@Joshua Tamashii Oh, you do it like that. Alright. I edited the post to be a bit more complete, then, and strew some level-ups into it. ... And realized that Drifloon learned a new move that just might have made a difference, but EH! XD
@Eklispe Nicely posted. For clarification, where exactly are you training right now? On the waters or on Route 5, that is? Both are "outside of town".
I had to write this in a bit of a rush between real-life events, apologies for any huge mistakes I may have made. But, here you go.
@Joshua Tamashii I did write 3 vs 3 battles, BUT EH! Let's just do this. XD
So, most of those went as expected, and even in those that it didn't could I think of other ways to beat the enemy without too much consideration. Only in one occasion did your tactics just straight-up fail, and in another case a bad critical-hit made for that you probably had to get inventive in the battle after, but I took some liberties in those cases.
But, yeah. In one match-up you straight-up lost, so I'd like you to insert a new tactic there.
If you do that fast enough, I can be reasonably quick with inserting your update so you can move on. Heh.
@Rune_Alchemist Bunches of descriptions. Hm. Heh. Yeah. Either make your current intentions clear or trigger a random event. Or don't, because I might just trigger it regardless. I just want to know what your intentions are, first. Maybe. You might decide to stick around in either location, anyway, but yeah. I wanna know where you want to be and what you're going to want to do, first.
@Pikmin Eye Bit of training, done. Sorry, no water-type moves yet, I'm afraid. Haha. But, yeah. What next?
@Pirouette Apologies for wanting to make a "press 'yes' to continue" post, but there was a few new details in that Ewan added Duessel and maybe you have a better idea or something. Anyways. There you go.
Audrey gave a little shout of panic when she realized that Amelia was a ghost-type trainer. She tried to improvise by having Geodude grab rocks or sticks to attempt hitting Pumpkaboo. Didn’t work, didn’t know the proper moves. Geodude was swiftly confused and then Astonished over and over until it fainted. With Pidgey, Audrey tried to insist that Sand Attack was an attack that did damage, doing it over and over, but Drifloon could indeed just float over it before Constricting the struggling bird to victory. Then Oddish VS the fire ghost. Wasn’t much the little plant could do, eventually succumbing to the flames after Absorb hadn’t done very much.
Amelia was victorious! Amelia gained 334 P for winning!
Pumpkaboo grew to level 8! Drifloon grew to level 7!
‘Gh-ghost types! Lots of ghost-types! That’s chea- not fair!’ Audrey complained, pointing at her angrily before bolting.
Kale made a little sound of amazement at the shiny Phantump, blinking at her. Realizing quickly that Rattata couldn’t do anything, Kale had him Tail Whip until he fainted by the tackles. Okay, now with decreased defense, Ekans could handle her! … Then Kale was stunned when she simply switched to Shuppet for his Ekans. Oh. Okay. However, despite Amelia’s strategy, Ekans was faster and able to sting Shuppet a couple of times, resulting in Poison. But, Night Shade did more overall damage, and Ekans fainted. However, then came Growlithe, who Kale was visibly excited to get into the game.
Pumpkaboo was able to both Trick-or-Treat and Scary Face, slowing Growlithe down and making him a Ghost-type, but Growlithe Embered right back when it no longer could catch up to Bite. Two Embers would have been it, hadn’t it been for the rain. Amelia switched to Phantump. Getting close to Astonish meant Growlithe could counter with Bite. Growlithe on average did more damage, making it so that Amelia eventually had to switch to Litwick. When Litwick came out, however, Growlithe had taken enough damage that Litwick could finish the job with Smog until Growlithe came too close and then Astonish to finish the job.
Amelia was victorious! Amelia gained 270 P for winning!
Shuppet grew to level 8! Phantump grew to level 8! Phantump learned Growth! Litwick grew to level 8!
‘Ooooh… I lost…’ Kale looked a little sad, he had gotten excited that he could win during the last part with Growlithe. ‘But, well fought! … You need to focus on more than one type, though. What if I had a whole team of Growlithes?’ He chuckled a little. He seemed to have overcome his fears during the battle. Anyways. He could head on, then Amelia could go back to the Pokémon Center.
‘Hello, and welcome to the Pokémon Center. Would you like to rest your Pokémon?’
Assumingly, yes.
‘Okay. I’ll take your Pokémon for a few seconds, then.’
She’d then accept the Pokéballs and put them into the machine, and…
‘Thank you for waiting. We’ve restored your Pokémon to full health.’
She says as she hands the Pokéballs back. She then bows to her customer and gives a friendly smile.
‘We hope to see you again!’
Then, against Penny’s Lillipup. Despite Minimize, Lillipup managed to get a Critical Hit on Litwick during the battle, but otherwise managed to keep the puppy Pokémon on a distance with Smogs and Embers. By the end of it, by Odor Sleuth, Lillipup did a last-chance charge and managed to hit again before fainting, but Litwick was quite damaged. Phantump VS Tympole became a battle of confusion-shots, as both confused the other. However, Phantump was more fortunate than Tympole, shaking off confusion with only minor damage and could then Astonish the opposing Pokémon that was knocking itself into the fence trying to overcome confusion.
Castform became a different story, though. She’d use Powder Snow against Drifloon first, meaning Drifloon was damaged and had to be switched out, then the empowered Water Gun did more damage in average against Shuppet’s Night Shades. Now, Amelia was at a bit of a disadvantage as all her Pokémon except Shuppet were weak against a move of Castform’s, but Shuppet had done enough damage that she could switch to Phantump and then to Pumpkaboo (in any of those orders) to then finish off the weather Pokémon with one attack each.
Amelia was victorious! Amelia gained 355 P for winning!
Shuppet grew to level 9! Phantump grew to level 9! Drifloon grew to level 8! Drifloon learned Gust!
… … … … Um. Using that, a battle with a certain bug might turn out differently. XD
‘Oh, my. You’re good even under pressure, huh. So, that over, shall we take a walk and marvel at this wondrous weather together?’ Penny smiled happily. Amelia probably had to excuse herself forcefully to get away from the woman.
Though, before she could get anywhere, there was Celica.
Pumpkaboo came out but was eventually put to sleep by Skitty. Insomnia turned out pretty useful as Shuppet could finish the job with Knock-Off. However, Litwick had been considerably damaged against Penny’s Lillipup earlier when it was time to battle Flabébé. Smog blew through Fairy Wind, the poison somehow dispelling the magical element of the wind. It managed to blow onto Flabébé, and poisoned the fairy. Flabébé did, however, manage to maneuver to Fairy Wind from other directions, and Amelia had to switch Pokémon or Litwick would faint from collective damage from both fights. But, she could switch around a bit between her plant-ghosts or Drifloon and Flabébé eventually fainted on its own by poison. Then Jigglypuff. … Constricted to fainting whenever Drifloon wasn’t asleep from the singing.
Amelia was victorious! Amelia gained 320 P for winning!
Pumpkaboo grew to level 9! Drifloon grew to level 9! Litwick grew to level 9!
‘Aaaaaah…’ The Fairy Tale Girl seemed rather upset with this, and was pouting. ‘Ooouuugh… I want to meet a Ralts, too…’ She complained.
‘Hello, and welcome to the Pokémon Center. Would you like to rest your Pokémon?’
Assumingly, yes.
‘Okay. I’ll take your Pokémon for a few seconds, then.’
She’d then accept the Pokéballs and put them into the machine, and…
‘Thank you for waiting. We’ve restored your Pokémon to full health.’
She says as she hands the Pokéballs back. She then bows to her customer and gives a friendly smile.
‘We hope to see you again!’
Then, meeting Greg. In Surskit VS Pumpkaboo, despite its superior speed Surskit could only attack the pumpkin ghost with the Not-Very-Effective Bubble. A Trick-or-Treat and a Confuse Ray later, Pumpkaboo simply had to wait until Surskit accidently ran itself into a tree before Astonishing it to its defeat. Still, he took quite a bit of bubbles before that, hadn’t he been grass-type it could have been dangerous. Against Spinarak, Drifloon attempted to minimize to then attack… and it didn’t work as intended, because Spinarak hit with String Shot anyway and Drifloon was caught in the web, and after that Minimize didn’t help much. Spinarak could climb his own web to Poison Sting and Drifloon was poisoned. Drifloon would not be able to win this battle, so Amelia will need to switch strategy. Well, she had just tried to beat a spider by becoming a fly, soooo…
Litwick fared way better against Spinarak, burning the attempts for the bug to get close and setting the spider on fire, managing to Burn his opponent. Spinarak fainted easily after that without much trouble. Ledyba was a cakewalk after, switching between Shuppet and Litwick made Supersonic useless and the ladybug was eventually eliminated by Embers and Night Shades.
Amelia was victorious! Amelia gained 199 P for winning!
Pumpkaboo grew to level 10! Drifloon grew to level 10! Shuppet grew to level 10! Shuppet learned Spite!
‘Ouch. Wow. This proves I have to become stronger before I fight Lorette! Thank you for battling me!’ Greg says, before returning his Pokémon and then turning to get them to the Pokémon Center while Amelia could move on.
Thereafter, against Everitte.
Phantump was able to fairly easily handle Bellsprout, taking the Vine Whips and confusing the target before finishing it with impacts that did a bit more damage than the Vine Whips plus that Bellsprout occasionally hurt itself. Shroomish completely failed to either paralyze or do anything against Litwick, becoming surrounded by fire and fainting quickly, unable to do much damage. Roselia seemed to be a more experienced Pokémon, however, and managed to paralyze Litwick with Stun Spore, get close and Poison Sting continuously after that. But, Litwick wasn’t so helpless that he couldn’t get quite a bit of fire-damage in, if it hadn’t been for the rain he could have won this one on his own. But, Shuppet came out against a heavily damaged Roselia, and was able to finish the job after that.
Amelia was victorious! Amelia gained 359 P for winning!
Phantump grew to level 10! Litwick grew to level 10! Litwick learned Confuse Ray!
‘Oooh, okay. You’re pretty strong too. Hey, won’t you take this?’
Amelia was given a Rose Incense!
‘It smells good, and can boost a Grass-Pokémon’s moves when held~!’ She mused, and then kept walking, looking happy with herself.
That done, Amelia had now trained her Pokémon to level 10 collectively, and she was now on Route 3.
Route 3
Route 3 is partly covered by the Silent Forest, but a path has been made through the trees for people travelling by the northern path from Rainrock down to Highhill and onto Pureplain. It is a fairly decently travelled road, as it’s the main road from Pureplain to the other cities of Isson. But, that doesn’t change that it’s almost constantly under a heavy downpour from the many clouds known to gather in the routes around Rainrock City. The atmosphere is constantly damp, thanks to the rainy weather. Chances are large that Pokémon preferring a rainy day will be found in this route.
While there’s likely a road for vehicles, the route for travellers is much different. With the proximity to Highhill, there’s actually a fair amount of hills in the area, and the route goes up and down. The path itself is fenced in with wooden fences and stairs up and down the hills, following those would lead to a fairly easy traversal to Rainrock City. But, step outside, and you’re officially in Silent Forest. The path is mostly cobblestone and stairs. The trees are mostly green with leaves but some blossom in pink or stranger colors. And of course, plenty of Pokémon if you just stray slightly from the road.
Due to the high amounts of rain and vegetation, few people live on this route, and besides the route itself there’s little in the ways of civilization. Just a very long, very wet route, with two splits. One near Highhill Town going deeper into the forest to the Silent Shrine, and one close to Rainrock east for those heading to Route 4 and Mt. Strength or Stillwood Village. Regardless… the rain will feel like it ends very suddenly, in either of those directions. But it has been like that for so long, people have just accepted it. “It rains on Route 3”, “water is wet”. And so, reality continues.
1. Find Pokémon. Feel free to specify searching for a specific kind, if so. 2. Train Pokémon. With this command, we can jump ahead in time and skip posting about grinding. 3. Seek trainers. There should be some here and there. Note, some may challenge you, regardless. 4. Talk. There’s some travellers traveling along the rainy route. They can be talked to. 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. Team Virtue members. There are currently Team Virtue members on Route 3. They likely won’t trouble anyone just being normal trainers, but they’re patrolling right now and it’s slightly notable.
Connected areas: Rainrock City. Across the route, north. Route 4. Head east just before Rainrock. Silent Shrine. Head west just before Highhill, through the forest. Highhill Town. Just south. <technically, you could reach Silent Forest by just jumping off west, and Dragon Lake by just jumping off right, but those aren’t listed as proper “connected areas”>
Common: #69 Bellsprout #285 Shroomish
Uncommon: #425 Drifloon
Rare:
Close to Highhill Town.
Highhill Town
Highhill Town is a small, lively place that has seemingly stood atop this hill from time immemorial and never really changed. The atmosphere in Highhill Town is much fresher than surrounding places, the buildings are older and the work as honest as ever. The old town is populated by elders and younglings aplenty, and the town has a culture of their own. Plenty of Pokémon assist with the work, either as work-force or the animals that work is being done on.
One usually only crosses Highhill Town on a trip to or from Pureplain City. Regardless, it is a place of beauty. The fields around it are cultivated by hard-working people and Pokémon while the lake to the east gleams in the sunshine as fishermen attend it. There are small roads of asphalt spiraling up the hill to lead to all the old buildings, and children playing around in stairs or nature is very common.
It is said that a trainer praying at the nearby Silent Shrine will be blessed on their journey, so many travel to Highhill Town just for that. There’s also a set of very ancient rocks spread about town, pointing out towards the lake on top of the hill with some engravings. What they mean? Nobody knows. Also, Highhill Town is the residence of a certain Move Changer, whose abilities are sought by some new trainers. What he can do? Visit him to find out.
1. Find Pokémon. Can still search for Pokémon in towns~ 2. Talk. In cities and towns, there are considerably more people one can talk to. Talking can give you info on local rumors and such. 3. Exit. Exit the town to any of the connected areas. 4. Specify. If you specify what you want to do, the GM will take it into account and tell the result. 5. Trigger random event. Force the GM to use his imagination to make a scenario for you. 6. Notable Buildings. Visit any of the facilities of the city! 6.1. Pokémon Center. Heal all your Pokémon. 6.2. PokéMart. Go to a store and buy things. 6.3. Pokémon Gym. ??? 6.4. Docks. For fishermen or perhaps a ticket across Route 14. 6.5. Ancient Rocks. Of completely unknown origin, ancient writing on them. 6.6. Ranch. There are ranches around Highhill, if you stand to gain from them. 6.7. Move Changer. We can guess from the name, but what can this man do? 6.8. Mayor’s House. If you see reason to visit, it’s right by the rocks.
Connected areas: Route 1. To the south, is the common route of first journeys. Green and straight. Route 3. To the north, the route to Rainrock or the Silent Shrine. A wet woodland. Route 14. To the east, the lake known as the Dragon Lake, potentially for crossing.
The street that houses both the Contest Hall and the Dreamer Studios was a busy market street. If you wanted to buy yourselves a new set of clothes, bags, accessories or anything else you could imagine buying in the midst of a busy street in a city named after its coastline. So, there was the Normal-rank Contest Hall, a spherical building with a bright-colored theme, and the Dreamer Studios…
The Dreamer Studios building is a large, purple building that was being run by a certain Madame Melaina. It was colorful, with flowers and posters and all the manner of things. There was a rush of young “dreamers” seeking to impress the staff of the studios to show them that they in specific was worthy of attention.
The deal of the Dreamer Studios was pretty simple. You wanted to do contests but couldn’t be bothered with all the effort that came with it? Were you talented enough to SKIP all of that? Well, it was possible! If you were sponsored by Dreamer Studios, you could have all the accessories you desire, they could obtain for you the Pokémon you want, and you could get training in doing your appeals to the crowd. In return, all you have to do is PERFORM, become famous, become marketable enough to sell merchandise. Simple enough, hm? So if you’re not winning, Dreamer Studios lose their reason to sponsor you.
However, you don’t find a worthy individual to sponsor without trying out a whole lot of them. A look inside made it clear they were holding classes for people who wanted to make themselves and their Pokémon look good, as well as provided the means with which amateurs could make their own promotional videos to show off if they ever made it to stardom. There was also a stage where people were holding practice contests and the like… Yeah, Claire could see the things they were offering here and decide for herself if this was worthy of her or not.
1. Apply for Sponsorships. What everyone else here are hoping to do. 2. Attend Classes. Specify what you want to learn. 3. Practice Contest. If you want to practice your Contest abilities! 4. Talk. There are plenty of people to talk to around here to ask what’s up. 5. Move along. Or, you could decide this isn’t what you came for and leave. 6. Specify. If you specify what you want to do, the GM will take it into account and tell the result. 7. Trigger random event. Force the GM to use his imagination to make a scenario for you. 8. Staff-only door. I mean, I don’t know why you would, but you could go through it.
However, no sign of an Yvonne. Moving on to the actual contests, then?
The Normal-Rank Contest Hall was a big, spherical building that was located on the market street. It didn’t exactly stick out particularly, but regardless here was where the most people on the street flocked to. Within, there were five different smaller stages that were each in their own separate rooms all connected to a central hub in the centre of the sphere where the receptionists were. There were statues of Pokémon standing around, a representative for each Conditions. Machop for Tough. Skitty for Cute. Vulpix for Beautiful. Abra for Clever. Sneasel for Cool. It was all very colorful.
This was Normal-rank, meaning anyone who wanted to could potentially get a spot. However, priorities went for those who had been recommended by the Dreamer Studios. But, persist, and a spot would surely be yours. And… well, there wasn’t any Yvonne here, either. Not in the main area, that is. There were, though, a couple of shows going on right now, and she could be in the audience (or elsewhere) in one. Three shows were going on right now. Cool, Cute and Beautiful, leaving Clever and Tough. But, waiting for it to end was easy enough.
So, what would Claire do?
1. Participate. Pick a Category and then get going~! 2. Watch a show. Can specify what category you’d like to see. 150 P for adults, 50 P for kids under 15. 3. Shop. Plenty of accessory shops outside the hall and places to fancy things up. 4. Talk. There are plenty of people to talk to around here to ask what’s up. 5. Move along. Or, you could decide this isn’t what you came for and leave. 6. Specify. If you specify what you want to do, the GM will take it into account and tell the result. 7. Trigger random event. Force the GM to use his imagination to make a scenario for you.
Okay, this was the wrong street. Martin quickly made his way out of it without any opposition. More like, if anyone saw him they were far more likely to simply nod with the mental impression of that this is how it should be.
Outside, back again in regular Lakewatch Town, Martin embarked onto a canoe and sent out his Goldeen to challenge some Pokémon. The available targets were basically Woopers, Poliwags and Tympoles (with the assumption you’re not stupid enough to take on a Quagsire). Now, their collective counters to enemy attacks were Water Gun, Water Gun and Bubble each, so Goldeen had a fairly easy time swimming up to them and Pecking them with h- (you have not recorded your Pokémon’s gender <seeks back numerous pages to page 18>) -her horn. Even if she did get damaged they could just return to the Pokémon Center if she ever got tired. Soon enough!
Goldeen grew to level 8! Goldeen learned Horn Attack!
That was a few levels and a stronger move learned.
1. Find Pokémon. There’s plenty of water here. Could be any number of Water Pokémon in the different rivers through town. 2. Talk. In cities, there are considerably more people one can talk to. Talking can give you info on local rumors and such. 3. Exit. Exit the town to any of the connected areas. 4. Specify. If you specify what you want to do, the GM will take it into account and tell the result. 5. Trigger random event. Force the GM to use his imagination to make a scenario for you. 6. Notable Buildings. Visit any of the facilities of the city! 6.1. Pokémon Center. Heal all your Pokémon. 6.2. PokéMart. Go to a store and buy things. 6.3. Pokémon Gym. ??? 6.4. Lakewatcher Base. From where Lakewatchers embark to patrol Dragon Lake. 6.5. Lakewatch Docks. For getting tours of Dragon Lake, just taking a ferry or fishing! 6.6. Explorer’s Guide Service. With all these strange places around, Lakewatch offers guides to the surrounding areas! 6.7. Descent Tower. A tower in the middle of town, with stairs down to Flooded Lakewatch. Come prepared for the underwater. 6.8. Back Alleys. … What? Lakewatch has a darker section? What are you talking about?
Connected areas: Wet Caverns. Water-filled caverns that are located to the east. There’s a small hill to climb to get to the entrance. Route 5. The main exit of Lakewatch, leading to a grassy incline connecting mountains, forests and plains. Route 14. The waters of Dragon Lake are also known as Route 14. It connects Lakewatch Town, Highhill Town and Stillwood Village.
‘Ooooooooooh, digging a trench. Clever!’ Joshua smirked as Gible started digging. As a Ground-Pokémon skilled at the art of digging, it was working! … Not exactly at lightning speed, but it was working! The Pidgeotto right in front of them stared at them with a look that seemed pretty unimpressed. Then there was the matter of that scroll.
‘Oh, right! Yes!’ Joshua called out at the notice about Zubat and the plan that involved, grabbing a Pokéball and getting it going. ‘C’mon, little friend! Let’s do it!’ As the Pokéball opened, the bat-Pokémon took shape in mid-air.
‘Zbat!’ The bat made a short cry as it emerged, and it was time to make instructions. Meanwhile, Ewan looked to the other two’s choice of plan and took out a Pokéball of his own, throwing it into the floor.
Pokédex Entry #53 – Psyduck, the Duck Pokémon. It is plagued by headaches from the moment it is born until it evolves. Its vacant look is there to lull its enemies, and by intensifying its headaches it can unleash psychic powers. However, any time it uses these powers will create a lapse in its memory and it won’t remember having done so.
‘Psay-ay-ay?’ Psyduck made a confused noise, coming out here.
‘Duessel doesn’t know any Psychic moves yet. However, he can serve to distract the Pidgeotto as well by shooting water, and can retrieve the scroll if it falls into the water.’ Ewan told, looking to Erika as he told how he could contribute.
So, they had a Gible that was going to dig them a trench to get through the Whirlwinds, and they had Gibs (Gible) and Duessel (Psyduck) distract the Pidgeotto on the left while Zubat went to collect the scroll, and if it fell Duessel could dive to retrieve it. Was this the plan, all as considered?
She nodded to Gestalt’s continued part of the story. Same to Septima’s reaction to her own story. Yeah. Reason enough.
She shuddered to Anomaly’s story. That was horrible. She lost her arms for her powers. That… that was terrible. Don’t get powers without becoming damaged goods, huh. She wanted to argue, but it was apparently time to act. Knight looked out and-
‘Wa-!’ She made a noise as the vehicle lurched and tilted, apparently from the lack of engine on one side. Falling down onto the other side, Knight grunted, but there was something she could do about this.
Inside the craft, a block of frozen air appeared, following their fall because it was automatically created with the same speed as herself. She shaped it after the ceiling of the craft, before she quickly started pushing it at the ceiling of the craft, intent on slowing down the descent of the out-of-control craft with her own power and attempt balance it…
‘Grh…!’ Slowing down her frozen air to slow down the whole craft put considerable pressure on her mind, especially since she was trying to take the weight of a whole craft coming crashing down. However, with the assumption that the pilots still had some form of control, she tried to steady the crash so they came down with the right keel down and not with too fierce an impact so they wouldn’t be in any danger of dying from the crash.
With the assumption that she was about to succeed…
‘Gestalt! Make cover for us outside!’ With the assumption that outside was a warzone, cover would be nice. ‘We’re not damaged goods, we’re young heroes rising towards our full potential! So let’s teach these villains not to mess with us! Let’s go!’ Not the best of speeches, but spare her, she had extremely limited time to come up with something. With that, Knight wanted to shove the door open and jump out to see what might be awaiting them out there.
@Banana Knight's going to do something about this. I'm just not in a state to write a post right now.
Edit: Or maybe I wrote something anyways. So, um. This was with the assumption that we implemented those assumptions about that frozen air Knight creates moves like she does, so the pressure she's taking on in her mind is trying to telekinetically move it upwards to slow/balance the craft. Yeah. Heh. Tell me if she's completely unable to ease up the crash, then the last part probably won't be quite like that. Hah.
So, I really want to avoid letting any post go over 4 days without being answered. ... So I'm posting for only Eklispe to buy myself two more days for the other posts.
Dawkin could move on from the Pokémon Center, out onto the streets of the partly flooded town that still seemed to be pretty bustling despite this. The main attraction of the town were the tours of Dragon Lake and such, but of course, they had other services. Such as the one he was heading to right now to gather more information.
The Explorer’s Guide Service building itself was but a small dent into a building, a door and windows full of advertisement for the service. Inside was a cozy little store-like room where lots of fliers advertised the accomplishments of several presumably employed individuals while good reviews of their services hung around like newspaper articles, the walls covered by papers, maps of Isson and the likes. By the door stood a sign with some info for a visitor.
“Lakewatch residents live somewhat out of the way, meaning we need to travel to find our callings! On our travels, we have learned a lot! Here we offer our experience for you to use!”
There’s also a map of Lakewatch under the message with a “Our guides live HERE!” showing small arrows pointing at various spots throughout Lakewatch Town. It was vague enough that’d it be somewhat hard to find the person based on it, but with the number of arrows and how spread it was it delivered the message that this was an honest occupation in this town.
And, in the back on a chair behind a desk covered in paperwork and a strange small stone-statue of a Trapinch sat a girl staring at her mobile phone. Though, when Dawkin came in, she lifted her gaze and stared at him, looking at him a little curiously. The girl’s wearing a jacket, hood and a large backpack lies packed on her right. She looks like she’s basically already on a journey.
She has something in her mouth. What it is? Who knows. Heh.
‘Mmm? Heading somewhere?’ The girl asked in a casual tone, looking over Dawkin as he entered.
Now, a list of the place’s services are listed to the girl’s immediate right.
1. Tips! Get a tip about any of the serviced areas! Small tip - 50P. Considerable tip - 200P. Masterful tip - 500P. 1.1. Wet Caverns. 1.2. Route 6, a.k.a, the Vast Plains. 1.3. Frozen Cave/Route 9. 1.4. Dragon Lake. 1.5. Mt. Strength. 1.6. Mt. Chill. 1.7. Route 7, a.k.a, the Desert Eye. 1.8. Endless Forest.”Tips” don’t help in Endless Forest. 1.9. Anywhere else! Name a place, and we’ll see what we can do! 2. Maps/guidebooks! To ensure you’ll never feel lost on your own! 2.1. Wet Caverns. Shows paths and water-ways. 300P. 2.2. Route 6, aka, the Vast Plains. Habitat guidebook. 500P. 2.3. Frozen Cave/Route 9. Maps and survival tips. 500P. 2.4. Dragon Lake. Habitat guidebook. 700P. 2.5. Mt. Strength. Maps. 1000P. 2.6. Mt. Chill. Maps and suggestions. 1000P. 2.7. Route 7, aka, the Desert Eye. Maps, and guide to finding the Oasis. 1000P. 2.8. Endless Forest.Any attempt at making a map or guidebook to Endless Forest is doomed to fail. We have hundreds of attempts, feel free to take one for free. 2.9. Anywhere else! Name a place, and we’ll see what we can do! - Price varies. 3. Hire a guide! To accompany you and help out with your needs in said area! - 2900P. 3.1. Wet Caverns. 3.2. Route 6, a.k.a, the Endless Plains. 3.3. Frozen Cave/Route 9. 3.4. Dragon Lake. 3.5. Mt. Strength. 3.6. Mt. Chill. 3.7. Route 7, a.k.a, the Desert Eye. 3.8. Endless Forest.Service discontinued due to complaints of getting lost despite having a guide. <There’s a drawn face rolling its eyes next to this one> 3.9. Anywhere else! Name a place, and we’ll see what we can do!
So. Minor tips about Route 5 and Frozen Cave, as ordered.
‘Ah, you just want to know what you could expect to meet.’ She gave a little smile, putting her phone aside as she leaned forward, her hands grasping together in front of her as she looked at Dawkin. ‘Route 5. There are lots of Oddishes and Deerlings on the route. Look in grass for Scatterbugs and Caterpies. The route hoots with Hoothoots during night, same as Route 4. Look in forests long enough, and you can find small gatherings of forest-dwelling electric Pokémon in both Route 4 and 5, like Pikachu. Careful wandering those forests, though. It’s spring. Sawbucks are more active than in other seasons, and they’re more inclined to attack than Deerlings are.’ She says, smiling a bit. Then…
‘And the Frozen Cave… Dress warmly. That’s a minor tip.’ She giggles a little. ‘Nah, I jest. The most common Pokémon there are Zubats, Swinubs and Delibirds, with the occasional Vanillite. They’re harmless enough, but those slippery caves hold places where you can accidentally slide deeper into the cave without any easy way out. And deep in those caves occasionally prowls Glalies way stronger than the area average, who may sometimes attack without warning. Always enter the cave with Escape Ropes at the ready. But, the cave does hold its own amusing secrets. Like, frozen fossils. Hm, is that still a minor tip? Eh.’ She sighs a little. Then, she regains her smile.
‘That’ll be 100 P. Unless there was anything else?’
While Eli scouted that, Mariette had another business to attend to.
She lifted a hand and gathered her power. It took a little longer than her other portals, on account that her destination was not of this world, but soon enough a portal opened to her interdimensional apartment. From apartment to apartment, Mariette treaded.
The apartment was as boring as ever. False windows out to a false city gave a false sense that it was a part of a larger world. There was a table in the middle, with three chairs around it. A fridge, a cabinet, a cooking area for whatever they needed to eat. A couple of places to sleep, in case. How she greatly prefered Joe's place for that. Here was closer to Asengav's core of power, the whispers were louder, and it became much harder to relax. Asengav had given this to her as her safe place to relax in, yet it simply showed how little the Horror understood about what allowed a human to relax. Besides, Sonia had already proved this place wasn't safe.
In one corner lay the crystal she had been given by Justine, since she had thrown it there after their most recent meeting. It could stay there, Mariette would eventually have use of it, but she was wary that perhaps the Visceral could spy or eavesdrop through it. No conversations about their recent actions could take place close to it.
In the corner opposite of it, stood Asengav's great mirror. Her one gateway to Asengav's dimension, and her way of contacting him. Which was what she was going to do now.
Mariette wandered over to the mirror, lifting a hand and placing it against the mirror. She was going to start transmitting her message to her master, that she wished to speak with him. She'd then be made to wait, because Asengav had no requirement to actually grace her with his presence until he saw fit to do so. It was reasonable that he may be expecting her to contact him after what just happened, his tentacles had been burned, but perhaps he'd leave her hanging a bit just for the principle of it.
Regardless, Mariette now stood with a hand on the mirror, focusing her call, considering the words she'd say...
"Mirror, mirror, on the corner..." Mariette heard a voice, and one she knew all too well.
"Who is the fairest in the betwixt border?" A giggle then ensued, and Mariette saw the crystal glow. The flaming eye projected from it's side, staring directly at her. "I must say, it was quite rude of you to throw away my gift to you, Reflective...No...We should be on first-name terms now, Mariette."
The moment she heard the first tone, Mariette stopped sending her message. ... Asengav would have noticed and understood. She hoped, anyway. Regardless. She slowly turned and faced the source of the voice, the flaming eye coming from the crystal in the other corner. She saw no need to reply to her addressor's words, merely glared back. And as much as Mariette would have wanted her look to be blank, her brow frowned and body tensed up a bit, her look nothing short of hostile.
The eye blinked. "You must be furious, with the way your eyes look. I suppose that disgusting slime of yours held more value to you than I expected. Well, we can't all choose our slaves, I suppose. And it seems the other one is missing...How bold of you." Her tone was polite, yet that only sharpened the insults.
‘Bold, Justine? For Eli missing from my side?’ Mariette scoffed, ignoring the rest but replying to the last bit. ‘They are my scouts, not my bodyguards. Now that one of them have been stolen from me, the other will need to double her efforts. Each second by my side is a second not gathering information for me, therefore wasted. I have no need for constant companionship.’ She told, her tone sharp. She wouldn't deny being riled up, but she prided herself on her ability to remain focused.
"Hmm, that may be so...But is it also true of them? We live in a dangerous world after all..." Justine sounded like she enjoyed the banter. "Anyway, I would like to share a little secret...Or should I say, I already have?" A sound of clinking ceramics and a sip then ensued. "A little leak has now happened you see, and your veil of secrecy has been lifted. Now, the magical girl community knows of Mariette Pedersen the kidnapper, complete with a description of appearance and abilities. Now you have no allies, Mariette. You are all alone."
... So, either Justine is talking about when Mariette herself spoke to Alicia, or something has happened beyond her own knowledge. Perhaps Amber. Regardless, it was something she had already accepted when she had chosen to speak with Alicia. But for the fact that she had no allies...
Of all the people her mind could wander to... She thought of Violet and Sakura, who had somehow managed to befriend her. She thought of Sue, who had offered to care for her. And she thought of Lily, who had so dearly wanted to connect to her. It wasn't much, but that mere fact, made the slightest smirk appear on her lips for the briefest moment. There are things you don't know, Justine...
‘And?’ Mariette let the smirk vanish, raising her chin a little. ‘I am the agent of a Horror. From day one, I never expected to have any allies. I never needed them. I was always alone. The difference is that now they know of me, which in some ways make it easier for me to move. After all, who could catch me? My scouts have searched throughout the world for Magical Girls, I know what they're all capable of. I know a grand total of two Magical Girls that could ever catch up to me. I'm speaking to one of them. I have nothing to fear from the common ones.’ She told, her voice confident.
A silent moment passed. "Is that so? Well, it will be an entertaining display when the Beacon comes after you. They surely have members capable of finding you, so you can only run." Her voice was showing a slight change to a less composed one. "You will know fear, soon enough."
‘...’ Oh, she was aware. There really was a difference in pressure, knowing there were people out there that now knew of you and wanted to hunt you down. But... ‘Perhaps, Justine. Then again...’ She had to restrain a little smirk.
‘Are you not in a similar position? They learned of Stephanie. Helga had her body destroyed. People unknowing of my connection to you sought me out to try to have me ferry them to your base. I shoed them away, of course, but knowledge about you is spreading as well, through sources I do not know. Beacon surely will have learned by now. I know you have your collection of followers, but...’ Mariette tilted her head a little, looking at the eye curiously.
‘Other than those, are you not alone as well? Will they not come hunting for you, too? What's so special about me being hunted, then?’ Mariette asked, honestly curious as to what Justine's answer to this might be.
The answer was a bout of laughter, noble yet unnerving. "My dear Mariette, you are a fool for thinking you can play my game; I will always be two steps ahead." Another sip happened, this one a bit longer. "I have no concern for the Beacon anymore. In fact, I should thank you for it, Mariette; without you I might have had to work on my plan for another decade. But now, nobody will be able to stop me. This world...shall be one with purity..."
That was roughly the reaction Mariette expected, but it was nice to have it confirmed. It was a little distressing how little she seemed to worry about the forces of this world, but... Hm. Mariette regained her neutral look she preferred as she watched the eye...
‘... I couldn't convince you to wait a little, then?’ She asked. ‘I simply need to achieve my goals, then you can have this world. I'll be jumping to the next world where Asengav needs me. I feel like you owe me at least a little for that, since you killed my underling. You'll be ahead of schedule, either way. When I'm done or die, feel free to make this world "one with purity", if you feel like. I won't care anymore. What does that mean, anyway?’ Mariette asked, holding an expressionless face as she looked at Justine.
"Tsk tsk. I did no such thing. How impolite of you to accuse me, Mariette. Also, like I've said during our meeting, your objectives matter nothing to me. But if you are desperate enough to survive, then there is a way out; surrender, and swear yourself to me." Another sip, and then the sound of ceramics clinking, as if the teacup was removed. "So what will it be, Mariette?"
So, Mariette was aware she was at a bit of a disadvantage. Asengav was investing in many worlds, Mariette wouldn't know how many. It felt like Justine may have more support from Father than she herself had from Asengav, putting her at a distinct power disadvantage. But...
‘That I cannot do, for I already serve a master.’ Mariette spoke with an unchanging tone, meeting the eye steadily. In her mind, even at the price of death, she could not go against Asengav. ... That this was the result of being Mind-Bent to be eternally loyal to him, was not something Mariette was aware of in this case.
Another silent moment, only accentuated by a sound of tapping fingers. "An expected answer. I did consider this a foregone conclusion. Well then, I suppose that...You have outlived your usefulness. Farewell." The eye projecting from the crystal began glowing, and shortly after, so did the crystal itself. A strange sound started emanating from it, as if it was gathering energy. The glowing accelerated, until-
Mariette listened intently to the foreboding words. Upon confirming that she would likely be in danger she was prepared, quickly reaching behind her and touched Asengav's mirror, a powerful artifact of portals, which immediately opened while she let herself fall backwards through it. Her tentacles, faster than her own fall, gripped her and threw her through into that same apartment she had entered her dimension from. As quickly as she could, she swung her hand and the portal above her swung with it to direct itself upwards rather than at her, for she didn't trust that she could close it swiftly enough before she landed on her back in the apartment.
An explosive force pushed rapidly out of the portal, bright red energy shooting out like beams of searing fire, up into the ceiling of the room Mariette escaped to. The ceiling started to crumble, and chunks of it fell on top of Mariette; while she survived, she definitely didn't escape unscathed.
Mariette, with a start, realized that perhaps indoors hadn't been the best of choices as the beam cracked the ceiling. She opened another portal above her as a shield while she defended her sides with her arms and curled up, while the debris of the ceiling crashed down. Considerable weight crashed down on her sides, from the piles, even as she was spared from straight above her. Also, dust had been thrown all over her. With a bit of a peeved expression, she crawled out after the dust had settled, brushing a hand over her face to escape having to cough.
Well. How nice to have been right about Justine's future intention to kill her.
Once Mariette managed to pull herself up again, she saw through the portal that the dimensional apartment was utterly wrecked, scorched beyond recognition; if she had stayed inside, she would have perished.
She carefully gazed into the interdimensional apartment. Okay, wrecked. It didn't matter, being in there was a death-trap, now. The entire point of it was to keep her safe, but since Justine could reach in there anyways, it instead became a prison with no escape. Looks like she wouldn't be returning. But...
There was another reason she hadn't closed the portal. She focused her power, and instead of using the mirror to make a portal she made a portal of her own, bigger, behind it in the apartment. Then she dispelled the portal on the mirror itself, grabbing it with her own arms to lift it out. The frames had been completely destroyed, but by making it a portal she had saved Asengav's mirror from being destroyed as well. All in the little victories.
Mariette sighed as she put down the large frame-less mirror onto the floor. That was probably the first serious effort she had needed to put into actually lifting something herself in... ever. She'd made Deni do it in the past. ...
First she quickly portalled herself into one of her numerous apartments that she knew was empty in the city, to escape those who'd come looking to see what that sudden noise had been or if anyone had sensed the magic. Then from there...
She placed the mirror aside and collapsed in a chair. She needed to relax a bit. ... Then contact Asengav again. ... This had all turned way too intense for her liking. It would have been so much easier to accomplish her goals if there hadn't been another dimension-travelling Horror-girl wanting to achieve her goals in the area. Now, she was truly at war with Justine von Visceral... ... ...
Mariette settled, leaning forward with a frown into a thinking position as she considered her next move in this game Justine thought her a fool for trying to play.
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