GubGar

POKeMON: A Mystery - Always Open

Jun Aubert

..AKA, Exploder Baracle

Interacting with: @Aku the Samurai & @Crimson Flame

---

Jun gives a two-fingered salute and a wicked grin to the chef that pointed out his good deed, hoping it was just that. A good deed during an unfortunate accident, that would not escalate to anything further. That was, of course, when the Captain's voice came through.

"Attention passengers, this is your captain speaking. For your safety, please gather in the main stadium - again, for your safety, please gather in the main stadium."

His grin rapidly morphs into a nasty grimace, his irritation being highlighted by his face paint, making him look rather ghastly. Jun pats Norbert on the back, and the two start to exit the restaurant, hanging near the back of the pack to make sure the restaurant staff, and the stumbling drunk, got out of the room okay. He wasn't gonna go all big-damn-heroes and start staging daring rescues, but he wasn't built for bystanding either. So he and Norbert'd help where needed, and hopefully it wouldn't be needed at all.. Hopefully.

"MAN! Must've burnt out all our good luck getting an invite! Now the cruise is nothing but bad fortune!- HEYYY!"

Jun belts out a heavy metal scream, pointing towards the two people arguing pretty much right next to the way out of the restaurant. At first it seemed like Jun was going to chew them out something fierce, given his face paint and the fact that he initiated the interaction by showcasing his voice projection, but when he speaks it was with concern more than anything else. After all, if he wanted, he could've just shoved right on by and kept up with the whole evacuation thing.

"I dunno what's got you two arguin', but we gotta make like a Nanab Berry and split! C'MON!! I'm not the kinda guy to run when somebody's behind me, but I sure ain't plannin' on lettin' my coordinator career end in a watery grave! Ain't that right Norbert!?"

The Exeggutor was sedately heading to the exit, levitating a table out of its way instead of walking around it. When his name was called out, he plans his multiple heads over to look at his trainer, and gives a lazy grin. Not matching the intensity of the situation whatsoever. "Eggutor." He declares sleepily.

Justice League - The Unlimited Protocol

Oh Hell yes!

Subscribed.

If nothing else, I'm gonna read the Hell out of this!

@Hound55

Hope you enjoy the ride! I know I'm looking forward to seeing how this team does.

Spider-Verse: Dark Destiny

Oliver Raulot, AKA, Argyros.

Also near Times Square around the same time. Unfortunately.

---

Times Square was not on Oliver's usual route. He had carved out a nice chunk of the Narrows; Staten Island and Brooklyn were his haunts, not Manhattan. So of course, it was the one time he was nearby that everything went horribly, horribly awry.

It was that Christmas glumness that did him in. No money for a flight to see his folks, and the only other people he'd want to spend the Holiday with were on rocky terms with him. Combine that with the fact that Oliver was already the type of guy to feel glum around the winter holidays, and he felt in need of a pick-me-up. He made his rounds early today, and decided to go see the Rockefeller Center tree. Hoping it would inject some much-needed cheer into his spirit.

When Oliver made it to the center, though. He found himself looking at the large Christmas Tree with a feeling of 'yeah, that sure is a large Christmas Tree.' And little else. He was certain he'd love it if he were a tourist, though. But a tourist he was not, and the charm had worn off a few years into his life in New York. Oh well, time to head home. He'd buy himself something nice for Christmas, see if that did the trick.

Which was of course, when he turned around just in time to see a portal straight out of a sci-fi movie manifest above Times Square, and for what could only be called a monstrosity to emerge from it. With.. webbing.

"Haaahhh.."

Oliver presses his fists into his eyes in frustration, knowing full-well they would only exacerbate the dark circles he'd been rocking for a while now. "The one time I decide to head to another borough.. I'd ask if this was divine punishment, but I don't wanna risk a lightning bolt." He grumbles to himself, while working up as much energy as he could muster. Hurrying to the nearest alleyway, he scrambles with his backpack, luckily well isolated and hidden from view since folks were fleeing, not hiding. What good would hiding do when you were dealing with King Kong's half arachnid cousin?

Hidden from the chaos momentarily, Oliver hurriedly takes out his costume, which he ensured to keep with him a despite the risk to his identity. Ever since he had to confront the Human Fly costume-less with a makeshift web mask last month, he had become a lot more paranoid on ensuring he had the option to change available to him. So once he threw his costume overtop his civvies, and webbed his backpack to the wall for safekeeping, he was off to try and deal with..

..Whatever the hell was going on.

Twin ropes of web fire, one from each wrist, that cling to either side of the alleyway he was in. He proceeds to back-pedal in order to pull the webbing taut.. and then snap forward, slingshotting himself into the air, where he starts to swing off to the scene of the disaster. Fortunately for those in danger, and unfortunately for Oliver, he was seriously right there. Primed to arrive on the scene likely before anyone else. "On the job on Christmas Eve? Against something way bigger than my weight class too? Bah, humbug!"

Spider-Verse: Dark Destiny

Of all the fearsome things that we could have encountered, the Spy Kids 2 spider monkey is perhaps the most horrifying possibility. And I never even considered it.

POKeMON: A Mystery - Always Open

Jun's introductory post has a flashback to almost-domestic terrorism and heavy metal screaming, so I feel pretty happy with how it came out.

Not as cool as being able to tackle a full-blown Machamp off his feet, though. Maybe someday..

POKeMON: A Mystery - Always Open

Jun Aubert

..AKA, Exploder Baracle

---

The Pokemon World Contest really could not be compared to any prior contest Jun had participated in. Even one round in, he was feeling the high intensity wow that was usually reserved for quarter-finals onwards. He felt electrified still, even well after the first round had concluded. Maybe that was because of how close a call it had been, he'd been paired off against a skilled Coordinator. Matching his Slugma, Rummy, against their Ninetales seemed like a disaster at first, the latter seemed to outplay its rival fire type at every turn.

Effortless elegance combined with intense flames made it seem like the match was a no-brainer, up until Jun and Rummy turned it around at the last moment. Putting out a show-stopping finale where Rummy lit up the smog clouds she had sent into the air prior, using Flame Burst to detonate the shaped smog clouds into brilliant fireworks. Had Rummy put too much smog out, or let her flames run too hot, it would have probably crossed the line from impressive fireworks show to full-stop domestic terrorism. But if you weren't willing to risk being put on a watchlist, were you really giving it your all to win?

It was a well-earned win, and for the first time since he got his invitation, Jun felt like he really did belong here. Exploder Baracle was meant to be a criticism of contest culture, he hadn't expected the persona to grow so beloved, even if his fans were less mainstream and more cult following, but here he was. And he'd managed to prove on a stage as large as this, that unpopular Pokemon deserved better than the labels 'weird' and 'ugly.' Now he just had to keep that momentum going.

The post-match energy had carried him all the way to the Lucky Catch, where he had been celebrating with his Pokemon ever since. Well, actually just Norbert, who had not participated. Vivianne was insistent on getting a full eight hours of sleep, and Rummy was considered a fire hazard when near alcohol, or any time really, but especially when near alcohol. He had elected to celebrate with his other two Pokemon later in a more controlled environment. Which left him chilling with his Exeggutor, knocking back Aguav Berry juices - which were entirely non-alcoholic, but great on the throat. Something he needed, as Exploder Baracle yelled quite a lot during his performances. Every now and then someone would ask for a picture, or come by to congratulate him throughout the night, though not too many, most of Jun's fans weren't the type to take luxury cruises. By the time the adrenaline started to leave him, he figured he'd celebrated enough and it was time to call it a night and take off his face paint.

Which was of course when everything went awry.

The sudden jerk of the ship as its metal hull groaned coincided with Jun rising from his seat, which nearly sent him ass over teakettle. In the brief moment it took for him to steady himself, people had already begun a panicked evacuation of the restaurant. The pandemonium only escalated as one of the pillars- and wow! did Jun hope that was not a load-bearing pillar -began to topple over. Only halted by the quick action of a Machamp employed by the restaurant, who was not having a great time holding it in place.

Another party-goer that Jun felt as though he recognized came stumbling through, removing the Machamp and himself from harm's way, which was good. It was not the only danger, though, just the primary one. The secondary one was with all the pushing and jostling going on, some people were bound to get knocked over, and likely trampled. Jun had been in enough rowdy crowds to know how dangerous that was, so he draws from the power his face paint gave him, and bellows out a shout worthy of Exploder Baracle.

"HEYYYYY!! SHOW SOME CARE, CLEAR SOME ROOM FOR'EM TO STAND!" Jun's voice carries across the chaos with the volume of someone who has several times had to deal with a broken microphone and a crowd needing to hear him. It helped.. a little bit. But mostly Norbert's psychic abilities were doing the heavy lifting. Literally speaking, as the Exeggutor was levitating people up to their feet before releasing his telekinetic hold.

Spider-Verse: Dark Destiny

Hey, everyone! I'm sorry, today and this weekend unexpectedly got busy. But I'm free tomorrow so we'll get started then.

@King Kindred

No sweat, this time of year tends to bring unexpected busy spikes

POKeMON: A Mystery - Always Open

I know you mentioned being down with players adding plot beats, but I reckon I'd ask just for the sake of clarity; Is it cool if I add some detail to the first round of the contest?

POKeMON: A Mystery - Always Open

Pump it up!

Appearance:
In his daily life he tries to stay unassuming..

But when it's time to perform, he puts his war paint on.

---

Name: Jun Aubert, but he performs under the name EXPLODER BARACLE!

Occupation: Professional Coordinator

Backstory: Born in Sinnoh but raised in Cyllage City in the Kalos Region after his parents separated. Jun had a passion for Pokemon Contests even as a kid, he had a tendency to cheer for the underdogs, and found himself discouraged when none of his favorites ever found all that much success. He nurtured both his love for contests and his love for the underdog into adulthood, where he broke onto the scene as an amateur Coordinator. And did.. terribly. His Pokemon were considered abrasive and unpleasant, his Coordination style uncouth and rude, and overall it was agreed upon by most pros that he did not have a promising career ahead of him.

This motivated Jun more than any praise ever could, if they didn't like the things about him that made him unique, he'd double- no, triple-down on them. Painting his face in a style reminiscent of some heavy metal performers, he took on a stage name, and showed up all across Kalos in every contest he could. Gradually, he began to gain a following. Exploder Baracle was vocal about being true to himself, doing what he liked, regardless of what anyone else thought was correct. In an industry dominated by Pokemon that fit neatly into one of three categories; 'cool', 'cute', and 'stylish', Jun championed those that were often called 'weird', 'ugly', or 'frightening'. He became a counter-culture icon in the world of Coordination, he wasn't a massive success just yet, but he seemed to only be gaining more and more momentum. Enough that he was invited to take part in the World Pokémon Contest.

Personality: Even when he isn't performing, Jun is all sharp edges. He isn't mean, but his acerbic wit can definitely come off as rude and abrasive. He's got a major chip on his shoulder and is dying to prove himself on a large stage, which leads to him becoming really competitive towards any rivals, perceived or otherwise. He's extremely forward and direct, anything subtle will probably fly right over his head, and his passion is easy to see. He doesn't really do half-measures. If he decides you're his friend, he's ride-or-die. If he's interested in a hobby, he'll put in tons of focus. Probably most notable about him compared to his fellow Coordinators, is that there is no 'true' Jun. The only difference between Jun and Exploder Baracle besides the face paint, is that Jun is operating at like a five in terms of intensity, maybe a four. Whereas Exploder Baracle's base level is a nine, an eight minimum. He's made his brand off of being authentically himself, so he tries not to fake anything when performing.

Pokemon:
Vivianne, the Barbaracle

Jun's first ever Pokemon, and his signature one, being where the 'Baracle' part of 'Exploder Baracle' comes from. Vivianne tends to wow the crowd with high-intensity maneuvers, and specializes in the Tough and Cool categories. She is actually Jun's friendliest Pokemon, loving friendly competition, and being quick to warm up to people.

---

Rummy, the Slugma

Rummy was caught by Jun early in his career, because he wanted to participate in the 'Cute' category, and chose a Slugma. Rummy likes to lower expectations before putting out a show-stopping performance. She specializes in the Beauty and Cute categories, and is the most energetic and competitive of Jun's Pokemon.

---

Norbert, the Exeggutor

Norbert joined the team as an Exeggcute too weak to defend itself, and grew into a capable performer that helps round out the team. Norbert starts slow, and gradually picks up steam during his performances. He specializes in the Clever and Tough categories, and is a very sedate, relaxed Pokemon.

POKeMON: A Mystery - Always Open

So we've got three coordinators, a steward, a fasion designer, and one actual trainer.

Hopefully there's not much combat lol.

@Lord Orgasmo

You're saying in an actual fight Pokemon Choreography may not be viable? Weird..