PlatinumSkink

Darkest Before the Dawn: A CYOA Magical Girl Roleplay [Completed]

‘Alright, now listen,’ Jelena said, focusing intently on her students on skis in front of her. On her own feet, Jelena had her own pair of recently formed metal skis. ‘So cross your skis like this, and go slowly forward. There, cool. When you go downhill, lean towards the hill and press your weight down on the ski you want down the hill. So weight on the right leg to turn left, weight on the left leg if you want to turn right. Got it? So…’ Jelena said, instructing at length on how to actually ski.

‘… Yeah, I got this already,’ Victoria boasted, easily sliding down while in full control. She was already basically skiing all over the place with her ice-powers.

‘Wo-ho, haha! This feels weird!’ Mayra said, almost losing balance but constantly adjusting herself with tiny bursts of fire from her molten body.

Mayra, Victoria and Jelena’s christmas pictures, but imagine them currently in ski-outfits and wearing skis

‘U-uh…’ Mariette hesitated, shaking, wide-eyed, staring down on her skis and then down the slope. Despite normally heading down way vaster distances and regularly standing atop platforms high above the cityline, staring down a ski-slope she was supposed to head down standing only atop a pair of interestingly-shaped twigs was way scarier. Still, she was trying to keep her skis crossed, and-

‘Wait, no, AH-!’ Mariette cried as she accidentally straightened her skis in a turn and then gained way more speed than she was comfortable with, and-!

‘Ah, darn, I gotta-!’ Jelena dashed into action, intending on rescuing the runaway leader-!

Except that’s when a tentacle shot into the snow from Mariette’s position, grabbing a tree and accidentally flinging herself down the slope. She was about to crash again, when she made another tentacle grab onto the nearest tree, redirecting her but once again lost grip of the tree, throwing her further down. She sent a tentacle to a tree, and… and so it continued, Mariette unintentionally flinging herself down the hill.

‘Hold on, Mariette, we’re not racing yet!’ Jelena shouted after her.

‘SHE’S GETTING A HEADSTART!’ Mayra shouted in realization, grinning wide-eyed as she leaned forward and held both her arms behind her. ‘YOU’RE NOT GETTING AHEAD OF ME!’ she shouted, before bursting fire from both hands and rocketting down the slope, melting the snow as she went in a straight line.

‘Heh, can’t make them think they get ahead of me when it comes to speed in my own element…!’ Victoria boasted, and dove downwards, freezing the snow in front of her so it became smoother and lost basically all friction, allowing her to glide down at ludicrous speeds… which she could all the way until she was about to pass Mayra, who proceeded to shoot fire at her to prevent her from coming down first. Victoria, of course, replied by duplicating into numerous skiers and throwing ice in return, resulting in a battle of ice and fire heading down the ski-slope.

‘Geesh, you guys…’ Jelena sighed at them. She then took a deep breath, before setting up on a leisure skiing trip down the slope. She knew she couldn’t compete with the speed of her students, so she may as well simply enjoy this unique chance to do some happy skiing again. For once, she could just enjoy herself, taking in some speed as she enjoyed her time on the slope. This was what skiing was all about. Yupp. Giant metal arms and all.

---

Eli and Deni’s current appearance

‘Oooh, I’ve missed this,’ Deni sighed out, smiling as she looked down the slope.

‘There hasn’t been a lot of time for this as Magical Girls, huh,’ Eli chuckled. The two were wearing a pair of matching snowboards under their suitable ski-jackets that they’d equipped for this purpose.

‘Well, I’m done waiting! Let’s go!’ Deni said, giggling as she nudged her legs so as to point the tip downwards, starting to accelerate.

‘Right behind you,’ Eli said, pulling herself to follow right behind.

And so, they were off. Having once upon a time been a single girl with two personalities, they both somehow had the same muscle-memory, and as such two precisely as skilled girls headed down the slope, smiling and laughing as they intentionally went close to one another, and used their Magical Girl athleticism for some fancy tricks and jumps just because, and headed down for fun.

---

Somewhere else, a blonde girl and a spider-girl were taking a girl sledding. They were having a lot of fun.

Pokémon: Start

@Gardevoiran

So, in this Double Battle that ended up playing exactly the same way it would had it been a Single Battle, it opened up with Paradise and Seabreeze using Magical Leaf and Water Pulse to do Super-Effective damage on their respective target, heavily damaging their opponents but failing to faint them. In return, Hippopotas yawned at the Tropius, making her drowsy. Sandshrew used Defense Curl, in preparation for Rollout. Both Paradise and Seabreeze took some Sandstorm damage, and then Magical Leaf/Water Pulsed again, fainting their respective opponents. The battle ended too quickly for Paradise to fall asleep, and Defense Curl never amounted to anything.

Besides sandstorm damage, a perfect victory.

Skylar was victorious! Skylar gained 560 P for winning!

‘Woah! Uh, yeah. Keep heading forward, you’ll find her eventually!’ he said.

Now, back to the tracks.

1. Four-legged Pokémon. These are the tracks of a quadrupedal Pokémon, walking calmly across the sand, out into the desert where the tracks then suddenly end.
2. Tiny line. There’s a miniscule line of something having dragged along the desert. It’s too small to be a wheel. They lead to a rocky pillar randomly standing around.
3. Bike tracks. These are obviously the tracks of a bike, in the desert. It leads off into the desert, towards the eternal sandstorm of the Mythic Oasis.
4. Raised from Digging. Something has been travelling underneath the sand, the tracks obvious because the sand has formed a bump over the tunnel. It leads to a large rock formation.

Seabreeze had been able to tell one thing through the sandstorm at the start. The one who headed off on a bike had definitely not been female. As for where the Gym Leader had gone, she'd basically disappeared where she stood...

What will Skylar do?

__________________________

@Pirouette

‘Got it! Off to the Dojo with me!’ Joshua excitedly agreed, checking Erika’s map briefly before running off in the indicated direction. This left Erika to head for the center of power of Mt. Strength…

The majority of Pokémon in here were Machokes and Gurdurr, but quite a few Pangoro, Conkeldurr and a couple Machamps, but only one like the old and scarred Machamp sitting on the throne.

Pokédex Entry #67 – Machoke, the Superpower Pokémon. It is known to help people with extremely tough labour in order to toughen up. It’s muscles are as hard as steel, yet it still needs to wear a belt which holds back its energy in order to not tear itself apart with its own strength. It can pick up a truck with one hand, and will never get tired.

Pokédex Entry #533 – Gurdurr, the Muscular Pokémon. They carry steel beams to strengthen the core strength of their bodies. In battle, they skillfully swing the beams as weapons with blows equal to the ones sometimes used to demolish buildings professionally. As muscles are a symbol of status to them, they like to show them off to friends.

Erika certainly attracted the gazes of many powerful Pokémon as she ventured through the hall. Nobody stopped her, just looked at her with interest, crossing their arms or otherwise looking amused by her courage. Of course nobody stepped in her way as she approached the king. For one, if the king needed bodyguards, he wasn’t their king. Secondly, they’d learned long ago that the king didn’t appreciate others challenging his challengers.

The old Machamp was tilted sideways when Erika arrived, lying slumped in his throne with one elbow on the right armrest and his head resting in the raised hand from said elbow. He almost lazely watched Erika approaching him, like he could tell she wasn’t anywhere near his level just yet, but there was still a bit of interest in his eyes about what she could possibly have come here for. She made her initial announcement, and…

The primary reaction was chuckles. A couple Pokémon shouted in support, because challenging the strong when they were absurdly outpowered was the bravest thing they knew. The king raised one of his four arms, and they quieted down. There was certainly something curious in his gaze. Now Erika could continue her explanation. The event at hand caused murmurs, Pokémon names sounding a bit hesitant, but ultimately looked to their king.

Machamp stayed quiet for a couple seconds, but there was no mistaking the smile on his lips, his eyes gazing at Chic when she’d appeared. He slowly lifted himself up, then stood up straight. Compared to when he was sitting slumped, the scarred Machamp was truly tall, oozing confidence and power when standing straight. He walked down the small set of stairs towards Erika and Chic…

He stood slightly diagonally away from her, crossed his top set of arms over his chest while one of his remaining arms held forth an empty hand to Erika, palm upwards, looking at her expectantly.

What would Erika do?

__________________________

_{Gym battle in progress}

@hatakekuro

Lupin’s hands had been caught, but quick reflexes allowed the Sneasel to skip over the tentacles trying to grip his legs! He was still held by his arms by the tentacles that had gripped him, but with Quick Attack, Shuckle was thrown back and forth behind him! Fortunately, a Sneasel is heavier than a Shuckle, allowing Lupin to control the ride and smack the shell bound to him around a bit, onto the floor here and into the railing here…! Shuckle didn’t seem to be appreciating the trip…

‘Shuckle, let go, and Rock Slide!’ Lorette commanded. Now, Lorette intended Shuckle to let go at the pause at the end of a Quick Attack, but Shuckle mistimed it and was sent flying across the battlefield! It was last seen focusing before it crashed straight into a wall on the side! Shuckle fainted!

Lupin grew to level 11! Lupin learned Feint Attack!

And with that move, that particular battle of Lupin VS Shuckle was won…!

… Or, so it would have been, except then the shadow of a huge boulder blocked out the light. A final Rock Slide had been managed before Shuckle fainted, and they weren’t pebbles this time. A rain of boulders descended at the battlefield with wide range and massive firepower. Lupin almost certainly would be unable to Quick Attack through that to safety.

Does Basil or Lupin want to try anything?

Pokémon: Start

_{Gym battle in progress}

@hatakekuro

With a new tactic in mind, Lupin surged forward, using Quick Attack to dodge the rain of pebbles as best he could, while also collecting pebbles on the way. Then, suffering only minor pebble damage on the way, he got his second command. Lupin blasted forth, and with an improvised Rock-type move, he slammed the surprised Shuckle right in its squishy face, and the Pokémon let out a cry…!

‘Shuckle…!’ Lorette sounded a bit alarmed.

… But Shuckle wasn’t out. Just as its head slipped down into its shell, a sudden storm of tentacles erupted from the other holes in Shuckle’s shell, stretching further than one could have imagined they could and gripped onto the limbs of their attacker. This was Wrap, and Shuckle’s limbs were very much intending on holding onto Lupin and not letting him move!

And that’s just about when Taunt went away.

‘Shuckle, Power Trick!’ Lorette commanded, and if it was let to pass a purple energy surged over Shuckle, changing something. It would then glare at Lupin. One thing for sure, the next attack wouldn’t be pretty.

But that would be another turn away. Lupin’s turn, albeit he was being bound by Wrap. What will Basil and Lupin determine to do against this adversary?

Pokémon: Start

@Pirouette

Ewan looked back and forth between Elana running off and then to Erika who was giving him a request of action. He got a determined expression and nodded.

‘I will. Good luck,’ Ewan said, the spitting image of dependability, before he spun around and ran after Elana. What they’d be doing went unseen by Erika, who had other things planned.

‘An army? We’re going to-’ Joshua looked stunned for a moment, when he took a deep breath, eyes widening, his hands going to his cheeks. ‘Oh my goodness.’ To call him ecstatic would be an understatement. ‘Absolutely! Are we splitting up to get as many as possible, or do we go together to back one another up? Ooooh, this is such an adventure!’

They headed up through the mountain, up through the tunnels. Somewhere in the distance, they heard the drill start again, as the boy was off on his own quest. Erika arrived back to the first floor without issue, and following the map she also easily found the pathway up to the second floor as well.

Up here, inside these large, rocky corridors there were the intermittent sounds of fighting. There were more than enough Machops and other wild Pokémon just milling about, but Erika wanted to go where she could find the most amount of Pokémon, correct? If so, here were three of her options. She could go to one of them, or to all three in turn. The choice was hers.

The Dojo

A leg slammed down into a rock, cracking the top of it… and then the Hitmonlee retracted the foot, looking a bit hurt by the effort. A Medicham was quickly at his side, speaking to him, showing a method of kicking downwards for maximum damage, and then corrected the placement of the rock. Hitmonlee prepared again, lifting his leg, and kicked down! Crash! The rock broke open! Hitmonlee looked pleased with himself and Medicham supportively clapped next to him…

This was a room not for fighting, but to learn the art of fighting. Pokémon were teaching one another the best methods to strike against each other, practicing throws and guiding one another on the path of strength. It was a decently large room, with plenty of rocks, weights and primitive training equipment which the Pokémon could use to grow their flexibility and power. There was no fighting in this room, perhaps the only such room in the entity of Mt. Strength. In addition, there were some trainers here that were allowing their Pokémon to be trained by the masters of the mountain…

What would you want to do here?

Pokédex Entry #106 – Hitmonlee, the Kicking Pokémon. It’s legs can stretch and contract for considerable range and its balance means it can kick from any position. After a battle, it rubs its legs to relax the muscles and release the tension. It runs smoothly with long, loping strides.

Pokédex Entry #107 – Hitmonchan, the Punching Pokémon. Said to possess the spirit of a boxer working for world champion. While seemingly resting it can throw punches so quick the eye cannot catch them, and their arms spin when punching to increase power. Trainers need to beware that they need to take pauses to rest every three minutes while fighting.

Pokédex Entry #308 – Medicham, the Meditate Pokémon. A Medicham has, through starvation, meditation and yoga, sharpened its mind to see the auras of others. It has a sixth sense which predicts the movements of its enemies, and fights with graceful dance-like steps to avoid attacks. It can hide its presence by merging itself with fields or mountains.

The Throne Room

There were muscles as far as the eye could see. Proud warriors chuckling and conversing, perhaps agreeing to fight or just praising one another’s strength. There was an aura of power among these Pokémon. Somehow, one could feel it. This was a room for the Pokémon that had proven themselves the strongest, a room for the worthy fighters of Mt. Strength. What determined your worthiness in entering this room was your strength… meaning if a human entered here they’d be getting interested, challenging looks by basically everyone. They were calling themselves “strong” by merely entering.

It looked like it was the site of government for whoever originally inhabited this mountain, with a long hall towards a raised platform, pillars holding the ceiling up while looking regal, and at the end was a throne. A throne with a glowing jewel inscribed into the top. On this throne sat a scarred, old Machamp, his muscles bulging despite his age, a scar over his closed left eye as the old champion looked out over the crowd, leaning on one of his right arms. While he looked worse for wear, the fact was he was still sitting on the throne, and that if anything should signify just how powerful this old veteran Machamp was.

Now, all eyes would turn to the human who entered. What are you doing here?

Pokédex Entry #68 – Machamp, the Superpower Pokémon. It is known as the Pokémon that can supposedly throw 1000 punches in two seconds. Machamps are masters of many martial arts, and with four arms it can strike in many unexpected angles. They’re very quick to action, don’t think before they leap, and are absolutely terrible at any form of delicate task.

Pokédex Entry #675 – Pangoro, the Daunting Pokémon. It is known to be violent in battle, raging forth at enemies like in a berserker rage. To earn the respect of a Pangoro, a trainer will need to learn to fist-fight with it occasionally. It is, however, quite kind-hearted and will defend companions or the weak in the face of oppressors. Twitches in its bamboo leaf somehow allows it to predict an opponent’s moves.

Pokédex Entry #534 – Conkeldurr, the Muscular Pokémon. It uses concrete pillars as walking canes, and can swing these pillars freely in battle using the centrifugal force of spinning concrete. It is said that, thousands of years ago, Conkeldurr taught humans how to make concrete.

The Mountainside Arena

A hole in the mountain led out under the open sky. On the side of the mountain was a cliff, and on top of this cliff was a raised platform. On top of it, a Hariyama and a Mienshao squared off, frowning with determination at one another, surrounded by a crowd of cheering fighting-type Pokémon and a couple trainers that were also looking eagerly at the combat. Here, under the open sky, two Pokémon fought their hearts out against one another, and the rest watched as this battle of might took place.

Eventually, Hariyama managed to knock Mienshao off the platform, and was the winner. After a brief celebration, he turned to his next opponent, Lucario, who stepped up on the opposite side of the platform. Then, the battle began anew, as an eternal battle of king-of-the-hill took place, the winner continuing to battle until they fell. The longer they remained, the more glory they earned among the residents of Mt. Strength. Occasionally, a trainer would put forth their own Pokémon to the challenge, entering with the very same rules as anyone else. Was there anything to gain from surviving long enough on the Mountainside Arena?

What have you come to this gathering of fighters for?

Pokédex Entry #297 – Hariyama, the Arm Thrust Pokémon. What appears to be fat is actually a hunk of solid muscle. They’re kind and well-meaning Pokémon, but are known to cause trouble with unrequested tests of strength, like when they try to stop trains mid-transit. It’s strong enough to send multiple ton trucks flying.

Pokédex Entry #620 – Mienshao, the Martial Arts Pokémon. It wields the fur on its arms like a whip. Its arm attacks come with such rapidity that they cannot even be seen. It overwhelms its opponents with continuous attacks and then slowly stores up power before delivering the finishing blow.

Pokédex Entry #448 – Lucario, the Aura Pokémon. It can sense the Aura of others, and can by that read their thoughts and movements, and can by that detect even far-off or hidden foes. They use this to detect prey, and also employ aura as offensive power. Often hunt in packs.

What will Erika do?

__________________________

@Gardevoiran

Skylar went off in the direction of the four-legged mammal’s tracks. His birds scouted from up high, but didn’t actually see anything new except for where the other tracks were going. Skylar himself wandered on out into the desert, following the tracks for as long as he could. Eventually, the tracks ended, in the midst of the desert. He’d walked all the way to the end of the tracks, when-

A blast of sand shot out from in front of him! In front of him, bursting out from underneath the surface of the desert came one of said four-legged mammals, and with it came a human!

It was…!

‘Er, nope! Didn’t head this way!’

Worker Arvin would like to battle!

Arvin’s Pokémon

Pokédex Entry #449 – Hippopotas, the Hippo Pokémon. It lives in arid places. Instead of perspiration, it expels grainy sand from its body. It shrouds itself in this sand to ward of germs and enemies. It can walk through sand as easily as on ground, though has to shut its nostrils when doing so. They form colonies of around ten.

Sand Stream will immediately start a Sandstorm! Otherwise, the hippo has a combination of Yawn, Bite and Dig with which it intends to first put the opponent to sleep and then do damage to, using sleep and Dig-turns to do damage over time with the sandstorm!

Pokédex Entry #27 – Sandshrew, the Mouse Pokémon. It lives in arid regions burrowing deep underground. It emerges only to hunt for food, which it catches by lounging out of their burrows. If threatened, it curls into a protective ball and bounces off from enemy attacks. If it gets cold at night, its body will coat itself with a fine dew.

Sand Veil ups evasion in a sandstorm! Also, this thing knows Magnitude! If it’s facing a Pokémon Magnitude is ineffective against, it may just Defense Curl and then Rollout instead!

What will Skylar do?

Darkest Before the Dawn: A CYOA Magical Girl Roleplay [Completed]

There was a squadron of valkyries bombing them. In their particular faction, Lea clicked her tongue and clapped her hands together, creating a flow of wind to divert the snowballs from hitting her, and beside her Esther raised a couple branches to cover her body from the snowballs. In reply, Lea sent a surge of wind through the snow next to her to send up at the airborne forces, intent on swallowing them up in snow and wind. That probably would be dodged, but still.

In the back was Olivia, who at the sight of the airborne assault screamed and ducked, her spirits crouching over her and taking many a snowball while trying to cover for their commander.

The army of Victorias were far too engaged in engaging the Pennys, having a ton of fun engaging in this physical altercation of metal and ice dancing and throwing snowballs at one another, so when the Sanns descended she was caught unprepared and a bunch of Victorias were blown over by their attack. Still, they’d definitely be trying to throw a couple back, too.

Mayra was still intent on engaging Penny and MDP, even if the lack of posts would suggest otherwise. The dragon-girl wasn’t entirely able to dodge past the snow, but it didn’t bother her at all and she threw a bunch of snowballs back up at them! Jelena was somewhere in there, too.

Meanwhile, in the fort of Josefin and Taihei, Josefin dodged down in their igloo at the sight of the squadron, but Taihei completely missed them. She raised a hand to counter them with a gravity-blast, but something was off with the dimension’s connection with the gravity-flux of a thirty-fifth planet of a distant galaxy’s center star so the gravity-flux failed and Taihei got a facefull of snow from the descending Valkyries. Just because.

Then there was suddenly a satellite floating above them, that discharged a flood of water.

That’s about when Lea had enough. She grabbed Olivia and blasted off into the sky with Olivia crying out in alarm, Esther following after on a tree she just grew that was rooted in the ground beneath, avoiding the water, albeit perhaps she overreacted since most was focused on that fort.

The Victorias blinked in surprise and jumped to dodge the water, quickly freezing some small icy platforms in the ankle-high water, looking in confusion at the sudden watery surroundings.

Mayra looked at the water and grinned determined to evaporate all the water before it got to her, but Jelena grabbed around her and they jumped, floating up in the air by Jelena’s metal-magic on herself making them float, before they landed again on one of the Victoria’s icy platforms.

Josefin and Taihei, meanwhile… just happened to have dug their fort downstreams from Penny’s fort, on a lower altitude, in a pit that was about to have all the excess water from the satellite attack violently fill it up and create a lake within which they’d be in the bottom.

‘Water…! C’mon, Taihei, up a tree…!’ Josefin said in alarm, jumping and trying to grab Taihei’s arm to help her up… but Taihei realized they had no time for that. Besides, she was an aquatic monster-girl, this should be fine. She used her gravity-magic, coincidentally working again, and flung a surprised Josefin up the tree. ‘Wait, TAIHEI!’ Josefin cried out after her, but Taihei wasn’t bothered. She proudly turned and faced the wave…

She didn’t even budge. Like a rock, the water just bounced off her before engulfing her, and Taihei was utterly unbothered as she was swallowed by the water. It wasn’t nearly enough power to do any damage to the most sturdy of all Asengav’s girls. She’d just let this water flow over her, and then she’d swim up to the surface, and-

Taihei suddenly coughed, water going down her mouth. Her eyes widened.

She… couldn’t breathe? Her hand went to…

Ah. There were no gills.

Her Christmas transformation had removed her gills.

What the f-

She coughed underwater, bubbles leaving her throat, her abysmal agility and heavy weight unable to escape the water.

Oh, so this is how she, an aquatic monster-girl, died. By drowning.

How very, very unlucky…

She bent her knees, closed her eyes, prepared to vanish all of a sudden…

Except then a magic bubble showed up around her because Christmas magic wouldn’t let her die in Dan’s dimension. It carried her up to the top of the tree Josefin was standing on, from which Taihei dropped down in fetal position.

‘Taihei! A-are you okay!?’ Josefin asked, very worried.

‘Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuh…’ Taihei mumbled in misery, but hey, she wasn’t dead.

‘… I think that’s enough excitement on my part,’ Lea muttered, carrying Olivia in her arms and with Esther floating next to her on a couple trees.

‘M-me too…’ Olivia breathed out in panic, and with that, Lea took off with her and they went off from the battlefield, Esther following by periodically shooting trees and using them as stilts to follow after Lea at a modestly quick pace for a not-very-agile girl.

‘That thing’s AWESOME! Where did you get one of those…!?’ Mayra cried out, eyes positively shining pointing out where the satellite was.

‘… That aside, I think we’re done fighting for now. Thank you for the gift, Mayra, hah,’ Jelena said, chuckling a little. Mayra just grinned at her.

‘Thanks for fighting me, you’re pretty fun,’ Victoria said to Penny, her various copies waving to her copies.

---

‘… The Wacky Downhill Race?’ Mariette quietly repeated, having been listening to the dolphin just because through an idle portal. It sounded… fun.

Pokémon: Start

@Joshua Tamashii
_{appropriate music}

Drifloon scouted out the area, but didn’t exactly find a Water Stone. This thing looks slightly blue, though, albeit not very rock-like. And these berries sure looked blue.

Drifloon obtained Max Potion!
Drifloon obtained 3 Oran Berries!

‘Oh, sure! I can do that!’ Leila said, turning to the water and sending out her Barboach in the water. Barboach looked up at her curiously. ‘Could you go looking for a Water Stone, Barboach? Water-like rock. That should do nicely.’

Meanwhile, Pumpkaboo and Phantump started looking around the place, which was sorta drenched in water but that wasn’t a particular problem for the ghostly grass-types. They did find some odd things.

Phantump obtained Paralyze Heal!
Phantump obtained Poké Ball!
Pumpkaboo obtained Fresh Water!
Pumpkaboo obtained Rare Candy!

Upon trying to enter the bags, however, they got interrupted.

‘Oh, no, you’re not rummaging around our bags. Fine if your trainer does, but you don’t,’ Annica objected, hurrying over to prevent them going through the bags, and had a Murkrow that could intervene if they were to try again.

Still, that was it for now.

What will Amelia do?

TESTIMONY: Backpacker Leila

‘So, the three of us are friends. We came to Route 2 together.’
‘We came across the Water Stone, but Palpitoad protected it.’
‘I sent Barboach to cause an earthquake, but got too scared to take the stone!’
‘I didn’t dare look back on Annica, in case I looked suspicious!’
‘Any one of her many Pokémon could have been looking at me!’
‘I later checked on the Palpitoad and the Water Stone, but both were gone.’

TESTIMONY: Lass Annica

‘I went to set up camp for us for later, because we were going to spend time here.’
‘I didn't do much else, just watched Leila nearby by the waterside.’
‘So Leila’s Barboach caused the Earthquake. How naughty of her.’
‘Leila eventually left towards the site where we found the Water Stone and Palpitoad.’
‘It was shortly after that Palpitoad started washing over the route with water.’
‘I think Amy’s Staryu can remain a Staryu for now. If it’d evolve, it’d be in the future.’

TESTIMONY: Bug Catcher Eric

‘We healed our Pokémon at the Center in Pureplain City, then came over here.’
‘During the event, I was battling the wild Pokémon of Route 2 the entire time!’
‘There was that earthquake Leila caused, and I saw Palpitoad depart to investigate.’
‘So there was a time there when the Water Stone was unguarded.’
‘… I was tempted. I would have wanted to gift Amy a Water Stone for her Staryu...’
‘But I'm in no rush! I'll find her another one!’

Court Record

• Attorney's Badge. … This is a Sun Stone.
• Earthquake Testimony. An earthquake happened that distracted Palpitoad. Would have been hard to miss.
• Leila's Barboach. A healthy Barboach. Has inherited a bunch of moves from parents.
• Leila's Belongings. Hiking equipment. A fishing rod. A ridiculous amount of peculiar rocks and stones. A diary with a ton of writing about wanting to compete in contests. There’s a Fire and Leaf Stone among them.
• Annica's Murkrow. A healthy Murkrow. Looks pleased with itself.
• Annica's Fletchling. A slightly damaged Fletchling. Looks a bit nervous.
• Annica's Belongings. A couple Pokéballs and Potions. A phone. The wrapped-up-in-a-hurry remains of the tent they were going to camp in. A pair of tickets for a ferry from Pureplain City to Sunyshore City.
• Eric's Surskit. A damaged Surskit. Still pretty peppy.
• Eric's Ledyba. A damaged Ledyba. It's suffered a Burn.
• Eric's Belongings. Bug catcher net and cage. Bunches of Pokéballs and Potions and Repels and anything else a good Pokémon Trainer needs. A photo of a young girl together with Annica.

Or she could leave.

Suggestions to actions

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 some here and there. Note, some may challenge you, regardless.
4. Talk. There’s some other travelers 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: Fishermen Huts. See what the fishermen over there's got going.
10. Current Event: Palpitoad Flooding. Random event.

Connected areas:
Pureplain City. You can get back without complication.
Infested Woods. You’re right next to it.
Wet Caverns. May need to cross a bridge or two to get there.

Route 2, known Pokémon

Common:
#13 Weedle
#16 Pidgey
#161 Sentret
#270 Lotad
#283 Surskit

Uncommon:
#60 Poliwag

Rare:
#158 Totodile
#420 Cherubi
#536 Palpitoad

__________________________

_{Gym battle in progress}

@hatakekuro

Lupin used Scratch to deflect the incoming pebbles! It decently worked, the Sneasel’s swipes hitting the flying rocks out of the way as they descended towards him, but some still got by, doing small bits of super-effective damage at him. The rain of pebbles eventually abated…

‘Rock Slide,’ Lorette commanded, and with some focus from Shuckle the pebbles took form anew, raining down on the battlefield once again, piling up across the wooden platform.

What would Basil and Lupin do?

Pokémon: Start

_{Gym battle in progress}

@hatakekuro

On account of having been waiting for Basil's move, Lorette was at a disadvantage when it came to speed and was taken by surprise by the Sneasel and Taunt. Combine that with that Shuckle's a very slow Pokémon, Lupin managed to make his taunt unopposed.

Shuckle looked mortified, sliding its limbs back into its shell, looking extremely sad. Still, Taunt had the effect it would still have.

‘Oh, that puts me in a bind,’ Lorette remarked, bringing a hand up to her chin. ‘Oh, well. Rock Slide,’ she then commanded. Shuckle tensed up a bit, before a shower of rocks came down from above, pelting down over Lupin's half of the battlefield...!

Calling it a "Rock Slide" was a bit generous, with Shuckle's abysmal attack stats it was more of a "Pebble Slide". Still, there was a lot of the rocks, and could potentially be hard to dodge.

How will Basil and Lupin respond?

Pokémon: Start

@Gardevoiran

Skylar and his new evolved Pokémon headed back across the desert back to Raremine Town! From here, he wandered through a town that was recovering from some recent turmoil, some builders patching up some damaged buildings and scientists helping reconstruct here and there. All that aside, Skylar and his team were heading for one place and one place alone. The Pokémon Gym…

He found a huge gate, an arc held upon two pillars forming a place to walk through, and on the sign it said “Pokémon Gym” in large shiny letters, for those who can read. Except, the gate led straight out into the vast, sandy desert, from where Skylar had just come.

On the side stood a little sign, as proper for a Pokémon Gym, despite the clear lack of actual building.

Raremine Pokémon Gym - Minor League
Leader: Kristy
“The Desert Princess!”

Beside the sign stood a young man in glasses, who stepped forth just in time to greet Skylar as he arrived.

‘Why, hello there, newest champ-to-be! This is about the time most new challengers ask themselves “where’s the gym?”.’ he said, ready to be informative.

This guy

‘Now, first, let me give you an analysis. Kristy is a user of the Ground-type. They’re super-weak to electric types, so bring all your Pikachus! … Er, they’re strong against electric, poison, rock and steel-type Pokémon. They also make short work of water, grass and flying-type Pokémon, so better leave those at home! ... On the contrary, water and grass are pretty good against Ground! That aside, Kristy loves fighting in a sandstorm, so don’t bring goggles, the sand will ruin them! Oh, and rock- and steel-type Pokémon resist the sand, so bring lots of those! … True, but as I said, they’re weak to Ground-type, so, maybe not?’

‘Fuh, what are you even standing around telling trainers this for? Let new trainers figure out themselves what types work against each Gym Leader! That’s part of the fun!’ So said a red-haired woman that stood up from behind the Gym’s sign, smiling brightly, goggles on her head, a brown jacket over an orange suit with lots of equipment stashed into it. She’d been copying the Gym Guy’s voice in the middle of his analysis.

Kristy

‘Just doing my duty, my lady,’ the Gym Guy bowed to her, and then stepped out of the way.

‘Hah,’ the woman made a dismissively amused noise, before looking to Skylar and smiling brightly. ‘Howdy~! I’m Kristy, Leader of Raremine Town Gym! I’m happy to see you’ve come to visit my Gym! Where’s my Gym, you ask? Well, all of Isson’s deserts are my Gym~!’ Kristy boasted as she gestured at the desert through the gate behind her.

‘So, have you come to challenge my gym? Are you prepared?’ Kristy asked.

This is where Skylar would be allowed to ask questions or the like.

Under the assumption that he goes through with this

‘Then come!’ Kristy said excitedly as she spun around, walking out into the desert, expecting Skylar to follow.

Route 7

Route 7

A rocky desert stretches out behind Raremine Town. Route 7 is located in somewhat of a basin, surrounded by giant cliffs that cause all the clouds to empty themselves of water before passing this single area, causing the single most potent desert of Isson, the sun eternally glaring down with heat echoing from the sand beneath. While this desert contains a lot more rocks than a regular vast desert does due to the cliffs sometimes falling down into it and the boulders rolling about, there is somewhat of an influx of air soaring down into the valley, regularly blowing sand up into the skies. Sandstorms are a semi-regular occurrence on Route 7, and one in particular is always covering up the path that is said to lead to the Mystic Oasis, which can only be reliably found through the assistance of a Vivillon, which was found out a while ago by the citizens of Raremine Town. Still, the path to the Desert Mines is usually clear and populated by miners walking back and forth, and those fortunate can pass all the way to the Old Tombs without any issues…

The hot desert spread out all around them. Kristy breathed in the air as if it was the freshest thing she’d ever breathed, and then spun around to Skylar.

‘So… how about we play a little game?’ Kristy said, smiling as she did. ‘I’m going to go hide in the desert. Your job is to come find me. You may use any means available to you and your Pokémon. You start, as soon as the sandstorm sets. When you find me, we battle. Sounds good?’ Kristy asked, but obviously she’d already made up her mind. She took out a Pokéball and let out the contents. A modestly large mammal on four legs and an oversized snout.

Pokédex Entry #449 – Hippopotas, the Hippo Pokémon. It lives in arid places. Instead of perspiration, it expels grainy sand from its body. It shrouds itself in this sand to ward of germs and enemies. It can walk through sand as easily as on ground, though has to shut its nostrils when doing so. They form colonies of around ten.

‘Hippo-pooooooooooo-!’ the Pokémon sounded out as a burst of sand suddenly blasted off it, and the area surrounding it was covered in a sudden sandstorm which covered Kristy but not Skylar. Kristy grinned as she pulled down her goggles from her forehead and placed over her eyes.

‘Good luck, my sweet little challenger~’ she said before being enveloped by the sandstorm and jumping back into it. Being rather close to Skylar, the sandstorm covered much of his field of view… not that he’d have seen a lot, but perhaps his Pokémon had been watching. The sandstorm blew for a while, and then, it eventually settled. There was no trace of where Kristy had gone…

No, wait, that’s not true. In fact, there were a myriad of foot-prints in the sand, left behind despite that there had just been a sandstorm!

The options were as follows…

1. Four-legged Pokémon. These are the tracks of a quadrupedal Pokémon, walking calmly across the sand, out into the desert where the tracks then suddenly end.
2. Tiny line. There’s a miniscule line of something having dragged along the desert. It’s too small to be a wheel. They lead to a rocky pillar randomly standing around.
3. Bike tracks. These are obviously the tracks of a bike, in the desert. It leads off into the desert, towards the eternal sandstorm of the Mythic Oasis.
4. Raised from Digging. Something has been travelling underneath the sand, the tracks obvious because the sand has formed a bump over the tunnel. It leads to a large rock formation.

What will Skylar (and his Pokémon) do?

__________________________

_{Gym battle in progress}

@hatakekuro

‘Oh,’ Lorette blinked a little at the Pokémon that was sent in. ‘Um, Safeguard,’ she quickly commanded with a calm voice with a touch of realization. Shuckle took a bit of a breath, and then a circle of protection emerged around Shuckle…

Lorette resumed smiling happily at Basil. Shuckle looking on as well.

Given what Jigglypuffs are famous for, this was a bit of an obvious choice.

What will Basil and Aria do now?

Darkest Before the Dawn: A CYOA Magical Girl Roleplay [Completed]

Freya’s current appearance (except not nearly as happy)

Freya was silent for a bit, listening, and then it came to the part where Freya was to talk about anything at all.

‘Uuuuuuuuuuh…’ Freya tilted away a bit as she considered it. It was sort of painful to bring up, but she was supposed to make an effort here. ‘… I was… supposed to try out having friends. The problematic Beacon-boy recommended you for me, of all people…’ Freya said.

She had more she could potentially say, but right as of this moment, she was curious to how Penny would respond to this information.

---

Tullia’s current appearance

Yeah, a simple statue of a magical girl, made without cheating. It didn’t look perfect, Tullia had made it without any magic, after all, but something within her was a bit dissatisfied, given the other creations that were popping up around her.

‘… Okay. Now we cheat,’ Tullia mumbled.

Beside her sculpture she created numerous giant ice-blocks of her own. Then, she spun into a dance. Wielding her own Bifrost Staff and her icy saw, she danced like with ballet between her different icy blocks, waving her staff and her saw, chopping large parts of ice off the different sculptures. Ice fell off as if meant to be, the corners were smoothed, the ground was frozen. Finally, she stopped in the middle, raising her hand, and snapped her fingers.

She’d surrounded herself with sculptures of dancers, made out of her own ice, all of them looking in towards the middle. The ice on them were perfectly smooth, their faces human-like in emotion, looking like they were ready to spring to life any second. And, with the snap of Tullia’s fingers, they started to move. They were perfectly arranged in a circle in different layers, and the three layers started to spin, two clockwise, the middle one counter-clockwise. She’d frozen the ground beneath them, letting some weight cause them to move, sliding them spinning around her, the perfect sculptures creating animations of people dancing around her should one keep looking.

Sighing, Tullia skipped out of the enclosure, somehow leaving behind a perfect icy sculpture of herself in the middle, just exactly where she’d just been standing, dodging her own dancers with perfect dance-moves of her own before she arrived outside the enclosure, how own icy dancers spinning gradually around a sculpture of herself…

‘… Cheated,’ she said by herself. But it sure looked impressive. She sighed a bit and walked off, to see what others had made.


Somewhere some bit away, a spider-girl wrapped some net around an icy block and dragged it away from the field, so that a young, blonde girl and her even tinier daughter could try out some icy sculpting, too, just out of sight of everyone else.

Ronin and Miko could try out some ice-sculpting, too. Just trying to make duplications of each other, just because. With reinforcement to help them, they turned out pretty good.

---

Mayra was a bit upset at her snowball being eaten, but she wouldn’t let that stand and would dodge more snowballs, grab more snow and do her best to return fire, albeit without actual fire.

Victoria’s current appearance (except there’s lots of her)

The Victorias realized that the Pennys were infiltrating her castle, but as the Pennys were gathering up inside, the Victorias smirked something wickedly…

‘Fire support or not, the trap will still work,’ Victoria declared, and placed a hand on the icy wall. The composition of the castle suddenly changed, turning the entire icy wall into-

‘GET SNOWED IN, NUTBALL!’ a somewhat manic-looking Victoria shouted maybe insultingly, as that one Victoria leapt out of the castle while the clone Victorias more focused on keeping the Pennys locked inside, as suddenly the whole castle collapsed into snow intending to bury the infiltrators. This didn’t bother the Victoria clones at all as they had the particular ability to swim through snow on the way out, but they definitely intended the Pennys to get absolutely drenched in snow for daring to infiltrate her base…!

Oh, and Lea, Esther, Olivia, Taihei, Josefin and Jelena are all also still in the snowball fight somewhere until I figure out something better for them to do.

@Shifter_Master

Pokémon: Start

@Pirouette

‘… Tsk,’ Elana made a noise as she quickly returned Slurpuff to a Pokéball and started dashing after Erika, shuffling her great bag into her hands and sticking into her bag looking to get her hands on an appropriate item for this situation, which would be an Escape Rope. Still, she couldn’t use it with just herself…!

‘…!’ Ewan quickly grabbed Duessel and leapt aside, his instincts perhaps faster than those of his companions, and he leapt sideways into the way where they’d come from, to the left. He got into it, but that led to him being split off from the rest of them as the giant drill went past him. He quickly stood up and retrieved a couple Pokéballs…

‘WOA- THAT’S NOT ON THE ENCOUNTER-LIST!’ Joshua laughed, as if unbothered by the suddenly very perilous situation they’d found themselves in, gripping Mudkip and holding her onto his head as he ran with a wide smile along the underground corridor.

The three of them ran on, clearly faster than the giant drill, but hardly safe should any of them coincidentally stumble. However, after a good run the path turned right, and as they turned the giant drill did not. It carried on and slammed into the wall straight ahead. There, it stopped, emitting a loud sigh of smoke shooting out of its varying exhaust-pipes.

Ewan showed up, with a Psyduck, a Swinub, a Treecko and a Spearow all in position to attack the mechanical aggressor. Elana, also not appreciating the visitor, turned and held a Pokéball ready, albeit hadn’t thrown it yet. Joshua also spun around, though looked less startled about all of this.

A hatch suddenly shot open on the top of the machine.

‘Woh. We made it,’ said a surprisingly young boy, crawling out of the top of the giant mechanical machine. He had short brown hair, a giant green coat hanging like a cape around him, numerous mechanical gadgets wrapped onto his left arm, and tired brown eyes. Behind him skipped forth a couple purple-clad seemingly psychics that were helping pick up some very strange looking equipment from out of the machine to on top of it…

Boy

‘Right, let’s begin at once…’ the boy said, directing the device on his left arm in front of him and starting to turn a few screws…

‘Who are you supposed to be?’ Elana asked, a little miffed at being chased like that.

‘Oh, there’s people here…’ the boy said, looking down with tired eyes at them. ‘If you’d just be on your way, I’d very much appreciate it.’

‘You almost ran us over!’ Ewan told him, clearly also pretty upset about that.

‘Hm, the records said people rarely travel through these tunnels. How very unfortunate you must be. Well. Carry on,’ the boy said, turning around towards the machines that the psychics had picked out. Something with a screen. The boy opened a Pokéball, and a small, green-and-white humanoid Pokémon formed on top of the machine…

Pokédex Entry #281 – Kirlia, the Emotion Pokémon. It’s horns amplify its psychokinetic powers, allowing it to see glimpses of the future or distort space to display mirages. It’s highly sensitive to its trainer’s feelings, instinctively dancing in response to happiness. It’s said to grow more beautiful when exposed to positive emotions.

‘Don’t worry, my Pitri. We’ll find your item. Start the scan,’ the boy told his Kirlia.

‘Kirl!’ Pitri replied, holding its arms over its head, closing its eyes to focus Psychic power… and a dot appeared on the screen of the machine underneath.

‘Sir Julian! There’s… a single positive response in the entire mountain!’ one of the Psychics said.

‘Excellent. Then let’s go take it. I didn’t dig all the way from Mt. Edge to return empty-handed. Let’s crush this filthy mountain so I can be back home soon,’ the boy, Julian, told as he started to get down into the machine again.

‘Wait, you just DUG a tunnel from Mt. Edge to Mt. Strength?’ Joshua asked, leaning to peer in the direction the drill had come from. ‘Cool.’

‘Not cool,’ Elana grunted. ‘I got to collapse that tunnel before Psychic-types from Mt. Edge start invading, it’d cause havoc to the ecosystem of Mt. Strength…!’ she mentioned, before taking off towards where the drill had come from.

What does Erika take away from all this?

__________________________

@Joshua Tamashii
_{appropriate music}

‘Oh, that’d make sense,’ Leila said, hitting one hand into the other, thinking that was pretty clever. ‘So maybe it wasn’t any of us, after all. That’s a relief…’

Palpitoad looked curiously at the pictures that Amelia was showing her… but none really stuck. Palpitoad tilted its body to peer at the images, then shook its head at the question. That wasn’t the intended solution of this puzzle. Nice idea, though.

Some of the testimonies have been rewritten to include some of the new information.

What will Amelia do now?

TESTIMONY: Backpacker Leila

‘So, the three of us are friends. We came to Route 2 together.’
‘We came across the Water Stone, but Palpitoad protected it.’
‘I sent Barboach to cause an earthquake, but got too scared to take the stone!’
‘I didn’t dare look back on Annica, in case I looked suspicious!’
‘Any one of her many Pokémon could have been looking at me!’
‘I later checked on the Palpitoad and the Water Stone, but both were gone.’

TESTIMONY: Lass Annica

‘I went to set up camp for us for later, because we were going to spend time here.’
‘I didn't do much else, just watched Leila nearby by the waterside.’
‘So Leila’s Barboach caused the Earthquake. How naughty of her.’
‘Leila eventually left towards the site where we found the Water Stone and Palpitoad.’
‘It was shortly after that Palpitoad started washing over the route with water.’
‘I think Amy’s Staryu can remain a Staryu for now. If it’d evolve, it’d be in the future.’

TESTIMONY: Bug Catcher Eric

‘We healed our Pokémon at the Center in Pureplain City, then came over here.’
‘During the event, I was battling the wild Pokémon of Route 2 the entire time!’
‘There was that earthquake Leila caused, and I saw Palpitoad depart to investigate.’
‘So there was a time there when the Water Stone was unguarded.’
‘… I was tempted. I would have wanted to gift Amy a Water Stone for her Staryu...’
‘But I'm in no rush! I'll find her another one!’

Court Record

• Attorney's Badge. … This is a Sun Stone.
• Earthquake Testimony. An earthquake happened that distracted Palpitoad. Would have been hard to miss.
• Leila's Barboach. A healthy Barboach. Has inherited a bunch of moves from parents.
• Leila's Belongings. Hiking equipment. A fishing rod. A ridiculous amount of peculiar rocks and stones. A diary with a ton of writing about wanting to compete in contests. There’s a Fire and Leaf Stone among them.
• Annica's Murkrow. A healthy Murkrow. Looks pleased with itself.
• Annica's Fletchling. A slightly damaged Fletchling. Looks a bit nervous.
• Annica's Belongings. A couple Pokéballs and Potions. A phone. The wrapped-up-in-a-hurry remains of the tent they were going to camp in. A pair of tickets for a ferry from Pureplain City to Sunyshore City.
• Eric's Surskit. A damaged Surskit. Still pretty peppy.
• Eric's Ledyba. A damaged Ledyba. It's suffered a Burn.
• Eric's Belongings. Bug catcher net and cage. Bunches of Pokéballs and Potions and Repels and anything else a good Pokémon Trainer needs. A photo of a young girl together with Annica.

Or she could leave.

Suggestions to actions

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 some here and there. Note, some may challenge you, regardless.
4. Talk. There’s some other travelers 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: Fishermen Huts. See what the fishermen over there's got going.
10. Current Event: Palpitoad Flooding. Random event.

Connected areas:
Pureplain City. You can get back without complication.
Infested Woods. You’re right next to it.
Wet Caverns. May need to cross a bridge or two to get there.

Route 2, known Pokémon

Common:
#13 Weedle
#16 Pidgey
#161 Sentret
#270 Lotad
#283 Surskit

Uncommon:
#60 Poliwag

Rare:
#158 Totodile
#420 Cherubi
#536 Palpitoad

__________________________

_{Gym battle in progress}

@hatakekuro

Basil returned Crocus, and sent out Cecil. Cecil immediately received the brunt of two giant lances as Escavalier hit against her with Fell Stinger. However, despite the stat-difference, Fell Stinger is a decently weak move and it’s Not Very Effective, meaning Cecil got out of the tussle with relatively little damage. Escavalier bounced a healthy distance back after the impact.

‘Heh, even a weak Bulbasaur is worth keeping around, huh?’ Lorette mused, her own tactic failing. ‘Very well. A fire-type, huh. Too bad Accelgor fainted. It knew Water Shuriken, after all,’ she continued, giggling a bit. ‘Okay, Escavalier! You’re probably going to faint now, but if you don’t, DOUBLE-EDGE!’ she commanded, and the Escavalier took off again! Using its own lances as stilts to lounge itself forward for a tackle…!

Then Basil made his command. ‘… Huh?’ Lorette made a confused sound.

Cecil obeyed the command, and blasted a burst of fire down into the wooden platform! Now, the platform had been constructed with the intention of violent battles taking place on these boards. They’d usually be able to take some heat just fine… but not when the attack was aimed directly at them! Incinerate burst into the wood, and because of what Incinerate does, the wooden plank was thoroughly burned through, creating a hole! Incinerate doesn’t light things on fire, it incinerates them, reducing it to ashes!

Then came Escavalier at full speed, intending to stick its lances into the floor and carry it straight through the smoke of the Fire-type move it had expected to hit it, pushing its lances down to fling itself in a destructive Double-Edge towards-!

SPLASH

-aaaaaaand Escavalier fell through the hole in the platform and into the waters beneath, as the entire wooden platform was situated on the pond inside the Gym. While the water wasn’t deep, Escavalier was a bug and rather heavy, and was flailing desperately beneath the surface. The forward speed had carried it underneath Cecil’s current position, under the wood, and it was having trouble finding its way back to the surface! It wiggled some time more…

… And Lorette stood up, raising a Pokéball and returning her Pokémon to its Pokéball.

‘… Whatever are you doing to my platform? It’ll take some doing replacing those, you know,’ she asked, though looking somewhat amused. ‘Oh, well. Guess that counts as Escavalier being defeated.’

Cecil grew to level 12! Cecil learned Fire Fang!

‘Alright, then. Shuckle! You’re up!’ Lorette called, throwing her next Pokéball onto the field! Out from it came a small, red rock, with a strange yellow tentacle-like bug growing out of its various holes.

Pokédex Entry #213 – Shuckle, the Mold Pokémon. It stores berries inside its shell. It is naturally shy and typically hide under rocks, keeping its body concealed inside its exceedingly hard shell while eating stored berries. The berries mix with its body fluids to become a delicious juice that it secretes through various holes.

Lorette looked happily and expectantly at Basil, and so did Shuckle. Seems like she wasn’t going to give a command until he did.