Alright...Slayer, if we can see it again...maybe you can co-" The voice of the old lady made Jason jump in surprise and whip around, facing her with surprise. "I am so sorry, ma'am, I didn't know you were there." He listened attentively to the lady's advice and turned slightly red in the face at her observation.

"I...yeah, I'm maybe a little bull headed," Jason admits quietly, rubbing the back of his head in a small show of shame. "But...yeah, I'm willing to hear you out, Ma'am. You seem to know your way around here and how to handle that little blue blur after all." Slayer had since sat down against a tree while Rover flitted down and struck up a conversation with the Ralts. "What do I need to do different, ma'am?"

Audrey sighed, clearly irritated as the cacnea dodged Rift's attack, OH COME ONNN!!!! so much so she barely noticed the attack it was preparing. "Rift dodge it!!!" she said hoping Rift could react in time? She sighed, perhaps trying to attack the cacnea won't be a good idea. Alright, I'll just change up my tactics. Audrey quickly observed what'd be a good choice, perhaps relying on sucker punch wouldn't be a good idea for now...

Rift still stood, clearly a bit injured from the sandstorm but still holding on, aswell as Archie's partner, Bravos. Rough position...but that's never stopped me! With confidence in her voice, Audrey commanded "We don't surrender now Rift! Use scratch on that hippopotas!" Audrey hoped this time it can't dodge, afterall Hippopotas' aren't quite known for there speed...riggghttt???

Mentions: @Baraquiel

---

Aha, with notes like that Nils was now sure that Amelia must be a fan of pokemon battles. He nodded along with the girl's assessment as though he had come to the same conclusions that she had, though in reality he had kind of just went with his instincts. What had seemed like the right move, or what he'd thought his grandfather would do.

With Amelia's apology though, Nils tilted his head curiously.

"Sorry for what?" he asked. Clarissa then spoke up with a detailed explanation of why she shouldn't be sorry, and Nils nodded his head again. He didn't have much to add, besides a small grin and a playful comment. "Plus with you acting as announcer and your post-match thoughts, it's like you're really a judge. Makes it feel kind of official."

Then they were off, trotting through the city once more towards the pokemon center. As they went Nils fiddled around with the pokedex again, this time noticing that the encyclopedia had been updated. Slowly, new pages were filled in... Must be the other trainers already flinging their pokeballs around. It was really handy that the devices were linked together like that, and Nils scrolled through the entries to see if any caught his eye. He also got the photo Faye has sent out, saving it to the phone.

He glanced at Clarissa when she brought up her desire to explore the sewers again. It really was a strange request, but... The kind of pokemon that lived down there were sure to be a lot different than the ones that roamed the surface. Finding them would help fill out the pokedex, and besides that...

Nils pocketed the rotom phone and offered Clarissa a smile. "I'll go. You agreed to a battle, so it wouldn't feel right to just blow you off after that."

She seemed very conscientious about other's feelings, so before she could say something like 'dont feel obligated to accompany me because of that' he added, "plus I bet we'll get to see some pokemon we normally wouldn't. It might be cool."

Without a thought, Clarissa reached out a hand and ruffled the top of the smaller child's head, a thing that felt as familiar to do as she could remember a hand doing the same to her little head years ago. It was such a strange reflex, however, that the psychic paused for an actual moment in a bit of personal surprise, before visibly more awkwardly pulling her hand and arm back to her own side again. Ahem. Something about this girl made her want to....well, she supposed be a bit extra nice to her. Not that she'd done anything wrong, she was just sharing her thoughts on the battle was all. Still, the familiar note she felt from her was still, as it had been since seeing her first in the building, present and accounted for. Hmm.

"S-Sorry. Ahem.

But there's nothing to be sorry about on your end. You made a thought out and astute observation there, Amelia, and one that happened to be along the same lines as my own post-battle thoughts on the matter as well. Tors was a most defensive opponent, and we lacked move coverage to best counteract the defensive advantage. It was one reason I went with trying to get our attack up higher, enough to try to get the lead, and by leveraging our speed as soon as we could start."

"Sorry for what?" he asked. Clarissa then spoke up with a detailed explanation of why she shouldn't be sorry, and Nils nodded his head again. He didn't have much to add, besides a small grin and a playful comment. "Plus with you acting as announcer and your post-match thoughts, it's like you're really a judge. Makes it feel kind of official."

If Amelia's face had been red before, it somehow got even redder, spreading to her neck and ears. One could practically see the steam coming out of her head. She quickly covered this up by pulling her hoodie over her head, for once thankful that she was so small, as she hoped that fact would help her hide her face. Phantump flew over to look at her face, silently snickering as it saw her embarrassed expression, causing the child to let out an audible whimper.

Thankfully, the attention on her was very temporary as Clarissa and Nils soon began moving towards the closest pokecenter. Amelia followed behind the two of them, slowly calming down as they walked. While they traveled, Clarissa brought up an offer to go exploring the sewers together. This was enough to kinda shock her out of her embarrassment, both because she had not been expecting to be invited but also due to fear. By the time they reached the pokecenter, she had lowered her hood and was much closer to her normal, pale skin tone. While Clarissa and Nils waited for their partners to be looked after, Amelia pondered on whether it would be safe for her to join them in the sewers or not. She had to be careful. She didn't know what the sewers would be like but sanitary was probably not one of them. She knew stress, especially physical stress, could make her heart act up but she didn't know how environment might factor into it.

When the two older trainers inevitably turned to her for an answer, Amelia answered slowly, with a clear air of uncertainty.
"I'm... not certain. I want to join but... it might be better if I didn't. I... I would like to travel with you two if you would have me but... I worry that I'll just slow you down or be a burden. If possible, can I say out of the sewers but join you two when you're done? Please?" She said, her tone pleading at the end.

"Ches!" Bravos yelped in pain when Hippopotas bit his vines, then proceeded to scream as it got tossed around until the Hippo Pokémon slammed Bravos against the wall.

"Bravos!" Archie called out to his Chespin who grunted in pain from being wall-slammed. Not only that but the Sandstorm was gradually dealing damage to his and Audrey's Pokémon too. He gritted his teeth. They needed to finish this fight fast before it's too late.

As Audrey told Rift to attack the Hippopotas, Archie thought of the same thing too. Since Cacnea's Sand Veil ability was making it hard for them to land a hit on it, they needed to focus on the other Pokémon that they could attack.

"Bravos, listen carefully! I want you to retract your vines and use the momentum to launch yourself at the Hippopotas. Attack him with your hard spikey helmet!" He told his Chespin.

"Chespin, Ches!" Bravos said in agreement. "Ches..." it readied itself and launched itself from the wall, closing the distance between itself and the Hippopotas as the vines got shorter. "Pin!" Bravos aimed its spiky helmet head at the enemy, hoping it would damage the opponent.

@Remram

When the Petilil simply shook off Aurelia Rose’s Fairy Wind, Valerian frowned. “Oh. Oh, you’re sturdier than you look.”

The Petilil let out a cry, then glowed. It actually seemed to get a little bigger. The Rotom Phone and helpfully chimed in and explained that Petilil use Growth.

Valerian scowled. “Thank you, I can see that.”

Before he could even finish the thought, the Petilil aimed its leaf straight at Aurelia Rose and unleashed a beam of red energy, and Valerian’s eyes widened.

“Dodge!” he called instinctively, and Aurelia darted upward with a surprised flutter. The energy beam just grazed her lower wing, and she spiraled back with a distressed chirp.

Valerian scowled. “So, you want to make this a proper battle, do you?” He straightened his coat, flicked an imaginary speck of dust from his sleeve, and pointed sharply. “Aurelia Rose, respond a another Fairy Wind! Keep your distance. We have standards to maintain.”

The Cutiefly buzzed, and whipped up another gust of magical wind, sending petals and loose leaves scattering around them.

This was Valerian’s first test as a real trainer, and he was not about to let himself be outmaneuvered by this.

Would it be wrong to call the smaller girl's reaction....adorable? All the same, Clarissa turned her attention away from Amelia for the time being in some attempt to give the girl space to, well, breathe in this scenario. Part of her felt even a bit embarassed as it all herself, but at least the younger child's Phantump seemed to think it was all so-very-amusing. Otherwise, however, the walk to the Pokemon Center seemed to be simple enough and was as mundane an experience as she assumed it was in a city like Grand Glory. Still...it wasn't entirely her 'cup of tea' entirely, though it was still a far call from her first time there after moving to Evig!

After handing Sir Lopsalot, now inside his little Pokeball, was handed over alongside Nils' own starting Pokemon to be healed the psychic would pull out her Pokedex to check it out. In the process, she'd see...several entries already?! The others were certainly getting out there and doing things at a fast pace, but they had only had a battle thus far. Not that it was a bad thing, but-...ahem. Yes, she had to be patient in all of this. Though upon noticing the sent picture from Faye, Clarissa paused for a moment before saving it to her Pokedex as well.

It was then, however, that Nils' voice snapped the girl back to the current situation as well.

"I'll go. You agreed to a battle, so it wouldn't feel right to just blow you off after that."

Yet as she almost instinctively tried to open her mouth in turn-

"Plus I bet we'll get to see some pokemon we normally wouldn't. It might be cool."

...The psychic would instead nod in affirmation to the boy as she once again closed her mouth. That made, finally, one person willing to travel with her down into the sewers at the very least. Yet Amelia earlier had been nervous about someone wanting to travel with her in turn, though, and as she looked to the smaller girl to see about her response to the request, she felt a small bit of relief at the lack of redder-than-a-beet color in her face first and foremostly. Even so-

"I'm... not certain. I want to join but... it might be better if I didn't. I... I would like to travel with you two if you would have me but... I worry that I'll just slow you down or be a burden. If possible, can I say out of the sewers but join you two when you're done? Please?" She said, her tone pleading at the end.

"I'm very amenable to that, Amelia, so perhaps we could all meet back here later then?"

The younger girl seemed vehement enough about it as it was, so she wouldn't press the matter more. It was enough to at least have one other person willing to come along, and if Amelia agreed to this then it gave the other girl time to think and explore as well maybe. In any case, Clarissa's attention would then turn to Nils once more.

"Are you also amenable to this idea, Nils?"

If herself, Nils, and Amelia were agreeable to the idea, then, she'd suggest to Nils to head out as soon as their Pokemon were finished being healed. At that point they could get going, hopefully finding the nearest sewer entrance and...well, getting started! She at least wanted to establish what was there initially, catch an Alolan Grimer and a Trubbish, and then begin investigating for the crying noise thereafter. That and do a little fighting/training for Sir Lopsalot, just...not so much she scared everything off potentially or messed up their chances or the like. Yes.

Or, well, at least that was the plan in her mind! She'd want to take into account if Nils had any goals down there as well, of course, one they were down there.

Tentatively (After Their Pokemon Are Healed And Such Things Are Settled) Headed To:



@Remram@Joshua Tamashii@Shazamrock

Regan Calhoun

@Zapdos

Aah, Faye would not be joining them. A shame. They’d meet up later, she said, but if nothing else, they had each other’s phone numbers. Seemed like she wanted to spend some time with a Snubbul that had appeared. Regan hadn’t noticed it, but it seemed it had turned up in their photo, and further, it seemed to be someone’s. It wore a bow.

At any rate, she and David proceeded without their photographer friend. The apartment complex was a rich place, if.. tasteless. What was with this kind of design? She’d seen it done before, but somehow, this building seemed so much worse. Maybe it was the lack of any other direction in its design? So much black and white, too. “Was the artist color blind? A Growlithe with an artistic flare?”

Regan entered the building (likely with David?), finding only more terrible design inside. Were those places intended for sitting? She couldn’t imagine how you were supposed use that chair, or that couch. It looked.. complicated. A voice drew her attention away from the interior design.

If the receptionist wanted to be a catty bitch, she could play, too. She approached the receptionist's desk, Kaebe walking beside her. “I’d hope not, this place has no personality. I hear you’ve been having power issues? I figure you either need a new maintenance team, or it’s a pokemon issue. I know a real easy way to fix a pokemon issue.”

Her Tyrunt settled under her hand, and she pet him idly.

@Xaltwind

Ding-Dong~! Welcome-!

Stocked shelves filled with goods as far as the eye can see! Yes, with everything that a fledgling trainer would need. Shelves lined with Pokeballs and medicinal goods were to be entirely expected though they also had little spray bottles of Repel and bundles of rope used to leave an escape path for when an intrepid trainer bit off more than they could chew when exploring a deep cavern and needed to retrace their steps for a quick way out. Still, one could not help that they were holding out on you as if you were not ready for their other more powerful goods or maybe they didn't want to make the journey for new trainers too easy? Either way, you were too poor to even afford those better items anyway. Guess you gotta work harder!

There were also unrelated Pokemon goods mainly in terms of snacks and trinkets though they don't have a price because they have no actual impact on game play.

While Evelyn perused the store's wares, Evelyn would notice a sign posted on a wall.



Whenever Evelyn was ready to pay for her goods, she could go pay at the self-check out or pay at the register if you were so inclined. Or you can try shop lifting. Anything is possible in the world of Pokemon.

Pokemarts Prices:
Pokéball - 200P
Potion - 300P
Antidote - 100P
Paralyze Heal - 200P
Awakening - 250P
Burn Heal - 250P
Ice Heal - 250P
Escape Rope - 550P
Repel - 350P

Well, now what?

---

@Lunarlord34

This random girl was rummaging through her backpack, but she stopped to look at Steph as soon as the first words came out of her mouth. At least she thought they were words. They sounded like there was intention behind the sounds, but it was an assault on the senses though this girl forced a smile as she tried to make sense of whatever cognitive hazard she just said. Hundreds of years worth of language, of prose and literature flashed through her mind as she processed the Eldritch Bogan tongue.

"I, uh... You're welcome?" She was taking a wild guess and assumed that she was thanking her or at the very least was letting her treat the Litwick. The girl took a Potion out of the bag and started to spray the little ghost's injuries with the miracle liquid and dabbed the excess liquid away with a handkerchief. The girl held Dusk out to Steph when she started to speak again. Oh God she was speaking again.

Nymes Steph boy the boy, whaht breengs yah round heah? Locul? Anuhthah triner? Aw yah heah t' chaeck eow' thiies shady soundin stohl oolsao?

The girl mentally broke down what the girl was saying phonetically. It was if letters and sounds flashed around her in a confusing flurry. This was exhausting her brain.

"Oh, um, I guess you could say that I am both. I was just looking around before I headed off on my journey. My name is Freya." Now there was a name to the face. Freya arched her brow when the person selling a Pokemon was brought up. "More than likely it could be a scam. I'll go with you."

---

@Zarkun

"Oh it's alright. I'm just poking my nose where it doesn't belong." She eyed the new trainers and his rather exhausted Pokemon. This was a desperate situation.

"Well, let me pose a question. How would you feel if someone or multiple someones were chasing you? I dare say that you would be inclined to run away as well. It's just common sense, but young trainers are always so eager." She huffed about like a stereotypical old woman lecturing the youth though it seemed to be more about her gripes with new, young greenhorn trainers specifically. "If you wish to meet that Pokemon, then treat it as you yourself wish to be treated. They are creatures of intelligence and will, not toys or prizes. I dare to hope that you already knew that."

It gave the feeling of an older, more experienced dog telling off a pup in order to teach it manners albeit unwanted on Jason's part. Who wanted to be told off by some random overly confident old woman that wasn't even five feet tall on how to be a proper trainer who gave vague advice?

"But I suppose an old woman like me shouldn't be talking your ear off. I'm sure you've got the gears turning in your head." At the very least she was self-aware.

---

@Crimson Flame

The Rotom phone gave Valerian the worst stink eye. Well exuuuuuse me prince, bzt! It said in its robotic voice, channeling electronic sass of an entity that held way too much power over one very entitled prince's phone. Definitely not the narrator interjecting their own sass through a convenient object, not at all.

As soon as one of those red beams grazed his Cutiefly it turned into a sphere of green light that retreated back into the Petilil. The grass-type's body glowed with a gentle hue of green as the bruises and scratches on its body faded away only ever so slightly. Refreshed, the Petilil braced for the attack and ate the gust of sugar, spice, and everything not so nice. Now, the thing was that these Pokemon were very low level with very little in terms of stats or tools in their kit. So, getting hit again actually brought its health down to a point where it would actually be easy to catch the sentient onion bulb because even though it recovered some health from its Absorb, it didn't really recover that much. In fact, the Petilil could not output enough damage as the Cutiefly.

However, it was not going out without a fight. With a defiant cry, it shot more red beams at the glittery bug.

What was Valerian gonna do?

---

@baraquiel@GremlinAgain

With speed and nimbleness, the Zorua was able to jump out of the way of the poisonous needles that flew its way only to hit one of the alley way walls, leaving little indents and quickly executed its follow up order. Rift dashed past the Cacnea straight towards the sand hippo bearing its claws. At the same time the Chespin was slammed against the wall, receiving typeless damage, but Archie was quick to react. While retracting its vines while it was still held in the Hippopotas' mouth, it flung itself towards it at the same time as Rift dove to attack.

"H-Hippopotas, let go! The scumbag ordered in a panic, but it was too late Bravos was already hurtling towards it.

Now, these things were not known as paragons of speed. In fact, one would argue the opposite. With a panicked expression, its eyes darted around looking for an avenue of escape except there were none; the alley was too narrow, there were too many attackers, and it simply was also just not that fast. A scratch from one Pokemon to the face and then a typeless spiny headbutt straight to the noggin. The Hippopotas stumbled back with swirls in its eyes before it just fell on its side with a plop.



The color drained from Sven's face as he looked at his defeated Pokemon. "Uh, uh, Cacnea! Use Poison Sting on the green thing! Once again, the Cacnea raised its arms up and shot a volley of glowing purple needles at Bravos.

While they knocked out the Hippopotas the sandstorm was still active, meaning that Sand Veil was still active though only for a little bit longer. They just needed to outlast it, but now it was also a two against one.

What do they do?

---

@Crusader Lord@Shazamrock

On the very likely assumption that Nils is amendable, unless stated otherwise, they went to a Pokemon Center and healed up their Pokemon. Once they finished, the duo would simply have to go to any of the manhole covers on the sidewalks or roads. Now, these things would typically be absolutely impossible in any context since these things are typically sealed up tight and range from 90-200 pounds to make sure that no one like Clarissa and Nils would sneak into a very hostile environment. However, this was not the real world. They would open it up after some elbow grease and they would be hit by a smell, the smell of rotten eggs and God knows what else.

There was a ladder that would let them climb down to the sewers. Well, there was only one way to get there and it certainly was not by going up.

---

@CitrusArms@Zapdos

The receptionist scowled at Regan and the blue dinosaur whose claws were scratching up the white tiles. However, as soon as she mentioned that she was there to solve a Pokemon problem they suddenly perked up. "You must've heard about it from one of our residents. You see, we pride ourselves in providing an excellent service and a stylish, lavish lifestyle. As you can imagine we have an exclusive clientele that expects the very best from us, but this problem is, well, making us seem incompetent. If you two can solve it discreetly, then I'd be grateful."

Well, one could simply take the job and get the Pokemon or they could appeal to their lesser instincts and try to squeeze something out of this guy.

Taking Dusk back onto her shoulder, she was in the middle of giving the sentient candle some chin scritches when Freyja responded that she was indeed both a local and a trainer. The latter realisation seemed to make her perk up for a moment, a thoughtful eye glancing over the taller girl as she sized her up. Sadly it was difficult to tell from the trainer themselves for the most part how tough a battle they might bring, but she sensed something that seemed to satisfy whatever curiousity she had and withdrew the hand that seemed to be ignored.

She wasn't sure what it was about this city, but people seemed to ignore gestures? Eh whatever, no skin off her nose and wouldn't stop her from continuing to offer them later.

"Waell plezshah t' mayt ya Freya, laets geh' gaowin thaen eh?" As Freya agreed to go with her to check the dodgy stall owner out, before they would walk over there Steph would continue. "Alsao wahnna uh...exchuynge cawntahct infao aw somethin? Wouldnt moind hahvin a bahttle at one point, yah saym tuff enough. just wahnna geh' a couple moah Pokemon befoah Oy gao bahttle someone, only caught one myself. Yah cahtch many yaeh'?"


With that little small talk to be dealt with as they made their way over, Steph would listen to the man as he made his pitch again;

"Folks do I have a deal for you! I have in my possession a rare and super powerful Pokemon that I am generous parting for a mere 500 dollars! It's a deal of a lifetime!"

With a dubious look about her, Steph would approach arms folded over her chest as she sized up the sleazy man. She didn't seem impressed, to say the least.

"Sao whaht koind of hohgwahsh bullshih' ahh yah troyin t' pull mite? iIve sayn Trubbish spew laess rubbeesh thahn ya. Thiies even laegul?" It probably was, but she didn't seem to think it should be. Peddling Pokemon on the side of the street at suspiciously low prices? Where did he even get these Pokemon from? Even if it was legal, it wasn't in her mind. As someone who grew up on a farm, she knew a few folks who sold em but this was a vastly different circumstance. Who knew what conditions these poor little guys were kept in after all! Regardless, she stayed her tongue because she didn't want to assume anything just yet, just that the first impression wasn't exactly a good one here.


"You gawnna shaow us thiies 'Raeh and Supah Paowerful Pokemon' aw we just maynt t' believe ya aw somethin?"

---

---

Entering the PokéMart, Evelyn was greeted by a clean floor, well-stocked shelves and some what was most likely copyright-free elevator music. Basically, your every PokeMart in any town or city that had one. Which was nice. She could appreciate the consistency in such things. After all, it was way better than going to some outdoor flea market and trying to buy anything from shady rando's who claimed they were selling top-notch medicine made from all organic materials. Was anyone actually dumb enough to believe that sort of crap? No, if you wanted real quality goods, you came to a real quality store.

Like this one.

As the girl unconsciously hummed along with the tune and walked around with her colorful shopping basket, her steps paused as she saw a big, bright poster on one of the walls.

"Hm? A free potion with your first purchase? Well, how can I refuse something like that?" An amused smile crept across her face, though she probably wasn't aware of it herself.

Still, before thinking about the prospect of freebies, there was the issue of what she was actually going to buy. Being out on the road, chances are that the girl might run into a situation where a Pokemon Center was just too far away to reach in a hurry. Or, she could end up somewhere and not know the way, but be in an emergency and need to attend to any har m or injuries her pokemon may have sustained right there and then. However! Her budget was also limited, and spending money on things that wouldn't necessarily be strictly needed was a good way to end up with no travelling funds right quick. Thus, she had to plan... Meticulously... Carefully...

Alright... We'll be outdoors, in the wilderness. We'll likely run into things that can poison or paralyze, and carrying some exra potions with me would be a good idea, just in case... Burn and ICe heals... Hm... I don't think either of those things'll be too common around these parts, and an Awakening is just throwing money away. A rope...? Oh, it's one of those that you tie outside a cave or whatever to guide you back out... Do I really plan to go into a dark, dank cave with who-knows-what inside? ... Then again, you never know what the weather will be like, or what you'll run into out there... It... Could be a nice safety measure, just in case...

As she pondered her options, the blonde girl did grab some things though. Walking through the aisles, she grabbed three of one sort and three others of something else. Then two of a third choice, then paused. Shaking her head, she steeled her gaze and wandered over to the cash register, plopping the basket down and taking out her intended purchases one by one for the clerk to ring up.

All in all, Evelyn bought:
- 3x Antidotes (-300p)
- 3x Paralyze Heals (-600p)
- 2x Potions (-600p)

Total Payment: -1500p

Great! Now she had something for each of her 'mons if something happened. But, before she left the register, she rummaged around in her bag for a bit, before producing her Trainer ID and showed it to the employee.

"As you can see, I'm a fresh-faced, burgeoning trainer just starting out. Soooo... I get a free potion with my purchase, yes~?"

The staff member grabbed the card, gave it a look-over and then handed it back. Nodding and stating with a robotic, unenthused voice that that was indeed the case, they reached underneath the counter and produced a free, no-cost, totally no strings attached potion! Plucking the little bottle up with a ginger nab, Evelyn thanked the shopkeep, stuffed the items she'd just bought into her little bag, and then proceeded to exit the PokéMart, content and pleased with her little shopping-spree.

After all, she was now finally ready to actually get started! Started on her very own journey.

She hadn't spent lon here in Grand Glory City, but for the most part it had been a pleasant experience. It wasn't quite Evertide, but it was modern and enjoyable enough. Walking the bustling, busy streets, the young trainer picked up her Rotom phone and gave it a look-through. Ah, yes, there was a map-App, good. So, she had two options? Well... Going north was not really an option, not this time of year and not with what she was wearing. Winter probably still had a bit of a hold on that part of the region and she didn't want to risk anything.

So, south along Route 4 it was!

"Alright you guys, we're off."

She said... To her pokemon partners. Who were all snug inside their respective pokeballs for now.

Evelyn is leaving Grand Glory City and beginning her journey down Route 4.

---

It made a lot of sense that Amelia didn't want to head down into the city's sewage system. It was literally in the name, surely no place for a young girl. Realistically it probably wasn't a place for Clarissa or himself either, but something like that had hardly stopped Nils before. While the three of them waited for Tors and Sir Lopsalot to be healed, Amelia and Clarissa made plans to meet again at the pokecenter later and possibly continue on together afterward.

"Are you also amenable to this idea, Nils?"

He wasn't not amenable, but he didn't know what his plans after leaving Grand Glory City were just yet. If this was an invitation to travel together, it was the second he'd gotten.

"I don't mind meeting up after," he said. Then with a cheeky upturn of his mouth added, "maybe after a shower too depending on what happens down there. I'm not sure yet what route I wanna take out of the city though. If we end up heading the same way, then sure, let's go together."

It was sort of a lax reply, but it was honest. Hopefully it didn't come off as rude.

Once they'd said their goodbyes to Amelia for now and their pokemon were returned to them, Nils and Clarissa got to work prying open a manhole, climbing down into the smelly sewer system, and getting started on their investigation.

"Ugh, kind of regretting my choice a little..." Nils murmured, raising a sleeve to his nose.

He squinted his eyes, taking some time to get his bearings and look around the area. The sewers were surprisingly huge. Did all big cities have underground waterways like this??

He eyed the colorful grimers while checking out the tunnel, keeping them in his eyesight as they slid in, out, and over the water. He wondered how deep it was. Even if it was shallow, he'd hate to fall in. For multiple reasons.

"We probably shouldn't split up, at least not very far."

Movement caught his eye and he turned slightly to watch a black and tan rat scurry close. The pokedex identified it as a rattata, but it looked different than the photos of them he'd already seen in the app. That was interesting. Was it a rarer color, or just a different kind?

Well, he could find out. It was about time to start contributing to the dex project too.

Nils withdrew Tors' pokeball and said, "If we've got the place to ourselves, there's nothing to stop us picking up a few new team members, huh?"

He sent out the Mudbray, now fresh and ready to rumble once more. Nils pointed out their target and issued his order, to charge the rattata and strike it with smack down, weaken it just enough that went Nils threw a pokeball it would, hopefully, capture it in one try.

While Tors went to work, Nils cut a quick look at Clarissa. "...why did you want to come down here again, anyway? You mentioned something worth finding... Are you interested in pokemon like this?"

[Quick Catch Attempt: A-Rattata.]

With things decided between her, Clarissa, and Nils, Amelia accompanied the both of them to the manhole they would go down, waving them off before looking around and setting off wherever her feet decided to take her. As such, she walked through the streets of the city, Phantump floating around her and occasionally away to examine some object that caught it's interest, during which times Amelia stuck close to him to make sure he didn't get in any trouble. After a bit of wondering, the young girl would find herself in the park and enjoying the natural scenery until she heard the sounds of a battle in the distance.

Curious, she made her way down the paths until she came across the scene of one of the trainers from back at the lab battling a Petilil. She stopped a small distance behind the boy, watching as he issued orders to his partner, a rather shiny Cutiefly. The battle seemed to be in the early stages yet and since there was no other trainer nearby, the Petilil seemed to be wild. She wondered if the boy was aiming to capture the Petilil or was maybe simply using it as practice. She really hoped it was the former, as she didn't like the idea of picking on wild pokemon.

Speaking of the boy, Amelia was trying to remember which one this was from the lab. There had been a lot of people and very few had really talked to her, making remembering them all rather hard. This one stuck out a bit though. Hadn't he said something about being a prince or the like? If so, was he really a prince or was he just playing a role of some sort? She didn't really know but if he was friendly enough, maybe she could ask him.

"Ugh, kind of regretting my choice a little..." Nils murmured, raising a sleeve to his nose.

To say the least, the size of the Grand Glory Sewer Network was certainly....something of note indeed. But the smell was also just as bad, if not worse, than she'd expected as well. Sulfuric fumes of rotting decay filled her nostrils, a pungent and less than pleasant aroma that certainly made the stomach just want to turn down a less than welcome direction in one way or another. And the waters down here? It was not something she wanted to fall into by any stretch of the imagination, much less make contact with if she could. Nils' prior mention of taking a shower after all of this was, well, something she had at least already kept in mind for after this scenario if nothing else. That much she had come prepared for mentally, at least, if nothing else.

"We probably shouldn't split up, at least not very far."

"In-...Indeed."

She would agree verbally in the meantime, pulling out her Pokeball and releasing Sir Lopsalot next to her to also get an eye on the situation. Or, well, his two ears and such on the situation. Yet as the Buneary, clearly initially a little shocked at appearing where he did, put his tiny paws over his nose for a minute the psychic's eyes looked about them as the Pokedex began to ping off with information about the three kinds of Pokemon seemingly nearest them. Ratatta didn't much really interest her for the time being, but it was the other two that had caught her attention at the very least. Yes, she would-....would...

For a walking trash bag with legs and arms, she felt a small pang of guilt watching them avoid the Grimer like a plague. But it made sense, they had to keep the sewers clean and so forth. That was the purpose the foreign Grimer had been imported for, after all. Even so, though, she did want to get ahold of one of each of these Pokemon to get a look at what they were and their types and such. Dirty, discarded, usually avoided, and yet potentially a wild card to use as they went into the more natural areas. Poison was good against Grass, yes? So maybe that'd be helpful.

She would give an order to Sir Lopsalot, who had finally pulled down his paws after adjusting to the stink of the sewer and was looking around himself, to attack the nearest Alolan Grimer with a Power-Up Punch. The goal was to start battle fast, weaken it well and quick enough, and then try to capture it in one Pokeball! If she needed to weaken it more, though, she would quicklyy have Sir Lopsalot do so before tossing another Pokeball if that first attempt failed.

[Quick Catch Attempt: A-Grimer]

[quotNils]While Tors went to work, Nils cut a quick look at Clarissa. "...why did you want to come down here again, anyway? You mentioned something worth finding... Are you interested in pokemon like this?"[/quote]

"I...well, something about this place tells my instincts that something is down here. Unique Pokemon or the like that is."

She spoke to Nils in response in-between commands for Sir Lopsalot and using a Pokeball and such, depending on how the 'quick catch' of an Alolan Grimer went in the end. But she tried to find the words to articulate the thoughts in her head as best as she could regardless.

Indeed, her gut instincts told her something was down here.

"Places like this, people avoid them mostly as do many Pokemon from what I understand. It's dark here, but not like a cave or such, and is both manmade and in many ways unpleasant and harsh in its own way I think...any Pokemon living here might be just as unique, or different from what might be found in the park or elsewhere here in Grand Glory City."

And, well, the rest was perhaps a bit more peculiar if not rather embarassingly childish in her mind. Her father's parents, one set of her grandparents, lived in a place they described similar to this years ago back where her family had used to live. A place called 'The Under', once underneath Pyrite Town, which had been forcefully de-occupied and cut off from anyone's access. Cipher had operated down there, she'd heard, and that had made the place sketchy and dangerous as far as she understood it to some extent. The closest she could think of to such a place to try to get some idea about such a place, to see what some concept of what her grandparents had seen in even some distant manner to better grasp them, was...well...the sewers. Dark, urban, underground, etc.

...Yes, it was as close to somewhere back home as she could find as closer to herself as possible after their move, she supposed, in the end. A sewer of all places. But in that sense, being down in this stinky place was helping some small part of her relax far back there in her mind as well.

Not that she would have admitted any of that for the moment being. Indeed, lightly biting her lower lip the psychic focused on her efforts to catch that Alolan Grimer all the same.

"And if there's any Pokemon from before the city was made, or something crying down here alone in the dark, I want to find them, maybe, and-....and......"

She couldn't deny that bit, however, as it slipped out of her lips unintentionally and was cut off thusly thereafter as her words trailed off and she became aware of what she was letting loose.

It was the thought of Sir Lopsalot in her head that compelled her in part. Those memories of their first meeting. Those memories of what she'd felt that day more than anything she'd felt before. And if the crying was a Pokemon from before the city was built as well, then it knew-....ahem, it had some idea of what it was like to lose a home. Maybe. Or, perhaps, she was simply pushing such emotions off onto something else entirely in this latter sense.

...Clarissa went a bit silent after trailing off there. But whenever she managed to finally catch an Alolan Grimer, she'd try to push onward to assess Sir Lopsalot and then hunt down the nearest fleeing bag of trash that was avoiding the Alolan Grimer but not keeping as careful an eye on herself, Sir Lopsalot, Nils, and Tors. Yes. That would begin much the same, with a surprise Power-Up Punch command to Sir Lopsalot and then attempting another 'quick catch' of it with a Pokeball and such as she was initially trying with an Alolan Grimer.

She had to keep her mind on the tasks before her. Yes. Mentally and outwardly alike. She...she couldn't afford to get too distracted. They had just begun their journey, after all, her and Sir Lopsalot alike. Also Nils and Tors too, really, and Amelia and the others.

((Only if she feasibly would get the chance to do this 'additionally' after the Alolan Grimer quick catch:

[Additional Quick Catch Attempt: Trubbish]

But if it isn't ok or feasible, then she can try it next post. All is chill!))

@Remram@Joshua Tamashii@Shazamrock

Audrey silently cheered for Rift as he managed to dodge it, landing a great hit despite knocking into a wall.

Rift is now level 6!

How lovely! Her grin widened as she saw the scumbag panic, "This is what you get for messing with us!" Audrey shouted before an idea sparked in her head, after seeing Archie's tactic, This might be silly but whatever. "Archie! We should combine our attacks!" she cheered before commanding Rift to use scratch once more.

@Baraquiel

I mean, how I felt about getting chased is going to depend on context, but I get what she means here... With a nod to himself, Jason returns both Rover and Slayer to their pokeballs and looks in the direction he last saw that little blue blur rush off in and sets his face determinedly. "You're right ma'am, maybe I got a little too eager to see what our mysterious friend is, what species of Pokemon was so skillfully avoiding everyone who looked to see it. I'm gonna be a lot more careful and considerate about my approach this time." And with that he set off, his pace brisk, but not too quick so as to avoid further stressing the mysterious Pokemon. The aspiring champion doesn't say anything for awhile as he moves through the trees, his eyes peeled for the blue blur.

"Hey, little friend...I'm sorry for rushing you like that," Jason calls, watching for any sign of Pokemon at all. "I promise, I just want to talk a bit, see if you want to be friends." He paused in a small clearing and looked around before sighing and sitting against a tree, still panting slightly from chasing the blue blur earlier. There had to be a way to do this, he just wasn't sure how.

David Wayne





@CitrusArms

Yeah, Regan had the right idea with this place, David thought with a nod at her initial question. Pretty boring, if he did say so himself. Not that he did. He just didn’t feel like it. Nor did he notice the derisive way in which the receptionist spoke. Except for a word. Discreetly? The psychic had a few things to say about that, and this time, he spoke them out loud.

“Really, guy? That sounds so boring. I quit doing things quietly when I finished school - which, by the way, was also boring. So if you want us to do this your way, you’ll need to make it not boring in some other way. You know?” He then sat on the desk, facing the receptionist as if to prove his point.

The unintentional blackmail may or may not prove to be effective, but David was wondering something else.

Did this place have a pool?

@Remram @Joshua Tamashii

Valerian gasped. Scandalized in horror as the Rotom phone sassed him. “I didn’t ask for commentary!” before he could launch into a formal rebuttal about proper tone in digital assistance interfaces, the Petilil fired another Absorb.

Aurelia Rose took the hit like a queen! Her wings faltered slightly, but Bug resisted grass, so she wasn’t too bothered.

Valerian analyzed the situation. Aurelia Rose was winning. That last Fairy Wind had done more than just ruffle her leaves. It left it staggering slightly. Another attack might knock it out. That wasn’t the plan. He was trying to catch her, not turn her into salad.

“No more attacks,” he said firmly. “We are not going to obliterate potential teammates. That’s terribly uncouth.” He reached into his bag, pulled out one of the Pokéballs he’d been issued.

And then he felt like he was being watched. He glanced over his shoulder, and spotted the shy girl from the lab earlier. A Phantump floating over her shoulder. “Ah, welcome.” He gave a graceful wave. “You’re just in time to witness history!”

He returned his attention to the Petilil. He took a breath, struck a graceful pose, and threw the ball with a flourish.

The ball cracked open midair, red light bursting forth to pull the weakened Petilil inside. It snapped shut and dropped to the ground, shaking. Valerian silently prayed to Xerneas that she would stay in, and not embarrass him in front of an audience.