PlatinumSkink

Pokémon: Start

_{Gym battle in progress}

@hatakekuro

‘That one’s poisoned, correct?’ Lorette tilted her head and looked at Roxanne. ‘Larvesta, take cover among the boulders!’ she called, and the fiery horns on the bug blasted so it got in among the rocks before Roxanne’s first shot. It was definitely hard to hit a target that there wasn’t a direct line-of-sight to with Rock Throw. On the plus-side, there were no counter-attacks, so if they wanted to do something on their own they could do so without fear of being punished for it.

What will Basil and Roxanne do?

__________________________

@Pirouette

Machamp nodded to Chic’s conviction with a big smile! ‘Machamp!’ He’d look forward to her, then! Now, onto battle!

---

The Psychic-type army hesitated as the sounds grew louder. Then, with Erika’s arrival, a thunderous stampede of muscle barged through the tunnel directly at the Psychic-types, the elder Machamp in front! The Psychic army lifted their limbs and spoons, and a shocking blast of concentrated Psychic energy shook many Fighting-types off their legs and fainted them with Super Effective energy! However, the elder Machamp was the first to simply shake off the damage, and then the stampede continued right into the opposing army! And Psychic-types in general weren’t very good up-close and personal…!

‘I’m, uh, impressed,’ Ewan mentioned, having called his Pokémon back and went to stand with Erika and Joshua who came running. Elana kind of stood with a somewhat parted mouth, and a raised phone. It appeared that she had started filming the event at some point.

‘I KNOW, RIGHT!?’ Joshua happily called. ‘Hey, there’s a tunnel for potential invaders! I’m gonna go MAKE A DEAL WITH THE KING OF THE MOUNTAIN AND RALLY ITS WHOLE ARMY TO COUNTER! Erika, you’re badass!’ Joshua said, laughing about it.

Then Erika asked about sealing the tunnel, and how to do that. Elana looked towards her incredulously.

‘How? Are you kidding me?’ she asked, before turning back to the battle at hand. ‘It’s already taken care of…’

There, in the midst of the battle, a couple powerful Fighting-types were gathering at the walls. The dojo-master Medicham, a couple Machamps and Conkeldurrs. On the dojo-master’s command, they all gathered for a single, mighty punch… and SLAM! The power echoed through the whole tunnel, and it started shaking as the walls started to crumble. The elder Machamp took a single look, and…

‘MACHAAAAMP!’ he called out a command, and Fighting-type and Psychic-type alike found it in their best interest to comply. Fighting-types quickly grabbed their fallen with great strength and leapt back, while Psychic-types used their abilities to keep the tunnel from collapsing for just long enough that they could safely levitate their fainted backwards to their side of the tunnel. A couple foolhardy fighting-types had decided they wanted to be on the other side of the tunnel when it collapsed, but they hit a Psychic wall and had to be grabbed and carried back. The Alakazam on the other side gave a frown at Machamp, who just smirked back at him, and then the Psychic field fell.

With a thunderous crash, the tunnel collapsed in rock and boulder, shaking the earth as the tunnel that wasn’t to be was sealed in mountain-rock once more. A cheer went through the army of Fighting-types, and Machamp turned around to the group of four humans with all his four arms crossed, smirking and nodding to him.

‘Machamp,’ he told, satisfied.

‘… Well done, your highness,’ Elana said, sighing out, and retrieving her Pokémon back to their Pokéballs… then sighed again, very well aware of many Fighting-types eyeing her intently because of the power of the team she’d just had out. ‘Right, I’m going to be busy for a couple minutes, don’t you have somewhere to be?’ Elana told Erika.

As she said so, she gestured with her head in the other direction, where the digging-machine had continued up Mt. Strength.

__________________________

@Joshua Tamashii
_{appropriate music}

‘As long as you understand,’ Annica seemed to accept the two Pokémon’s apology, easing up and nodding to Amelia and her Pokémon’s apology. Murkrow looked really amused by this exchange, while Fletchling looked pensive.

Ledyba blinked a little as Amelia’s eyes fell on it, looking like he tensed up for some reason. Amelia asked the question, and…

‘Huh? What are you talking about, Ledyba isn’t-’ Eric replied, then went forward to investigate his Pokémon. ‘… Wait, what the… You ARE burned. How did you get burned!?’ Eric asked, suddenly wide-eyed and very concerned. ‘… Hold on. I was training Surskit when… Ledyba?’

Ledyba was, if that’s a term that can apply to a ladybug, sweating bullets. The very tense Ledyba’s eyes darted around kind of helplessly. Not replying.

‘Uh… It’s weird that he managed to get Burned, but does this have anything to do with this case…?’ Leila asked, looking confused.

Well? Does Amelia have anything recent in mind for that?

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

Pokémon: Start

_{Gym battle in progress}

@hatakekuro

Glory managed to avoid being detected by Butterfree. Butterfree flew around, focused for an attack, when the sound of that pebble being thrown was heard. Thinking it may have been Glory accidentally knocking a pebble with a foot or something, Butterfree spun around towards the target… only to realize its mistake.

Glory launched himself from the cover at his target! Butterfree was utterly unable to dodge in time, and was only just turning around to look at the incoming bird that was coming to slap it out of the skies! However, Butterfree was able to leave one last present for its opponent. Something was created on its wings, and-

With a solid strike of Wing Attack, Butterfree was struck out of the skies! … Yet, from the force of the impact, a cloud of powder erupted from its wings and covered its attacker! Butterfree fainted… and Glory fell asleep from Sleep Powder!

Glory grew to Level 15!

‘Teh-heh… Down to my last Pokémon, am I?’ Lorette asked, standing up, giggling a little. ‘This one… this one is the child of my mother’s strongest Pokémon. One day, he will match her strength. For now, however, he’s just getting experience!’ she said, before throwing up a Pokéball, catching it back in her hand and then spinning once before throwing it onto the battlefield.

Emerging from the ball was a white-maned moth-larva Pokémon with five red horns sticking out its mane, pieces of fire blowing out of the varying holes.

Pokédex Entry #636 – Larvesta, the Torch Pokémon. A Pokémon said to have been born from the sun. It lives at the base of volcanoes. It spews fire from its five horns in order to repel enemies, but can also use these flames to fly. When about to evolve, it encases itself in a cocoon of fire until the evolution has been completed.

‘Larvesta, Flame Charge!’ Lorette commanded, and the five horns of Larvesta blew out fire, lifting the creature up into the air and surging towards his opponent!

Currently out was a sleeping Glory on almost no health. What will Basil decide to do?

Pokémon: Start

_{Gym battle in progress}

@hatakekuro

Butterfree intended to use Confusion…! … But found there was no target! Glory had deftly dodged in among the rocks, making Butterfree lose her target! There were a lot of these rocks!

‘Fly high above to find his location! Keep your eyes down, Confusion if he tries to get close!’ Lorette commanded, and Butterfree did just that. Fluttering its wings, Butterfree lifted upwards, keeping her many eyes looking downwards and around the rocks Glory likely was in as she intended to drift above to find him.

What does Basil and Glory do?

__________________________

@Gardevoiran

The sandstorm had waned when the battle came to a close. Things would be different if they’d actually headed for the area in an active sandstorm!

So, without actually heading after any specific one of the trails, he headed closer to the rocks that two of the trails were heading for. There was the one with that was a singular small line, which ended in a rocky pillar. He’d need to get closer to actually check what that was. Then there was the area of sand that’d been raised by something digging through…

Which he found, went behind the rock before splitting again! Specifically, there were three small trails that split off the major large one. All four of the new trails went for different areas of the rock formation, where there were a couple… oddities.

1. Tiny Line. There’s still a miniscule line of something having dragged along the desert. It’s too small to be a wheel. They lead to a tall rocky pillar randomly standing around.
2. Footprints. There’s a trail of small footprints that could be the Gym Leader’s that suddenly split from the main digging path. It leads to a low rock and into a pile of boulders that would make a good hiding spot.
3. Sporadic lines. There’s suddenly a vast array of individual dig-lines that split from the main path. They’re small, but they disguise if there could have been footprints here. They lead to a small cave in the bottom section of the rocks.
4. Stumble. A set of large footprints emerge from the line, before promptly stumbling on a very visible rock, leaving a large imprint of a decently large person in the sand who then hurried to climb onto the rocks and into a crevice.
5. Main Digging Path. Something has been digging underground. It reached the highest rock… which had been carved into a giant eerie rocky face with a big crown on the backside, it’s mouth hanging open and the trail went inside. Was a high-detail construction, indeed.

What will Skylar do?

Pokémon: Start

@Pirouette

Erika immediately took his palm-up hand to shake. There were shouts of support in the audience as their hands met. The king chuckled in amusement, respectfully gripping her hand back. Then, there was the part with Chic was to put her arms/wings/what those are around the grip, too. Machamp looked at her, regal and powerful in posture, the scars adding several layers of toughness to his appearance.

‘Macha-champ?’ he asked her. Basically translating to Do you share her ambition?

Regardless of the reply to that statement, the shake eventually passed and it was time to go. Machamp looked out over the crowd… and slammed four hands together with an echoing slap.

‘MACHAMP!’ he announced. He was met with a roar of a crowd of Fighting-types raring to go, arms and rocks and fists raised as their shouts rocked the mountain with their volume. The group immediately funneled towards the exit, and from there, they split up. One could at first question why the Fighting-types seemed to be going in different directions, but then it became apparent that they were heading for every other notable gathering-spot in Mt. Strength. Soon enough, Fighting-types from across the mountain were going to start heading for them…

‘Hey! I got reinforcements!’ Joshua showed up, smiling brightly with Dojo-Master Medicham and a slew of other Fighting-types with him that’d come along. ‘As did… you… wow, that is so cool,’ he then said, his eyes falling on the king Machamp and the fact Erika had just come with a substantially bigger army than Joshua had.

Dojo-Master Medicham approached and bowed respectfully to King Machamp. It was clear that this Medicham was pretty old, too, and dedicated to passing on what he’d learned. Machamp nodded to him, and then when Medicham looked up… they suddenly punched at each other, their fists meeting with an echoing slam, delivering the most powerful fist-bump known to Pokémon. After having probably almost knocked everyone around them down with their motion, the two grinned at each other. They were ready to head out.

So, where to?

Let’s go with the obvious assumption, back to the tunnel

‘There’s a lot of them…’ Ewan commented, his Pokémon standing guard. His Pokémon were a Swinub, a Psyduck, a Treecko and a Spearow.

Ewan’s Pokémon

Pokédex Entry #220 – Swinub, the Pig Pokémon. To survive frigid landscapes, it uses its keen nose to find and dig up mushrooms, berries and other things under the ice. If it smells something enticing, it's known for dashing headlong towards it. It's sometimes used to find hot springs.

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.

Pokédex Entry #252 – Treecko, the Wood Gecko Pokémon. A territorial Pokémon known to nest inside large trees in the forest, guarding it from anything near. It has small hooks under its feet, allowing it to scale vertical surfaces. It’s famously stubborn, known to not budge an inch no matter how outmatched the opponent has it.

Pokédex Entry #21 – Spearow, the Tiny Bird Pokémon. It eats bugs in grassy areas. It cannot fly very high, but uses its wings to blow insects out of grass for easy pickings. It’s very territorial, and its reckless nature means it will stand up to even far tougher opponents to defend its claim. It has a loud cry it uses to warn other of its kind of danger.

Opposing him was…

Pokédex Entry #527 – Woobat, the Bat Pokémon. It inhabits dark forests and caves. It emits ultrasonic waves from its nostrils to learn about its surroundings. They’re known to attach to living beings, and upon separation they leave behind a heart-shaped mark. The mark of a Woobat is supposedly known to bring good fortune.

Woobats.

Swarms upon swarms of Woobats.

His job was to repel any of them that got past, Sven the Swinub shooting Powder Snows, Duessel the Psyduck shooting Water Guns, Theresa the Treecko Quick Attack in between them and Lance the Spearow using Pursuit to oppose those trying to flee into Mt. Strength. However, his power paled in comparison to…

A Slurpuff was spewing out large quantities of Cotton Spore, slowing down the enemy bats, preventing them from speeding past. A small fighter with loose skin and a mohawk was speeding from bat to bat, delivering a Scrafty's Crunch to each. A green dragon slammed one with its tail before Dragonbreathing on another, Flygon's great wings spreading wide to block the path. A slam from a bear's claw sent numerous bats rolling back, before Ursaring bellowed down the tunnel to intimidate anyone from daring to brave the tunnels.

Elana stood focused, her four Pokémon standing against the majority of the opposing bats.

Elana’s Pokémon

Pokédex Entry #217 – Ursaring, the Hibernator Pokémon. It inhabits forests, where it uses its ability to distinguish any aroma to unfailingly find food, even if it's buried deep underground. Although it is a good climber, it prefers to snap trees with its forelegs and eat fallen Berries.

Pokédex Entry #560 – Scrafty, the Hoodlum Pokémon. Groups of them select a territory and beat up anything that enters it. The bigger the crest, the more important and the largest becomes the leader. It pulls up its shed skin to protect itself while it kicks. While very aggressive, it takes good care of family and friends.

Pokédex Entry #685 – Slurpuff, the Meringue Pokémon. Combining a Swirlix with a Whipped Dream makes it evolve into this sweet Pokémon. Its sense of smell is 100 million times better than a human’s, even a faintest smell tells it everything about an area. Its fur contain a lot of air, making it soft and much lighter than it looks.

Pokédex Entry #330 – Flygon, the Mystic Pokémon. It’s known as the “Desert Spirit”, it’s known to fly across deserts causing sandstorms as it goes. Its wings create a series of notes that sound like singing. Because the "singing" is the only thing that can be heard in a sandstorm, it became thought of as a mystical spirit inhabiting the living sand.

A Woobat looked like it was about to pass, but Elana quickly threw out a Ultra Ball, which quickly hit and captured it, showing that even though she was a human she also had a way to prevent these Pokémon’s advance.

‘Tsk. Flygon could collapse the tunnel with Earthquake, but I can't do it while all these are here! I’d crush them…!’ Elana complained, glaring at the crowd. ‘Gh, guess I'll just have to-!’

Elana gripped something from her backpack, and then leapt forward! With a Max Repel in hand, she spun into the mass of incoming bats, a cloud of Repel spraying all around her! The Woobats cried in alarm, spun in circles, some needing convincing not to flee into Mt. Strength, but ultimately they all began sporadically scattering back into the darkness of the tunnel. Elana stood up straight and put her hands back in her pockets. She sighed out calmly.

‘There. That should prevent any Pokémon weaker than mine from showing up. Now to-’

A chill went through her, her eyes widening as she felt it. Ewan looked at her in confusion, but then he felt it too.

‘It- it can't be…’ she muttered, turning around with tamed dread, grunting as she faced the darkness. Her Pokémon prepared themselves for battle.

There. In the darkness. Slow footsteps approaching them. Elana drew a short sigh before pointing her flashlight forward on a low-light setting to simply illuminate what was coming her way.

A humanoid creature, yellow in skin-tone, with a magnificent moustache and a spoon in each hand. A regal-looking, gothic lady, with a dress that blended with her skin. A blob of green gelatinous goo surrounding a happy grinning creature extending the goo as arms.

Pokédex Entry #65 – Alakazam, the Psi Pokémon. A highly intelligent Pokémon, it is said to have a brain that can outperform a super-computer and an IQ above 5,000. It never forgets anything it learns, and quickly identifies a foe’s weak point. When it closes its eyes, all its other senses are heightened, enabling extreme psychic abilities.

Pokédex Entry #576 – Gothitelle, the Astral Body Pokémon. Space is distorted by its intense psychic power, and viewed through that space one can see stars thousands of lightyears away. It is capable of predicting the future by looking at the stars, and it can see the lifespans of trainers by looking at them. If it cries while looking at someone, it may mean they’re not long for this world.

Pokédex Entry #579 – Reuniclus, the Multiplying Pokémon. It uses psychic power to levitate and control its arms, composed of a special liquid. When multiple Reuniclus hold hands, their brains form a network and their powers are increased. The green fluid is highly toxic, yet people have tried to drink it to gain a Reuniclus wisdom. It doesn’t work.

Along with a horde of their pre-evolutions.

Pokédex Entry #64 – Kadabra, the Psi Pokémon. It emits special alpha waves from its body that can cause headaches from just being close to one. Machines around it are occasionally caused to malfunction in odd ways, like clocks going backwards. The spoon it holds amplifies its power, without it Kadabra can only use around half its power.

Pokédex Entry #575 – Gothorita, the Manipulate Pokémon. Starlight is the source of their power. At night, they mark star positions by using psychic power to float stones. They’re fond of hypnotising people and Pokémon, and then controlling them as they’re asleep. Often, it does this because it’s lonely and wants pretend-friends.

Pokédex Entry #578 – Duosion, the Mitosis Pokémon. It has two divided brains, which are not always in agreement and it may try to take two different actions at once. However, when the two agree, their psychic power is boosted to unprecedented levels.

‘Why… why are they here already!? This is… oh, this is bad…’ Elana remarked, taking two steps back from the emerging army. The Psychic-types raised their arms and spoons, preparing to attack. Elana's Pokémon made ready in front of her, but it was obvious they wouldn't be able to handle it. Elana frowned, regretful, as she pulled out her phone. ‘Tsk. I guess I have to call for backup. I'll just have to pray they don't do too much damage before help arrives…’

That, however, was when a worried Ewan blinked a little in realization. ‘What's that sound?’ He asked, turning around to look for the echoing sounds. Elana turned around as well, a bit curious, and the Psychic-types paused to see what was going on.

‘Wait… those are…’ Elana said, having a dawning realization of what she was hearing, echoing through the caverns of Mt. Strength heading for the newly dug tunnel.

How would Erika like to make her entrance?

__________________________

_{Gym battle in progress}

@hatakekuro

Glory advanced, and using a expertedly timed Detect he managed to dodge a Confusion! This allowed him to get closer without taking fire on the way. He then leapt at Butterfree while his opponent was charging another Confusion. Butterfree wasn’t fast enough to dodge his attack, but he also couldn’t attack without lowering his guard to take a Confusion. It simply became best at this range to trade blows. Butterfree charged Confusion, Glory flew in for a Wing Attack, and-

Butterfree took an incredible hit! The butterfly spun from the super-effective damage, whimpering and damaged… but barely held on, despite the heavy damage! It looked towards Glory with a determined glare…

Meanwhile, Glory had landed gracefully down… but then shook from a lucky hit of Butterfree’s Confusion! It had been a super effective Critical Hit! Yet, despite this massive damage, Glory had yet to fall, barely holding on as well! He didn’t become Confused, either!

‘… Again!’ Lorette commanded, seeing no other way out of this, and Butterfree eagerly started charging another Confusion!

Basil and Glory’s actions?

Pokémon: Start

_{Gym battle in progress}

@hatakekuro

‘For those keeping track, I have two Pokémon left,’ Lorette said, not that Basil probably needed it. ‘Alright, let’s finish this little match,’ she said, throwing a Pokéball, and out came a Pokémon that Glory had previously escaped.

Pokédex Entry #12 – Butterfree, the Butterfly Pokémon. It loves honey and can locate flower patches that have even the tiniest amount of pollen. Its wings are covered in a toxic rain-repellant dust, which allows it to fly even through rain. Should it be endangered, it will flap its wings at the offender, scattering the toxic dust.

Lorette’s strategy was obvious.

‘Avoid his attacks, and use Confusion!’ Lorette commanded, and Butterfree drifted into the air on butterfly wings and focused power to use Confusion!

Basil and Glory’s actions?

__________________________

@Joshua Tamashii
_{appropriate music}

‘Oh, huh,’ Leila blinked a little, and looked towards Annica’s Pokémon. ‘One, two, and-’

‘Hey, where’s the last one? The one with all the status-moves?’ Eric suddenly flared up, asking Annica with a frown.

‘I didn’t bring her,’ Annica responded without pause, then her eyes widened at a noise in the background, and spun around, pointing intently at the play in the background.

‘Murkrow, Fletchling, get our bags back!’ Annica commanded, and her two birds swooped in to try to grab the bags in mid-air and try to take them back! The GM will note this is just because Annica doesn’t like others playing with her bags, not that she hid anything in the empty bag.

Is there anything noteworthy about this reply?

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

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.