I was going to look at wrapping up Vulture and having a short convo with Silk, but I'll wait until the weekend and pick up maybe a second collab with you instead to finalise things?
That works. If you don’t mind formatting, I have downtime tonight potentially to write. It’ll be on my phone though so it won’t be good, lol
Erika found a perch just on the outside of the city and just before Route 13 started to sit and idle away on her Pokedex. The messages came flooding in and Erika tried her best to keep up.
'Great! Start of Route 13, sitting under the first lamp post. It is always so dark here!' She replied to Maple before another message popped up. 'Oh that's fine! I don't mind waiting. Tell him good luck!' She then replied to Ewan. 'Good luck!' Erika sent back to Joshua, though she was surprised to hear from him given he was occupied. 'Oh that's okay! Say hi to my mom for me! She'll help you out while there, too! She'd love nothing more!' Erika sent to Ellyn, perfectly fine that those two were in Cooldome. 'Oh! Don't rush and don't feel like you have to! Cooldome is a very fun place so you should check that out. We can meetup again sometime.' Erika sent off to Maple. 'I'm trying to talk her down!' Erika sent back to Ellyn. 'MAPLE WAIT' A hasty message followed by another, 'You and Ellyn have fun there. I can come up with an adventure for us elsewhere. 'I tried. Good luck.' Erika grimly sent, unsure of how successful Ellyn would be in stopping Maple.
She looked out along the darkened road ahead where Route 13 lay. The distant lights glittered, and she could hear off in the distance the storm clouds over the Power Station rumble. It was rather pretty if a bit scary. It made up for the fact that she was feeling a little homesick to the snow-covered mountains of Cooldome. Before she got too caught up in her thoughts, Sno fluttered around her to wake her up. "Fross" She motioned with her head towards the route.
Maybe that's what Erika needed. A little time to train and stretch her legs. "Alright, Sno, let's head out for a bit. I'm sure Joshua and Ewan will be along."
'Headed out on route for a bit. Not too far from the road ahead!' Erika sent to Ewan just before leaving her perch.
Train
So Erika set out but not before putting on her EXP Share onto Tara. She threw Sno out first to blast ice at some of the Flying types on route. After about 75% of health gone, she'd return Sno and send out Gibs against any electric types. Eep, Kay, and Chic got some action as well. Though only about 50% of health missing. Erika would use a potion on each one to bring them back up.
...
After some time.
Finally, Joshua and Ewan would show up.
"Hey guys!" Erika waved but was told what exactly happened with her message and the contest. She was mortified and looked aghast. "Joshua!" She playfully slapped his arm. "I'm not worth ruining your performance, practice or no." Erika snapped with a wagging of her finger. "Honestly, you'll have to promise me you won't do that if you are in a real contest. Especially if you are doing something grand like mid-performance evolution!"
Erika turned to Espeon, her Pokedex picking up the new entity and letting her know. Sno, though tired felt better after her potion, and weaved over to inspect the gem on Espeon's head. "An Espeon though, Joshua! It is very powerful in a battle." Erika considered movesets before she shook her head. "And a very elegant Pokemon for your contests, of course!"
Erika turned to Ewan finally. "Anyway, I saw we go to Bigfjord City first." She said confidently but she didn't know why. Or at least, she did but the memory she had of making that promise faded. It was just there, built in that she had to go there first. "I think there is a gym there that I should probably check out and challenge." She concluded as the reason she had to go there.
"Though we can circle back to the Power Station after Bigfjord City. I have a good feeling there are electric types all over that place and I'd like to think of another Pokemon to catch with typing coverage." Erika concluded as she was content to set off.
She pulled out her Pokedex quick and sent Ellyn a quick message, seeing as Maple might get overly excited again. 'Headed to Bigfjord City with Joshua and Ewan. Just in case Maple managed to stuff you both into a ferry.'
Then if there was nothing else, they were off.
Move along to Bigfjord City, letting any events come that may. GM's choice. Though now that I think about it. Erika will put on her Not-Actually-Guide-Home Goggles! to see if they lead her back to Worldedge City or not. She won't obviously follow them but a first test before putting them away.
The reply about Meloetta was curious. She had to look that up and realized, oh yeah, there was a town that was obviously the area. She didn't quite know what to make of the hint but she did have the theory that Russel's goggles might be a "find things" set of goggles? Eventually she'll get there, she thought. If not well, there is always asking Russel!
Erika took another drink of her water, nearly downing it as Skinks continued. She was tempted not to peak at the additional resources she had but then again, why ask if not to figure that stuff out? She glanced up as if reading something and laughed to herself, also amused. Convenient! Though she wasn't quite ready to go to Cooldome City yet. That was one of the planned objectives in a certain someone's mind much like how getting Sno to evolve was one. She could continue to look for where that Moss Rock was but she could hazard a guess or two.
And finally, Bigfjord City.
Thankfully, Erika was planning on going there next. In fact, this only encouraged her to not delay any longer on this. It was no doubt exciting enough to have its own binder so who knows what would happen.
"Thank you." Erika nodded towards Skinks. "I had intended on heading that way, just got pulled into Worldedge and knew I had to stop here. But with that, I suppose that's a good motivator to get on with Erika's... err, my, journey." She rose and reached out her hand. "I think it is going to be ten years since we started in less than a month. Here is to ten more, huh."
Erika smiled, it was silly to think something going on for 20 years but who knows. She didn't know any story that could go on 10 and yet this one did. "Maybe I will get meta again with you then, Skinks, but until then we've got a lot more to do."
Erika drew a Pokeball from her clip and pulled Kay back in, setting her Pokeball back onto her clip. "Sno, come one. Onward to Bigfjord!"
With that, Erika set off.
Her bag was full so she sent off a message to the four friends she had to remind and coordinate a meet up location. They were, of course, welcome to pass given on how much writing someone wanted to do. Though as the meta passed, Erika continued through the streets of Worldedge with renewed purpose as she headed onward to Route 13.
And @Pirouette, y’know, I actually thought of Normie because Kingpin already had Vulture going after the Stark tech, but, oh, well... Looks like Normie’s against superhumans, huh? Tho, to be frank, I always fancy the idea of Kingpin hiring Slade, but I dunno, do you think it’d make sense for Kingpin to hire Deathstroke to look after Adrian and help him out when things go south?
Hedging his bet. Why would Kingpin bet it all on a guy who almost has a prototype suit? Perhaps he was using Vulture for the distraction.
Norman Osborn is the mayor of NYC. Currently fairly anti-supers trying to work with Lord’s government. Highly ambitious and at the moment is looking to move up in politics eventually. The people of NYC are split on him but the city itself is leaning towards pro-super sentiment so it can seem like Norman is unpopular.
Would he hire a mercenary to steal tech? Probably not.
You know who will? Kingpin.
He is looking to profit and anticipates the cessation of Stark tech helping Lord’s anti-super agenda.
Erika had become quiet as she entered the inviting apartment. She glanced at things with a vague curiosity that she didn't quite understand but regardless, she went with it. Somehow, she had expected this though Erika suspected there was something more behind that knowledge that went beyond her understanding.
"Hi there, Skinks!" Erika replied back but it felt like a voice speaking through her if that made any sense. It didn't to Erika but it did to those reading this.
Accepting the invitation to sit, Erika did so, resting a set of clasped hands onto her crossed legs. She let Sno and Kay play around the apartment, keeping an eye on them as if she expected them to be too rambunctious. Sno was supposed to be adult of the pair but often gave way to entertaining Kay too much. "Oh a water would be fine, thank you!" Erika replied as she settled in.
As Skinks went into the offer of a diploma, Erika smiled. While she'd enjoy the challenge, Pureplain City felt like a lifetime ago. Was that how Pokemon adventures were supposed to feel, Erika thought. It had only been a few days? A week? She wasn't really sure the timeline but she did remember where it all started. "As fun as an offer that is, we would both might be old and grey by the time I manage it."
Erika laughed but felt a little disappointed with herself. "I kind of wish I had been better about making progress. I think even if I had been on top of my game all this time, I still wouldn't be close to that 'capture all Pokemon in Isson', but it would absolutely be interesting to see how far I could have been." Erika waved her hand as if she were banishing the regret. "Though the adventure is still on so who knows where it goes from here!"
She took a drink of the water and accepted the gift, slipping it into her bag. "Thank you very much!" Erika then accepted the Pokeball. An Eevee would be interesting though she wasn't quite sure which evolution she wanted. Though it did prompt her with two ideas. She mulled them and some other ideas around. There was a lot she wanted to do.
"I do have a few things in mind." Erika raised a hand to tap at her chin as she pondered. "But first, I really do like Isson and the adventure. It's been such a cute and cozy experience. I suppose I should consider where to go from here. I'm obviously joining the friends that Erika made to journey west. First off, please feel free to interject some twists or plots that lead Erika to other things." She thought about it for a second. "Hopefully that's alright. Otherwise, I would absolutely love to encounter a Meloetta. She's my favorite, so much so that it did partially inspire a certain name that does have significance for other reasons as well. So, she is a big deal to me. Capturing a Legendary does feel weird in a sense so maybe it can be a mutual cooperation with some story about it? That's assuming I even get to where you might have Meloetta..."
Erika shook her head. "I'm rambling so my first question would be is where can I find Meloetta?"
Given that answer, Erika would turn to her next question which came with the gifted Eevee. "Oh, where can I find the Eevee stones? I think it is the Moss stone and the Ice stone? You have to be near them from what I remember for Eevee to evolve into Leafeon or Glaceon. I still haven't quite picked one..." Erika glanced up at the ceiling as if she were looking at something. "Actually can't you use a Leaf stone to evolve Eevee into a Leafeon now? And then I guess there is an Ice stone now? Not like the Ice stone in the earlier handheld games which was a static rock somewhere in the world but there are actual evolution stones."
Moving on after Skinks answered that, Erika would gesture towards the map with the notes. "My final question because I don't want to spoil too much is what part of Isson have you been dying to tell? I'm sure there is something, Skinks, don't lie! Erika pointed at him. "I'll try to head there when I can because it will be fun!"
"Oh sure, take your time!" Erika replied as she watched the Inventor scurry off to the Abra that had been writing. He removed the helm and the movement of the Pokemon it was equipped by had stopped and she frowned. Would she need Inkay out for this? "Might help if Kay was out." She said more to herself than to the Inventor as she reached for her belt, plucking Kay's Pokeball.
Popping it open, Kay flipped about with Erika giving her a smile before the Inventor captured her attention. Kay glanced over to where Sno and a Pidgey were flying upside down, causing her to huff. Her cheeks puffed out as she floated over. 'That's my thing! Don't you know?' She chirped, flipping herself over to remain upside down. Sno, as a Ghost type, didn't really feel gravity anymore so she flayed out her appendages in a shrug. 'Not unusual for ghosts.'
"Yes, very." Erika called back to the Inventor as he talked about how interesting Psychic Pokemon were. He was right. She spent her whole childhood learning about how Psychic Pokemon made this work. It almost seemed too unreal to believe but they were right. Mostly, anyway, as she still yet hadn't seen any floating islands, but she hadn't quite been looking for them. The thought took Erika's gaze away and over to where her Pokemon were now all floating upside down. She gave all three of them a bewildered look before shaking her head as the Inventor approached, capturing her attention again.
"As long as it doesn't harm, Kay, I'll have her try it out." Erika replied taking the little helmet and placing it into her bag. Kay shot the pair of them a nasty look, no doubt already planning on NOT putting that on. "And I was going to leave the City before trying them out. Perhaps an extra variable to see if it changes at different points in my adventure." Erika picked the goggles up turned it over in her hands inspecting it. "I'll be back to Worldedge at some point, for sure."
She tucked that into her bag and nodded her head. "Erika." She said plainly before elaborating, "I'm from Cooldome so I get the pioneering spirit! Almost everyone wants to find the newest trail up the mountain or untouched snow for snowboarding and such." She gave the man a wave. "If you don't mind me taking your inventions for a bit, I will be back. I have more badges to win and more of Isson to see. Oh! Speaking of..." Erika gestured to the Quest Board. "A Pokemon that is an engine that isn't native here? Any tips? I'll try to keep it in mind but I'm not sure if I've heard of anything like it."
Erika would accept any advice Russel had before being content with her visit. She wasn't going to buy anything this time, seeing as she was heading out on an excursion, but next time for sure. "I'll be back another day and let you know. Bye Russel!" She waved, ushering her two Pokemon out. With Sno, she was happy to leave out of her Pokeball always, but with Kay, this was essentially a bribe to get her to eventually try on the helmet. Besides, Kay had been frozen for how long? She might have enjoyed seeing all the fancy new city stuff that wasn't here during her time.
Anyway, Erika would be drawn upwards in the city headed to the Upper Northern District of the Residentals. She wanted the fresh air, trading the busy and bustling activity of the other two districts for the calmer heights. Being this high, a steady wind blew through the narrow streets in between the tight apartments and houses of the people living here. It still had that claustrophobic feeling but broken up by the parks and outlooks onto the city which Erika, Kay, and Sno all took time to rest at. They were just kind of wandering since they had a little time to kill before having to meet everyone. At least to Erika, she wasn't feeling drawn anywhere but as she continued to wander she just so happened to stumble upon an ordinary apartment building, yet somehow familiar? She wandered in, drawn by a curiosity to see where it would lead. Up some stairs she found a door open and inviting...
Member
Emma
Theyra
Lord Wraith
Cyberlad
Anciek
Rekkuza
Mjolnir
Haha
Birdboy
King Cosmos
