❄Erika Olson❄

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Erika caught the glow of a new Pokeball being summoned and dared a glance at what had changed. Emerging from the glow as a familiar yet far larger profile than she had been prepared for.
"Eeep!" She squeaked and slid behind a desk as the opposing Malamar appeared to shimmer with fancy lights. It gave her a chance to really think about this and that was a mistake.

A Malamar! What the heck was she doing here!? Her Pokedex had just finished the entry and yet she could recognize the similarity in her Kay. It was an evolved Inkay and who knows how far off that was! And now, just like a real villain, Erika could be hypnotized and interrogated! She could feel her chest tighten as her heart raced. This was real. Real stupid!

She must have looked on the verge of losing her nerve as Sno weaved through the air right in front of her and shook her head sympathetically. One of her arms reached out and tapped Erika on the shoulder. "Fros." The Froslass stated assuredly, confident even. Erika winced, feeling Tara shuffling on her cap and leap off and then weightlessly floated down to her lap. "Swabluu." She chirped enthusiastically.

Erika exhaled. Tara and Sno were both behind her, 100% it seemed. They just needed to be clever. Work with the little time they had. They didn't need to win, just grab the gold, Musharna in this case, and get the heck outta here.

"Okay... You're right. We can do this." Erika nodded and leaned out to peak around the corner to see the approaching Malamar. Sno was fast, maybe fast enough to get a strike off, but that wouldn't give Erika time. She needed Malamar to be stalled. "Sno, sorry buddy, but can I ask you to surprise our attacker with an Astonish?" Flinching was possible but she probably needed to boost her odds. "Then Tara, back up Sno with Sing. See if you can put Malamar to sleep in this place."

The irony wasn't lost on Erika as she scoffed at it. "Rose is on her own but Hypno is slowed and a bit damaged. Plus I think she is clever enough to work out how to get out of there. I'm going to make a run for Musharna and pull her or him free."

Her Pokemon nodded and it was time.

Erika jumped to her feet and pointed at Malamar. "Sno, Astonish!" Erika's Froslass darted around the left side of the desk and flew as fast as she could all the way up to Malamar to burst into a noise to surprise. Meanwhile Erika gave Tara a boost so she fluttered into the air. "Tara, Siiing!" She called out and let the Swablu burst into a song at Malamar. While her Pokemon were tied up, she ran towards the Musharna looking to rip and tear and break anything to free the Pokemon from its current predicament!

@Pirouette

With Malamar approaching the desk, Sno could dash out and (being a ghost she could go directly through the desk) close the distance to the Hypnosis-throwing Malamar! She struck into him, the flying upside-down squid recoiling with its tentacles waving about! Critical Hit! … But it still didn’t do a lot of damage!

That said, Malamar was startled enough that Erika was able to launch Tara up into the air, and the Swablu could swing her sweet bird-song, which immediately caused a couple of the nearby staff-members to immediately fall asleep-!

… Before Tara was struck in mid-air by a sudden purple beam of power that launched her back into the wall! It wasn’t enough to take her out, Swablus have high Special Defense, but it sure hurt! The Malamar, clearly unaffected by the sing, turned with annoyance to face Sno instead.

‘You done?’ Lotus asked, aiming an annoyed expression back at . ‘Me and my Pokémon have heard that song so many times… we’ve become desensitized,’ she continued, visibly suppressing a sleep-deprived yawn.

‘Are they desensitized to this!?’ Rose called from across the room. She’d jumped up on a desk in front of Hypno, together with not one, but two Whismurs. Chimecho was flying behind her. ‘Whismurs, SUPERSONIC~!’

The two tiny fluffy-eared Pokémon breathed in, and then let out a pair of shocking screams, their screams looking like they were sending visible circles at both Hypno and Malamar! More than that, the still wake staff had to grasp at their ears again as they were not being given a break from vocal assaults!

‘Hypno!’ Lotus commanded, even as both Malamar was shivering and Hypno was taken aback by the sound. With a wave of its hand and a swing of the pendulum, the desk Rose and the Whismurs were standing on suddenly flipped backwards with Psychic power!

‘Woa-!’ Rose and her Whismurs gave a cry as they collectively fell off the desk that toppled back, Rose managing to grab onto Chimecho and pull the windchime along, perhaps softening her own drop to the floor as Chimecho desperately tried to pull upwards. The Whismurs’ Supersonics were cut short, replaced by just normal Whismur crying at being launched off the flipped table.

However, the damage was done.

‘Gah. Great,’ Lotus grunted as she saw Hypno stumbling, and Malamar also whirling about like it had gotten a little drunk where it floated in mid-air. Hypno and Malamar became Confused!

Meanwhile, enough time had passed that Erika had been able to reach Musharna. She was able to pull the cables off easily enough, freeing the giant sleeping Pokémon. Now for the next problem.

This thing was giant. Height-wise, it was just shy of being as tall as Erika, and substantially wider. Musharna also weighed as much as a person. While it floated in the air by its own power, pushing it around was more difficult. It could be done, but perhaps not when Lotus was glaring daggers at her standing right in-between her and the only apparent way out.

What would Erika do now?









Connected areas:
Route 12. A long, peaceful plain stretching far west towards Redcoast City.
Route 13. A route of eternal night, leading east towards Worldedge City.
Route 26. The calm waters north of Bigfjord City, leading towards Ironcliff Town.

Well, that happened.

"...For the record I didn't think my idea would be that far off though it makes sense to plant it back at the shrine," stated Basil with a sheepish grin though he looked puzzled. "Do we still want to go and see Dr. Dustan then? At this point we already know what we need to do, unless you think you need to know what Landorus is trying to calm down. There were two more of them after all."

The young noble crossed his arms and closed his eyes. "And whatever is going on with that girl and now this thing with Stella and other artificially boosted Pokemon. There's no way that two groups like that aren't operating independently from each other; they must be aware of each other's existence if they are not different parts of the same organization." He hummed frustratedly before he opened his yellow eyes, his brows knitted together. "It all comes down to the same issue though; we need to get stronger, plain and simple."

A sigh parsed his lips. "I don't particularly feel ready to take on the gym leader here yet even though I know I can make use of the type advantage; I'm not that much stronger than when I faced Lorette. Well, before we decide everything I think we should head back to the herb store. If he's still there, there's someone I want to ask to tag along with us for the journey."

@Remram

Anise took a moment to grasp what Basil said first. ‘Oh, no, I think your idea was great. I’d have gone for it,’ she said. Then, about seeing Dunstan… ‘You already sent a message to him, through an Elite Four, no less, I feel we might as well. I feel we should.’ So she figured.

And the next part, about them likely being connected… ‘Definitely true,’ Anise crossed her arms. ‘They need to be taught a lesson, all of them regardless of if they’re different or the same organization.’ She listened to what more Basil had to say, and…

‘Hm, alright. Is it the guy you told me about? I’m curious to see him,’ she said. And so, they could depart. Uxie and Chikorita both gave small waves to them as they departed, before Uxie flew off out of sight…

They returned to town, and there were a couple more police officers around now, looking like a couple of them had come from outside Stillwood Village to help, judging by how poorly they were dealing with the spores in the air all around. Regardless, they were heading for the herb-shop.

… There was a little bit of a queue to get into the herb shop. It wasn’t giant, just six people long, but that was six people that couldn’t fit into the building, which was a vast improvement over what Basil had found back then. Still, he’d perhaps find the one he was looking for not inside the building, but outside it. There was smoke rising from behind the building.


Earl was sitting with a small cauldron, a fire burning beneath it, reading and writing in his notebook as two Budews threw various herbs into the cauldron, the available ingredients being spread around the cauldron. In front of Earl stood Cleffa, waving her fingers in a specific, well-known way, adding her own fairy magic to the brew. The contents of the brew was bubbling away…

‘And for the final touch… Cleffa, Metronome!’ he commanded. Cleffa, excitedly, lifted her finger as the “spell” finished, and… A blinding, grey beam of light suddenly shot from Cleffa, straight into the brew. The Budew’s held onto the cauldron in a panic, trying to keep it from flying. A lot of the brew was sent flying, but many of the herbs were also disintegrated into the contents of the cauldron. For those who knew what it was, this was clearly Flash Cannon.

However, in addition to that, the smell of the herbs was suddenly blasted all over the place. The smell of those bitter herbs that the herb shop used to sell, only somehow greatly amplified. Suffice to say, an incredibly awful smell met the nostrils of all who were close enough, causing the whole line by the entrance of the herb shop to suddenly stagger. Earl himself simply grimaced and held a hand in front of his nose.

The beam finished, the fluid settled, and the smell also slowly wafted away. Both Budews dropped their hold of the cauldron and started bouncing a bit because it had been hot. Earl quickly gave both of them a small drink each which they both drank… which seemed to heal them before they both fell asleep. After that, Earl kneeled over the small cauldron, staring at the grey result. He grabbed a vial and gently scooped up the contents. There wasn’t much left in it after Flash Cannon had blasted most of it all over the place, but there was some he could get in there.

The fluid was heavy, barely flowing. The grey color reflected light easily. It looked a lot of liquid metal.

‘… Hm,’ Earl made a noise as he inspected the fluid in the vial. ‘How to best confirm if this is fit for consumption…? Regardless… this could be very useful…’


Cleffa turned around and made a sudden noise and waved for Basil, making Earl also notice that Basil had arrived.

‘Oh, hello, Basil,’ Earl said, pocketing the vial. ‘Come to see how your advertisement campaign has gone?’ he asked, nodding towards the line by the herb shop. The line that was now very much wondering where that smell had come from.

Anise is going to be standing a couple steps behind Basil, her hand close to her nose, looking quite alarmed.

What does Basil do?





Connected areas:
Route 4. Forest route at the base of Mt. Strength leading west to Rainrock City.
Route 5. A grassy incline connecting mountains, forests, plains, Stillwood and Lakewatch.
Route 14. The waters of Dragon Lake are also known as Route 14. It connects Lakewatch Town, Highhill Town and Stillwood Village.
Mountain Valley. A passage between Mt. Strength and Mt. Chill, a shortcut to Worldedge City.

It had done Basil's heart some good to see that the herb shop had a line that extended outside of its little shack walls. He made a mental note to go and check back on it whenever he decided to return to the village to challenge Archie to a gym battle... Though what on god's green earth was that smell? It smelled like the rear end of a Venasaur. Basil's yellow eyes watered and he could feel his nostrils begin to turn. His answer quickly came in the answer of smoke rising from behind the shop. Basil walked around and found the man that he was looking for toiling away at a boiling cauldron with his Cleffa...?

Was that how he made his potions? It seemed like it could have been stream lined a bit more so there wasn't so much mess, but he was not one to question it.

Basil waved back at the Cleffa and approached Earl with a friendly smile even though he could feel tears welling in his eyes from the fumes. "Well, yes, but that wasn't my main focus. I'm actually here for you," explained he. The young noble turned back to Anise and gestured towards the potion master. "Anise, this is Earl. He's a bit of an alchemist and the one who actually developed the products for the herb shop. I just provided the berries necessary. Earl, this is Anise. She's the disciple of the Redcoast Gym Leader and my travel companion. I'm helping her with her own quest."

"You see, Anise and I are going to head off soon. Things happened and we both realized that we need to train hard before we tackle our next challenge though I wanted to extend an invitation for you to join us." Basil cleared his throat, feeling a bit awkward for offering an invitation to travel with him even though they only just met. He had a good feeling about Earl though. Something told him he would be someone worth having as a friend and traveling companion.

"I think I am a bit of a magnet for... oddities. I genuinely would not be surprised that if you traveled with me you'll find mystical herbs for your brews. However, it would be dishonest of me to say that travelling with me doesn't have an element of danger to it. I've earned the ire of a criminal group that is experimenting on Pokemon, which is why the cops are swarming the village." He motioned his hand in the general direction of the poor police officers that were not used to the pollen of the village.

"I wouldn't blame you if you refuse; it'll probably be dangerous, but hey, pressure is the mother of innovation. I think your skills would make you indispensable and, well, I also think you're a good guy at heart and I think you're quite interesting." He offered Earl a kind smile before he chuckled.[color=8493ca]"Also, I think if you stay here you are going to actively drive away business."[/color

@Remram

Earl peered at Basil when he said he was here for him. Then he introduce Anise, who was struggling to get her hand off her nose.

‘H-hello. It’s nice to meet you,’ she said in a modestly controlled tone and did a bow. Earl’s response was a small wave. Cleffa gave a happy cry. Then…

Earl didn't show any particular expression of surprise when Basil gave his suggestion. Instead, he pulled out his notebook, and started writing on one side of the notebook.

‘Hm. Being sought by the unlawful is not something I like. I’m all for putting bad guys in their place, but I don't want to be the one to do it, nor do I want to seek protection,’ Earl said, writing something.

‘It’ll also require social interaction. And I’ll be forced to cook for more people. You two don't have the appearance of people that can cook, and I like my cooked food,’ he said, and Anise looked maybe a little offended.

‘There’s also the possibility you want to go somewhere I don't, and I get peer pressured into following. Or maybe I want to go somewhere and find myself unable to say it out loud,’ he said, qualifying those as actual things that could happen.

‘That, and I’ve already declined several offers to travel with other people. If we run into any of them while I am travelling with you, it is going to be awkward.’ So he said, writing lower and lower.

‘On the other hand,’ Earl then said, bringing his pen over to the top of the other side of the page. ‘You have a ridiculous amount of berries that I want. If I were to travel with you, you could let me have a portion of them, correct? That, and you got me a discount on herbs from the herb-store for my contribution, which I’m grateful for.’

‘I’ll have people with me that want me to succeed. I get more test subjects, and perhaps support where I need it. You’ve shown willingness to improve the lives of others,’ Earl said, gesturing for the herb store. ‘Who’s to say you won’t do the same for me?’

‘There’s a part of me that also wants to grow stronger. It isn’t my primary goal, per say, but it would make it easier to accomplish what I want. If you also seek that, then we have a common goal. As I have realized, I am having trouble growing on my own on that front.’ Earl kept writing on the right side of his page.

‘In addition…’ He looked up from his paper, at Basil and Anise. ‘You’ve already run into the stuff of legends before. In addition, you’ve got some powerful connections. I didn’t miss the commotion earlier. It is hard to miss a prehistoric dinosaur soaring in with a curious cast on its back. Going with you may mean getting to partake in your connections and future endeavours, and perhaps even running into more of the mystical.’ Having said so, he wrote down a large section on the right side of the page.

‘That’s the big plus. It is contending with the big minus of you being hunted by the forces of evil. That sounds like a pain and I want nothing to do with it. That, and if we run into any of those who asked me to travel with them before. That would be super awkward.’ Those two negatives sounded almost like they were of equal weight.

Earl stood there, staring into his notebook, comparing the two columns he had written. At his feet, Cleffa looked up at him curiously, then turned and waved happily at Basil and Anise, as the tiny pink ball it was.

Eventually, he put the notebook back into a jacket-pocket, before adjusting his glasses and looking towards Basil and Anise.

‘In the end, it boils down to “am I willing to accept danger and discomfort for the sake of advancement”. I would claim answering “no” to such a question would make me a lesser herbalist. I accept.’ So Earl proclaimed.

‘… Assuming the lady is okay with it. She looks anguished,’ he said, looking over at Anise.

‘N-no, no, it isn’t that!’ Anise exclaimed, still trying to overcome the grimace from the smell that had been here earlier. ‘I’m happy to have you. It’s just, uh. Is it gonna smell like that every time?’

‘That took me a bit by surprise, too. It must have been because I used the herbs from the store for the first time. It doesn’t usually smell quite that bad. Still, I suppose it will, each time I use those specific herbs or change the process,’ Earl said.

‘A-alright…’ Anise said, still reeling a bit.

‘I have some places I want to visit. Like Endless Forest, Sparse Forest, and the area around Gentlevale City. So if you’d keep that in mind, I’d appreciate it. I also want to find a Doduo. Someone in town is trading their foreign Capsakid for a Doduo, and I want that Capsakid,’ he proclaimed.

What’s Basil’s reaction?





Connected areas:
Route 4. Forest route at the base of Mt. Strength leading west to Rainrock City.
Route 5. A grassy incline connecting mountains, forests, plains, Stillwood and Lakewatch.
Route 14. The waters of Dragon Lake are also known as Route 14. It connects Lakewatch Town, Highhill Town and Stillwood Village.
Mountain Valley. A passage between Mt. Strength and Mt. Chill, a shortcut to Worldedge City.

❄Erika Olson❄

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Okay, so... sing wasn't going to work. Erika flinched as Tara was battered against the wall. "Tara!" Erika cried out as she heaved the Musharna into her grasps with some difficulty. She was relieved it was still floating because this would have been impossible to move otherwise.

Turning around, preferring to push Musharna instead of try and pull her along, Erika caught the aftermath of the supersonic. She was honestly so relieved, Rose decided to help. She seemed really good at battling even if the intention behind it was somewhat dubious with robbing stuff. Still though, that confusion was helpful as Erika put her back into push Musharna along despite the glare she was getting.

Seeing was liable to cause a very mean reaction, it was time to pull out their secret weapon. "Rose! Let's give Hypno an encore. Tara, Round!" Erika called out, suspecting Rose would catch on. Tara fluttered back up and gave another melody this time quite harmful aimed at Hypno. A triple round should hurt bad. How bad? Erika didn't know but that did leave a rather scary Malamar which Erika nodded to Sno.

"Give Malamar an Icy Wind and slow it down!" Erika said, pushing past Sno as she conjured another icy cold front to blast Malamar and make the room feel a little colder. That and slowing Malamar down to hopefully not keep up with Erika as she worked on escaping rather than winning.

Because if there was one thing she realized from the store heist by Night Owls, it was that City Guardians respond rather quickly. Her and Rose needed to get out and get moving!

@Pirouette

Rose understood the assignment as Erika commanded Tara to Round. She quickly stood up behind the flipped table, pointed forward and shouted.

‘All of you, ROUND!’ she commanded, and the Whismurs ran forth to stand as a pair of jukeboxes on either side of the table, and Chimecho lifted to fly behind her!

‘Hypno, Psychic them!’ Lotus commanded, and Hypno, hunching forward from stumbling in confusion, quickly flinging his arm up to focus his Psychic!

… However, he’d done it so violently that his pendulum came swinging around and struck him in the face! It didn't hurt a lot, but then he closed his eyes while trying to cast Psychic, and the energy somehow blew up in his face! Hypno staggered back. Hypno hurt himself in confusion!

And then came the sound-waves from several different sources in the room, ready to join up at Hypno’s location. Even Lotus took some rapid steps away from her own Pokémon when she realised what was going to happen.

The sound-waves gathered, and we're amplified. An explosion of sound blasted across the room, echoing out as the cries of multiple Pokémon. The workers that were not asleep due to Tara were about to recover, when once again a loud cry made them all clasp their hands over their ears and fall again. On the computer-screens, tiny figures were waking up due to the loud sound the soundproofing could not contain, much to the horror of the Pokémon that were with them. Mainly Drowzees.

Hypno himself stood in the epicenter of the noise and didn't move, eyes wide in shock… until he tumbled backwards, limbs spread in various directions and eyes turned white. Hypno fainted!




Meanwhile, Sno, unbothered by the noise, blasted an Icy Wind in the face of the Malamar that had turned to face her… followed by the appearance of Malamar’s eyes shining yellow through the frozen wind. The squid then burst forward, propelled by psychic power, throwing itself through Sno’s storm with its limbs glowing with purple energy.

This was Payback, a Dark-type move that got stronger after just being hit. Sno was definitely out-leveled, but had a moment of time to perhaps figure out an alternative strategy to avoid the blow, but straight-out dodging seemed unlikely to succeed as Malamar would chase her relentlessly, tentacles glowing purple with power.

Erika was trying to push Malamar through the room. It was working, the sleeping Pokémon was being pushed forward at a decent pace, albeit its substantial weight was slowing it down… and then she came to a sudden stop.

‘And what exactly…’ she could hear Lotus voice from the other side of Musharna. ‘… do you think you’re doing with my Pokémon, thief?’ an angered director had moved to block her path, pushing at Musharna from the other side. ‘I think you need to take a nice, long res-’

‘HYAH!’ … And then Rose came running across the room herself and jump-tackled into the opposing woman and the both of them suddenly rolled off to the side from the speed of Rose’s tackle, freeing Erika to continue pushing for the door. Albeit, right behind her, Sno was, as described, in a precarious position.

Rose’s Pokémon was still doing the combined Round, keeping everyone else occupied by virtue of being very, very loud.

What would she do now?









Connected areas:
Route 12. A long, peaceful plain stretching far west towards Redcoast City.
Route 13. A route of eternal night, leading east towards Worldedge City.
Route 26. The calm waters north of Bigfjord City, leading towards Ironcliff Town.

❄Erika Olson❄

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Erika winced as the soundwaves blasted the room, trying to focus on her task of escape with Musharna. Glancing at the Pokemon she had been pushing, it really was something for him or her to still be asleep in all this. Why hadn't Musharna done anything up to this point, Erika wondered. It neither helped nor hindered so maybe he or she was stuck asleep?

That was a thought for later and shaking her head, she pressed on until she felt resistance. Turning her head around the big figure that was Musharna, she caught Lotus glaring at her.

Now Erika was sure she was saying something threatening. She had all the right expressions but Erika's ears were still ringing and the round was still reverberating in the room. So what did Erika reply with? "What?!?" Erika yelled back but would never get clarification as she was startled with Rose leaping into view, tackling Lotus away.

Erika continued her push while things stirred behind her.

Sno was still unscathed throughout this fight but when she saw the glow of those eyes, she definitely knew it would be trouble. Her ghostly form jumped as she turned and used her speed and hopefully the lowered speed of Malamar to run away... right up into the ceiling of the room. Being a ghost, Sno phased through the solid material and emerged out into wing of the sleep center to find it was starting to become as chaotic as it was downstairs. Patrons stirred awake, disgruntled and flustered that one would if they were woken up in the middle of the night. Many were disorientated. Drowsees worked to try to put some of them back to sleep while a few staff ran about trying to comfort those that were far too restless.

Sno flew about the room, headed towards the center where she could drop back down through the floor and about right next to Erika. The carnage was still going on downstairs, Sno could see, but Tara was drifting back over to Erika until Erika pointed at Rose. "Tara! Help Rose!" She shouted but went back to pushing Musharna towards the curtained doorway. Erika paused to look back as Sno dropped to her side. "Go help them, Sno! I'll make for the stairs!" Erika said as she pushed Musharna out of the curtains and up the stairs...

@Pirouette

Musharna indeed remained a large, sleeping round blob floating in mid-air and letting Erika push it around.

Sno darted through solid ground on the way upwards through the facility, narrowly avoiding the glowing power of Malamar’s tentacles! What Sno couldn’t see because she’d gone through rock was that Malamar’s tentacles broke partway through the roof, and it cracked open, so the Malamar descended down holding a large slab of ground and an annoyed squid expression.

Rose and Lotus were still wrestling, an act neither of the two were particularly good at as a series of grunts and ineffective pulls were made against one another where Rose had tackled Lotus down on the floor. However, Lotus was able to see behind that Erika was getting through the door towards the stairs…

‘Malamar, stop her!’ Lotus shouted out, and Rose looked up. She wouldn’t be in time, but she did manage to throw herself off Lotus to get back on her feet to try to make a run for it back to Erika.

The two Whismurs and the Chimecho that were Rose’s Pokémon were still crying their Round, and was directing the attack towards Malamar… except then Malamar threw the entire slab of roof towards them, and with cries of panic the three sound-Pokémon scattered as the heavy slab crushed the table they’d been standing around. It the meantime…

Malamar was taking the opportunity to propel itself towards a new target, Erika herself, its limbs once again glowing with Payback charged. If it was actually intending on trying to attack her wasn’t clear, but it was heading straight for her. That Malamar had to throw the piece of roof had delayed it long enough that Sno could descend to the scene before Malamar’s arrival, but that would mean she once again stood at the dangerous end of Malamar’s attack.

What would Erika and Sno do now?

Oh, and Tara went to help Rose, but Rose already threw herself off Lotus and is running back, so she could possibly help, too.









Connected areas:
Route 12. A long, peaceful plain stretching far west towards Redcoast City.
Route 13. A route of eternal night, leading east towards Worldedge City.
Route 26. The calm waters north of Bigfjord City, leading towards Ironcliff Town.

His obvious self-interested behavior would have turned anyone else off, but for Basil, it was refreshing to see. In his world, people would disguise their own goals with benevolence and charity so to see someone so boldly and without care of judgement openly weigh their options made things quite easy for the young noble. Basil knew where Earl stood and what exactly he wanted out of this partnership between them throughout their journey.

He smiled with a relaxed shrug. "I mean, yeah, it's not like I'd be able to use them all before they go off anyway. If it helps you with your brews then I have no complaints. Plus you don't have to do all the cooking. If you teach me then you have someone that can cook for you. I wouldn't mind learning."

Now there was truth in that; all of his life someone had always made his meals for him, the finest meals in all of Isson though not once had anyone showed him how to cook himself. He could only imagine that holding a knife may terrify all parties present, himself included, lest he accidentally maim himself any further.

"I'm not too familiar with those places, but if we are ever near them then you should point it out to us. It's not like we are going to turn our noses up at any opportunity to explore and find new Pokemon," he pointed out. It was what he hired to do after all though one could be forgiven for forgetting such a fact considering the antics that he had been up to.

"Now that matters have been settled, unless you guys still have things you need to settle could you meet me on Route 5? I just need to go to the Pokemon Center to make a transfer." If there really was nothing left to do, Basil would go to the nearby Pokemon Center. He grabbed a Pokeball from his belt and let Stella out, kneeling down to her with a gentle smile and patted her head.

"Hey Stella, I just wanted to let you know that I'm gonna drop you off at Kalmia's lab. I gotta get a lot stronger if I want to protect you so I have to train more of my teammates." His smile became reassuring. "There will be no experiments, just a feeding schedule and walks around Pureplain. You'll even meet some of my other Pokemon so play nice, okay? Don't level the city or anything."

Once that was settled, Basil would transfer her to Kalmia's lab and would bring in Titus, the Magikarp and then head off to meet his companions. Well, he'd go off to the Pokemart first to get 5x Super Potions and then continue onward. Once there, he gave them a wave and said, "Sorry for the wait."

He cleared his throat and put his hands on his hips to feign the confidence of a leader. "Alright, right now we have a lot of training to catch up on! So, before we venture further it's time for the first annual boot camp! Once we do that, we'll head off to Cool Dome City"

@Remram

‘Hm,’ Earl gave Basil an analyzing look about potentially teaching him how to cook. ‘I’ll consider it.’ And then, nodding along to the rest of that, before finally being determined to meet back at Route 5. ‘Hm. Route 5. That is the right way to go if we’re heading to Endless Forest, one of the places I mentioned.’

‘Alright, I’ll see you there,’ Anise nodded to him as he went to make his way to the Pokémon Center.

In said Pokémon Center, he let Stella out, and the little overpowered Gothita immediately turned around to stare at him with comparatively large eyes. He explained what was going on, and…

‘Gothi…’ she sounded a bit sad, but this had been explained earlier as well, with the possibility of Kalmia looking after them for a bit. Still, she steeled herself and looked up at him with determination, understanding that this was needed. ‘Gothita!’ she announced, announcing (in Pokémon language) that she would manage and that she’d wait for him. She then skipped forward to try to give his knee a little hug with her tiny arms.

She was transferred to Kalmia’s lab, and then he could collect Titus, Super Potions and then move back.

5 * 700 = 3,500P. 19,585 - 3500 = 16,085P left.

When he did come back, Earl and Anise were standing talking about something.

‘… so she’s stuck in my party,’ Earl finished saying.

‘Huh. Sounds tough,’ Anise said, looking somewhat deep in thought. But then, they noticed Basil. ‘Oh, Basil.’

Basil said his thing about their first annual bootcamp, and then off towards Cooldome City!

‘Yeah!’ Anise called out, letting some excitement pump up through a frown of determination.
‘… Yeah… wait, Cooldome City?’ Earl reached into his bag and retrieved a map. ‘Oh, that’s gonna be cold…’ said the guy in multiple jackets and a giant scarf. And also bare legs, but still.

Regardless. Onto Route 5 to train!





Connected areas:
Lakewatch Town. To the south-west lies a village partially floating on top of the Dragon Lake.
Stillwood Village. In the north lies the forest which hides the village, Mt. Strength lying behind it..
Route 6. Vast plains start in the south-east, this route leads towards Raremine Town.
Frozen Cavern. After an incline up to the ridge of Mt. Chill, a cavern of ice could guide the way to Route 9 and Cooldome City.
Endless Forest. To the south, a dark forest looms. There are no indications as to why you’d ever want to go there.



‘Alright, everyone!’ Anise called out, retrieving five Pokéballs and letting out all her Pokémon.

‘Today, we’re going to be training! But first, we must stretch properly! So, let’s go!’ she told them, and her Pokémon were happy to stretch with her! She did various stretches to stretch various parts of the body, and Froakie, Meditite and Mienfoo were more than happy to stretch their relatively human-shaped limbs, albeit while being a frog, a mustelid and whatever Meditite is. Riolu was also joining in, but being the newest, he didn’t seem to know the whole procedure yet. Then there was Zigzagoon, who was simply rolling around in every step or dashing in a circle.

‘… Well, I won’t be doing the stretching part. Okay, let’s see…’ Earl lifted his own Pokéballs and let a couple more creatures out. Cleffa and sometimes the Budews were always out, but…



‘Alright, let’s get training,’ Earl said, and then turned to face a random Caterpie crawling along, looking surprised as Earl looked at it. ‘Okay, Elgyem. I want you to try battling that. But before that, let’s see what our newest brew can do.’ He produced the Steel Potion out of his pocket, got a little of it in a separate container, and then fed it to Elgyem, who calmly drank it. Elgyem turned towards Caterpie, as grey, steel-like lines started spreading over Elgyem. Earl looked on with sharp focus, before pointing forward. ‘Alright, Elgyem, use-!’

THUNK

… and that was the sound of the floating Elgyem suddenly falling down into the ground with a substantial impact. He was weakly trying to move his limbs.

Earl kneeled next to Elgyem, inspected him, tried to lift him, then picked up his notebook and wrote a couple lines while Cleffa ran up to Elgyem and started rubbing the new metallic parts.

‘So your weight increased dramatically. Fascinating,’ Earl said, writing a couple lines in his notebook.

‘Uh… do you always try to use your potions when you train?’ Anise, finishing up stretching is going to ask.

‘Multitasking. The more things I can do at once. I can train while I experiment,’ Earl responded, still writing.

Anise stood with a slightly raised eyebrow, mostly looking at Elgyem who didn’t look like he was getting particularly much experience right now. At least, not battle experience, anyway.

Regardless. So, training at Route 5.

There was a problem here. The Pokémon of Route 5 are weak.

The most common Pokémon were Caterpie, Oddish and Scatterbug, all very weak Pokémon. A step above were the Deerlings, and the Hoothoots that were currently sleeping. Slightly stronger were Pikachu, some hidden Bonslys and Emolgas, but they weren’t many.

On the other side of the spectrum were the Sawsbuck, walking around like they owned the place, and they likely did. Compared to the weak Pokémon around them, the Sawsbuck were far too strong instead, and they would be unable to train against them at their current level.

However, for Level 1 Volta and Level 5 Titus, it was about right. Titus, of course, couldn’t attack, so he took a lot of damage for just training.

Anyways, the regular training here gave some levels, at least.

Cecil, Crocus and Glory were unfortunately too high level for this low-level route. They didn’t gain much.




Volta had all the levels to gain! Even this place is pretty good!



Soren was the right level to train against the Pikachus and Bonslys around here. Not to mention, with Dragon Rage, he cleaned house easily.



Titus needed help from others, but he could flop into the Pokémon here and get some experience, assuming he got some support for the damage he was going to be taking.


…

… Oh?

There was a choice to be made, for trainer and/or Pokémon. It could be now, or it could be saved for later. _{if in battle, it grants an immediate full health and some plot-armor}



In any case. Did Basil have any specific plan on how to train here, or something of the like?

Well, it was a bit disappointing, but at least some of his team were able to get stronger though some of them fair better than others. Basil used one of his Super Potions on Titus to keep him going and gave the fish a gentle pat on its flopping head. "You'll get there buddy."

What he saw though surprised him; there was a brief flash of white emanating from Crocus' bulb, but it just faded away. His Pokedex buzzed at his side and when he pulled it out he saw that Crocus could evolve... But he wasn't? "What's going on bud?" Basil knelt down and gave the little Bulbasaur some head scratches.

"Bulba..." Crocus hung his head down in shame. He felt like he was disappointing his trainer for not evolving though a part of it just wasn't ready. It was a lot to change one's very shape, their being, who they were.

Basil gave him a gentle smile. "It's fine, you can evolve whenever you feel ready. There's no rush." He returned Crocus to his ball and turned his attention to his companions. "Well, this place wasn't ideal for training. We'll just have to move forward until we do. So, time to go to the Frozen Cave."