Oh, my. That went fast. I know it was likely a coincidence, and not fair to anyone who might have done the same but wasn't online to do the same, but I'm so happy it did~
@Joshua Tamashii Nicely posted. Alright, you're doing it like that. Taha. A result of this will be posted along with the rest. Job hunting is an entirely alright reason to be distracted, but thank you for the post~
@Pyromaniacwolf Gotcha. And nicely posted. Let's see if we can get some better results in the bug-woods, eh? XD
[@All] I am going to be posting within 24 hours. Probably in the span of time between 13-27 hours from now, depending on how many posts. I think that's an ample amount of time to have given people to post. And, since you're all on your own anyway, it doesn't really matter if I only post for some of you. I really liked that three-days-per-post-by-me we had going for a while. Oh, well. Now, then.
@Pink Madness@Eklispe You two haven't posted for a week. Now, I can read Eklispe's little status-thing there and be understanding. But still, how's it going? The same for Pink, I'd really like to know how things are.
@Joshua Tamashii@Delta44@Pyromaniacwolf You posted after my post a weeks ago, so that's fine, really. But there are answers there to be answered to. How's things?
@Pirouette How are things? When do you think you'll be able to post?
Wisp has no money (so she'd never think to go to such mercenaries), a distrusting personality that I put in her to ensure she didn't go to the Protectorate (so she'd never normally consider joining a team), a stranger power that she hides with (making it hard for others to find her in the first place), and if the other members of the team wants to do other things I wouldn't want to force something unnatural in order to make her come into contact with them, but yeah. I'd happily be open to that. Haha.
Aaah... New team, huh... Heh. I would have waited with making my character had I known that would happen. Now Wisp's independent, and on a little quest of her own. Oh, well. That's fun, too.
@Rune_Alchemist Heh. Alright. Nicely posted. You're deeper into Infested Woods than I'd recommend a beginner. I'm fairly amused by your attempt to appeal to Delphox. I believe I know how this will go~
@Pikmin Eye Well posted. Yupp, this battle is continuing. And now, for me to figure out what this roll means. Hmmm. Heh.
And... let's see. Yeah, I wanted to say. I couldn't find an image for Deep Infested Woods I liked, so last second I switched to something from Deviantart. Clicking the image goes directly to the image. It's by BloodlineV and it's apparently of a wood in a rather famous game series that I've not played. Anyways. Because I took it from there and that's by some reason more personal than Safebooru, I felt a need to give credit here. Anyways. Yes. That's about it.
Now, ghosts likely can go through grips if they want to, but…
Amelia collected the Shuppet, which blinked in a little but then seemed pretty comfortable in her arms. The other three slid to a halt in front of her, with varying expressions of slight guilt when chastised.
‘Shuppet…’ First one looked kind of feeling bad about it.
‘Shupp-shuppet~’ The second one, which had stolen the Pokéball originally, sounded like “my bad” while smiling.
‘Pet!’ While the third one looked the most like “that was fun!”, drifting naturally higher than the others.
Then Amelia said her bit about wanting to take one of them on her journey. The three Shuppets in front of her looked at one another, curiously.
‘Shupp?’ First one asked.
‘Shuppet, pet.’ The second one responded.
‘Shuppeeeet!’ The third one called out happily.
This little exchange seemed to have mostly been them speaking among themselves rather than responding to Amelia. They seemed to reach an agreement, and then smiled at Amelia before they all called out at the same time.
‘Shuppet!’ … It was more out of curiosity on how she’d pick one of them which they all agreed on. None of them really minded either alternative, but that’s how they did that.
‘…’ The Shuppet in Amelia’s arms looked at its friends and then back at her, before looking forward again. ‘Shuppet.’ It added, in a quieter tone than the other three.
Skitty trusted her singing, even as Nincada turned to rush in. The Pokémon maintained her song, Nincada feeling the effects of it, but…
He managed to close the distance and Scratch the Skitty, the kitten Pokémon recoiling with a little sound of distress and the song cut short. Nincada had managed to keep himself awake.
‘Oh, scoot.’ Lena mentioned with a slightly troubled smile. ‘Whatever, we’re not changing strategy now. Skitty, run off a bit, and sing again!’
‘Skit!’ Skitty turned and ran, hoping to be a bit faster than Nincada, expecting the bug to be immediately on her tail but yet ran, intending on eventually spinning around to Sing again.
Because why the heck not, Ren finds a notepad function in the Pokédex, since it appears to have all the functions of a modern phone anyways. At her hint, Jacques raised one eyebrow and smiled a bit, while Kalmia frowned. If any of them connected or not was not said.
‘I see. Well, then. Allow me to simply wish you luck on your journey for now, then.’ Jacques responded to the majority of her words, before continuing on.
‘Thank you for the invitation, but I’ll have to decline.’ Jacques said, tipping his hat a little. ‘With the time I’ve spent here, I’ve left other tasks unseen to. Believe it or not, I have a full-time job. So, without further ado…’ He pulled a Pokéball and threw it, the ball cracking open in mid-air and a large, grey dragon-like creature fell a meter to impact the ground as he landed, glaring forward with a fierce look…
Pokédex Entry #142 – Aerodactyl, the Fossil Pokémon. A Pokémon who roamed the skies in the age of dinosaurs, it has today been regenerated from genetic material found in amber. It’s a savage creature that is known to go for the throats of opponents with its sharp claws.
Jacques wandered and climbed up on the back of the pterodactyl Pokémon, a pleased little smile on his lips. ‘I’m going to take my leave. If you wish to contact me, Kalmia has my number, though I can’t guarantee I’ll be reachable. A lot of people want my time, after all. But…’ He smirked. ‘If your words ring true, then we’ll see one another again soon enough.’
He looked to the one still ongoing battle, speaking so Erika and Vivia could hear. ‘Vivia. I am going to leave. You have my number if you need anything, otherwise I believe Kalmia will provide any support you require. I’ll contact you to check your progress at a later date.’ He informed the assistant he snatched.
‘A-alright.’ Vivia nodded to him, startled and looking a little dispirited from that the one she was representing wouldn’t continue watch her battle, but she then quickly refocused on her battle.
‘Then. Until next time.’ Jacques said to those present.
Now, if any of the two present characters wanted to, they could tell him not to leave yet, halt him for one reason or another. But, otherwise, he’d make a pat on his Aerodactyl, who’d take charge and wave his powerful wings, the heavy Pokémon and rider drifting off the ground with heavy strokes of wind under the dinosaur Pokémon’s wings, before finally a single wave caused the Pokémon and rider to fly off into the distance, Jacques holding onto his hat as he flew north…
‘Show off.’ Kalmia complained, sighing after he had departed (or not if someone stopped him), before smiling a little apologetically at Ren. ‘Sorry. Can’t leave until all battles are completed. Vivia and Erika are still fighting over there.’ She gestured at the battle. ‘But, good luck. While you won’t be able to enter it, the Super Contest should promise to be quite the show. And, while I wouldn’t recommend challenging the Gym, feel free to check it out. I’ll be right here. So, yeah. Good luck~’ Kalmia wished, while stuck where she was until further notice.
‘Fabulous…?’ Laurinda asked, tilting her head a little looking over at Claire while walking. ‘I am… unsure what you’re looking for, or if you’re going to find it in these woods. I suppose Butterfrees or Beautiflys have a certain style to them, Vespiqueens have a certain… wicked grace which they carry…’ Laurinda gave a few, evolved, suggestions on the top of her head. Then, she was distracted by the sound of buzzing, suddenly being heard ahead of them.
‘… Alert.’ She said. ‘Delphox. Be ready. We’ll be depending on you.’
‘Delphox…’ Delphox seemed to think this was a pain, but prepared her flaming wand, the fire lighting up more powerfully as they headed on. The deep vegetation and the darkness of the True Woods spread out, leaving larger open areas with light looking down from above again. No longer did vegetation constantly attempt scratching at them as they advanced, and they could see further than 10 meters around them because the vegetation allowed it. But, the buzzing grew louder and louder. Soon enough, it was unmistakably clear they had gotten to a new part of the woods, for the Pokémon were no longer hiding.
Deep Infested Woods
Trees stood tall. The vegetation died down. Open areas blocked only by occasional trees spread out in every direction. And the buzzing, such buzzing. Here, Pokémon life was truly let to infest. The buzzing came from hundreds of Combees, circling around, and there was seemingly a Beedrill per fourth tree in the crowns of the trees. From here, two Vespiquens were already within sight-range, each one the queen of their respective colony, and the woods promised many more. Kakunas or other such cocoon Pokémon were attached to practically every tree. Going through the woods without stepping on at least a single Weedle was going to be difficult, which was potentially bad because it meant the ground had numerous natural traps of Weedles here and there that were just begging to feel threatened and lash out with their poison stingers and potentially make life really miserable for a while.
There were numerous battles going on within sight. It was Beedrills fighting off the Combees intruding on their territory, and some Beedrills were attracting the attention of the Vespiquens by doing so, the queens striking back with their Attack Orders. There clearly wasn’t enough room for all the different Pokémon, leading to daily all-out fighting across the Deep Woods, and thereby danger to anyone and anything moving through here. Some Beedrills were already flying closer to the group, but Delphox shot out a few lazy bursts of flames here and there to drive them off. Numerous Combees flew close to Claire, likely because she was bright as a flower, but they eventually would fly off as they realized there wasn’t anything to get there and Delphox wasn’t burning them, likely meaning they weren’t dangerous.
Pokédex Entry #13 – Weedle, the Hairy Bug Pokémon. It has an acute sense of smell, and can easily distinguish its favorite leaves. It eats its body-weight of leaves every day. Its stinger secretes a powerful venom, and it uses this toxic barb to ward of hostiles.
Pokédex Entry #14 – Kakuna, the Cocoon Pokémon. It sits on a tree, almost immobile while it prepares for evolution. So much activity is being done creating a new body inside that a Kakuna feels hot to the touch. If endangered, it hardens its shell or extends its venomous stinger.
Pokédex Entry #15 – Beedrill, the Poison Bee Pokémon. Extremely territorial, should someone intrude on their grounds they attack in furious swarms. They fly at high speed and attack with their venomous stingers. A poisoned prey is then taken back to the nest to feed on.
Pokédex Entry #415 – Combee, the Tiny Bee Pokémon. Three are connected at birth and stick together for life. They spend their life gathering honey from flowers to please their Vespiquen. At night, many Combee stack up to become a beehive and sleep.
Pokédex Entry #416 – Vespiquen, the Beehive Pokémon. It is the queen of a colony, and its abdomen is a honeycomb for grubs which it raises using honey collected by Combees. It uses various pheromones to control Combees and grubs in everyday life as well as in combat.
‘Okay. Claire, Ralia. Welcome to Deep Woods. You’re probably disappointed, but let me tell you. Be happy it isn’t night, the ridiculous number of Dustox spreading their poisonous powders everywhere makes it practically impossible to traverse…’ She then looked to Delphox, frowning.
‘Are we heading much further? I cannot imagine newbies getting much further than here. Which direction are they coming from?’ Laurinda asked, a little agitated.
Delphox stood silent for a bit, her expression neutral, before she slowly lifted her burning wand and pointed it towards the sky.
‘… They’re flying in. Wonderful idiots. There is a reason why Pokémon are usually only allowed to fly their trainers between cities.’ Laurinda sighed, before looking to Delphox again. ‘At least they’re not landing… THERE, are they?’ Laurinda looked at Delphox seeking a negative answer, buuuut.
‘Delph.’ Delphox answered, looking neutral. That didn’t sound negative.
‘… They’re not AIMING for there, are they?’ Laurinda got a sudden serious expression, looking at Delphox.
‘Delphox.’ Delphox shrugged, giving a little smile.
‘… They’re not typical newbies, are they?’ Laurinda glared at Delphox.
‘Phox~’ Delphox smirked, looking a little amused. “You made the assumptions of what they were on your own”, it sounded like.
‘… Drat.’ Laurinda spun around, facing inwards towards the woods. She grabbed a Pokéball, throwing it into the ground, and after a flash a new Pokémon appeared.
Pokédex Entry #609 – Chandelure, the Luring Pokémon. They’re known to hypnotize opponents using their dancing flames. It absorbs spirits, which it then burns in its fires. Its fire burn the spirit rather than the body, so a physical body left behind by its flames is entirely untouched despite the damage.
‘Delphox. Stick with Claire, protect her. Claire, do not follow. This… may be more serious than I thought. Chandelure. Burn the way.’ The Chandelure complied, and Laurinda started dashing into the Deep Woods. Merely a few steps in, and a few angry Beedrills getting in her way but Chandelure shot fire at them, clearing the way as she ran further…
‘Delphox…’ Delphox sighed, but then just crossed her arms and looked at Claire. Like, “What do you want to do now?”…
1. Find Pokémon. Can be specified what kind of Pokémon is being searched for, and how you search. … And how you avoid Beedrills while searching. 2. Train Pokémon. With this command, we can jump ahead in time and skip posting about grinding. Wouldn’t necessarily recommend that here, though. 3. Seek trainers. Um. … … … Well, leaving the option. 4. Talk. If nobody else, there’s Delphox. Might be a little limited with what she can reply with, but hey. Maybe Ralia wants to dialogue. Haha. 5. Move along. Move along normally, letting any events that may come happen naturally. 6. Hurry along. Intentionally avoid confrontations and try to get safely to the next destination. Like, if you want to flee back. Haha. 7. Specify. If you specify what you want to do, the GM will take it into account and tell the result. 8. Trigger random event. Force the GM to use his imagination to make a scenario for you.
9. Follow Laurinda. Direct commands are made to be defied. … Or something like that.
Connected areas: True Infested Woods. Behind you. Always possible to flee. Don’t flee into the Pineco nest.
The Lotad was burned, the water-grass Pokémon sent scrambling with the leaf on its head on fire, thoroughly defeated. Wasting no further time, Lucian and Houndour went on to Infested Woods. On their journey towards the trees, they left the wet area that was Route 2 and approached a place that strangely enough appeared to be… shining.
Outer Infested Woods
The woods glows. Almost everywhere you look, there are shining lights swirling around the trees, flowing along the winds of the woods. It’s a bright dance of yellow light that encompasses everything forwards, shielding the woods from being peeked further into.
The floors of the woods are naturally wet, the waters of the Dragon Lake flowing south and nourishing the woods, giving plenty in the kind of water needed to sustain the woods, and the puddles are excellent for the breeding of bugs. That is the kind of world you’ve stepped into.
So, there’s a metric tonne of Volbeats flying in every perceivable direction, the combination of water and tight woods shielding sunlight causing them to light up in massive numbers. One could almost see where the sweet aroma of Illumise could be smelled in the air as the swarms flew steadily in those directions, before circling back. They were so many, it made the lights shine in numbers enough that one barely saw anything other than the moving lights, causing the woods to glow.
You weren’t alone in having sought out the Infested Woods. Here and there, bug-catchers or just regular trainers were doing their best to catch whatever Pokémon they desired. The first area of Infested Woods was low-level. It was almost impossible to not see at least one Caterpie crawling along the forest-floor or the trees, and if one didn’t see them it was because of the light of Volbeats.
There’s a hut standing there, on the outskirts of the woods. There’s a sign on the outside saying “We’ll heal your Pokémon for 100 P!”. … Looking at the influx of bug catchers, it seems they might have invested in a fairly successful business venture.
One could travel across the outer parts of Infested Woods to get closer to the Wet Caverns. There was always the possibility of delving deeper into the Infested Woods, further south… but are you prepared for that?
The woods are shining. There are hundreds of Volbeats flying happily in all directions, around the trees and following the scents of Illumise which they might be smelling. Across the yellow-lit woods young aspiring bug-catchers can be seen, hunting for their first bugs and then doing battle with them. At the side stands a hut, with the sign of “We’ll heal your Pokémon for 100 P!”, and there’s quite a number of young trainers making use of their services. There are paths to follow which would lead through the woods to the Wet Caverns, and there are ways deeper into the woods, which are much darker. The new trainers appear to be actively avoiding coming too close to that place. Now, what would Lucian do?
1. Find Pokémon. Can be specified what kind of Pokémon is being searched for, and how you search. 2. Train Pokémon. With this command, we can jump ahead in time and skip posting about grinding. 3. Seek trainers. There should be quite a few aspiring Bug Catchers. Note, some may challenge you, regardless. 4. Talk. There’s some other trainers around. Maybe seek answers to any burning questions you have. 5. Move along. Move along normally, letting any events that may come happen naturally. 6. Hurry along. Intentionally avoid confrontations and try to get safely to the next destination. 7. Specify. If you specify what you want to do, the GM will take it into account and tell the result. 8. Trigger random event. Force the GM to use his imagination to make a scenario for you. 9. Area Specific: Heal at the hut (100p). Might beat having to go all the way back to Pureplain City… 10. Area Specific: Delve Deeper. What might await in the deeper regions of the woods…?
Connected areas: Route 2. Close, can easily get there without complication. Wet Caverns. Requires a bit of a walk alongside the outer regions of the woods.
If he checked his Pokédex, he’d find a record of Pokémon which other trainers had found here.
Wisp stood as they nodded and then left, and she kept looking after them, not moving until they had turned the corridor… before she quickly swung the door open, stopping it before it slammed into something and then went in. She found that Viola’s game-system was still on, but she had paused it and was nowhere to be seen. She was… hiding in the old closet that had been here when they first moved into this place. Wisp sighed out, before turning to her.
‘Speedrunner.’ Referring to her by her cape-name, just in case someone was eavesdropping. ‘This place has been compromised. Pack the essentials, and anything that might give us away. Get dressed in your costume. Don’t leave unless you get visitors, then run.’
‘But my-’
‘One console.’ Had to put a limit there. ‘... But take as many memory-cards as you like. Remove the memory of the computer and bring it. Use your powers to pack faster. I’ll be back. We leave as soon as I return.’ Wisp then dashed, because she couldn’t allow the Rocker thugs to get too far away.
Streets
Assuming they too weren’t running, Wisp would quickly catch up to the thirty-second head-start they had on her, intending on silently stalking them. But then they headed into a car. Wisp blinked in alarm where she stood, invisible.
Damn.
What kind of criminals use cars, nowadays!? … Okay, maybe she felt a little silly not even thinking of the possibility.
As the car took off, so too did Wisp, in a desperate run to try to keep up with it. This was a city, after all, midst of Denver, during the day, they wouldn’t NECESSARILY be able to drive away from her THAT fast. Damn it, maybe she should have brought Speedrunner. She’d have been able to follow the car, then. … Too late for that. With what she had, she’d attempt to follow at least far enough to get a general idea of where it was heading, before she inevitably got tired and was left invisible yet breathing heavily on the sidewalk, having had to dodge civilians like normal in addition to following the car.
Having failed to follow the Rockers to their den, Wisp cursed somewhat internally as she headed back. Assuming nothing terrible had happened, she then helped Speedrunner pack, ensuring nothing incriminating had been left behind. Fortunately, Wisp had ensured Speedrunner never used her real name or cape-name in any game-systems, just a pseudonym, so they couldn’t use that to track them down. She’d have to change pseudonym from now on. Then, when they were sufficiently done, Wisp cloaked them both within her sphere of redirected light, guiding Speedrunner as she was blind inside it while Wisp led them on while dodging other people.
Then it was off to find somewhere new to crash. Preferably an abandoned apartment or house somewhere, shouldn’t be… too hard… to find, maybe…
Xaltwind
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Framing A Moose
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SkyeOfStars
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