It was easier to get to the gym than she was expecting, but then again - she usually got places fast when she was focused. Except Faye wasn't sure what she was looking for when she got there. Some lady, but there might be lots of ladies. Blonde? Well - there was one calling for help...

Wait! Someone was calling for help?

"Stay over here, little model. Don't want you getting hurt if that's not your trainer." Faye looked from the Snubbull to Sage. "Sage, go tackle that Espurr away from the woman, then use Sand Attack to distract it."

Sage let out a confirming bark and nodded his head before launching into the attack.

While Sage got to work, Faye ran over and touched the woman's arm. "Hi, go ahead and go over there. My partner and I will help you out." She pointed as she spoke, though she didn't actually look at the woman. Her focus was on the Espurr and Sage. "By the way, are you missing a Pokemon?" Yes, she was planning to carry on a conversation while potentially giving battle commands.

The battle was finally over, it seemed, though before she could get her bearings of it all the mural nearby drew her gaze as she put up her new Pokeball-bound team member. It was large, smooth, more detailed than most might imagine to ever find down here, and had odd symbols in certain locations. How had they not seen it first when stepping into this place? It was only a partial map, it seemed, yet to be completed, but she was able to recognize it as a map of...Evig? Quickly she reached down to get her Rotom Phone, only to realize...that it had been still taking video this entire time, floating just behind her and to the left.

It had filmed the entire battle, as quick as it had been compared to how long it had felt to get through it, and was still rolling. With a few quick words, then, the psychic would tell it to stop recording things and to take "the best picture you can" of the mural proper. She could look at the footage later, but for now the kidnapped boy was thankfully safe while the Hidden Cavern down here seemed to have yet more to give them as of yet. telling it to take the best pictures of the mural it could Yet before she could turn to Nils and say more Clarissa was soon interrupted by-

"Oh, thank god!"

The wannabe punk boy ran over to the two them and clasped his hands on their shoulders with tears in his eyes and snot dribbling down from his nose. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! I thought I was gonna be char siu for those Igglypuff! I just wanted to explore man, I just wanted to be free and be my own man, not dead!"

From the distance the three of them could hear soft chanting. It sounded like, "Tuff, tuff, tuff, tuff!"

The boy almost squealed and said, "Come on, get me out of here before they get here!"

...Had, had it been that bad down here with these two?!

In any case, before they made their expedient retreat Clarissa would check her Rotom Phone to see what pictures it took before they left and she picked up Scrapper to carry while the others returned to their Pokeballs for the time being. She had what they needed for the most part, though she would have her Rotom Phone record the path back from the Pokemon den they were in all the way back to the sewers. Simply for showing where they had been with better proof if nothing else. A simple shorter video to go along with the evidence of the other one she'd taken heading into the Pokemon den in the first place. Even then, however, her Rotom Phone would stop filming and finally return to her pockets one more after they emerged and got a final shot in the video of the hole going down to the Hidden Cavern. Albeit, given the state of things, Clarissa had volunteered to go last through the hole back to the sewers for obvious reasons of modesty on her part.

"Looks like you saved your friend and the kid."

Hmm. Thius was the detective Nils had spoken about before, yes?? The greasy looking, somehow seemingly sad man waiting there for them seemed to be familiar with Nils at least, and that was good enough for her for the time being despite her own reserved yet silent caution about the matter. Indeed, it was great to be back in the sewers, of all things, as odd as it was to admit to herself. But they needed to get back to the surface and-

*DING*

Also, when they both returned to the sewers, they instantly received a text from Amelia that read as such:

Are you both doing okay? I'll be at the pokecenter, if the two of you are stilling wanting to travel with me.

Amelia! She didn't want to keep her waiting too long, and admittedly they did need a shower...and even more so their Pokemon needed healing to boot at that. Still, with phone signal back (finally) the psychic would try to send a proper message to Amelia this time. She'd include her first video of the Hidden Cavern (after she'd first gone down there), and the following message-

'Sorry if we worried you, Amelia, and we'll be back soon to travel with you! I'm not going back on my word on that.

But we found this hidden cavern network full of Pokemon underneath the sewers, and phone service doesn't work down there for some odd reason. Somehow also ended up on a rescue mission of a punk kid kidnapped by Igglybuff, and Nils ran into a detective looking for the missing kid. Long story. Our Pokemon are inmjured or worn out. Will explain it all back at the Pokemon Center after we get back.

P.S.: Video I'm sending should be fully clear this time, I hope.'

For Amelia:



Likewise, Clarissa would send a cursory and polite apology text to the Professor in kind now. She'd attach her first video, the same sent to Amelia (this time hopefully clearly) along with the video of their escape back into the sewers. That and an apology for her former message and quick explanation of what had happend (like what she'd said to Amelia, but more professional in this case). She hoped that would, er, be enough to help smooth the situation over a little bit and help the Professor out a touch. Hopefully. Either way, Aaron eating at the pipes was still a really bad idea and-

"B...ish...Trub."

Scrapper peeped out a bare noise, hurt and loopy and tired from the sounds of it to a fair bit of an extent. But even so, he'd held on tight for what it was worth. And she'd just caught him today! Yet if his kind were food for the Alolan Grimer down here, thinking back on his Pokedex entry, then....perhaps she'd managed to save a Pokemon down here like she'd hoped to beforehand. Hmm. Just not in the way she'd thought about prior, all before he'd helped her save another person at that. And now she had several Pokemon on her person at that, new catches with one or two already feeling a bit closer to her in her mind after this whole mess of a situation.

A small sigh would escape Clarissa's lips before she turned to look at Nils, Scrapper held up to her chest and gingerly in her two arms.

"Let's hurry back to Amelia at the Pokemon Center, Nils. Before we all get into any more trouble down here perhaps."

And, for but a moment, an attempt at a rather small smile tugged at the corners of Clarissa's lips. It didn't last long at all before fading back to her usual expression of stoicism all the same, but it was...almost something? It was something.

If Evig was going to be this adventerous, well, they did need a good group to head out with after all! But part of her was looking even more forward now to what would come ahead, funnily enough, despite what they'd been through thus far. Like their adventure was only now going to be really just beginning in greater earnest. Hmm. It was strange, and yet in part she....also welcomed it.

[Clarissa wants to expediently leave the sewers and travel back to the Pokemon Center that Amelia is waiting for them at!]

@Remram@Shazamrock@Joshua Tamashii

---

---

Well, that wasa great and all, but it appeared the man wasn't fully as handy as she had hoped. While he was able to identify her haul of goodies, it didn't seem like the Pokemon Center was equipped with the services to manage transactions of actual, material goods. How frustratngly inconvenient for our little princess. Still, the green-apron'd fellow had given her some intel that would prove beneficial, so in her magnamity, she forgave him. internally, of course.

"Thanks for your help, sir." She smiled politely and retrieved her spread of wares back into the bag. Then, the young trainer looked over to her renegade pooch who had decided to leave his pokeball without permission.
"And you, you're going back into your ball, mister."
Confused, happy and oblivious bark with head-tilt.
But Eve was having none of it, and in the next second, Growlithe was zapped with the beam of red and returned to his rightful place, for now.

With the business at the Pokemon Center complete and er team all healed up, her Rotom Phone equipped with a shiny new App, and with the knowledge that somewhere in this Tree House Town was a place that bought mushrooms for a premium, it was time to get to work. She hadn't made any cash since she'd left Grand Glory City after all, nor had she caught any new pokemon. True, she hadn't spent any money either, but walking around with just 1000p in your pocket wasn't actually finanically safe - especially if something unexpected happend.

Thus, she began the ardeous task of walking around and asking the locals various questions pertaining to the location of this fabled eatery.

"Padon me, I heard there was somewhere in this town that bought mushrooms at a high price. Would you happen to know where that is?"

She'd ask a few passer-bys and people who didn't seem like they'd bother too much if she approached and inquired. Making sure to avoid anyone who looked like they were in a hury or occupied with something. After all, there was nothing worse than some busy-body coming up to you in the middle of you doing something and starting to ask you questions that you didn't have tiem to answer.

But her goals for now were set.

Ask around Starbur Village for the location of the shop that buys Mushrooms at a premium price. If location is learned, go there and sell 3x Tiny Mushrooms and the 1x Big Mushroom. If location is not found, go to PokeMart instead and sell all the Mushrooms there.

---

The hairs on Rau's back were standing straight up even after the two pokeballs clicked shut with the signature sound of a successful capture. He scampered forward with Nils and Clarissa as they retrieved the balls, his large ears on alert. Nils had let out something of a relieved sigh and inspected the pokeball that his new Igglybuff was in, barely able to see the pokemon through the translucent top. It seemed a little surprised, and... almost like it was pouting. It didn't seem too upset by this turn of events though, but even if it had been Nils would have found it hard to be sympathetic when the two little terrors had been bullying a helpless teenager.

He turned to Clarissa to express some of that sentiment when he noticed that her attention was set on the cavern's far wall. He traced her gaze to it, surprised to see what looked like a painted map. A map of a very familiar region!

"Oh, whoa. It's Evig...!" Nils said, looking over the mural and noting all of the details he could. Turned out it was only half of Evig. He also had much the same idea as Clarissa to snap a photo, and his own phone (still with the flashlight enabled) floated up to take a few. Two of the marked places on the map were actually pretty close to Grand Glory... maybe Clarissa and Amelia wouldn't mind heading to one of them to check it out later.

Nils went to take a step forward as though he wanted to touch the map, but at that time the punk had grabbed both trainers and was thanking them profusely. Nils patted the guy on the back a few times. "Sure, sure, glad we could help."

The punk really was terrified. Just what had those Igglybuff been doing to him before they got there? Or maybe it was a combination of getting lost in the crazy, unexpected tunnel network and then being pushed around by the little pokemon. Regardless, once the sound of other pokemon approaching reached the three humans and their own pokemon, they hustled out of the cavern. A part of Nils wanted to stay and confront these new threats, but Rau was his only fresh pokemon. Tors was badly hurt now, the Aron he'd yet to name was hurt, and the Igglybuff he'd just caught... well, he'd be a little too optimistic to rely on that one.

Retreat it was.

Nils spent the hurried trek back to the hole in the wall with the punk clinging onto him while Clarissa got her extra footage. He tried to soothe the other kid as best he could while Rau (who had neglected to return to his pokeball) spent the time on Nil's shoulder, alternating between hissing at the punk and pausing to try and see if anything was following them. Thankfully nothing was, and they made it back up to the actual sewer section of Grand Glory's underground soon enough. There, Nils extracted himself from the still nervous grip of the punk and shot the detective who'd been waiting for them a smile.

"You wouldn't believe what we had to go through, though," he told Dudley. And then he added, "We didn't see anyone else down there... but there were some weird pokemon that I think might be involved with your case?"

Nils didn't know if catching the 'perpetrator' was going to be important to a private investigator, since his main job had been retrieving this kid. If not, maybe the man would just go to the police to investigate the other disappearances... realistically, a pair of new trainers probably shouldn't be the ones spearheading that kind of thing in the first place, however tempting it was to do so.

The notification chime sounded from both of said trainers' phones then, displaying the text message from Amelia. Nils' own response back to the girl was much shorter than the one his companion had sent. In fact, it was only a single picture. The rotom phone floated up to take a candid shot of everyone in the dimly lit sewer room: Clarissa was in the back typing away on her own phone, the detective and the punk kid were in the middle ground talking, and in the foreground off to one side of the frame was Nils and his new Rattata, the only ones actually aware of the quick photo. Everyone in the pic looked varying levels of dirty and disheveled but otherwise alright, and Nils giving the camera a smile and thumbs up. Whether the thumbs up was in response to doing okay or still wanting to travel with Amelia or both went unanswered.

Nils pocketed the phone after that, turning to Clarissa when she addressed him.

"Let's hurry back to Amelia at the Pokemon Center, Nils. Before we all get into any more trouble down here perhaps."

"No arguments here," he said. "But, eh, something tells me we'll probably get into trouble up there too."

He'd already been smiling, but his expression brightened even more when he saw Clarissa's own attempt at it. He nodded, then looked back at Dudley and the kid they'd rescued.

"You've got everything handled here if we head out, detective? And if it'll help your, uh, business, I don't mind if you take all the credit for finding this guy." He did glance at Clarissa after saying so, not yet familiar enough with her to know if she felt the same. For Nils, he would rather stay out of the center of any potentially big stories like this one. He could only imagine what his parents would say if he started drawing anymore special attention to the family.

Regardless, he was about ready to head back up top as well. After finally convincing Rau to return to his ball Nils prepared to lead the way out of the sewers. "Let's get going!"

Whether Steph had intelligence of some form or another would remain to be seen. For now, what mattered was the quest she was receiving. It wasn't exactly the most exciting thing known to man, but a challenge was a challenge, and Steph eagerly nodded along as such. She just had to find three pokemon? Sounded easy enough, especially the first hint. Not too many pokemon resembled a gun, so she had a few ideas as to what it immediately was. The second hint was a good one for location, but didn't really tell her much about what she was looking for but ok whatever. That last hint?

That drew a blank look from the girl. The fuck did you weren't fishing for a water type mean? On that note, why was she needing to fish in the sewers anyway? It didn't really seem like the type of place to go fishing, but whatever, she just shrugged off the blank look and accepted the gear handed to her.

"Sounds seemple enough, though if ya could be a leettle moah spaesoific abeow' thaht sewah one thaht would be grite yayh? am Oy maynt t' gao feeshin up a Trubbish aw Grimer aw somethin? cahn ya even feesh those?" And on another note, did it count as 'fishing' at that point? Steph was doubtful, but hey you know, she had already accepted the challenge. She would be damned if she backed down now. "oh roigh', and guess we should uh...exchuynge numbahs? sao Oy cahn taext ya the photaws and ooll?"

Which Steph still hadn't learned how to do that, but the rotom-phone had it handled. Probably. Maybe. Assuming she didnt somehow make it blow up. Never underestimated Steph in any regard after all. Either way, once numbers were exchanged, given, sung at or whatever it was kids these days did, she would bide the old man farewell and good luck with the rest of his day.

Turning back to her companions, she gestured to the fishing gear first, then to the pier second.

"dawnt suppose any of ya wahnna gao feeshin faw a biieh'? whoile Oy dawnt moind feeshin boy myself, naevah huhts t' hahve someone t' tohk t' tao pahss the toime yayh?" Only if they wanted to though, Steph wasn't going to force anyone to hang out with her. Yet. She had a feeling the green haired girl wouldn't be much interested, but could maybe hang around if Siggy wanted to. If they didnt want to, she would bid farewell and good luck to them, and offer to exchange contact info once more in case any of them wanted to talk or hang out at some later point if their paths crossed again.


She also would tell them she planned on heading down route 4 and if they accepted exchanging info, could organise heading down together if Steph finished what she wanted to do in the city before any of them wanted to leave. Once this was sorted out one way or another, Steph would, even if it was by herself or with her new friends, head to the pier and begin her search for what she believed to be a Remoraid via her fishing rod.

And once she fished up said Remoraid, her plan to fight it? Uh....use Steve and Glory to gang up on it. Her team didn't really suit fighting water types just yet, but Glory's struggle bug would at least do some decent damage, and Steve could just...pick it up and drop it away from the water. Or something. It would find fighting outside of water more difficult, in theory at least anyway. We don't question how a fish pokemon can fight on land.

[Get whoever wanted to give her their phone numbers number, then go and try and fish up a Remoraid, which the plan is to do a quick catch involving Glory and Steve, mostly with Glory looking to damage it with struggle bug and Steve just there for moral water gun support till it was within catchable range. After all, might as well catch whatever she fished up right?]

Atlas' reaction to the sheer magnitude of the wall's durability was simple: staggering back with their entire body vibrating for a few seconds before shaking off its hand, trying to brush off the the pain by giving the wall a respectful nod and instead beginning to investigate the wall itself.

Vivian simply winced at the sight of Atlas' damage, but with the ghost Pokemon not seeming too damaged and interested in just looking at the wall now, she turned her attention back to the duo, giving a nod to Sabine, "Sure. Vivian, Vivi, Viv, I don't mind any of those nicknames. As for plans... Well, I'm not too sure myself. My main goal is to explore and find ancient ruins to investigate and explore. I would *try* to have a direct location to work towards but I'm a bit hopeless when it comes to directions" Vivian says with a small laugh, rubbing the back of her head, "If you have any suggestions on what kind of place would be of note to an aspiring archeologist, feel free to tell me. I'd love an actual place to try to guide myself towards."

Amelia waited silently in the pokecenter after sending her message to Clarissa and Nils. Minutes would pass and the more that did, the more the feeling of anxiety inside of her grew. Maybe they had decided not to travel with her. She could think of several reasons why. Her age or her reluctance to join them in their adventure were at the top of the list but she couldn't rule out that she might have accidently said something they didn't like. Maybe it was because of something she couldn't think of. She didn't know and that lack of knowledge only make her feel worse.

Then her rotom phone went off and a message from Clarissa came through. The small medium at large hesitated in opening the message but eventually did so... and instantly broke into a smile as she read that they weren't leaving her behind and still planned on traveling with her. The feeling of anxiety vanished and was replaced with joy, happy to know that she would be traveling with people she hoped might be some of her first human friends. With the promise of the two coming to the pokecenter, she decided to wait, opening up the video Clarissa had sent her and watching it to pass the time, maveling at the cave featured in it. She would have to ask about that once her companions arrived.

@baraquiel@GremlinAgain

"Neil, please, just call me Neil." He said, clearly a bit uncomfortable with the formality he was being treated with. "And no, not that I know of, and I doubt it's a Pokemon. Whoever got in had to know the code, which should be impossible since only my wife and I know it. That and the other question is how they found out and how they've been avoiding all of the security cameras around the ranch. It's top of the line stuff."

Oddly enough, he looked insecure. His arms were crossed together, and his brow was furrowed as if he was trying to wrack his brains together though there was definitely something that he was worrying about. It was reasonable considering the situation though it was odd behavior. Archie was used to seeing his parent's act, pretending to be something that they were not, so he could see that there was something else to this man's worries. It was as if he was hiding something.

However, there was something else. Bravos would see something glistening in the light around one of the lower-level incubator handles, just small enough that even if someone was looking for it, they would not be able to find it easily. Something... pink? It was a bit gloopy, for lack of a better word. Something was in here before.

---

@Goggy

Sabine pondered on Vivian's question for a moment. "I know outside of Nexus is the Alabaster Ruins though if you're really into learning about the region's history maybe you want to check out King's Cross at some point? It's the oldest city in the region. What do you recommend?" She looked towards Connor.

He looked as if he was wracking his brain to see what he could think of, scratching his chin in thought. "Well, Rubycrest Desert is more my neck of the woods, and I know for a fact that there's something hiding beneath those sands. Could check out the Shattered Tower too, now that's a weird place from what I've heard." His eyes widened as if something just clicked in his head and he snapped his finger. "Actually, you may want to start in Starbor. You've probably never heard of this since you're not from here, but supposedly Starbor Forest is home to what some folks call the 'Forest Deity."

"Huh, that's news to me." Sabine commented.

Connor grinned as if he got one up on her and continued. [color]"Long ago in ancient times, there was a calamitous fire that razed forests and villages into simply ash. In the aftermath, when everything was already lost both people and Pokemon prayed for a miracle, anything to save them. Their prayers were answered by what is known as The Forest Deity, who raised the forest that we see today from the ground and taught man how to live alongside with its creation, hence the village."[/color] He vaguely gestured to the towering woods that stretched to the sky.

"There is apparently a shrine dedicated to the Deity, but the truth is that no one has ever seen it. Frankly, I think it's a load of bunk. You'd think someone would have found it by now." The cowboy shrugged as if to dismiss the idea entirely.

Sabine grinned and said, "Ye of little faith. I'm surprised that you even know that one. You've been holding out on me."

"Hey, I'm from here! I ought to know a few folk legends." He exclaimed. He focused back on Vivan and said, "But you should talk to locals, chances are you'll learn something that'll point you in the right direction though be careful. Sometimes people will tell you some wild stuff."

"Are you talking about the fisherman that said he saw someone fall out of the sky?"

"Yeah, absolute raving lune. He's probably still around here if you're interested."

Well, what does Vivian want to do?

Connected Areas:

Grand Glory City
Starbor Forest

---

@Sanguine Rose

Faye would get the strong feeling that she has seen this woman somewhere before though she would have to push it to the side for now as she was in her first ever battle with a wild Pokemon.

Sage slammed himself against the Espurr with the entirety of its body weight and thanks to catching it completely off guard, they dealt a critical hit. The Espurr was sent rolling along the ground and looked up just in time to see a cloud of dust kicked towards its way. It jumped out of the way in time to avoid the Sand Attack though it looked quite weakened already if Faye wished to catch it.

The woman looked quite surprised by the sudden appearance of Faye though grateful. "I, uh, yes. I am..." She glanced down to see a Snubbul tugging at the hem of her pants with a big grin on its face. The woman looked like she was ready to scold the Pokemon. "And I see you found the runaway." She murmured though when she returned to focus on the fight, she yelled, "Hey, watch out!"

With a surprising burst of speed, the Espurr appeared in front of Sage thanks to a handy dandy move called Fake out and right before Sage thought it was going to be struck, the psychic-type's paws clapped together instead of striking the Eevee. This thought would cause Sage to flinch, and this was quickly followed up by a swipe from the Espurr's claws.

How does Faye react?

---

@Joshua Tamashii@Shazamrock@Crusader Lord@Azure Bubbles

While Nils and Clarissa conversed quickly, the detective spoke to the boy. While some would expect him to be leaping for joy, he seemed more bothered than celebratory. "Hm... So, you're unrelated to everything else then. Alright kid let's get you back home."

He focused on the two kids and smiled at them. "Thanks for the help kids, and Nils, if you need anything you always have my card. I definitely owe you a solid for this." With that, he gave them a wave as they traversed their way out of the sewers. After climbing up from the depths and pushing a manhole cover off, they were back on the surface. Fresh air filled their lungs, or at least as much fresh air anyone could get in a city.

As they walked through the city, people and Pokemon gave them a wide berth because for lack of a better term, they smelled of sewage. They reeked of pure unfettered shit. Eventually they found the Pokemon Center that Amelia was staying in.

They entered the red roofed building with a big standard Pokeball hologram floating above the sliding glass doors and found themselves in a lobby for a comfortable cafe or motel, filled with friendly and comfortable furniture that trainers of all skill levels were welcomed. One would have imagined it to be much more sterile as it was a place to heal Pokemon, but it was so much more than that.

There was a dining area on one side and near the back of the building were accommodations for any trainer needing to rest their weary head and have a bath because Arceus above some of you are going to need it big time. Of course, there was a section where various PCs were lined up ready to be used to withdraw and deposit Pokemon to and fro their designated storage space. In your case, Kapoc's lab and in that wide open space where they had received teir starters.

Of course, there was the all-important Nurse Joy standing at her station with her ever-pleasant smile, ever present in every Pokemon Center across Evig. Was it the same Nurse Joy or a different one? Don't ask questions you don't want to know the answer to.



Next to the Nurse Joy station was another counter top that just had a sign that said Move Tutors returning soon!

Approaching the station, Nurse Joy gave her an upbeat smile and said, "Welcome to the-" The smell hit the Nurse Joy like a baseball to a window. "Showers, now."

This was not a request; it was a demand.

---

@Xaltwind

...Evelyn, it's Starbor. Like Star and Arbor. Starbor. Coincidentally, a kind of kale too. Anyway!

Approaching a random stranger, she asked where she could sell her mushrooms. "Huh, oh you'd need to go to the Starscaper layer for that. A Kalosian restaurant called Le Champignon has a head chef that tries to source wild mushrooms. You can get up there with the gondolas."

Thank you, random citizen.

Well, there was only one thing to do then. It wasn't hard to find the gondolas; all that anyone had to do was to look up and the follow the ones heading downwards from above or just head a kiosk and ask. Either way, Evelyn would find herself at a gondola station with a crowd of people. It was basically like train station with benches lined up and arrival and departure timings listed on a holographic screen that hovered on the walkway.

Eventually, a yellow gondola with a red roof like one would find for a ski lift arrived except it was about the size of a bus. Inside the cart one could either stand and hold onto the poles and railings to keep themselves in place or if one was lucky enough, they could grab one of seats that lined against the windows. There was no conductor or even a person in there, it all seemed to be automated by computers.

A woman's voice from a speaker inside the gondola said the doors would be closing and Evelyn would watch as she was being lifted up into the air. Over the course of the ride, she would get to see the other layers of the village, people going about their days on these wooden platforms many stories high above the ground as if it was nothing. Then again, she too was now many stories high above the ground as well. Occasionally, a gust of wind would gently rock the gondola along the cables it rode though no one inside reacted.

Eventually, the gondola came to a gentle halt and doors slid open.

---

@Lunarlord34

"Believe me kid, you'll know it when you see it." Was all the fisherman said before he casted his rod back into the sea.

Siegfriend, Freya, and Asta exchanged numbers with Steph because for some reason, their numbers were not included in her phone even though the group she was part of today all had each other's phone numbers. Weird.

Upon being offered to hang around while she fished, Asta gave her an awkard look. "Ah, well I don't really have the patience for fishing, and he just follows me wherever I go. If you're heading your way down to Route 4, we'll probably bump into each other again at some point. Be seeing ya babes and hey, maybe next time I'll get to battle you. Siggy too! She finished off with a big grin on her face.

"Till me meet again." He bowed to both of them respectfully and then with Asta by his side walked off.

Freya looked at Steph and said, "I, uh, I guess I'll hang around. Don't really have a travelling companion like that... or anything like that to be honest." Never before had Freya felt painfully single until this very moment. She sat down with Steph and pulled out her own fishing rod to kill the time too.

And with that Steph was fishing... Yup, so exciting. A whole bunch of bloody nothing. What the hell was the GM thinking giving this kind of boring, bloody-?

The bob on the fishing line tugged downwards! Something was on the line! Steph began to tug upwards, drawing the line above the water and she found a...!



Well one could always try again!

...



Also, she ended up fishing up a rubber boot. Not a pair. Just a single rubber boot.

Alright so maybe she had really bad luck. Maybe she used all of it up with her battle with Jean?

Well, the bob once again and this time... Oh thank fucking god the GM can stop rolling the die.



It was fished to the surface and... how the fuck was it floating above the ground? It was swimming in the air. Not flying, swimming. You know what, don't question it.

While it was really at a type-disadvantage since it could only do not very effective damage, Glory was a Wimpod. They're made a glass bones and paper skin and for some reason Remoraid knew Water Pulse at level 4. However, repeated Struggle Bugs did wear down on it enough that Steph could reliably throw a Pokeball at it.

It rolled once...

It rolled twice...

It rolled thrice!



"...Did it really take you thirty tries to catch a Remoraid?" Freya asked incredulously.

Now what?

She had been more than a little happy to get out of the sewers....finally. Oh so very much finally. She had become accustomed to the chaos such that the smell had become, er, something more of a secondary concern for her for more obvious reasons. Though the Hidden Cavern had at least been a break from it all if nothing else. Yet the trip back? The trip back was almost surprising if she hadn't recalled where they had just been running about in. The only one who seemed to not be actively avoiding them for understandable reasons was Scrapper, and while that could be due to what he was it seemed to be more in this case due to him being in her arms, almost knocked out or worse from face-taking a fireball, and not being able to do anything about it but half-mumble while trying to seemingly stay awake during the trip back. Not that he got to see much of the city in his current state even then. The farther they walked, then, the more anxious the psychic grew about getting herself a shower and getting cleaned up properly and fully despite trying to keep a mental note to drop off her Pokemon for healing at the center and wanting to see Amelia again.

Yet the movement of feet, the whispers of people, the attention it drew to them due to their situation....it made the psychic begin to start controlling her breathing to some extent to try to channel a greater level of self-control and calm than normal. Normally she wouldn't see it as a problem these days, but this situation was pushing her buttons somewhat. she hadn't thought much about the aftermath of a sewer excursion beforehand as much as she'd thought about trying to help a Pokemon all lonely and afraid down there to be truthful. Clarissa would even stop glancing to the sides at others to the sides of them, all while trying to focus ahead as if she put blinders on mentally and physically. That and trying to direct and control her breathing was a more deliberate action as well for certain. In and out. In and out. It was stagnant city air, but that was a far call from reeking sewer air in kind. And, for that matter, how had the Hidden Cavern managed to stay full of cleaner air compared to the sewers above it? Was there some kind of passage to aboveground still present, or was it something else like something producing breatheable air down there?

By Arceus, she wished she could at least hear a 'ping' from her phone with a response from the Professor at least. Or see Amelia standing there. Something. Another distraction before they-....oh!

By the time her racing thoughts and efforts into focusing on the path ahead had made enough of a course through her mind, they had finally arrived at their destination. The red roof and Pokeball hologram were a sight for stinky eyes for a surety, though the psychic nearly fumbled as she tried to grab her Pokeballs in her hands for delivery to the nurse. And luckily her things were sealed up in her suitcase as well, a rather good suitcase sealing her things against the stink and environmental hazards and filth at least, so that wasn't a worry for her to be concerned over in the moment at the very least (also much to her relief).

Two things stood out as they walked inside, aside from the people avoiding them yet still, in Clarissa's eyes. The first was the red hair and styled loops of Nurse Joy, along with the type of smile she'd heard these Nurses usually bore in such places for those coming in, and the second was a familiar (and luckily not lost) smaller child sitting to the side in her little hoodie. Yet it also took enough self-control to not just blitz toward the entrance of the showers in a mad scramble at this point. Even her feet were getting visibly antsy and anxious to move in the right direction, even while putting Scrapper back in his Pokeball in the meantime as well.

"Amelia! We're here."

Despite her stoicism and calmer tone, ah, after calling out to the other younger girl she would take a brief pause before amending her words. They did, after all, smell like an Alolan Grimer's buffet table. Eww.

"W-We need to take a shower first, though, so you can meet me there if you want."

Breathe. In and out. Good. Keep focus. Eyes on the prize. With her Pokeballs in her hands, and not attached to her belt, the psychic would try to hurry over to the counter where Nurse Joy stood whhile still trying to hold her composure and nerves. She wasn't about to totally lose her cool, but it was working her nerves a bit yet with the whole stinky sewer situation in hindsight...yeah.

Next to the Nurse Joy station was another counter top that just had a sign that said Move Tutors returning soon!

Approaching the station, Nurse Joy gave her an upbeat smile and said, "Welcome to the-" The smell hit the Nurse Joy like a baseball to a window. "Showers, now."

This was not a request; it was a demand.

"Yes. Will do. Please heal my Pokemon as well, as they're not in very good shape after what we've just gone through. Sorry sorry sorry! Thank you!"

Making barely sure not to drop her Pokeball on the floor as she placed them all with a now more visible haste onto the counter, Clarissa would barely turn enough to wave at Nils, motion toward where she was headed, and then literally sprinted toward Accomodations and the potential of a nice, long, hot shower. Still felt a bit as if the eyes of everyone there were drawn toward her the whole way, but the psychic was not putting up any more pretenses of patience. She wanted to clean up, she had give her Pokemon all over in their Pokeballs to be cared for by the Nurse, and she didn't want to feel the sensation of staring any longer than she'd had to thus far already!

[Clarissa is headed off to take a shower, after dropping off her now Pokeball-contained party of Pokemon off with Nurse Joy, as well as to escape the sensation of being stared at on her part due to the stink situation. (We can timeskip this IC I figure, yes please.)]

@Remram@Shazamrock@Joshua Tamashii

Amelia was able to wait patiently near the Nurse Joy after getting the confirmation that they were still traveling together from Clarissa. It would be a few minuters but eventually her new travel companions did show up... and boy did they show up. Amelia jumped up once she saw them, a smile on her face as she moved to approach... then the smell hit her. She gagged for a second as it first hut her, a hand quickly flying up to cover her nose. The Nurse Joy didn't seem very happy either and instantly demanded they headed to the showers. Clarissa quickly agreed to this while handing over her pokemon, to which Amelia noted several new balls alongside Sir Lopsolot's. Something they might be able to talk about. With Clarissa heading to the showers, Amelia figured that it wouldn't hurt to join her and followed after Clarissa to said showers, eager to hear about the older girl and Nil's adventures. Maybe she would tell about her adventures as well.

---

With the knowledge that Dudley the PI owed him one (which to be honest Nils wasn't sure how reliable the man was), Nils cracked open the nearest exit that led topside and crawled out of the sewer, swiftly followed by Clarissa. Well, they'd done it; they'd found the source of that weird noise and solved the mystery of some missing people... maybe? Hopefully? Nils knew that Clarissa had sent information back to Professor Kapoc, and with Dudley already on the scene and involved there wasn't much left to do but leave it to the adults to sort out. Maybe in the future they could go back once they'd gotten stronger. Eventually he had to come back here anyway as he was pretty sure there was a gym in town, but it would be better to get some more experience first. But that was a thought for later.

Nils was rather chill while they walked through the city. He knew they both looked a mess and probably smelled even worse, but it was sort of funny to watch the people on the sidewalks part in front of them. No foot traffic to worry about, and he had an equally stinky friend by his side. His Pokemon were also all safe in their pokeballs, so he didn't need to worry much about them unless something happened on the way to the Pokemon Center... which nothing did, thankfully. Nils had been in the Pokemon Center just earlier, but even so once he and Clarissa arrived he took a moment to glance around. When he spotted Amelia waiting for them he smiled widely at her... until she choked on the stench wafting from her two fellow trainers. Then his smile turned apologetic.

"That bad?" he asked, fully aware that yes, it was that bad.

So bad, in fact, that the nurse ushered them to the back of the establishment and took no objections about it. Nils nodded at Clarissa when she waved to him, and then to Amelia when the younger girl followed after the older, and finally Nils himself passed his pokeballs to Nurse Joy over the counter before heading to the men's section of the more private rest areas. "My pokemon too, please. Thank you miss!"

In the accommodation area he found cots and single beds, shower stalls and a bath, sinks and even machines for washing and drying clothes. Plus complimentary towels along with tees and sweat pants while waiting for one's laundry. How convenient!

It wasn't much later that Nils emerged from the rear of the Pokemon Center washed and with his clothes freshened up too. It seemed that out of the three of Kapoc's trainers here, he'd been the first to finish. After reclaiming his pokemon from Nurse Joy and thanking her again, Nils tossed his backpack near one of the sofas in the front and plopped down to wait for Clarissa and Amelia. While he did, he released Tors from his pokeball. The mudbray was good as new now.

Nils pet the pokemon's head. "I'm glad you're alright, buddy."

Tors licked his hand, leaving a residue behind that was a mix of mud and saliva which Nils just laughed at and wiped on his pants. They'd barely lasted ten minutes clean.

Next order of business... teaching Tors that new move. Or rather letting him know to use that physical version over the special attack version. With his phone pulled from his pocket Nils looked around the UI for anything about the message it had displayed earlier during the battle. Eventually he found it, and with some fiddling Tors' moves were updated.

[ Swap Mud-Slap for Mudslide ]

And looking through his phone meant that Nils noticed the pokedex had updated a lot more since he'd last checked it. At least one of their fellow trainers had been making a lot of progress outside of the city! And... were those two more contacts he hadn't noticed before on his list? If they'd been added automatically, they were probably more of Kapoc's recruits. Maybe latecomers? Nils sent them both a text message:

To: Vivian @Goggy, Claris @Typical
hey hey! your number was in my phone. guessing you're trainers picked by prof. Kapoc? same here!
did you show up late or something? lol
since we didn't get to meet before, I'm saying hi now!

He considered also sending along the photo he'd sent to Amelia, but decided against it. Instead he forwarded the group photo that Faye had taken that same morning so that these two missing trainers could see what their co-workers (and competition!) looked like. While he was at it Nils also added Dudley's number to his contact list in case he lost the card. By then Clarissa and Amelia had returned, so Nils stood to greet them. The jacket he'd previously worn was tied around his waist now, leaving him in the cream colored long sleeve tunic and red undershirt, and his hair was no longer braided; instead it was a long, fluffy mane of brown, left loose for the moment while the last of it dried.

"Welcome back. Feels a lot better now, huh?" he greeted them with. The shower had definitely helped him, at least. "Now that we're all back together again, we can start out of the city whenever we're ready. I wanna swing by the Pokemart on the way out for a few more potions, though. As for what route we take..."

Nils brought up the photo of the painted map that he and Clarissa had seen in the mysterious cavern the fire puffs were in below the sewers for all of them to see, the one that showed the symbols over a few different cities. Two were very close by.

"Unless we wanna head off the beaten path and cut right through Lake Charity to Valstille, it's gonna be toward either Florasong or Stararbor. I wanna check out these little marks on the map and both towns have them, so either one's fine with me. Florasong's a little closer, though. What do you guys think?"

At that point Nils had noticed something else- no, someone else. A tall, blond boy, familiar looking not just because he had been with the others in Kapoc's lab earlier. This was the boy with the Cutiefly, if Nils recalled correctly. He did not, unfortunately, recall the other boy's name though. He had arrived too late to hear it and he hadn't introduced himself afterward. It wasn't like they were complete strangers though, and since the guy was here in the Pokemon Center hovering near them, Nils shot him a smile.

"Oh, hey hey. You coming with?" he asked Valerian, as simple as that.

---

---

After being reprimanded by an invisible, disembodied voice about her pronounciation of StarBURR Village, Eve eventually got the info she was looking for and politely thanked the kind, random citizen of the local area.

The gondola ride up the trees were... Interesting... While Evelyn didn't have an issue with heights or high places in general, the fact that this was just some rickety little lift, which began to sway in winds and the wires holding up making that uncomfortable, metallic tension-noise whenever that occurred, was a bit unnerving and had the girl gripping tightly onto one of the holding rails of the interior. Thankfully, she arrived at the top unscathed and without incident.

After this, it was straight off to her destination, not even bothering to take in the sights or sounds of the Starscraper level. There was somehting that needed doing and Eve was dtermined to get that done!

The diner itself was... Charming, in a sense. It was a half-way point between soimething fancy and a regularold street-bistro... Somewhat reminded her of the diners you could find back home, although much less decorated or intricate. Still, she managed to get a hold of the man she was looking for, a gentleman who looked dangerously close to red flag stereotyping, and successfully made her transaction.




After having finished ehr business and thanked the Head Chef for his business, the young trainer departed the eatery without further fuss or noise, not wanting to disturb any customers who were there to enjoy a meal. After all, there were few things as uncouth as causing a ruckus and ruining someone else's meal.

Stepping back out into the Skyscraper level of StarBURR, Even stretched hea arms up and into the air, slightly arching backwards and letting out a contented 'Mmmmmmmh'-noise. Then she opened her eyes again. And for, perhaps the first time, she actually paid attention to the surroundings and the view that lay before her. The blonde girl stood quiet and with a blank expression, not sure how to describe or react to what she saw. A moment or two passed, before her mouth finally let something out.

"Wow... That's... This is really something."

It wasn't flashy like back home. it was stylish or modern like she prefered. It wasn't even somewhere she could ever consider living or staying for long. And yet... It had such a magical, dream-like aesthetic and vibe. The large trees, the buildings nestled between branches, the solar panel farms, the walkways, and of course, the many, many people who were hustling and bustling about their daily lives. Hustle and bustle, atop giant trees, where a functioning, livable settlement had been constructed. It was... Surreal and impressive, at least to the blonde teen.

"I... Should take some pictures."

And that is exactly what she did. Walking away froom the eatery a bit, it was the first place she had ehr Rotom Phone snap a pic off. Next was the view out over the rest of Starbor and eastern Evig. Next she wandered about and took a couple of snaps of both the Contest Hall as well as the Gym, though she didn't enter either of these locales. She also photo-snapped the gondolas as they moved up and down. Yes, good. This would be an excellent addition to her biography about her amazing rise to stardom! After all, pictures always added a bit of flare to the reading experience, right?

Next on blondie's agenda was finally noticing the pokemon that were up here. Primarily, two types of birds, and some kinda nut-pokemon. While the latter didn't interest her in the slightest, the two avian ctypes did. She knew that having a creature that could look for things from above, as well as deal with murderous scthe-bugs - no, she wasn't traumatized at all, you shut up! - would be really handy, and since she'd passed up the chance to get a birdie back in Grand Glory City, now seemed like a perfect opportunity to rectify that.

Bzzzzzzzzzzoooort~!

A small yellow bug was released, chittering in bewilderment as he now looked around at the bizarre location in which he found his tiny self. Then, Joltik turned to look at his trainer, chittered happily, and came skittering over, nuzzling up against her leg.

"Hey there, Joltik." She squatted down and gave the little scamp a few scratches on the head, much to his delight. ""Think you can help me catch one of each of these birds?" She asked, smiling at her little starter, who reared up on two of his hind-most little legs, and tried to imitate Sentret's saluting... But... It didn't uh... it didn't look quite right. But at least he tried!

Thus, Joltik was ordered to engage with one of each of the flying types, and Eve would try a quick catch of both a Starly and a Pikipek. Regardless of the results, she would only try once for each one.

Following that, she also got the bright idea to let her Joltik keep training, and would continue to have the little electro-tick shoot his zappy zap-webs at the birds in order to gain some much needed experience. Once she felt the little guy was starting to get tired, it was time to swap in Sentret.

Her fuzzy rabbit-rat-thing wasn't sent to pick a fight with the birds though. Instead, Sentret was sent to train against the nut-lookin' Seedots. After all, she didn't want her Sentret to try jumping around and tryiing to air-tackle the birds, only to fall off and down into the levels below... She relaly didn't need a pancaked pokemon just because the terrain was unfavorable.

Growlithe was not let out though. Again, Evelyn had enough common sense to not bring out something that could breathe fire and have it use said fire in the middle of a place that was almost entirely made out of flammable wood. So for now, the pooch would have to sit this training session out.

Joltik is attempting to weaken both a Starly and Pikipek for a quick-catch. Then, he is sent to train against more Starly and Pikipek. Sentret is called out once Joltik gets tired and will train against - primaily - Seedots.

To the surprise of no one when Asta turned down the prospect of fishing together and missing what was sure to be a show though neither know of it, which was still slightly disappointing to Steph but she shrugged it off, Steph bid her farewell and got comfortable. She didn't know how long she would be here, so might as well right?

.....
.....
.....

By Arceus was she glad she got comfortable.

The first magikarp she was pretty happy with just catching right away, Magikarp was obviously weak as piss but Steph loved Gyrados, so she was willing to put in the hard yards with who she now affectionately named Barra to profit later down the line. Though as she settled back down to continue fishing...well, she wasn't surprised by the second magikarp. Or the third. By the 15th it was uh...getting a bit out of hand she felt. On a whim, she decided to catch another three, just because she felt like it really, also it gave her an in character chance to see if catching multiple of a pokemon would pay out still.

If nothing else, she still knew Pokemon trades existed. Or she could offer it to someone as a gift? There were uses for extras anyway, and thats what mattered to her. And whatever she didnt catch, she would use as exp fodder for training up Glory. Because surely some exp was the upside here, even if it was barely even a level. 26 Magikarp worth of exp, plus whatever for catching them, was still exp she wouldn't have otherwise and all.

Though the real find amongst all this was when she thought she finally reeled in a Remoraid, whatever was on the end of this line putting up a hell of a fight....just to be smacked in the face by a wet rubber boot as she finally yanked it out of the water. Undettered despite this, she would add Rubert the Rubber boot to her inventory and fight on. Because by this point? It was getting personal. She would fish up this little critter if it was the last thing she did.

Never before had Freya seen such fire in the eyes of someone simply trying to fish.

And when she finally brought the little bastard to the surface, she unreleased true hell upon it. Struggle Bug spam from Glory. Truly, a fate worse than death. Though with that last roll of the pokeball, and the most satisfying ding Steph had ever heard in her damned in her life, she made sure to bring out what she now called Remy the Remoraid out, before turning to Freya.

"Thuhty-ONE thighnk yah...haow do Oy tyke a peecchuh weeth thiies thing boy the why?" Yes she was serious. Yes, it didn't matter if Freya was the most technological capable person on the planet. She would struggle to teach Steph how to do this. This was a canon event, and it would happen in every timeline eventually, one way or another. Though once that was sorted and the old man had received the first of the three challenge pictures, Steph would now wish to move on from the Harbour. Though not without a quick sweep of the area in the event she might find an uncommon pokemon, better safe than sorry right? And if she did encounter such an uncommon? Eh that was a future writers problem to deal with depending on the mon.


Assuming she didnt and she left the Harbour, she would make her way towards the Park, probably with Freya's guidance since she was the local, but it was probably also easy enough to find regardless. On her way there, she would attempt to quick catch a Machop by flexing at it. Yes, you didn't read that wrong. Yes, I had permission to try this. And yes, Steph would damn well try to bond with a Machop through flexing. It was a better idea than the arm wrestle originally thought out, though that could wait till later.

In the meantime also, Steph would attempt to train her team against some of the wild pokemon on her way to the Park before and after this attempt to get a machop. A rotation of Dusk, Steve, Barra and Remy. Since Dusk was the endgame boss for early game mobs, he would do most of the heavy lifting, though Steve did have the advantage of being in the air so would pick on those that couldn't fly. Ember spam from Dusk should do the trick anyway, with maybe Astonish used against any Espurrs who wanted to throw hands...or minds? Whatever it is they threw.

"It's a grim day for the Evig region. Poor innocent Pokémon eggs stolen from an honest farmer. Of course, when the authority fails the innocent, this case looks like a job for...

Detective Archie..."

The detective paced side to side, clutching his Rotom phone and using it to record his notes. In this mind, the world was awashed in sepia tones, his scouring eyes hidden under his hat as his long trench coat dragged along the ground.

"We're now at the scene of the crime, a place where the crime... er, occured. It was here that the poor farmer's eggs were nabbed by an unknown assailant. What's their agenda? Was this an act of revenge against these farmers or a petty little theft of a crime? Heh, it could be many things. For all I know, this is a heinous act of, of evilnness-ess." Detective Archie shook his head dejectedly, the expression on his face as grim as the crime he was investigating.

His trusty partner, Agent Bravos, was also wearing a matching hat and trench coat but was realistically looking at its Trainer like it was confused as to what he was doing. Even Neil the farmer, or the victim for Detective Archie's case, would be looking exasperatedly on the lad with a sigh (and a sweat drop for visual gag)

"Sir Neil already ruled out Pokémon which meant a human being was responsible for this malevolent act. Grr, I'm gonna catch that good-for-nothing, massive heap of Tauros dropping even if it's the last thing I do." Detective Archie said with conviction.

Miles away, his mother's mother instincts suddenly tingled. When asked by her husband what's wrong, she claimed she had the surprising urge to 'spank someone's misbehaving rear'.

Meanwhile, something caught Bravos' eye and it called out to the detective to come take a look. "Well what is this? Pink goo? What does this mean? Care to explain... Mister Neil?"

The young detective looked accusingly at the hulking farmer and paced around him slowly. "Ya see, I'm a son of two very talented, very wonderful theatre actors. Why, I even shared the stage with them once or thrice in the past. So trust me when I say... I know bad actors when I see one."

He stopped in front of him and glared at Neil. "The importance of these eggs... The unkown culprit seemingly knowing how to evade these security camers to avoid detection... Impossible that a complete stranger knew the passcode to the coop, yet you only placed your thumb to open... That would only mean that, that... Wait, where was I going?" Archie broke character and scratched his head in confusion.

"Chespin, Ches, Ches!" Bravos chimed in and stood beside its trainer to stare at Neil, getting in on it too. "Oh right! Thank you, Agent Bravos!" Archie pointed an accusatory finger at Neil. "You're hiding something from me, Mister Neil and I want to know what it is. The truth can evade us for far too long. Tell us what you know, Mister Neil! In the name of justice!"

@Remram @Joshua Tamashii @Shazamrock@Crusader Lord

Valerian sat on the Pokémon Center’s couch, legs crossed and back straight, waiting with barely-concealed impatience for his team to finish healing. When Nurse Joy finally called his name, he strode up, accepted his Poké Balls with a grateful nod, and immediately let Aurelia Rose out. The shiny Cutiefly hovered close, circling Val’s head before perching daintily on his shoulder.

He watched Amelia reunite with her friends, a little trio, now complete. Well, that’s that, then. She’s found her people. Perhaps I ought to find mine. He should figure out his next move, though he had to admit, being alone sounded suspiciously… lonely.

Before he could dwell on it, Nils approached, asking if Val coming with them? Valerian looked Nils up and down, a rugged boy with fluffy brown hair and eyes like amethyst. Cute. He smiled. “Oh, aren’t you adorable,” he said, as if it was a casual observation. “Yes, I would love to travel with your group. But… I don’t believe we’ve properly met. I’m Valerian Hardrada.” His smile widened a little, “Prince Valerian Hardrada, if you want to be formal.” He extended his hand for a handshake.

Aurelia Rose, sensing her trainer’s mood, struck a little pose beside him.

Have I seen her before? A fleeting thought passed through her head. But there was a battle to be won and she wasn't going to be distracted from it.

"I wouldn't say it ran away so much as I distracted it with some photo ops." Faye's attention stayed on Sage and the wild pokemon he was battling. She was trying to look past the dust cloud to see the Espurr so she could give more direction. Except Sand Attack was kind of meant to make it hard to see, which was the entire point of the attack, but also made it impossible. "I have some to send you once this Espurr is dealt with."

The Espurr seemed to recover faster than she wanted. And Sage wasn't prepared. "Sage, watch out!" "Hey, watch out!" the two shouted at the same time.

Sage let out a soft squeezed yip of surprise, flinching away from the assumed attack. Too surprised by the fake-out, he yelped when the claws struck him. That wasn't going to slow him down though. He shook it off and braced for the next instruction.

"Show it you mean business with a Growl then Tackle to pin it to the ground!" The purple haired trainer pointed at the Espurr out of just sheer excitement. Obviously Sage wasn't looking at her, the motion was useless, but she couldn't help but move.

Faye pulled a pokeball from the pocket of her hoodie and readied to throw it. Whether Sage landed the tackle or if the Espurr got away, she planned to throw the ball as soon as Sage made his moves.

Vivian quickly scribbles the names of the locations into her notebook, "Alabaster Ruins... King's Cross... Shattered Tower... Starbor Forest..?" she mutters, pulling out a small map and quickly scanning it, "Oh! It's near this route! Fantastic, fantastic! I'll have to make sure to visit all these places while I go through the region" Vivian says, grabbing a Pokeball off her belt and quickly returning Atlas to his ball, "I suppose for now my translation attempts on these walls will have to wait, though I've already got most of the script copied down so if I find anymore of these things I could try to cross-reference. Shame I can't take a sample with me though..."

The archeologist looks down for a moment, before shaking her head, "I'll figure that part out later. The mystery of the droning, unbreakable black wall can wait. For now, I have to take a look into this Forest Deity! I'll see you two around-" Vivian begins to say, already running off with her equipment rebagged, a cloud of dust following her as her voice got quieter and quieter as she ran towards the distant treeline of Starbor Forest, "-IF YOU FIND ANY COOL ARTIFACTS HOLD ONTO THEM FOR ME!, I'LL WANT TO TAKE A LOOK AT THEM!".

With that, Vivian sprints down the pathway, her form surprisingly well maintained as she swerves to avoid different obstacles... At least until her attention was diverted by the phone in her pocket buzzing with a text, causing her to bring it out and look at it... While still running.

To: Nils@Shazamrock
hihi yeah i got held up by gyarads. nice to talk tho i'm currently on route 4 doing some archeugjaokgjaksltjastkljhagkaklmdfsjkghdstjhsj

Whatever response Vivian was sending quickly became nothing more than a jumbled mess as her foot caught a stray stone on the path, completely disrupting her as she let out a yelp of surprise... Only to fall flat on her face, beginning to roughly tumble down the hill in a mess of limbs. Quite a few Pokémon took notice of the commotion, but the only one that had any stake in the situation was the Wooper currently sitting at the bottom of the path, completely oblivious to the mass barreling straight towards it. Though thankfully, fate seemed to grace the Wooper's unblinking demeanor as Vivian finally skidded to a stop, flopping face down on the ground just a few inches from the Wooper... Who simply proceeded to follow Vivian's example and flop face down as well.

A hot shower....a thing that had been rather soothing for the body and the mind in this case. She couldn't feel the sensation of eyes staring at her, couldn't hear or see lips whispering about her, nor frankly had she lost control of her powers such as to hear the thoughts of others at that. Likewise she'd return to pick up her clothes from the laundry while returning, fresh and clean and frankly another relief to her mind at this venture. Though she had to admit that the unexpected appearance of Amelia had led to some conversation, which was in hindsight something to get her mind more off her herself in the moment really, albeit she'd gotten to share the story of the past few-...hours, maybe? Something of the sort. Likewise it seemed Amelia hadn't been in a totally boring state of affairs either for that matter.

Yet returning to the front counter of the Pokemon center with the smaller girl in tow, now dressed in cleaned clothes and with her things back in order, the psychic would happily go to retrive her Pokemon back from Nurse Joy. Albeit she would do so with a touch of further and earnest apologizing for...er...the stink. Beyond that she would let the matter go with a bit of practiced, focused breathing for a moment. That all being noted, however, knowing her Pokemon were back in good condition was certianly a thing that put her mind at ease after the prior adventure they'd been through. Scrapper had been in the worst shape, Sir Lopsalot had been hanging on by a thin margin, and the rest had been a mess in one way or another.

She'd likewise visit the PCs, transferring some of her captured Pokemon to the Professor in the meantime and hoping he'd gotten her now clear video and apology text. Yet from here it would be a simple enough matter to look over and see Nils talking with the same pink-jacket boy she'd thought back to when Amelia had mentioned this "Valerian" she'd run into out there. Another one of the trainers from the Professor's lab, yes, she recognized him well enough now in that respect at least. Albeit he'd seemingly made a mess of things for the smaller girl....but she'd take Amelia's word that he was a good person at heart and so forth. Not that the Professor seemed the type to bring on sketchy people as trainers either.

Afterwards, though, Clarissa would glance about breifly once more, and then she would in kind turn again to Nurse Joy and ask a question as a certain sign in the center caught her attention.

"Ah, if I may ask, what is a Move Tutor? And do you know more about when they'll be back?"

...Look, you didn't grow up in a place with the most scare amount of Pokemon seemingly in the world without needing to ask some questions. She didn't want to sound stupid, but she was still new to things and hadn't read up on perfectly everything about being a trainer ahead of time. She was just one girl! Albeit it seemed like a good thing to know for the road if nothing else.

If or whenever she'd get her answer from the attending Nurse, she hoped, the psychic would then move to approach the two boys with an attempt at a casual wave to say 'hi' before making it too close to them.

"I think we're mostly ready to get some supplies and such before we hit the road, unless we wish to check out another part of the city or such before doing so as well," she said to Nils, with a side glance at Amelia out of concern in case the other girl didn't feel like such yet or had other business before they hit the road as well, before looking over to Valerian after a moment of silence, "Ah, you're from the Professor's Lab earlier as well, yes? A pleasure to meet you again. Will you be coming along with us?"

She'd extend a hand to shake, if this Valerian felt so inclined to accept it, as a polite greeting and goodwill gesture. Or at least she intended it that way if nothing else.

Earlier Clarissa had indeed tried to go and ask others to group up and travel, but only Amelia had seemingly responded at first before Nils had joined in and they'd gone outside for their first Pokemon battle. Some had just blitzed out of the lab as if their lives depended on it, or had jumped ship to get out there in haste such that she hadn't the chance to ask....not that she blamed them either, even if it had all been a bit discouraging internally for herself in the heat of the moment. Still, safety in groups was a good thing overall, right? Right.

@Remram@Shazamrock@Joshua Tamashii@Azure Bubbles

Following behind in Clarissa's shadow was little Amelia, dressed in freshly laundered cloths. Her hooded sweater she had been wearing was currently wrapped around her waist and revealing the plain black camisole she had been wearing underneath, which made her already pale complexion seem even paler and also made it a bit obvious the girl could do with gaining a bit of weight. She would follow the older girl to the front desk and get her pokemon back, letting out Phantump and Mimikyu, the former floating over her left shoulder while she held the latter in her arms. Creepy doll pokemon in hand, she moved over to where Valerian and Nils were, listening to their conversation before looking at Valerian.
"I thought I told you, if you don't want to be treated like a prince, you shouldn't introduce yourself as one. Doing so will make people think you want to be treated as one." She reminded him gently before turning her attention to Nils and Tors, gently petting the mud donkey. "It's nice to see you again Mister Nils. It sounds like you had a very exciting adventure. And I hear you were in a very tough battle Tors. Are you doing okay? Feeling all better now?"

Regardless of the response from both the humans and the pokemon she talked to, she listened as the older trainers discussed on where to go. She didn't really mind what direction they went in... until Florasong was brought up. The moment that town was mentions, the young medium froze as a chill ran down her spine. Clarissa would be able to easily pick up on the palpable fear that came off the child who needed a couple of seconds to calm down, her grip on Mimikyu tightening until the Ghost let out a cry of discomfort. Once she was calm enough, Amelia turned towards the older trainers, her gaze on the as she spoke in a quiet voice.
"Um... I... I don't care where we go but um... would it be... would it be okay if we avoid Florasong? Please? I... I can't... I can't go there yet." She said, trying to keep calm. Phantump and Mimikyu looked at their trainer in concern, both feeling her fear if they didn't understand where it was coming from, leaving them uncertain how to try and comfort her. If Pikachu was out, she would try to help too but... best to keep her and Mimikyu separated.

---

It was good to know that everyone was pretty much on the same page. After waving back at Clarissa the first thing Nils did when his newest acquaintance confirmed that he'd be traveling with them was to beam at the blond. He didn't remember the last time he'd been called adorable, if ever, but it was a compliment that he happily accepted. The second thing he did was to pause and blink in surprise, a double take without actually moving his head. Because if he heard correctly, the other boy introduced himself as not just a member of the royal lineage, but one of their princes.

"Oh...?" Shaking off the surprise, Nils hesitated. He didn't seem nervous at all, even in the presence of one of Evig's royal line, and he'd already extended the offer and didn't want to suddenly take it back or anything, but... traveling with the prince would probably draw attention to the group, wouldn't it? Nils wasn't shy, but the type of attention he imagined might follow Valerian gave him pause. He wasn't supposed to stand out that much, if he could help it.

Thankfully, Amelia spoke up to unknowingly ease some of Nils' apprehension. So Prince Valerian actually wanted to travel incognito! Phew!

"Amelia's right, you should listen to her," Nils told Valerian with a chuckle. Finally he reached out to take the prince's hand, giving it a shake and nodding a greeting to the little Cutiefly. As Clarissa approached to give the prince a handshake of her own, he went ahead and introduced the both of them. "I'm Nils, this is Clarissa. And that's Tors."

He nodded his head towards the Mudbray who was currently enjoying the attention from Amelia. When he heard his name Tors' ears flicked and he looked over at Nils and Valerian. "Bwaaa," he said. Nils turned to the little medium.

"He's fine now, but it was rough towards the end. I guess Clarissa told you most of what happened." He had to admit he was sort of curious how the girl relayed the story, given she seemed very methodical at times, and impulsive at others. "You're gonna have to tell me what you got up to while we were down there, like how you met your new friend there!"

A story for the road, maybe. Regardless, when it came time to decide the route the group would take out of the city it seemed that there weren't strong opinions either way, except for Amelia's request. At first Nils didn't notice her reaction to Florasong, focusing on the map of the area instead, but when she spoke to ask that they avoid the town Nils looked over at her as soon as he heard the uneasiness in her voice. She really didn't want to go to Florasong... or rather couldn't? It was curious phrasing, and Nils really wanted to ask Amelia about it... but she seemed anxious. The last thing he wanted to do was make her upset. Oh, no, did he already do that by mentioning Florasong in the first place?

If he got the chance and no one else beat him to it, Nils would ask Amelia about it later when it wasn't suddenly sprung upon her. Before that he had to try and undo a little of her anxiety.

"No problem, Amelia," he said with a gentle smile. He gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder and came up with something that would take some of the decision off of solely her. "If we followed Route 1 it would eventually take us to Frostford, and I don't wanna go back there this soon anyway. So Route 4 it is, we'll head to Starbor Village!"

Ding! Right after that Nils' phone chimed and he held it up again to check the notification. Following a quick scan of the message (and a slightly raised eyebrow) he announced to the other three, "and hey, it looks like one of Professor Kapoc's other assistants is already on Route 4 too! Doing... something. Hm."

He wasn't sure what a 'gyarads' was or what the heck had happened at the end of the text. Maybe Vivian had dropped her phone or something... although they did float, so... well, they'd find out if and when they met up with her Nils supposed.

With the group decided now, they could get a move on soon. Once everyone was ready, they could stop by any last minute places in Grand Glory before hitting the road! "Ready when you all are. Let's go!"

[ Heading to Route 4 ]