LuckyBlackCat

Pokemon Spiral

@Noxx I guess it wouldn't be out of the question for a Golett to be around, Sophia's going to get a Bronzor from the cave complex later on after all, and the two Pokemon have their similarities, they're both ancient artificial ones.

Pokemon Spiral

@Noxx And flying ones like Zubat, Woobat and Noibat. Basically the usual Pokemon that can be found in caves.

Pokemon Spiral

Well, that's one way to catch a Pokemon... And yes, @Dusksong, Aedre can have the Dusk Stone.

Pokemon Spiral

Amber Pine

Mesalon Cave Complex

@Heckno12 @AbysmalDemon @Dusksong @Noxx

"I could teach you, if you like," Amber offered to Nyxx as she carefully loosened a piece of smoky quartz from the wall. A soft glow from Rachel's Cradily lit up the cave, making her and everyone else's work easier.

She stared in fascination at the fossil Pokemon through the multicoloured beams that reflected off the crystals. "A Cradily! And that must take a lot of skill, to have that level of control over a move!" Setting down her tools and tucking the gems into her bag, she whipped out her notebook. At least she'd have all sorts of exciting things to tell Coral, as well as the difficult news.

As she felt the nudge of a smooth shell aganist her leg and heard a grumble of "Kabu! Kabuto!", she looked down. Chalcedony scuttled back and pushed a freshly excavated stone with his head, rolling it towards her.

"Ah, sorry." She stopped scribbling, putting away the notebook and picking up the gem. "Got a little distracted there. Not going to leave you two to do all the work." Chalcedony mumbled something to Larimar, who responded with a sound like a giggle.

Amber studied the crystal. A dark purple one, like an amethyst, except it didn't have the same bright shimmer as the other gems. Instead, a shadowy core could be seen at its centre. "Is this...?" Picking up the bag and tools, she approached Aedre, who'd snapped a chunk of blue rock from the wall. Smooth as a tumblestone, and gleaming blue like a clear pool, it was unmistakeably a Water Stone. "I think I've found a Dusk Stone here. Is it true that a Honedge needs this to reach its final evolution? If so, it'll be more useful to you than to me. And yeah." She glanced from Aedre to Alex. "Let's see what Pokemon are around he-"

She whirled around at a loud bark. A clawed hand shot out. With a yelp, Amber pulled back, watching Kyra stop the attacker just in time with a bite. The creature shook off the attack, grinning and snickering, a pair of crystalline eyes fixed on the Dusk Stone.

"What is it with Pokemon trying to steal things from me?" Amber wondered aloud. "As interesting as their natural behaviour is... Larimar, use Water Gun! Chalcedony, Absorb!"

The imp-like Pokemon shrieked as a jet of water and a red beam knocked it back. Its eyes turned black, shooting out dark energy blasts. Kyra jumped in front of Chalcedony and Larimar, howling as she took the attack.

"Kyra!" Amber stared as the Rockruff landed, staggering a little but standing her ground. "Bite it again!" The dog sprang forward, jaws clamping down. With another cry, the would-be thief scurried away down a tunnel.

Still tense, Amber watched for its return, but when it failed to reappear, she sighed with relief. "Are you alright, Kyra?" she asked, treating her with a potion and swinging her bag back onto her shoulder. "Good job there, you three. Now that's over with, let's move along."

A golden, glowing blur leapt at her. "Wha... Recover?!" Instinctively, the researcher dodged. The Sableye's claws connected with her bag. There was a tug, and a tearing sound, followed by clattering as several Pokeballs fell out. In a flash of light, the Sableye vanished. The only sign of it was a green capsule - a Dusk Ball - wiggling on the ground, then becoming still.

Stunned into silence, Amber stood there for a few seconds. Then, she took a cautious step forward and picked up the Dusk Ball, holding it at arms length as if fearful its occupant would jump out. "Well... That just happened."

And just like that, she'd caught her sixth Pokemon, albeit not quite in the way she'd expected.

Notes

Pokemon Party: Kabuto "Chalcedony" lv10, Yanma "Aeshna" lv9, Rockruff "Kyra" lv12, Rowlet "Tacita" lv10, Anorith "Larimar" lv11, Sableye (currently unnamed) lv10
Pokemon in PC:
Inventory: Pokeball x1, Potion x2, Dusk Ball x1

Pokemon: New World

✿ Florence Hadley ✿

Location: Greenhaven

@Dusksong @Dark Light

"Devinco!" Florence watched in horror as the Pupitar, no longer in control of his actions, launched a Rock Slide at his allies, forcing Leisy to turn the battle against him. As usual, the nursing graduate found herself helpless, unable to do anything for her friend.

The cries from the continuing struggle all around reminded her that, even if she couldn't help Leisy, she had to help the others in any way she could.

"Keep going, Tiergan!" she called, crawling over to Viv's side to assist her. "Use Growth, then Needle Arm the Spheal!"

The Cacnea grew to twice his usual size, flailing at the Spheal. One of the bigger threats to him, and to several of Vivian's Pokemon. The one it was important to take out before it could use an Ice-type attack.

---

Cacnea 5, Growth + Needle Arm > Spheal

---

Florence

TP: +1 (39)
Pokemon:

• Chikorita (Vernie), female, lv5 (Missing)
• Budew (Bonica), female, lv7
• Happiny (Panacea), female, lv5
• Cutiefly (Chay), male, lv2
• Cacnea (Tiergan), male, lv5

Inventory:

• Pokeball x1
• Rare Candy x2

Rank: Beginner
Organisation: Aether Foundation

---

♥ Ellanor "Ella" Beaufort ♥

Location: Greenhaven

@Dusksong @Dark Light

Ella yelped, dodging a rock. "W-What is this?!" The blue light remained around the Pupitar as he ignored Leisy's commands. That Metang, that Psychic type attack - It had turned Devinco against his allies.

She bit her lip as Leisy did the only thing she could do, order her other Pokemon to attack the brainwashed Pupitar. Reluctance creased Leisy's face, the pain clear in her voice.

"Lucy!" In a flash, Ella sent out the other Ghost type. "Help Brighteye stop that Metang! Both of you, Shadow Sneak!" The Pumpkaboo and the Duskull flew at the Metang, claws of darkness rising around them and lashing forward.

Ella shifted her attention towards the Zubat protecting the Pupitar's controller. "Jumbles, hit the Zubat with a Psycho Cut! You can do this!" Shaking off the confusion, the Inkay launched an energy blade through the air. "Now, Allsort!" She let the skunk Pokemon into the fray, who glanced all around him before running forward, ready to battle. "Slash the Machop!" Darting at the distracted Fighting type, Allsort swiped with sharp claws.

There had to be some way to defeat the Metang and set Devinco free from its control, no matter how high level it was. There had to, she tried to convince herself.

---

Pumpkaboo 8, Shadow Sneak > Metang
Duskull 28, Shadow Sneak > Metang
Inkay 11, Psycho Cut > Zubat
Stunky 10, Slash > Machop

---

Ella

TP: +1 (71)
Pokemon:

• Trubbish (Treasure), female, lv20
• Ekans (Smiley), male, lv8
• Duskull (Brighteye), female, lv28
• Inkay (Jumbles), male, lv11
• Stunky (Allsort), male, lv10
• Pumpkaboo (Lucette), female, lv8
• Weedle (Taffy), female, lv1
• Nidoran (Pincushion), male, lv4

Inventory:

• Black Sludge x1
• Pokeball x1
• Great Ball x1

Rank: Skilled
Organisation: None

---

CP

+1 (69)

Pokemon Spiral

Vivianne Cypress

Mesalon Gym

@fer1323

Vivianne frowned. "Well, I heard about Gyarados going into a rage in Johto one time - more of a rage than usual. Turned out to be linked to Team Rocket. Some kind of forced evolution project. Like that was going to go unnoticed." Studying artificial and altered Pokemon meant inevitably hearing about the darker side of science - and she couldn't ignore these teams anyway, what with the attempted takeover of Silph Co way back. "Now, Aerodactyl can't evolve, but it can mega evolve. If I can find that old report about the Gyarados, it could reveal similarities."

She thought back to another story. "Also, there was this whole fiasco with a genetically engineered Pokemon in Kanto. Mewtwo. Broke out of a lab and caused all kinds of chaos. There are rumours that Team Rocket's leader had something to do with the experiment."

Her cool blue gaze remained on Oscar. "There really do seem to be patterns everywhere. I was going to go to Hoenn, and according to its history, apparently someone once had the bright idea of stirring up two legendary Pokemon there." She shook her head. "There's just no avoiding human stupidity..."

By her side, the Porygon Z twitched.

"Hm? What's wrong, Pixel?" Vivianne checked her phone to make sure it hadn't been damaged, then looked back up at the two trainers in front of her. "Are all your electronics ok? Pixel gets like this around malfunctioning technology."

The next moment, an almighty draconic roar from outside filled the air, most likely disrupting every Zen practice in progress. Raising an eyebrow, Vivianne glanced in the direction of the sound. "So much for peaceful..."

---

Sophia Danvers

Mesalon Gym

@fer1323

"Someone mentioned the Mewtwo story the other day," Sophia told Vivianne. She'd been too tired to remember all the details, but it hadn't been the first time she'd heard of Mew, an ancient being that supposedly had the DNA of all Pokemon. That pink Pokemon she'd seen - she couldn't be sure, but it had fit the description.

Before she could mention the attacker's pursuit of it, a roar caused her to whirl round. "What was that?!" Glancing at the window, she quickly pulled back at the sight of an all-too-familiar face. "Uh..." Stepping to the side to keep out of Hammer's view, she turned towards Oscar. "We might want to wait just a little longer before we go outside. N-not that I have any reason to be afraid, of course... It's just there's no way we'll get a break."

At least someone was out there dealing with that brute of a detective. Someone Sophia was sure she recognised... Realisation hit. Was that the woman from the poster in Windshire Pokemon centre?

Notes

Pokemon Party: Gothita "Lacey" lv13, Purrloin "Grimalkin" lv12, Staryu "Arcturus" lv12, Darumaka "Lumas" lv11
Pokemon in PC:
Inventory: Pokeball x2, TM33 (Reflect)

Be my Sanctuary

Jessamyn "Jess" Bailey

Taken aback by Roxy's relief, Jess reminded herself that the anchor clearly had an issue with people, and had to have her reasons. That didn't stop the reaction from stinging.

"We'll go when you're ready," her mother offered, the lines that grief had etched into her face seeming a little deeper. Even though something had broken inside her long ago, though, the family rock held herself together, standing strong.

Jess bit her lip. This would be difficult for everyone. Herself, her mom, even Roxy, who hadn't known the man but would still have to endure a car journey to a gloomy place, and hadn't reacted well to the visit so far anyway. Still, she wasn't going to draw out the wait.

"I'll... just get something first." Jess shuffled to the spare room, searching through her belongings until she found the item she was looking for. A small wooden carving of a bird, much cruder than the ones her father used to make, but the most acceptable one she'd managed. He'd used to try to teach her, and later on, when she'd been stuck in the cabin, she'd attempted to build on the knowledge he'd left her. She'd never reach his level of creativity - she'd always been more academically-minded like her mother - but she'd put as much effort as she could into making this for him, to leave on his grave when she'd finally get the chance.

Another reason things had to turn out ok, she thought as she re-entered the main room. She had to make it so that her mom's words were true - so that, if things had been different and he'd lived to see this, her dad would be happy.

Spectral Corp

Mackenzie "Kenzie" Holt

@Leotamer

As the girl in sports clothes jumped down, some of Kenzie's tension eased. Of course the other medium hadn't really been about to climb the wall, or so she told herself. It had just been... unsettling to see that, to say the least.

That reminder of why she was here brought her a little more to her senses. She had a duty. It wouldn't make up for the past, nothing ever would, but what else could she do?

Facing Jenny again and taking a charm bracelet, her hand shaking a little from the moment of panic, she noticed something she'd failed to spot before. "Hm?" The teenager had no bracelet of her own. Before Kenzie could mention anything, though, Jenny had rushed back inside.

Putting on the bracelet, the medium reeled back at the sudden assault of spectral energy. She was sure it would be overwhelming even if she weren't currently suffering from the mother of all hangovers. "Fair warning, everyone," she said, glancing around at the other exorcists, checking to see who had yet to put on their bracelets. "The energy here seems to be trying to throw a surprise welcome party for us."

Slowly adjusting to the surge as she would to a bright light, she staggered inside to the greeting room. There, on a recliner, sat an elderly lady dressed in black, who introduced herself as Madam Vale, the gold exorcist who ran the establishment.

At the mention of questions, Kenzie piped up. "Uh, yeah. Is there anywhere to get coffee around here? I could do with a good strong cup of joe right now." Probably not the kind of question Madam Vale had meant, but caffeine would make it easier for the woozy exorcist to think.

Be my Sanctuary

Jessamyn "Jess" Bailey

At the sudden wave of anger, Jess clenched her fists by her sides.

She looked up as her mother placed a hand on her tense shoulder. "Oh, sweetie, there's no need to feel guilty," her mom reassured her, eyes filled with concern. "You'd have said goodbye if you could have."

Even though her reaction had been for a different reason, Jess had to admit to herself if was partly because of that. For five years, she'd carried the guilt around like a lead weight she couldn't get rid of. Guilt over having further hurt her family, however unintentionally. She recalled the sickening anger roiling from her mom back then. It had been directed at the situation rather than at her, but that hadn't stopped Jess feeling that way towards herself.

"I'll... I'll be able to say goodbye now," she replied. It wouldn't make up for not having been to the funeral, but going to the cemetery was all she could do.

Her mother gave a sad smile. "If you want, I can take you later," she offered. "You'll be able to cope with that now, won't you?"

Jess nodded. She had to be able to cope. She had to be able to come to terms with what had happened. She looked over her shoulder at Roxy. "Would you be ok with that?" she asked, bracing herself for how Roxy would react. The anchor most likely wouldn't refuse - standoffish as she was, she wasn't cruel - but it didn't take much to upset her. "We'll be... visiting a grave." The words came out in a hollow mumble. "My dad's grave."

Pokemon Spiral

Going to wait for @Dusksong and @AbysmalDemon before I post