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Old 10-19-2020, 09:49 PM   #551
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Tempest considered what the pair of Dusknoir said about Ginny before admitting, "Understandable. Though I'll take your words for it, if you don't mind. I'd...rather not cross her, even by accident."

She then retook her seat, followed by Cirrus who made himself comfortable in front of Mirage's plate.

"She'd be right," Prince said, grinning, and then he padded after his teammates. "When I heard there was steak, there was no way I was gonna let Tempest leave me behind."

---

Zephyr nodded as Bart and Pangoro reassured her that the pair would speak up if they got bored. "Works for us." She then returned to the previous topic. "But, yeah. We're...not really sure what to do about it."

"Honestly, I think the weirdest part of the whole thing is that Prince--the Houndour from earlier?--went along with one of her Hatchery schemes and didn't seem upset when he came back without his kid," Vine mused. "He wasn't happy, but it also sounds like he didn't fight her on it either."

"The difference, I think, is that he actually got to meet the trainer his kid went to," Zephyr pointed out wryly before turning to the trio on the ground. "But Annabelle's been trying to keep them hidden from the rest of us, for some reason."

"'Not the right time', apparently," Vine quoted sarcastically, rolling his eyes. He then shook his head. "I don't understand why he didn't just Dark Pulse her into next week, but he probably had a reason. Probably."

---

Eve tilted her head thoughtfully as she listened to Jack explain Cyanide. "Well, alright then. Figures that any Eeveelution owned by Keith would have a Poison connection." She shook her head, clearly amused. "I'll try not to piss her off when I talk to her then." She then reached out a paw for the Transformed Ditto to take her to the Umbreon.

--

Melissa grinned as Homer sassed Eddie and then nodded as Eddie explained some of his Pokémon's relationships with each other. "Sounds pretty headstrong, but at least he's not ignoring you when it'd be the worst." She took a seat on the grass with her legs crossed. "And makes sense that a Drowzee would look up to an Alakazam." She glanced over at the Weedle, recalling one of the...many, many things she'd heard about Keith, his expansive team, and some of the others who'd moved to the Sludge Wave Coast. "And that'd be Hermione, right? The Weedle who cooks and does a lot of writing?"

Mirage giggled at Homer's response, but ducked back behind Melissa as Remy approached. She peeked shyly him. "Nice to meet you too, Remy."

"Nice to meet you, too," Wildfire parroted and then turned to look curiously at Battery. "By the way, what'd you want earlier?"
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Old 10-20-2020, 02:21 AM   #552
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"Fair enough," Peeves nodded as Tempest maintained a reluctance to even risk getting on Ginny's bad side.

With it established beyond any conceivable doubt that Prince did indeed want steak, Liliana floated back over to Maribel and relayed this. Maribel grinned and had a suitable plate all set for the Houndour once he arrived. Cirrus would find a nice helping of berries in with the salad that Mirage had left, and Tempest would find her food to have been completely undisturbed since she'd left it. It was around this point that some of the Pokémon rotated yet again- the Yanmega, Absol, and Arbok had left, and now a Qwilfish had Teleported in, a Pincurchin and Pyukumuku having come along with him. Ginny was still eating her food, and conversing with the Ledian as she did so. Occasionally she would glance over at the guests, though with a slightly less mistrustful look. The conversation itself couldn't be made out, but between the aforementioned glances in their direction, and the Ledian sometimes gesturing that way as well, one could very reasonably make an assumption as to the general topic of discussion.

The snow and ice-colored Mightyena had left as well, though the normal-colored one remained, and in fact approached Tempest and her teammates. "Hello," he greeted them. "I saw what happened a few minutes ago, and I wanted to apologize for Ginny- she shares my fiercely loyal and protective nature towards our Trainer, though as you've seen, she's also quite paranoid as well."

"Sirius, Peeves and I have already explained about Ginny," Liliana spoke up.

"Oh, good," nodded the Mightyena. "Well, then, welcome to the Poisonous Palace. Who might you all be? I'm Sirius, as you've heard."

~~~~~

As they continued to talk about Annabelle's schemes, Vine remarked on how the Houndour they saw earlier went along with things, and didn't seem too upset with the end result. Not thrilled, but not upset, with Zephyr pointing out the distinction there- apparently, Prince actually got to meet the Trainer that his kid was going to. "Oh, I'd say that's important," nodded Salazar. "Any of my teammates would want to be assured that their children were going to loving, caring Trainers."

"Hell, yeah," nodded Bart. "I ever find a lady what can handle the Bart style, and she ends up belonging to some other Trainer, any kid we have better damn well be going to, if not Keith, then a damn good Trainer. One who's cool with visits and treats 'em right."

"Thinking about kids, Bart?" Salazar remarked, sounding mildly amused. "Never took you for the fatherly type. Besides, last I checked, Scrafty and Timburr are in completely different Egg groups."

"What, Millicent?" chuckled Bart. "Where've you been? I ain't hit on her in a long time!"

"Oh, so the repeated head trauma finally clued you in?" chuckled the Scolipede.

"Yeah, well... I mean, back then, I thought she was just making it up about having a man already," mumbled the Scrafty. "And then she's all, y'know, cuz he... so yeah, then I realized she wasn't BSing me after all, and I just... like, wouldn't have been right, y'know?"

"Oh, yeah," murmured Pangoro. "That was before my time, but I heard about that- her boyfriend had died, hadn't he?"

"Like... You don't hit on someone when she's all mourning and grieving over her dead boyfriend," Bart said quietly. "I'm a punk, not an asshole."

Salazar nodded slowly. "Indeed," he said approvingly.

~~~~~

"Yeah, for sure," chuckled Jack as Eve remarked that it'd make sense for an Eeveelution owned by Keith Masters to have some sort of connection to the Poison type. As she reached out with her paw, Jack took it with an Abra hand, and the two of them were Teleported away at once.

The next thing Eve knew, they were indoors, in a large spacious room, with a number of empty seats facing a large raised platform, upon which some battling was taking place. A Flareon was shooting jets of fire from his mouth, and a Duskull whose cloak had the appearance of a giant chocolate chip cookie, laughing gleefully, was dodging some, deflecting others with bolts of Night Shade, and all the while, trying to get in a bit closer. Once he managed that, he gave a laugh. "Scent of cookies!" the Duskull cried out, emitting, well, a Sweet Scent, making the room smell like fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies. The Flareon started salivating, losing his focus, and by the time he remembered he was friggin' battling, the Duskull had already nailed him in the head with a Shadow Ball!

At this point, an Umbreon stepped forward, with a white-furred Eevee running around excitedly. "Alright, that's enough for now," the Umbreon said. "Chip, don't you have dinner to be eating?"

"Not cookies, but point taken!" nodded the Duskull, promptly sinking into the floor.

"And you, young man," the Umbreon added, making her way over to the Flareon who was getting back up. "You're getting better. Still let that Sweet Scent distract you, though."

"Ahh, Chip's got an unfair advantage," mumbled the Flareon. "Nearly dinnertime and he makes it smell like cookies."

"Yeah, right," giggled the Shiny Eevee teasingly. "That'd never distract me?"

"Oh, yeah?" the Flareon shot back.

"Yeah!"

"Oh, yeah??"

"Yeah!!"

The Umbreon gave a chuckle as her son and daughter continued on in this manner, and then she noticed the newcomers. Jack had already turned back into his normal blobby self, so she recognized him, but the Eevee was a decidedly new face. "Who are you?" she asked, jumping down from the elevated platform and approaching the Eevee.

~~~~~

"Oh, yes," Eddie agreed as Melissa pointed out that Homer was at least not ignoring him at seriously bad times. "Homer at least knows there's a time and place for his attitude. He knows when he has to get serious, and when he does, it's nothing to take lightly," he said seriously. He sat down on the grass as well, just before Melissa remarked on Hermione, having already apparently heard of her. "Ah, her reputation precedes her, I see," chuckled Eddie, holding out a hand, allowing Hermione to crawl up his arm and onto his shoulder. "Yes, yes indeed," he nodded. "Much as I'd love to take credit for her capabilities, most of that should rightfully be chalked up to natural talent as well as her previous Trainer- she used to be on Keith's team before we met, though considering you've heard of her already, I think it may be safe to say you know that already," he chuckled. "She joined me out of a desire to assist in my research, and we've proven to be a promising team already. I even Dynamaxed her once, against this Gigantamax Appletun earlier this year- now that was an interesting experience."

Remy looked a little downcast as Mirage initially shied away from him, but his smile returned as the Galarian Ponyta replied to him, returning his greeting in kind. "Is... everything alright?" the Drowzee asked quietly, noticing the Unique Horn Pokémon's rather obvious shyness. "I, I didn't scare you, did I?"

Battery grinned as Wildfire addressed him. "Actually I was just wondering who you guys were, I never saw you guys before," the prickly Pikaclone replied.

"I WAS ALSO CURIOUS AS TO THAT," droned the Electrode, who rolled over to the Togedemaru's side. "ALTHOUGH I FEEL AS THOUGH I HAVE SEEN YOUR TRAINER BEFORE. BY ANY CHANCE, DOES SHE OWN A CHINCHOU?"
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Old 10-20-2020, 05:48 PM   #553
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The trio of guests dug into their food, finally having a chance to try someone else's cooking. Cirrus plucked out all the berries first before tackling the leaves, while his teammates showed no particular preference; all three agreed that the food was good, though. They did glance around as Pokémon rotated in and out of the kitchen, Prince pointing out the famous Qwilfish to his teammates as Cirrus kept the occasional eye on Ginny and Stewie.

When they were a good ways through their food, the regular Mightyena of the pair came over to say hello and introduced himself as Sirius.

Tempest swallowed her current bite and gave him a brief bow of her head. "Well met, Sirius, and thank you for the welcome. I'm Tempest. This is Cirrus--" She gestured at the Swablu, who chirped "Hi!". "--and Prince." Prince barked a short "Hello!" before returning to his steak. "Ginny was...understandably concerned when Peeves said that I'd come to ask Keith about how to counter Poison-types, but I figured who better to ask than one of, if not the, leading expert on Poison-types in Fizzytopia?"

She shrugged, paused, and then glanced sidelong at Prince. Prince blinked innocently up at her and continued gnawing on his steak. Cirrus hid a laugh with a shuffle of his wings and busied himself with searching for another berry in his salad.

Tempest turned back to Sirius with a grin tugging at her lips. "Suffice to say, he invited me for dinner and it felt impolite to refuse, so here we are."

---

Vine tilted his head to consider the trio's words on meeting their hypothetical kids' trainers. "I s'ppose that makes sense," he admitted. "Though you won't see me visiting the Hatchery anytime soon."

"Personally, I didn't mind," Zephyr said quietly, keeping half an ear on the trio's conversation as they shifted to...a Timburr who hadn't come up in the conversation before. "It's not like we couldn't track down my kid if we really wanted to either."

Vine opened his mouth to snap something back and then slowly shut it, looking torn. Zephyr peered curiously at him, but Vine just shook his head and tuned back in to the conversation on the ground, just as the trio were finishing up.

He winced. "Ooo, that sounds awkward." He then ran their earlier words through his mind. "Isn't that the Timburr with the haunted log or something? Or am I mixing gossip?"

---

Eve blinked and found herself in a large room with lots of seats, facing some kind of battle stage where a Flareon and a...chocolate-chip Duskull were having a battle. She shook her head and checked again. Yup, the Duskull was wearing a chocolate-chip-patterned cloak. Alright then. That was...a thing.

She sat down next to Jack, who'd returned to his regular Ditto form, and watched as the Flareon was distracted by the smell of freshly-baked cookies for just long enough to be smacked by a Shadow Ball. Which she tried not to laugh at because that was absolutely a legitimate tactic for an opponent who could easily be distracted with food. Like Snuffles. And Desertsong. Though...the latter wasn't so much known for her large appetite anymore.

Having momentarily depressed herself, Eve glanced over as white fur caught her attention. She raised her eyebrows. A Shiny Eevee? Well, she couldn't say she was surprised.

Which was about when Cyanide noticed them. Eve pasted a smile on as the Umbreon approached. "Hi! I'm Eve! I'm visiting with my trainer and some teammates because another teammate wanted to ask Keith about countering Poison-types. Jack brought me over because me and my girlfriend are planning to have kits some time in the near-ish future and I was wondering how you go about advising them on which way to evolve." She paused. "Or, at least, in what order they should go when your trainer plans to get all the Eeveelutions eventually."

---

"Yeah, some of the more famous ones have reached us at the Tower, though not much more than maybe their species and things that distinguish them specifically from others of their kind." Melissa leaned back a little and ticked names off on her fingers. "Hermione, obviously. The Qwilfish--Hebenon, I think his name is? Gemini and Mustard." The Weezing heads shared a finger. "Ginny. Stewie. Aster and Ariana. Meowth, of course." She thought for a moment and then shrugged, setting her hand down so she could lean back. "Pretty sure we've heard of some others, but I can't think of them off the top of my head now. But, anyway, Hermione joined you to help with your research, huh? What was Dynamaxing like for her?"

Mirage furrowed her brow and pawed at the ground before answering. "I'm just...there was a lot of new people at the Palace. And I don't...do so well with too many new people," she explained as best she could, voice quiet.

Wildfire cut in briefly, mostly directing his words at Remy. "She's really shy and this is...almost literally her first time out and about among strangers. And then she got overwhelmed by all the new people at the Palace," he said wryly, with Mirage nodding her head in rueful agreement. "Just...be patient with her? And try not to sneak up on her or she might bolt."

He turned back to the pair from earlier and nodded at Battery. "Makes sense. I'd do the same if we were open for visitors, though I'm sure one of my teammates would beat me to it." And then he blinked at Gigawatt, taken aback at the question that felt like it came from nowhere. "Uh, yeah, actually." He tilted his head thoughtfully. "We must've done a Gym Raid together if that's how you recognize her, since that's the only place Signal really...runs into other people."
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Old 10-20-2020, 10:39 PM   #554
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Sirius gave a small, exasperated sigh as Tempest explained the circumstances behind what Ginny did. "I can understand that line of thinking, but wow..." he chuckled. "But yes- you certainly picked the right person to ask," he added, tail wagging involuntarily as he glanced over to Keith. "Keith knows his Poison-types and knows them well. A highly skilled Trainer, and a good man." He nodded as Tempest added that he'd then invited the Ralts to stay for dinner. "Hardly the first time he's extended such an offer to someone, and I'm sure it won't be the last- as I'm sure you've picked up on by now, for the most part nobody here ever has any objections to unexpected dinner guests- oh, what is she doing now," he added, for if any of them would turn to look, they would see Ginny and the Ledian she was with approaching them, albeit with nowhere near the levels of aggression as before. "Ginny-" began Sirius warningly.

"I'm certain you'll have nothing to say that hasn't already been made inescapably clear to her," the Ledian interrupted smoothly. "Well?" he added to the Pawniard, who seemed to be looking determinedly at the floor.

Ginny gave a deep sigh. "...I'm sorry I accused you of trying to kill Keith," she mumbled. "I mean, you came in outta nowhere, and asked this guy I've defended from actual assassins on more than one occasion how to counter the type he specializes in, you can see how someone might find that a little suspicious..."

"But...?" the Ledian prompted gently.

"...but it's times like those I gotta remember I'm pretty friggin' far from the only one who cares about the guy and would be trying to protect him," Ginny sighed, with a nod to Sirius in particular, who nodded back.

"Well said, vile woman," the Ledian said, with a smirk and a tone of voice that made it clear that this was more of a term of endearment than a genuine insult. The Pawniard looked back at him, and the two exchanged a quick kiss, before the Ledian stepped forward. "I hope you're enjoying yourselves here thus far," he said. "I, er, am acutely aware that you've already met my beloved," he chuckled. "But speaking as one who is no stranger to getting off on the wrong foot, I do hope you'll accept her apology. Her intuition and paranoia have saved us more than once, but more often than not it results in bad first impressions, as well as a certain reputation among door-to-door salespeople. She, however, has been trying to work on that. It's an ongoing process. But enough on that, I haven't even introduced myself yet- my name is Stewie," he said.

~~~~~

"Not so much mixing gossip, more like going off outdated info," Bart stated in response. Pangoro simply looked confused. "Before your time, dude," Bart added, noticing the Daunting Pokémon's look.

"When Millicent joined the team, her log was inhabited by Willow, the ghost of a deceased Leavanny," explained Salazar. "She and Millicent see each other as sisters. For many years, that was how we knew Willow- as this entity inhabiting Millicent's log that rarely ever actually spoke to anyone other than the Timburr herself, to the point where some of us initially didn't believe there was actually anyone in there."

"Then things changed after the whole thing with Stewie went down," Bart said. "Ain't seen it for myself, but apparently someone's Shiftry died in that fight, and here's the weird part- the Shiftry's body turned up at the Adoption Center, like, without a soul in it or something."

"Willow caught wind of this and saw it as an opportunity," continued Salazar. "As it turns out, whenever Millicent used an attack that required using her log to hit someone or block something, the resultant impact would be mildly uncomfortable to Willow. Not to the point where it would seriously hurt her, but-"

"-but to the point where I wasn't about to just ignore an opportunity to be a proper Pokémon again," came a gentle voice. A Shiftry came walking up to them, a Timburr beside her. While the Timburr looked pretty normal, albeit wearing a smooth stone on a piece of string around her neck, the Shiftry looked different than normal- the leaves and eyes were closer in coloration to what one would see on a Leavanny, and the wooden body was a perfect match for the log the Timburr was carrying.

"Yo, Willow, Millicent," Pangoro greeted them. "We were just talking about you. This here's Vine and Zephyr, they're visiting."

"Heya," Millicent grinned.

"A pleasure," Willow added, bowing politely.

~~~~~

Cyanide nodded at Eve's greeting and explanation of why she was there, and listened intently as the Eevee asked for advice, though she scoffed at that last part. "When your Trainer plans?" repeated the Umbreon. "Girl, lemme tell you something about our kind- ain't nobody got the right to call the shots on which way we evolve but us. Honestly, best thing you can do when you got your own little ones is help them figure out which way fits them best. Lemme introduce you to mine, in fact," she added. "Kids!" she called to the Flareon and Shiny Eevee, who came racing over, eyeing Eve curiously, the latter of the two sparkling as she approached. "This here's Eve," said Cyanide. "Eve, my daughter Eon, and my son Leo," she added, glancing lovingly at the Shiny Eevee and the Flareon respectively as she introduced them.

"Hiya, miss Eve!" smiled Eon. "Nice to meet ya!"

"Yeah!" grinned Leo.

"So, miss Eve's looking for advice on what to tell her kits when she's a mother someday," said Cyanide. "About evolution, y'know?"

"Ohhh," nodded Eon. "Well, me, I don't wanna evolve, ever!" she said with a proud grin. "My dad's this really strong and awesome Ambipom, and I always wanted to be a cool Normal-type like him! I wanna be better than any Eeveelution, better than all o' them put together!" she declared.

"Yeah, you keep telling yourself that," Leo teased his sister. "I always knew I wanted to be a Flareon," he told Eve. "I always thought seeing Fire attacks being used was always the most awesome thing ever, I love spicy food, I hate getting wet- only reason I didn't become one sooner was that Mom always made sure I couldn't get to Keith's Fire Stone," he pouted.

"Yeah, and that's because you don't rush into evolution, even if you think your mind's made up from day one," Cyanide retorted. "I was thinking Flareon, myself, when I was younger," she explained to Eve. "Then, one night, I was hanging out with my man, and I saw him, illuminated in the moonlight, and I dunno, something just kinda clicked. Next thing I know, boom- Umbreon," she smirked. "Total spur-of-the-moment deal, wasn't planned at all, ain't never regretted it once. But honestly, in hindsight, making Leo hold off on it, probably not necessary," she chuckled. "My boy's basically been a Fire-type in a Normal-type's body since the day he hatched, but even still, like I say, no sense rushing our evolutions. That said, when you know, you know. Y'know?"

Eon tilted her head. "Miss Eve, are you gonna evolve?" she asked the visiting Eevee.

~~~~~

Eddie nodded. "I've heard more than a little about Keith and his team myself before meeting him," he stated. "His experiences have ensured he was far from unknown within the cryptopokology community, though he also seems to be pretty well-known in the Fizzytopia region just in general." The subject then turned to Hermione's experiences with Dynamaxing, and how it was for her. "Oh, she had a lot to say on it, and it was fascinating," he said earnestly, digging a notebook out of her bag, with a crude sketch of the Gigantamax factor symbol on the cover, flipping through it a little bit. "Yes... she described the sensation as though she herself hadn't actually changed size, but rather was psychically piloting a gigantic Weedle and seeing through its eyes. This tracks with what I've heard, that Dynamaxing doesn't actually increase the Pokémon's size, but rather gives off a projection of energy to cultivate such an impression, merely altering their perceived appearance. And that is exactly what's gotten the attention of the cryptopokology community," he added, his glasses flashing with excitement. "Some of the Pokémon we study, most famously Missingno., have the capability to alter the perceived appearance of Pokémon around them, though in their case, simply scrambling their appearance, rather than making them look larger. It's my theory that Dynamax Energy is a more refined form of the power such Pokémon give off- what exactly refines that power, that's still beyond me, however." He paused to catch his breath, for he'd gotten rather caught up in what he was saying. "I hope I'm not boring you with all this?" he added sheepishly. "I tend to get a little carried away when you get me on these kinds of subjects."

Remy nodded slowly as it was explained that Mirage didn't do so well around new people, particularly in large numbers. "I see," the Drowzee said. "Yes, then dinner in the Poisonous Palace would definitely do it- Keith alone has to have close to a hundred Pokémon by now. Most of them are very nice, but even still, if the numbers alone are what does it..." He nodded as Wildfire requested he be patient with the Galarian Ponyta. "Of course," he promised. "I... had sort of the opposite problem," he admitted. "With me, I desperately wanted to make new friends. I was in the Adoption Center for the longest time. It got to the point where I started trying to... to hypnotize Trainers into thinking they wanted to adopt me," he admitted ashamedly. "I didn't see what was wrong with that at the time, but eventually I realized that was doing more harm than good. Eddie- I had tried to hypnotize him, but his glasses block the hypnotic waves. And yet, he realized I was just lonely, and chose to adopt me anyway," he smiled.

"THEN IT WAS HER I SAW, AT THE HYDREIGON RAID," droned Gigawatt. "I REMEMBER IT WELL- I HAD EVOLVED FROM VOLTORB IN PREPARATION FOR THE BATTLE, AND BEING NATURALLY SOUNDPROOF, THE SNARL ATTACKS HYDREIGON USED HAD NO EFFECT ON ME. I DISTINCTLY RECALL SEEING A CHINCHOU THERE, COMMANDED BY A TRAINER WHO LOOKED VERY MUCH LIKE YOURS. NO DOUBT EDDIE WOULD NOT RECOGNIZE HER- HE TENDS TO FOCUS MORE ON THE OPPONENT AT HAND."

"Gigawatt's got a good memory," piped up Battery.
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Old 10-21-2020, 02:42 AM   #555
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Cirrus and Prince exchanged glances as they watched and listened to the interplay between Sirius, Ginny, and Stewie with the latter prompting his...girlfriend? to apologize. It was...definitely interesting, especially when most of what they'd heard about Stewie was from before the Ledian had been purified.

Without her teammates' context and being polite enough not to get distracted by their silent conversation, Tempest accepted the apology. "Your concerns were understandable, given your trainer's prior experiences, and I'm sure Keith and your teammates appreciate your prudence." She huffed an amused breath. "Even if others might not. Though...I'm sure some of your teammates would like a chance at any hidden enemies, instead of keeping all the fun to yourself."

She then bobbed her head at Stewie because she was realizing that she was going to be doing a lot of bowing if she ended up introduced to every single one of Keith and his family's Pokémon. "Well met, Stewie. My name is Tempest and these are my teammates, Prince and Cirrus."

"Hullo." Prince nodded.

"Hi," Cirrus chirped.

Both of them were letting the Ralts take point in the interactions, so as not to mess up anything for her, but neither of them went back to their food. Most of what they knew of these two were by their respective reputations alone, so the two were giving them their polite, if subtly wary, attention.

---

Vine tilted his head as Bart and Salazar relayed the story, some of the details sounding familiar to him. And Zephyr too, if her glances over at him meant anything. They might've heard about the Shiftry in the AC at some point, but he couldn't be sure; it wasn't like they followed Keith's antics religiously or anything.

Both of them peered over the edge of the roof as the very subjects of their current conversation joined them, Pangoro calling them by name and introducing the pair on the roof.

"Hullo!" Zephyr chirped cheerfully, while Vine gave a lazy wave. "Do you two usually walk around at this time of--" She glanced up at the sky. "--evening?"

Vine rolled his eyes. "Your choice of words could use some work."

"I don't see you doing any better," she shot back, grinning at him.

"You're the people person; not me," he pointed out. "Would've figured you'd be able to not sound suspicious of a couple of Pokémon walking around on their own trainer's property, but what do I know?" He shrugged, fighting a smirk.

"Asshole," she chirped, rolling her eyes at him.

---

Eve laughed as Cyanide got offended on her and her hypothetical kits' behalf. "I probably should've said 'hope' instead, to be honest, because she really does hope to pick up a full set, but she's not gonna force anyone to evolve anyway but the way they want."

"Nice to meet the two of you, too," she said to the pair of not-quite-kits that tumbled over at their mother's call. Eve listened attentively as the pair told her how they figured out what they wanted to be and nodded thoughtfully along to their individual recitations. Honestly, it sounded a little like Mel's one-on-ones, though she couldn't say how anyone else's had gone; most of them were treating the one-on-ones as confidential, even though Mel'd never said they were, but they were a bit personal.

She turned her attention to Cyanide as the Umbreon explained how she evolved and nodded gamely at the likely-rhetorical question she ended her story with. And then little Eon asked if she was gonna evolve.

She shook her head with a smile. "I'm not planning to, no. Which means my trainer can and probably will drop a lot of money on teaching me the special Eevee moves." She rolled her eyes. "Eventually. But, if I did, I'd probably pick Flareon, like your brother, to match my girlfriend better."

---

Melissa listened attentively as Eddie went on a theorizing ramble about Dynamaxing, which, while she wasn't personally interested enough to research herself, did give her some perspective on why Signal and Ore found the whole experience...odd. Ore probably hated the lack of finesse and stealth that would accompany the whole remotely-controlling-a-tangentially-associated-construction with his mind, since he was a very...physically-grounded Pokémon. Somewhat surprising, considering his typing, but understandable. Signal would just hate the associated clumsiness and the way he'd be broadcasting his emotional state even more than he already was. To those who could decipher his flashing, at least.

But then Eddie looped that back around to how Dynamaxing could be linked to how some cryptids could hide their appearance, which was definitely an intriguing idea.

Melissa shook her head when Eddie checked in with her. "No, I don't mind. It's definitely an interesting subject, even if I'm not exactly well informed on the subject." She then offered a thought she had while he was talking. "Is there any reason it couldn't be some variation on the Illusion ability the Zorua line have, interacting in some way with the refined Dynamax Energy that causes the scrambling effect?"


Mirage frowned as Remy relayed his own method to try to cure his loneliness, a back hoof tapping the ground. Wildfire shot her a look that said to be nice to the Drowzee since he was being considerate of her difficulties and she pulled her ears back, but relented as best she could. "Well, at least it's better now, right? Since joining Eddie brought you here where you have so many more options?"

Wildfire rolled his eyes and made a note to check in on that conversation every once in a while. While Tempest and Mirage were the babies of the team, both had very firm ideas on how they would ride into battle, what their roles would be in relation to each other, and how people were supposed to treat each other. Though, Tempest had a lot more experience pretending not be bothered by other people's actions at the moment.

Turning back to the Electric-types, Wildfire nodded along as Gigawatt relayed what he remembered, matching the desciptions to one of the earliest raids they'd participated in. "Much better than mine," Wildfire agreed with Battery before turning to Gigawatt. "I'll be honest; we don't really notice the specific others in the raids we participate in unless something in particular happens during it, like with the Wigglytuff one, but Signal was definitely there for that one. So, yeah, that was us." He thought back to the raid. "You had a really good showing for that one; was it the first one you participated in?"
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Old 10-21-2020, 06:08 PM   #556
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Ginny nodded. "They do," she agreed as Tempest remarked that Keith and the others surely appreciated what she did. Then the Ralts added how others might not. "Eheheh... yeah," the Pawniard chuckled sheepishly.

Stewie nodded at the notion that Ginny's teammates would surely like to take a shot at any enemies, rather than the Pawniard taking them on herself. "I know you know that," grinned the Ledian. He nodded politely at the introductions. "A pleasure to meet you all," the Ledian responded. "When you've finished eating, if you'd like, I could show you around the house?"

At that point, however, Chip floated into the kitchen from the ceiling. "Cookies?" he asked hopefully to nobody in particular.

Liliana chuckled, floating up to meet the chocolate chip Duskull. "Later, Chip," she said patiently. "Cookies are dessert, right now we're having dinner."

"OK, Mom," said Chip. Then, his eye found Tempest, Prince, and Cirrus. "Oh! Company! Guests! NEW FRIENDS!" he exclaimed, diving down to where they were. "Who you?" he asked them. As he drew close, they would undoubtedly notice the distinct aroma of chocolate chip cookies.

"Chip, son, this is Tempest, Prince, and Cirrus, they're visiting us," Liliana said, having followed the young Duskull back over to them.

"Ohhh," nodded the Duskull. "My name Chip. Nice meet you," he said.

~~~~~

Millicent chuckled as Zephyr and Vine had a minor argument about how the former had worded her question. "Ah, relax, no offense taken," the Timburr grinned. "I was helping Willow out in the forest just south of here," she explained, pointing behind them.

"There's a colony of Sewaddle somewhere in there," explained Willow. "Some of the Leavanny who were in charge had unfortunately passed away. There are a few Leavanny left, but looking after so many Sewaddle has been taxing on them. So I come by occasionally and do what I can to help. Millicent wanted to come with me this time and help out as well, and I welcomed it," smiled the Shiftry.

"Willow's awesome," grinned Millicent. "She can still sew leaf clothes as well as any of those Leavanny."

"Ah, you flatter me," Willow chuckled modestly. "I'm certain my skills have grown rusty over the years, though... admittedly those Sewaddle were certainly happy with what I made them," she admitted with a smile.

~~~~~

Cyanide gave an approving nod as Eve clarified things. "That's good," she said. "Yeah, nothing wrong with a Trainer wanting certain Pokémon, long as they respect what their Pokémon wanna do."

Eve then answered Eon's question by confirming she wasn't planning to evolve, and the Shiny Eevee grinned widely as Eve made mention of the special Eevee moves. "Ooh, yeah, your Trainer really should, those moves are awesome, and only Eevee can have them, ever! Nyah!" she added, sticking her tongue out at Leo. "I know a Fire move you'll never get!"

"Yeah, but you can't hit me with it!" Leo taunted back. "I could toast you like a marshmallow if I wanted!"

"Oh, yeah!?"

"Yeah!"

"OH YEAH?!"

"YEAH!"

"OK, you two, that's enough," Cyanide said, sounding as though she was attempting to hold back an amused chuckle. "What have I told you two about starting battles with each other?"

"Only on a battlefield so our attacks don't hit anyone else?" said Eon.

"And don't seriously hurt each other?" added Leo.

"Bingo," smiled Cyanide. Needing no further prompting, Leo and Eon raced up onto the elevated platform, and started right away. Leo let loose a Flamethrower, which Eon blocked with a timely Water Pulse. Leo then let loose a Yawn, which got Eon yawning as well. However, she reared up, sparks flying from her front paws, and slammed said front paws into the battlefield, creating a ripple of energy that covered the entire battlefield in a crackling Electric Terrain that seemed to wake up the Shiny Eevee. Smirking at her older brother, Eon then seemed to vanish on the spot, allowing her surroundings to Camouflage her.

"Heh," grinned Cyanide, watching this. "This is nothing new," she said to Eve. "Those two can get a little competitive from time to time, and when that happens, a good practice battle's just the thing. They don't hurt each other, good use of all that extra energy, and it's good training, too. Besides which, always makes me proud to see the kinds of strategies they come up with."

~~~~~

Eddie nodded and smiled as Melissa reassured him that she didn't mind this topic of conversation, and even suggested the notion that it could have some relation to the Illusion Ability that Zorua and Zoroark had. "It's a possibility," nodded Eddie. "Though, one of the benefits to Dynamaxing is that the Pokémon takes attacks better while in a Dynamaxed state, whereas the slightest of attacks breaks an Illusion... Though it might still warrant looking into," he added thoughtfully. "I've definitely not thought of that possibility before."

Remy nodded with a smile. "Much better now," he confirmed. "Eddie's very nice, I have good teammates I'm happy to have met, and Eddie's friends and neighbors have a lot of Pokémon I hang out with as well," he said. "It's what I've always wanted," smiled the Drowzee. "All those months in the Adoption Center, looking out the window, seeing all the Trainers and their Pokémon together... I always wanted something like that."

Wildfire, meanwhile, admitted that they rarely noticed what else was going on in a raid unless it was something big, like with the Wigglytuff raid. "Oh, yeah, I heard about that!" Battery piped up. "Isn't that where Keith was using Marvolo and there was the Shadow Zangoose?"

"THE CIRCUMSTANCES AS I UNDERSTAND THEM ARE SIGNIFICANTLY LESS SIMPLE THAN THAT, BUT CORRECT IN ESSENTIALS," droned Gigawatt. And as the Cyndaquil remarked that the Electrode had done well in the Hydreigon raid, the Electric-type smiled. "THANK YOU," it replied. "INDEED, THAT WAS MY FIRST TIME PARTICIPATING IN A RAID. IT WAS NOT THE FIRST TIME FOR MY TRAINER, HOWEVER, WHO BROUGHT HERMIONE TO TAKE ON A GIGANTAMAXED APPLETUN SOME MONTHS BEFORE THIS. BACK THEN, HE WAS SIGNIFICANTLY LACKING IN SELF-CONFIDENCE AS A TRAINER. IT IS MY BELIEF THESE RAIDS WERE OF GREAT HELP IN THIS REGARD," it said, with a glance over at Eddie.
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Old 10-22-2020, 01:51 AM   #557
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"Yes, please," Tempest said to Stewie, before turning back to her food to finish it as fast as possible.

Cirrus and Prince exchanged a look and then Cirrus nodded at Stewie. "I'd like to see more of the place, too."

Prince shook his head. "I wanted to ask Sirius about something, so I'll stay down here." He shot a grin at Cirrus. "Keep an eye out for anything you might wanna copy to our place."

"I don't think anything here would fit, but sure," Cirrus said dryly, plucking another leaf out of his salad to nibble on.

The trio peered up at a Duskull wearing a chocolate-chip-patterned cloak that drifted down from the ceiling, Liliana floating over to meet them. From the brief exchange, it sounded like that was her kid, so Cirrus and Prince went back to eating. At least, until the young Duskull dove straight for them.

"Hello, Chip. It's nice to meet you," Tempest said first, with Prince and Cirrus echoing her shortly after. She ate another bite of her salad and then turned to Liliana. "You, Peeves, and Chip all speak English. Did you teach yourselves how to speak it or did it carry-over when you became Ghosts?" Tempest caught herself, realizing how that question could come across. "Ah, if it's something you don't mind explaining of course."

Cirrus tilted his head to peer at Chip. "Cookies?"

---

"I'm sure they appreciated whatever you help you could offer, even if it might not be up to your own standards," Zephyr offered reassuringly, though she was pretty sure the now-Shiftry didn't need it.

"Sewaddle and Leavanny, huh?" Vine tapped his chin before peering over the edge of the roof. "Are there a lot of wild Pokémon colonies around here? I mean, I'm assuming the Sewaddle and Leavanny are, but are there others? And do they let you guys just go visit or are these ones a special case?"

---

"They seem to be that age," she commented, watching the two go at each other. "Unfortunately, I've never actually had a chance to participate in a battle, believe it or not; we didn't have the space before and then things started coming up." Eve sighed wistfully, tail flicking, before a thought struck her and she perked up. "Oh, hey, you know what? I should drag Growlithe out of the Tower and bring her here. Get her to go do something instead of...I think she's moping still over her, well..."

Eve watched the kits battle for a bit, expression twisting. She then ducked her head to look sidelong at Cyanide. "...she basically lost her kids to the machinations of a teammate and those of us aware of it are...concerned about her. Concerned about the teammate arranging things behind Mel's back too, but consensus seems to be wait and see if she'll get any worse before we deal with it. Growlithe, on the other hand..." She shrugged. "I think if we didn't keep trying to keep her going, she might just hide away forever, if she could get away with it."

After a moment of silence, Eve shook off the heavier atmosphere. "Sorry about that. And when you've got your kits right there trying to beat each other up, too." She shot Cyanide a sheepish grin. "So, do the three of you have to head for dinner soon or are we waiting for something in particular?"

---

"Something new to look into, then." Melissa grinned over at Eddie. "What else are you looking into? Besides the Dynamax phenomenon and the cryptid Pokémon?"

Mirage nodded her understanding, even if she didn't really know what that was like. "Only one of my teammates came from the Adoption Center also and he's always been a little...insecure? of his position on the team. But several joined us when their previous trainers offered them up for trade and some of them are also a bit insecure." She tilted her head thoughtfully. "I guess I was lucky; Mel went into the Springtide Isles looking for me this latest time, so I haven't really felt like I'm missing anything." She nodded at Remy and smiled shyly at him. "I'm glad things worked out for you, though."

Wildfire nodded at Battery. "Yeah! It was kind of nuts, actually. Did you know Keith's Seviper actually went after Alex's Shadow Zangoose right at the start of the raid? When the Wigglytuff was still mostly ready to fight?" He shook his head in amazement, recalling the sequence of events. "And then Alex hit him! Honestly, I'm still a bit surprised that the Wigglytuff didn't flatten all of us, but that's not even the most mind-blowing part. When Alex's Zangoose recovered, they ended up fighting side by side with Marvolo and the both of them didn't fight each other at all!" He scratched at the back of his head. "No idea how that ended up happening--we were too far away to hear their conversation and, well, me and Mel aren't the eavesdroppers of the team--but something must've for them to work together."

He then listened to Gigawatt, tilting his head to consider the Electrode's hypothesis. "Sounds about right. I mean, participating in raids as a fighter is just as much practice as participating as a trainer, right? And the more you win, the better you feel about tackling another because experience." He huffed a laugh. "Even if it's not tracked as clearly with humans as it is for Pokémon."
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Old 10-25-2020, 11:33 PM   #558
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Liliana chuckled as Tempest hastily followed up her question, realizing how it might come across. "No offense taken," she said. "It's actually something we all learned- neither Peeves nor I were even human when we were alive. I was an Umbreon, he was a Machop. Chip... We're not sure he was actually dead," she added, with a glance at the young Duskull. "But yes- us Ghost-types typically have an easier time than most other types at learning human language, though if Vinny's taught us anything, it's that conceivably any kind of Pokémon could learn human language with enough hard work and determination. It's not just us, either- Keith's Gengar, both of his Banette, they all can speak human language as well. Well, in one of the Banette's case, she actually was human in her previous life, so there was that as well," she added. "That does, in my experience, seem to help. The same goes for Maribel's Trevenant, actually- he, too, was human in life, though that can be said of all Phantump and Trevenant, I believe."

Chip's eye lit up at Cirrus's utterance. "Cookies!? Where!?" he said excitedly, looking around, before realizing what the Swablu likely meant. "...oh, you talking about how I smell!" he chuckled. "Ohh. OK. I always smell this way. Mom and Dad say it ever since I hatch. I not know why. But," he added, shrugging his cloaked shoulders, "I not look gift Pontya in mouth! Cookies so delicious, why I not want smell like them??"

Sirius grinned as he heard Prince stating his intention to ask the Mightyena something, and so stayed in the dining room even as more Pokémon rotated in and out. A Decidueye was sharing a steak with a brown and dark green Roselia whose roses sported a deep crimson hue; a Charizard was showing an eager-looking Salandit how to further blacken the already well-done steak with a simple Ember attack; and a Probopass was holding the steak up to its mouth by way of his Mini-Noses. Or, rather, where one would assume a mouth to be hidden by that mustache, and evidently there was one there, as he did seem to be consuming the steak somehow.

~~~~~

"Oh, they did," smiled Willow. "Honestly, it just felt good to be helping out the young ones again, like I used to do..."

As Willow was starting to reminisce, Millicent fielded Vine's question. "There's some, yeah," the Timburr said. "Bunch of Farfetch'd in there... Aragog's mentioned meeting and hunting with other wild Ariados... Didn't Maribel's Bagon live near here or something?"

"Nah, apparently he just stumbled upon this place at the right time," said Bart.

"Ah, OK," nodded Millicent.

~~~~~

Cyanide looked mildly surprised. "Never battled?" she repeated. "Well, hell, never too late to give it a shot." Then, however, Eve had an idea, and mentioned a Growlithe, suggesting bringing her along so she could do basically anything other than moping. As it turned out, this Growlithe's kids had been lost due to the actions of a teammate, and she hadn't been taking it well. And this revelation was reacting with a combination of Cyanide's naturally vicious tendencies and her violently protective motherly instincts. She might not know the Growlithe, but knowing how she'd feel if she were to ever lose Eon and Leo, Cyanide was already beyond furious on the unknown Fire-type's behalf.

But, before she could start about this, Eve changed the subject to that of dinner. "...soon, yeah," Cyanide replied. "Usually the three of us take kind of a late spot in the rotation since it tends to take 'em about that long to tire out and be ready to eat," she chuckled. "We'll head on down once their battle's done, I think, and you can come with if you like. So... this teammate of yours," she added in a quieter voice. "What the hell did they do to that Growlithe's kids?"

Leo, frustrated that he couldn't see where his sister had gone, had resorted to firing off Mystical Fires at random, but none of them were hitting anyone. And then, a Terrain Pulse came from right behind him in the form of a powerful Electric attack! The Flareon stumbled forward as Eon, giggling, became visible once more. The Flareon then charged in for a Double-Edge, while Eon reared up yet again, and slammed her front paws into the floor. This time, instead of impacting the terrain, it caused a row of sharp stones to erupt out of the Electric Terrain. Leo attempted to charge right through the Stone Edge, but was knocked back before long.

~~~~~

"Nothing in particular beyond that at the moment," Eddie shook his head, though he grinned back at the same time. "Cryptopokology is my main field of study, but most any unsolved mystery of the Pokémon world would interest me enough to look into it. When I was younger, actually, I wound up inadvertently proving that Voltorb really are born from Poké Balls exposed to a tremendous electric charge," he added, glancing over at his Electrode. "I don't remember what I was actually trying to prove with that experiment, all I know is that I wasn't expecting to suddenly have a Voltorb. Not that I minded this outcome," he added. "Gigawatt is quite tame compared to how its kind is generally known to be, we got along well from the start, and it ended up coming with me as my first Pokémon when I left home." He looked back over at Melissa. "So, what's your story, Melissa?" he asked.

Remy smiled back. "Thank you," he said to Mirage. "I think we're both lucky- I ended up with a Trainer who's happy to have me and work with me, and your Trainer was actively looking for you. I... Eddie's team is small, but nice. But his friends have a lot more Pokémon that I get to spend time with as well. I... I can imagine how it'd be overwhelming if you're shy around new faces, though all the ones I've met here really are nice."

Wildfire, meanwhile, was telling Battery all about what had happened, with Marvolo attacking the Shadow Zangoose. "I did hear about that!" Battery nodded. "Hermione told us the story, she'd heard it from Marvolo himself- that's the Seviper's name."

"Correct," nodded Hermione. "Well, a Seviper instinctively going after a Zangoose, that's to be expected," she added. "Keith, as I understand it, was considering pulling out of the raid as soon as he'd seen what Alex had brought, but reconsidered. Of course, this led to Marvolo needing but the flimsiest of excuses to attack the Zangoose instead, but between Alex hitting him, and Keith giving him a firm talking-to, Marvolo agreed to be civil for the rest of the raid. But it doesn't end there," she added. "As for why they were working together? They found they had more common ground than anyone could have ever guessed. I gather you're familiar with Ninetales's power to lay curses on those who grab their tails, yes? Well, some years ago, a group of Pokémon was trying to reclaim their territory from a pack of intruders led by a Ninetales. A Seviper among the natives was battling the Ninetales, but was tricked into biting one of its tails clean off." She paused there to allow that statement to sink in. "She was condemned to a personal hell the likes of which I wouldn't wish on any Seviper- she was turned into the likeness of a Shadow Zangoose, into the form of her own archenemy, and in a form in which even actual Zangoose wouldn't trust her. When this story was related to Marvolo, he found that he believed her, and thus was born an unlikely friendship. Marvolo had subsequently related this story to Keith, as he can understand Seviper language fluently, who was then able to convey it to Alex so that he could understand his own Pokémon's situation better. Me, I've been trying to help by looking into ways to break a Ninetales's curse, but so far I've come up empty," she sighed. "I even asked Sunny and Ava- a pair of Ninetales owned by Terri," she added, gesturing in the direction of the house Vine and Zephyr were perched atop, "but even they don't know, as they're both still very young for their kind."

"I WAS LIKEWISE MADE AWARE OF THESE EVENTS," droned Gigawatt. It nodded as Wildfire talked about how participating in raids was good practice for both Trainer and Pokémon. "INDEED," the Electrode agreed. "EDDIE'S CONFIDENCE HAS GREATLY IMPROVED OVER THIS PAST YEAR. HE HAS EVEN BEEN TAKING PART IN COLOSSEUM CHALLENGES AT SLUDGE WAVE COLOSSEUM," it added, glancing over at the large dome-shaped building in the southern part of the clearing. "HIS FIRST TIME, HE DIDN"T EVEN MAKE IT PAST THE FIRST ROUND, BUT HE DID NOT LET THIS STOP HIM. IN THE LATEST ONE HE TOOK PART IN, HE MADE IT ALL THE WAY TO THE FINALS, ALTHOUGH HE DID NOT ACTUALLY WIN." It paused. "THERE IS, AS I UNDERSTAND IT, A COLOSSEUM CHALLENGE SCHEDULED IN A LITTLE WHILE," it added. "I BELIEVE EDDIE INTENDS TO ENTER. DO YOU THINK A DOUBLE BATTLE TOURNAMENT MIGHT INTEREST YOUR TRAINER AS WELL?" it asked of Wildfire.
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Old 10-27-2020, 02:22 AM   #559
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Tempest nodded thoughtfully along as Liliana explained how she and her family learned human-English, finishing up the last bits of salad on her plate. She tilted her head and paused when Liliana mentioned Maribel's Trevenant speaking human-English as well. "Huh. That's interesting actually because Coulter, Mel's Phantump, doesn't. Speak English, I mean." Tempest shrugged. "Though it's possible that he just...hasn't figured out how yet. I haven't talked to him much personally, so I wouldn't know. Excuse me a moment." She tidied her plate up and then took Cirrus' plate, piling it on top of her own. She slid off her chair and grabbed Prince's finished plate, taking the entire pile over to Keith's side of the table. "Um, should I put these in the sink with water or...?"

Cirrus tilted his head to consider the young Duskull, nodding absently at his teammate as she grabbed his plate for him. "You were born like that? Huh. Alright then." He shuffled his wings. "You never get tired of smelling like cookies? Or ever miss the smell of other cookies because you smell like cookies?" He tilted his head to the other side. "Wait, you don't get used to the smell after a while?"

Prince reluctantly let Tempest take the plate from him and then glanced around to check out this next group of Pokémon. "That's, what, three groups already that've rotated through? Man, how do you handle having that many people around? Or are you cool with them all since they're all teammates or family members?" he asked Sirius idly, not quite wanting to get into his actual question just yet. Maybe he'd ask for a word somewhere...quieter, since it'd be embarrassing if the Masters' canids didn't all basically run in the same pack.

---

"Huh, well, alright." Vine shrugged and then eyed the distance to the ground.

"So, what do you guys do for fun around here when you're not entertaining guests?" Zephyr prompted, hopping up to the edge of the roof. "Dunno 'bout you guys, but we're about ready to move on to something...more active."

---

Eve considered the offer and nodded. "True. Always an option if we're here for that long." She laughed. "Which is looking very likely, yeah."

Cyanide then explained that her family usually went during one of the later rotations since her kits were so energetic that it took them about that long to wear themselves out. "That's fair." She nodded towards the battling kits. "And they're giving each other a good workout for sure."

Eve's ears flattened against her head as Cyanide brought the conversation back to Growlithe and Annabelle, watching Leo struggle against his sister for a few moments. "We...aren't actually all that sure." Her expression twisted and she corrected herself, "Well, we know they went to other trainers, but who they are and where they are now..." She shrugged. "Prince, another teammate, says he might've caught the scent of her firstborn when he went to take his firstborn to his supposedly 'destined' trainer, but he couldn't be sure." She dipped her head to the side. "So, not dead-lost, but still lost enough that Growlithe bitterly regrets letting Annabelle talk her into the whole thing." She huffed a sad laugh and tilted her head back to look at the ceiling. "We'd go ahead and steal them back for her, but, well." She shrugged again, helplessly.

---

"Damn, that must've been surprising, but, hey, at least it worked out for the both of you." Melissa grinned, before tilting her head to the side as Eddie asked about her. "Me? Uh, mine's pretty average, I'd say. Mom and dad were trainers, so I grew up on the whole Pokémon trainer thing. Trailed along as mom went from Kanjohto to Hoenn, to Sinnoh, and then back to Kanjohto before we split up. They went to Unova and I came here." She shrugged. "Last time we talked, it sounded like dad finally managed to get mom to chill out and they're looking for somewhere to retire."

Mirage nodded. "They do seem like it, even though I...only met some of them for a moment. They were very nice about giving me space and letting Tempest handle things until Mel could come rescue me."

"Huh," Wildfire said as Hermione relayed the entire tale, cringing when she spoke about how the former-Seviper was tricked into ripping a Ninetales' tail out. As she wrapped up her explanation, he nodded slowly. "That's...definitely something. Good that at least the entire situation was cleared up...but something for sure." He hummed thoughtfully and then shook his head. "I'd offer to ask Hex for you, see if my Vulpix teammate could pass along anything, but she's only planning to evolve if her girlfriend is and that's looking very unlikely." He shrugged with a grimace.

Gigawatt then explained that Eddie had been gaining confidence by going to raids and taking on Colosseum challenges at the, Wildfire assumed it was a Colosseum. The Electrode then asked if Mel would be interested in participating in a double battle tournament and Wildfire tilted his head. "She's not actually much of a fan of battling, but lemme ask. I don't think we've ever done a double battle before."

That said, he trotted over to Melissa's side and tapped at her upper arm. "Mel, wanna try a double battle tournament at the Colosseum? Apparently, one's supposed to start soon-ish and Gigawatt's wondering if we'd like to partner up with Eddie and try it out?"

Melissa glanced down at her starter. "A double battle tournament at the Colosseum?" she repeated, following Wildfire's gaze to the dome-shaped building not far away. She frowned at the building, a little confused. "Isn't that an Orre thing?" She then shook her head and turned back to Eddie. "What d'you think, Eddie? Willing to take on the double battle tournament with a, well, relative unknown?" She huffed a laugh. "I've never done a double battle with two trainers before and I...only have who I brought with me, so, 's long as I can borrow some Pokémon or...find some other way to grab enough to meet whatever requirements it has, then I'll be willing to try if you are."
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Old 10-28-2020, 11:57 AM   #560
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"Interesting," Liliana murmured as Tempest explained about Melissa's Phantump not speaking English. "It's entirely possible Coulter might simply not have thought it to be possible in this form," she agreed. "I do know of a Froslass who didn't think to try speaking human language for a while, despite being human herself when she was alive. And when she did try, she found it far easier than she had feared. Either way, of course, I'd say it's more about whether Coulter actually wants to try. It might be worth attempting to speak to him about this at some point. Willa once caught a Phantump who was speaking English right away- in fact, when she and Keith met him, he hadn't yet realized he was dead," Willa said sadly. "Speaking of which, Maribel, where is Trevenant?" the female Dusknoir added.

"I left him at the Pokémon Center after that training we did earlier," Maribel replied. "I promised I'd save him some dinner, though if he's healed up, I think Aunt Helena would bring him with her when she gets a Nurse Joy to cover for her."

"It certainly sounds like something she'd do," nodded Liliana as Tempest went to take her and her teammates' plates, asking Keith and Willa what to do with them.

"I'll take those," Willa offered, as she made to stand up.

"Nah, I got this," Keith stated, standing up himself and accepting the dishes from Tempest. "I'll handle the dishes tonight, dear," he smiled at Willa, who smiled back appreciatively as she watched her man walk onto a warp panel. "Heh," chuckled Willa. "After the time distortion, I had to reassure mother all over again that yes, he does in fact voluntarily do the dishes from time to time."

Chip pondered Cirrus's questions. "I... never really get tired of smell," he shrugged. "It weird. I used to smelling like cookies, but I still notice it, too. And thing is, I can tell difference between own cookie smell and smell of actual cookies!" he added happily. "Means I never miss out on tasty cookies. Mom and Dad always say shared love for cookies how they met in first place. Mom think that why I like this. I trust her on this- Mom very smart," Chip said with an admiring glance at the nearby Dusknoir.

Sirius gave a laugh. "More than three," he replied. "There's a fair few you didn't get to see. And far from the last. I'm cool with them all- I was one of the earliest of Keith's Pokémon- his first to not be a Poison-type, in fact," he added. "It was a pretty small group to start with, and as more and more came in, I got to meet each of them, get to know them. I suppose if they all came in at once I'd be a lot more overwhelmed, but no- I got to know 'em gradually, and they're all like family to me. Even when Willa first moved in, she only had her Yanmega and Eelektross at the time. And over the years, it's fallen to myself and some of the others of the original crew to help Keith handle and care for some of the newer faces. The other Mightyena that was in here earlier, Noxie- I've become something of a mentor to her. The same goes for Keith's Houndoom as well- I still remember when Keith first hatched her. We all might have our own groups of friends within here, but when all is said and done, we're all family," the Mightyena stated.

More Pokémon rotated. Maribel's Bagon and Hippopotas were done eating and voluntarily returned to their Poké Balls, and as various other Pokémon left, their places were taken by a Mawile, a Dodrio, a Seismitoad, a rather loud and slightly obnoxious Amped Form Toxtricity, and a Garbodor whose arm piping appeared to be copper, and her garbage bag remnants a shiny silver.

~~~~~

Bart grinned. "Heh, well, you saw a good example of that just now- lot of friendly battles tend to happen around here, whether for training, for fun, or just out of sheer boredom."

"And sometimes our Trainers will take part in Colosseum challenges over that way," Salazar added, with a nod in the direction of Sludge Wave Colosseum. "As a matter of fact, after dinner, it's my understanding that Keith and Willa intend to take part in a tournament there today. Of course, if you'd rather get in some battling now, I for one wouldn't mind the opportunity," the Scolipede offered.

~~~~~

"Heh, yeah, they are," Cyanide agreed as she watched her son and daughter continue to battle- now, Leo's Flamethrower was fighting against Eon's Scald, and as they watched, the attacks were stopped simultaneously, and now the siblings were going in for more physical moves- Leo was going into a Double-Edge, while Eon appeared to be going for Mega Kick.

Eve then explained that the Growlithe had been talked into letting her offspring go to different Trainers without much of a say in who they went to, or whether she'd get to see them again. By the look on her face, Cyanide was almost certainly tempted to start swearing, only holding back because of the proximity of her children. "That ain't right," she murmured. "Eon and Leo's dad, he belongs to another Trainer, but that Trainer's good friends with Keith, and we frequently arrange visits. I couldn't imagine knowing I had kids out there that I couldn't go and see whenever..." She shook her head. "If you wanna try and get that Growlithe over here, try and cheer her up some, I say go for it," she stated. At that point, Eon and Leo stepped down off the battlefield, looking tired but triumphant. "Ahaha," grinned Cyanide. "So, who won?"

"I did," said Eon and Leo simultaneously. Then, realizing what just happened, they turned to look at each other. "I did!" they repeated insistently and still in unison.

Cyanide gave a hearty laugh at this. "Alright, you two, that's enough. Now, you gonna keep arguing or do you wanna go and eat dinner?"

"Dinner!" exclaimed Eon and Leo simultaneously, smiles back in place.

"As I thought," smirked Cyanide. "Alright, c'mon, to the warp panel," she added.

"Miss Eve, are you staying for dinner?" Eon asked, stopping on her way to the warp panel in the back of the room.

"You'd be welcome to," Cyanide added. "Real easy to get to the dining room from here- warp panel leads to the kitchen, and right next to you's gonna be another warp panel going to the dining room." As she said this, Jack, back in his Ditto form, was already oozing towards the warp panel himself.

~~~~~

Remy smiled and nodded. "Definitely sounds like them," he said.

Hermione gave an appreciative nod. "I appreciate the offer nonetheless," she stated.

Eddie nodded as Melissa talked about how her parents were Trainers as well. "Oh, wow, you've really been all over," he remarked. "My parents are Trainers as well, though they've already eased up on their traveling before settling down and having me, though they've had plenty to teach me about both cryptopokology and battling," he stated. And then, Wildfire came over and asked Melissa something, which, to Eddie's surprise, the visitor seemed to understand perfectly. She commented on the Colosseum, and how the whole thing sounded like more of an Orre thing, to which Eddie nodded. "The owner of that place was born and raised in Pyrite Town," he explained. "He wanted to bring a little Orre culture over to Fizzytopia with him when he moved here. He grinned at Melissa's offer. "That would be great," he said. "Sludge Wave Colosseum doesn't normally do tag battle tournaments like this, but it's something Keith and Willa have been asking Gavin to try out for some time now. As I understand it, you should be fine just bringing one Pokémon," he added as Melissa voiced her concerns about possibly not having enough Pokémon on hand. "And even if you don't have the one you'd like to use on hand, there's a PC in the lobby for anyone to use," he added. "I still have to decide which Pokémon I'll use," he added, glancing out at his Pokémon. "I could use Battery if you're planning to use something weak to Electric attacks, as he's got Lightning Rod," he offered.
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Old 02-15-2021, 02:09 AM   #561
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Tempest blinked up at Willa, confused. Why was that something she had to reassure her mother about? She considered asking, glancing after Keith and then back to Willa, but decided that it wasn't her business. Shaking her head to herself, she turned back to collect Cirrus and find Stewie for that house tour.


Cirrus listened to Chip explain his whole...cookie-smell thing and how he didn't really take it for granted and, more or less, shrugged to himself. Hey, if it made the kid happy, who was he to rain on his parade?

"Moms tend to be," he agreed with a nod, glancing over as Tempest made her way back to them. "House tour now?" he asked her and turned back to Chip when she nodded. "We gotta go find Stewie for the house tour, but maybe we'll see you later, yeah?"


Prince nodded thoughtfully as Sirius explained how Keith's team expanded slowly, which gave him time to adjust to all the new Pokémon, and how they were all a family, even if many of them had their own groups. "That makes sense. Mel hasn't been expanding so much since the changeover, but it was pretty steady before it." He glanced over at his teammates as they went to find Stewie, exchanging a nod with Cirrus before turning back to Sirius. "Then again, that doesn't seem to have slowed Keith--or anyone who lives around here--down much, if at all."

---

Zephyr nodded thoughtfully as Bart pointed out that a lot of battles happened here, but both perked up and glanced over at the building Salazar indicated when he mentioned Colosseum challenges.

"Colosseum challenge?" Vine repeated, turning back to the group on the ground.

"What's a Colosseum challenge?" Zephyr asked, tilting her head.

---

Eve smiled at Eon. "Well, no one's told me they're leaving yet, so I guess I am."

She fell behind a little, lowering her voice to try to keep the kits from overhearing. "No, it isn't," she agreed with Cyanide's earlier statement. "But Growlithe was the first one to go to the Hatchery and I guess she didn't really think about everything until she'd already had and lost them." She shook her head. "I'd bring her over if I knew a way to, but I don't wanna pull Tempest away from her attempts at getting advice. She's the only one I know who can get home and back with a Teleport."

---

"That's pretty cool," Melissa said, once Eddie explained about the Colosseum. "Lotta work, but I guess he felt strongly enough about it or homesick enough that it's probably worth it."

She nodded along as Eddie continued, eyeing the Togedemaru when he mentioned him. "Well, I'm definitely not gonna pull Tempest, Prince, or Cirrus from...whatever they're doing at the Palace right now." She glanced over in the direction of the truck, but there was no one there anymore. "I'm...not entirely sure where Eve's gone, so not her." She turned back to Battery and sheepishly pulled out her Pokédex. "I'm not actually all that familiar with...most species from Unova or Kalos, to be honest,"--She glanced at the screen.--"but Electric and Steel means Mirage can sit this one out, too."

"You might wanna just grab someone else," Wildfire pointed out, amused. "Though, any more and you might get a Vulpix added on without asking."

Melissa sighed. "True." She paused. "Any suspicions as to who Keith and Willa will use? Might be able to...tailor our two to theirs, if possible. Otherwise, I can just try to cover for Battery's weaknesses and bring my Wingull."
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Old 02-15-2021, 07:41 PM   #562
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Tempest did not ask, but as Willa looked, she could see that her remark seemed to have confused the Ralts. "Mother tends to believe the stereotype that men never help out around the house," she explained. "Or at least not without needing to be asked."

"OK," Chip responded as Cirrus explained that he was going to go seek out Stewie to take him and his teammates on a tour of the house.

Sirius nodded as Prince mentioned how his Trainer hadn't expanded her team quite so much since the region's positions of power changed hands all those years ago. The Mightyena then chuckled at the notion that it hadn't seemed to slowed Keith down much, if it slowed him down at all. "Oh, it would take a lot to slow Keith Masters down," grinned the Mightyena. "Willa... her team isn't quite as expansive as Keith's, but she still does catch whatever she sees a good opportunity to," he stated. "And Maribel's only just started out, so time will tell. Though it's clear she's inherited her parents' love for Pokémon. Though I very dearly hope the old Elite Four never return to power," he added, his grin fading. "Their harsh restrictions on PC storage space meant Keith was forced to make some very hard decisions over the years. Some of them were ultimately for the better- the Sawk and Chatot were obnoxious, the Gible was dimwitted, and absolutely nobody liked the Slakoth, but many of us do miss the Unfezant Keith used to own," he stated.

Stewie, meanwhile, was still with Ginny, when they noticed their guests approaching. "Ah, yes, I take it you're ready for that tour of the house, then?" Stewie said to them. "And what of you, vile woman?" he asked Ginny. "Want to come with us?"

Ginny shook her head. "I'm actually gonna have another steak," she stated. "Besides, I trust them," she added with an apologetic nod to them. "I might catch up later."

"Very well," Stewie nodded. "Well, then, shall we begin?" he asked the guests.

~~~~~

"Double battle tournaments," Salazar replied. "Apparently they're a big thing in the Orre region, and the guy who runs that place comes from there- wanted to bring a little Orre culture to Fizzytopia. The battles there are always worth seeing- when this started taking off, it kinda drew in Trainers from all over the region, both to take part themselves and to spectate. And today's tournament is gonna feature tag battles- instead of one Trainer on each side commanding two Pokémon, it's two Trainers teaming up on each side, each of them commanding one Pokémon. Keith and Willa had been trying to convince Gavin to give that a shot for a change, and, well, this is the day he's doing that."

~~~~~

Eon giggled in response at Eve's reply, and raced off with her brother to the dining room.

Cyanide, meanwhile, walked with Eve as she talked about her Growlithe teammate. "Ehh, well, that's fair," Cyanide conceded as Eve stated that Tempest, who was undoubtedly already otherwise occupied with her own reasons for having come here, was the only one she knew of who could get to her place and back to the Poisonous Palace via Teleport. "I'd suggest asking one of my teammates, but many of them ain't that keen on using Teleport to go places they only been told about, especially if it's a really long distance. That said, if I know my Trainer, which I do, then you and your teammates are gonna have an open invitation to come back whenever you like, and when you do, feel free to bring that Growlithe along," she said. "Either way, c'mon- Willa's a damn good cook. You're in for a treat, especially if you like steak." With that, Cyanide stepped onto the warp panel her children had just taken.

~~~~~

Eddie nodded. "Gavin feels strongly about things just in general," he said. "He's mentioned how big a deal watching Colosseum challenges back in Pyrite was to him when he was a kid. He then nodded as Melissa sheepishly admitted to not knowing much about most Pokémon from Unova or Kalos. "I'm... guessing Alola as well?" Eddie said, slightly awkwardly. "That's where Togedemaru was first discovered."

"Togedemardemar!" Battery chimed in cheerfully.

Eddie looked deep in thought at Melissa's question as to what Keith and Willa might use. "Well, it's hard to say," he murmured. "They have a number of Pokémon that would work well with each other. Not to mention, there's no telling at what point we'd battle them," he added. "There's four rounds- though typically those two are skilled enough to make it to the finals... hm... yes, I think it might just be best if we covered for each other's weaknesses with my Battery and your Wingull," he decided, nodding. Then, he glanced down at Wildfire, then back at Melissa. "Um... Melissa, earlier, it... almost seemed as though you could understand what your Cyndaquil was saying?" Eddie asked. "It's not unheard of, humans understanding Pokémon language, but still uncommon enough that it's not something I was expecting to be the case by default."
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Old 02-18-2021, 09:49 PM   #563
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Prince dipped his head and grinned back at Sirius as the Mightyena spoke on the Masters' family and their propensity to gain team members quickly. He then tilted his head to one side as Sirius went on to discuss several previous team members, most of whom Sirius and his teammates were glad to see the backs of.

"I absolutely agree," Prince said, on the topic of the previous Elite Four. "Especially when they may have intentionally replaced the restrictions, specifically to inconvenience Keith." He scratched idly at an ear, thinking back. "If I'm remembering things correctly, he was the only one who had to scramble to keep his team whole, wasn't he?

"Although...is there any reason he
can't go track his Unfezant down, now that there are no PC restrictions?" Prince asked. He thought he might've heard...something about an Unfezant, but he couldn't recall anything specific.


"Yes, please," Tempest said as she and Cirrus approached Stewie and Ginny. She waited patiently as Stewie and Ginny briefly exchanged words and blinked when Ginny decided to stay and get a second helping of steak, instead of come along. She glanced up at where Cirrus was using her horn as his perch and they ended up shrugging at each other.

She turned back to Stewie when he spoke to them again and nodded, trotting up to follow his lead.

---

Zephyr nodded thoughtfully as Salazar explained what a Colosseum challenge was, exchanging a look with Vine before turning back to the Pokémon on the ground. "Do you normally watch the battles or are you usually in them?"

"And does it have to be two Trainers plus Pokémon or could we, y'know, enter ourselves in?" Vine added, considering the Colosseum with interest. He shook his head and peered over the edge. "Or is that something to try some other time?"

---

"You know, I think Mel's figured out the open invitation part." Eve grinned and followed Cyanide onto the warp panel.

---

Melissa grinned sheepishly at Eddie, cheeks turning red as he corrected her. "Yeah. I mostly recognize the lines I'm interested in, or that I have, from those regions and all the others are more or less question marks." She huffed a laugh, while Wildfire snickered and Mirage giggled at her.

Eddie then went to answer her question regarding Keith and Willa, mentioning that there would be four rounds and agreeing that bringing Breeze would probably be a good idea. "Alright then. I should probably stop at the PC before the tournament starts in..." She paused. "When does the tournament start actually? I don't think I ever got the starting time."

And then Eddie asked about her speaking with Wildfire. She blinked and glanced away, shifting in place before Wildfire hopped back into her lap. "Ah, yeah. Wildfire...I can understand him. And the rest of my Pokémon. When they talk, I mean. But only my Pokémon. Clearly, at least." She shrugged and looked back at him. "I can sometimes make out what other Pokémon say, but it's more...guesswork if it's not one of mine. Otherwise, I just...do what every other Trainer who can't speak Pokémon does: watch the body language and the tone and take my best guess."
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Old 02-22-2021, 03:34 AM   #564
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Sirius gave something between a sigh and a growl at Prince's words. "Nobody's been able to prove anything, but it's generally accepted as fact that the old Elite Four tried to screw Keith over with that. The day they announced this... that was not a good day," he murmured. "Keith tried to stay strong so we wouldn't worry, while he was trying to make some very difficult decisions. But I knew he was dreading having to say goodbye to any of us. And some of us were... not optimistic about our chances of remaining with him. Honestly, things wouldn't have even ended up as well as they did had Norbert not stepped up and trained hard so Keith could secure another allowed PC slot after evolving into Haxorus." He gave a deep sigh. "Very difficult times," he stated. Then, Prince asked whether Keith could not simply track down his old Unfezant. "Well, the situation with Batrach was a bit different," Sirius stated. "Keith actually had every intention of keeping her around, but she chose to be released. She was no longer content to be bound to a Trainer, wished to fly free and see the world."

By this point, the Mightyena was smiling again. "We actually do hear of her travels every so often," he stated. "By all accounts, she is living her best life, and is thankful to Keith. See, when she was a Pidove, her original Trainer was just going to release her, when she was freshly hatched. Keith took pity on her and offered to take her onto his team instead. She revealed to Keith that day that she knew of her original Trainer's intentions, and believes wholeheartedly she'd have been Glameow chow within minutes had she been released. But with Keith's training, she became strong, and knew she would be able to survive in the wild. And it seems she's not only surviving, but thriving."

~~~~~

With the guests ready, Stewie took to the air, not too high, and led the way out into the spacious entrance hall. "Keith built this place very large, the better to accommodate his larger Pokémon, as there's a Hariyama and a Scolipede among them," he was saying. "Of course, you still wouldn't fit something like a Wailord in here... well, maybe in the Battle Room, actually," he added thoughtfully. "That room's enormous. Anyway, this way you'll find the swimming pool," he added, leading the way through a doorway into a room containing, sure enough, a large indoor swimming pool. Several Pokémon were swimming around- a Qwilfish, a Lanturn with purple glowing lures, a Dragalge, a Lapras, and a Wishiwashi. The Dragalge happily waved to the newcomers, while the Wishiwashi hid behind the Lapras, who chuckled softly and smiled politely at Tempest and her teammates.

~~~~~

Salazar grinned. "Sometimes I watch, sometimes I take part. Depends on whether I'm one of the Pokémon Keith uses that day- either way, always exciting." He shook his head at Vine's question. "As far as I know, there has to be a Trainer involved," he said. "Though I'll have to ask Meowth or someone to consider bringing up the idea to Gavin sometime," he added thoughtfully. "I know he's open to suggestions- it was Keith and Willa who suggested this tag battle tournament in the first place."

~~~~~

The warp panel in the Battle Room took Cyanide and Eve into the kitchen. From there, Cyanide stepped on another nearby warp panel, and if Eve followed, which one could reasonably assume that she did, she would find herself in the dining room. Keith and Willa had already set out some dishes for Leo and Eon, who were happily munching away. Keith saw Cyanide, but saw Eve as well. "Another one of Melissa's Pokémon, I take it?" Keith said. "Your teammates were just eating up in here, you're welcome to eat too if you like." As he spoke, he set out a piece of steak for Cyanide, who dug in hungrily.

~~~~~

"Fair enough," smiled Eddie. He then looked at his PokéGear as Melissa mentioned not having actually gotten the starting time of the tournament. "...about 45 minutes from now," he stated. "We should head to the Colosseum soon in any case to register for the challenge."

Melissa had then explained that she could in fact understand her Pokémon when they spoke, but only her Pokémon. With Pokémon she didn't own, it was like what most everyone else had to work with- basically guesswork based on tone and body language. "Fascinating," Eddie murmured. "I've certainly heard of, and even met, people capable of understanding Pokémon language, but never where said understanding was restricted to one's own Pokémon. I can imagine you and your Pokémon have all the deeper of bonds for this," he stated. "I would love to know how this is possible for you- though only if, of course, it's something you're willing to talk about," he added, noticing that Melissa had seemed perhaps somewhat uncomfortable when Eddie had brought up the subject.
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Old 02-28-2021, 04:17 PM   #565
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Prince cringed as Sirius recalled his experience immediately following the re-implementation of the PC restrictions. "I can't even imagine how...nerve-wracking and terrifying that would've been, scrambling to figure out where to put 'mon until you can reclaim them and hoping the entire time that you'll manage to get them back." He paused for a moment to try and shuddered. "Yeah, I really can't. There would've been...probably overt and outright panic among Mel's team if that'd ever happened to us."

And then Sirius explained that the Unfezant was the one who wanted to leave. "Oh, well, in that case, good for her. Has she ever come back to visit?"

---

Tempest followed Stewie back out to the entrance hall, listening attentively as he started the tour. She nodded along as he speculated on whether a Wailord would fit in the Battle Room and then peered around as they entered the room with the swimming pool. There was a Qwilfish--which she assumed was the famous one, a Lanturn with purple lures, a...seaweed-dragon that she wasn't familiar with, a Lapras, and a Wishiwashi.

Cirrus hummed quietly. "About the same size, actually," he muttered to himself.

Tempest sent him a mental impression of a questioning glance, since it was hard to give him a physical one when he was perched on her horn.

"Oh, me and Prince thought ours might've been bigger, but, now that I can judge it properly, I think it's about the same size," he explained at normal volume, resettling his wings. "Though, they don't have the under-the-floor water passages, but I'm pretty sure Mel special-ordered those."

Tempest nodded again and then turned to Stewie. "Do you think the Lanturn would mind if I asked them a possibly-sensitive question about their lures?"

---

"I'm sure," Zephyr replied, grinning down at him. "Mel doesn't usually do battles--well, she doesn't really have anyone to battle really, so most of our excitement tends to happen when we organize battles and challenges between ourselves."

"Ah, well. That's too bad. Maybe in the future," Vine agreed, in response to not currently allowing tag battles between Pokémon alone. "For now...is dinner going to be done soon or do you think we can fit a battle in before the tournament starts?"

---

Eve blinked and shook her head as she warped to the kitchen, quickly trotting after Cyanide as the Umbreon stepped on another warp panel and ended up in what was probably the dining room. At least, there were a lot of Pokémon eating here, along with Keith, a lady, and a kid.

Eve nodded at Keith's question, ducking her head and grinning up at him when he mentioned her teammates. "Thanks!" She glanced at Cyanide's steak and then back up at Keith hopefully, trying to make her request clear.

"Sounds like Tempest and Mirage stopped by for dinner, too," she commented while she waited for her own steak. "Which I suppose I shouldn't be surprised about. If they got any kind of dinner invitation, I don't see either of them turning it down."

She stilled and glanced around as she caught the scent of something familiar. A Hound...? No, Keith probably had one, too. Actually, she was pretty sure he had one. But she still couldn't help glancing around for Prince.

---

Melissa hummed her agreement and scooped Wildfire into her arms as she got to her feet. "Prolly a good idea. Especially since it'd be my first time registering for it."

She listened as Eddie explained his experience with people speaking or understanding various Pokémon languages, rocking her hand in the air in response to his assumption that she and her Pokémon would have deeper bonds. "Ehhh, kinda? It definitely makes things easier when it comes to talking to each other, but that doesn't mean we don't run into the same problems any group of friends or colleagues run into."

"And, to be honest, I really have no idea how it came about." Melissa sighed. "When I first came here--around 8 years ago now, I think--I was...mostly fluent in Cyndaquil and that was it. I thought I'd just have to rely on Wildfire to translate anything and work on the rest the hard way, so I didn't really notice when I started really hearing my other Pokémon."

She sighed again. "So, yeah, it's a bit discomfiting for me to think about since I have no idea where or how it happened, even if it does make some things easier."

She shook her head. "Anyway, I know Keith can speak some Pokémon. Did he teach himself?"
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Old 03-01-2021, 01:59 AM   #566
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Sirius nodded gravely as Prince struggled to imagine how such a situation would have gone over on his team. The subject soon changed to a happier one, though, as Sirius had clarified that Batrach's departure from the team was under decidedly better circumstances. "She actually has once," the Mightyena replied. "And... will do so in the future as well, at least hopefully?" he added. "This whole time distortion business has been more than a little confusion, but yes- Keith told me that over the next ten years, Batrach had come back to visit several times. I do hope that that's one aspect of the timeline that doesn't change, though..." the Mightyena paused and shuddered himself. "...there's certainly one aspect of the timeline I'm hoping does change," he admitted quietly. "Keith and I both."

~~~~~

The tour's first stop was the indoor swimming pool, which got Cirrus remarking on how it was about the same size as their own pool, albeit minus any under-the-floor passages that they have. Stewie chuckled. "We don't have anything like that, though I do remember our old place- the pool there was on the second floor, and the first floor was converted into a Pokémon Center, with windows allowing visitors a view of any Pokémon swimming under the water. Of course, I always had other things on my mind in those days," he added quietly. Following this, he nodded to Tempest. "Oh, ask away," he said easily. "If your question concerns what I think it does, it's a story both Brighton and his father don't mind telling. Actually, I should do some introductions first, hm?" he added. "The Lanturn, as I said, is Brighton. The Qwilfish there is Hebenon, Brighton's father. The Dragalge is Neville, the Wishiwashi is Zygill, and Lapras just goes by Lapras."

~~~~~

"Heh, well, if she ever wants people to battle, this is always a good place to look," grinned Salazar. "Everyone who lives at Sludge Wave Coast is almost always up for a good battle." Then, at Vine's question, he continued. "I would say we'd have a little time," he nodded. "If I see Willa bringing food out to Gyarados and Dhelmise, then that's when dinner's winding down," he explained. "So... you're up for a battle, then?" the Scolipede grinned. "I did offer to be your opponent earlier, and the offer still stands if you like."

"Hey, just throwing this out here, you got options," grinned Millicent. Willow nodded in agreement. Bart and Pangoro, however, still worn out from their last battle, elected to sit this out. "You could battle Salazar, or me, or Willow, if you want."

~~~~~

Keith chuckled at Eve's behavior, for she had made her request pretty damn clear- case in point, he set out a steak for her as well. Cyanide, meanwhile, saw Eve glancing around. "What's up?" she asked.

~~~~~

Eddie nodded as Melissa clarified that her understanding of her Pokémon's speech didn't automatically solve all the issues that could arise. "Understandable," he stated. "Homer can communicate telepathically with me, and he and I tend to butt heads on occasion-"

Pretty much daily, came the fat Alakazam's telepathic remark for all nearby to hear.

"...you see my point," chuckled Eddie. He then listened as Melissa explained that she really didn't know how this was possible for her- that when she first came to Fizzytopia, she was mostly fluent in Cyndaquil language, and didn't realize at first when she started to really hear her other Pokémon. It didn't really sit well with her that she had no idea how this was possible for her, however practical an ability it was. "I can imagine- if I ended up with such a capability without any idea how it was possible, it would weigh on me, too. I hope you can figure it out someday," he said.

The subject then turned to Keith and his knowledge of some Pokémon languages, and more to the point, how he came to know them. "Well, the first thing I think should be mentioned- I don't know whether you know of this, but it's become relatively common knowledge in recent years, but Keith is 25% Gastly, due to an incident in his youth in which a Missingno. saved him from drowning. Like I said, he's had more than a little experience with cryptopokology," he grinned. "But anyway, one of the effects that resulted from this was finding it easier to learn Pokémon languages. He says he's been able to understand Gastly, Haunter, and Gengar languages ever since the incident just automatically, and one of his Banette taught him Shuppet language when she was newer to his team- he speaks it fluently. And he also understands Seviper language- he's never gotten very specific as to how that happened, but from what he's said, it's the latest Pokémon language he became able to understand."
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Old 03-01-2021, 06:02 PM   #567
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Prince huffed a laugh. "I'm sure. Time distortion seems like it'd be a headache for everyone, except for certain Psychic types." He paused and thought Sirius' sentence over again, tilting his head to one side. Time travel? Was that what had the Psychic types unsettled since Mel, Wildfire, and Layla fell into a hole in the world?

He glanced over at the Masters family. He hadn't really thought about it, but they hadn't heard anything about Keith and Willa having a kid and they definitely would've, considering how almost everyone knew whenever something major happened to or around Keith. But, time travel?

...then again, Mel, Layla, and Wildfire had said that they'd fought Dialga when they disappeared into the hole in the world, so maybe it wasn't so incredulous.

Turning back to Sirius, he hesitated before tentatively asking, "Something bad happens? To you?"

---

"The pool on the second floor?" Cirrus stared at Stewie. "You guys weren't concerned that it might, I dunno, leak through the ceiling at some point?" He paused. "Then again, our 'first' floor is the first floor of a tree house, but at least the water would end up on the ground."

Tempest agreed with her teammate, but Stewie went on to introductions and she was more interested in those than architecture. She nodded to herself when Stewie confirmed that the Qwilfish was indeed the famous Hebenon and tilted her head when the Lanturn turned out to be Hebenon's son. Oh, hadn't Stream at one point been attracted to a Lanturn who'd liked Hebenon? She couldn't be sure.

Mentally warning Cirrus that she would be heading over to speak with Brighton just in case Stewie didn't follow, Tempest belatedly returned Neville's wave, bobbed her head at Lapras, and found the closest edge to Brighton. "Well met, Brighton. May I ask how your lures turned purple?"

---

"I'll let her know if she ever decides to," Zephyr said, privately doubting it. Then again, who knew? Maybe now that the option was open, Mel would give it a shot. Outside adventures anyway.

Vine and Zephyr exchanged excited, considering looks as Millicent and Willow threw their offers into the ring. They were definitely gonna be on the same side, but did they want to do a battle-battle or a chase challenge? Vine flicked his eyes at the treeline, but Zephyr rocked her head. Vine rolled his eyes and then turned to the trio on the ground.

"We're picking Salazar, but you guys can pick who the other one is."

Zephyr fluttered up to the edge. "Ooo and definitely don't tell us until they jump in! It'll be a surprise!"

Vine nodded, eyeing the distance to the battlefield. "The second can jump in at the beginning, like a regular double battle, or somewhere in the middle, if you want." He shrugged. "Up to you."

"It's good practice for unexpected situations," Zephyr chirped reassuringly, just in case the other Pokémon had concerns. "We've done it a lot at home." She paused, considering, and then continued with a grin. "Then again, the flock has also played target practice for Fossil. Four of us versus one of him; points to us when he misses, points to him when he hits."

"He's gotten very good with fouling wind currents," Vine added dryly. "Which apparently came in handy when he basically battled Wildwing by himself in the Cloud Garden."

---

Eve grinned her thanks up at Keith and then shook her head at herself in response to Cyanide's question. "Sorry, I'm being ridiculous. I'm pretty sure Keith has a Houndour or Houndoom too, but I can't help thinking I'm scenting one of my teammates here." She ducked her head and grinned, probably looking a bit silly. "He's supposed to help me and my girlfriend out when it comes time for kits, but...I dunno, I really like him."

In an attempt to hide her growing blush and to stop herself from continuing what would probably be a giggly ramble, she bit into the steak and blinked. It was really good. Not quite the same as Mel's, but that was a given and that didn't change the fact that she liked it. Eve took another bite, forgetting for a moment that she'd thought Prince was around.

---

"Yeah, I hope so too," Melissa said glumly. "Though, it might explain why both Annabelle and Coulter would just watch me a lot when I first got them." She paused, considering, before shaking her head. "But, to be honest, it's not really a priority at the moment. If I figure it out, I figure it out; so long as nothing else changes on me, I can probably live with it."

"What is a priority," she continued, pointedly, "is figuring out what's going on in my team behind my back. Unfortunately, none of my Pokémon are currently willing to tell me about it." Mirage blushed and ducked her head, shifting her weight but remaining silent. Wildfire scratched at the back of his head and coughed sheepishly.

Melissa rolled her eyes. "I think they're trying to figure it out themselves first, but I'm a little worried it'll blow up in all of our faces."

"Ehhh, maybe later?" Wildfire offered. "You're planning to go into a tournament soon. Miiiight not be the best idea to get into this right now."

Melissa squinted at her starter. "I don't believe you, but alright. When we get home."

She turned back to Eddie as he went on to answer her question about Keith, nodding as he explained that Keith was a quarter Gastly. She'd already heard about that during the Minerva thing years back, but there was no need to bring up old history. She did flash a grin back at Eddie when he commented on Keith's experience with cryptopokology.

"Huh. So, most of his he learned the hard way," Melissa said. "Which makes sense. Though, Seviper... That must've been an...interesting experience."
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Old 03-02-2021, 12:32 AM   #568
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"...according to Keith, five years in the future, I get hit by a car. I... evidently didn't make it," Sirius said, shuddering at the thought. "The first thing Keith did after the time distortion when he noticed me was run up and hug me like he hadn't seen me in years, which he basically hadn't. I typically don't like to think about that, since he and I are in agreement we'll do everything we can to make sure that doesn't happen this time around, but still, when I do end up thinking about it..." he shuddered again and shook his head. "...well, would it be alright if we changed the subject away from that?" he added with a chuckle.

~~~~~

"Well, it's more like the pool was on the first and second floor at the same time," Stewie attempted to explain. The pool room itself was on the second floor, but the pool went so deep that the bottom of it was on the first floor. I'm certain there's a photo album in the library that would better illustrate my point." He did not move on, however, considering Tempest had gone over to speak to Brighton.

The Pokémon took notice of Tempest's greetings, and at her question, Brighton smiled. "Oh, sure!" the Lanturn responded. "It was when there was this Dynamaxed Qwilfish everyone was teaming up to take on. I wanted to battle it, and Dad helped convince Keith I was ready."

"Well, I don't know how much convincing it took," the Qwilfish smiled modestly, swimming up alongside his son. "Keith knows neither of us are pushovers, after all."

"True," nodded the Lanturn. "So anyway, we're battling this Qwilfish, and at one point, its Sludge Wave poisons me. And all throughout the battle, I'm just blasting it with Thunderbolt after Thunderbolt, right? This was when I was a Chinchou, so I was focusing all this power into my lures every time. And as it turned out, doing this repeatedly drew the poison into my lures as well. I didn't notice it myself at the time, but Dad says my lures kinda started flickering between yellow and purple more and more. Anyway, once we took down the Qwilfish, I was so tired but triumphant, and next thing I knew, I evolved into Lanturn! And my lures have been consistently purple ever since."

"We're thinking that when repeated Thunderbolt use drew the poison into his lures, it kinda merged somehow with the bacteria that causes his bioluminescence," Hebenon explained. "Liliana believes it wouldn't have been a permanent deal had Brighton not evolved when he did."

"I wasn't expecting this, but it's pretty cool," smiled Brighton. "I was a little worried that it'd make hunting tougher, but it doesn't seem to have."

~~~~~

Vine and Zephyr were ready to go- they wanted Salazar in on the action, but requested that whoever fight alongside him be kept secret until it was time to actually start fighting. This elicited looks of concern from the Scolipede, Shiftry, and Timburr, though the Scrafty on the sidelines looked considerably more intrigued at the notion of the battle involving some form of dirty fighting. Salazar, Millicent, and Willow put their heads together and had a short, whispered conversation, before breaking apart. Salazar stepped forward onto the battlefield, with a glance at the guests indicating they should do likewise. Millicent and Willow walked over together, neither one of them getting onto the battlefield themselves just yet- whichever one of them was going to be joining in seemed to be waiting for things to kick off.

~~~~~

"Yeah, he's got a Houndoom," nodded Cyanide. She then raised an eyebrow, looking mildly amused as Eve started gushing over one of her teammates, who was most likely a Houndour or Houndoom himself. In fact, Cyanide could see, out of the corner of her eye, an unfamiliar Houndour talking to Sirius. She grinned as Eve took a bite of her steak, blinked, and took another bite. She elected to not say anything just yet- Eve's situation sounded potentially complicated, and in any case, she figured further discussion about all this could wait until after their bellies were full of steak.

~~~~~

Melissa admitted that figuring this out about herself wasn't exactly a priority at the moment. What was, however, was finding out what was going on with her team- her Pokémon evidently seemed to be up to something behind her back, and didn't seem willing to tell her what. "Well, that sounds concerning," frowned Eddie. "I don't presume to think that Pokémon should automatically tell their Trainers every little thing, but the way you're putting it, it does sound like it could be something more significant-"

The things I don't tell Eddie could fill several books, Homer interrupted telepathically.

"...something more significant than the sorts of secrets a Pokémon might typically keep," Eddie continued, electing to not respond to Homer. "I would hope they'd trust in you to be able to help them with whatever this is..."

As the subject turned to Keith's knowledge of Pokémon languages, Melissa remarked that learning Seviper language had to be some kind of experience. "I would imagine so," nodded Eddie. "Seviper as a species tend to be intense, and Marvolo appears to be no exception. Keith's told me that Marvolo's been a handful since he was young, though he's apparently better behaved than he used to be- he's a father, too, which Keith supposes played a role in him mellowing out somewhat. I've never met Marvolo's mate or daughters, but he's apparently a real family man." He glanced over at his Weedle, who was looking on as a Drapion was approaching them, with a small Kakuna holding on as well. "It appears to be a common sort of thing among Keith's Pokémon," he added. "That Drapion is Hermione's mate- that Kakuna, their son. Even when Keith gave Hermione to me, that family still spends a great deal of time together."
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Old 03-02-2021, 06:00 PM   #569
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Prince stared incredulously as Sirius explained that he apparently didn't survive getting hit by a car, approximately five years into the future. Which, okay, that's fair; trying to prevent what would obviously be a tragedy was commendable, but a car? Seriously?

The Houndour quickly shook his shock away when Sirius asked to change the subject. "Yeah, of course. No point in dwelling on something that's unlikely to happen now that you and him are aware of the possibility." He tilted his head to one side and up as he considered pointing out that it was pretty unlikely that they'd end up at the same time and place as before, what with everything changing from whenever Keith plus family came back in time, but a glance at Sirius had him putting the thought aside.

...of course, now he had to scramble for a different subject. Although...maybe he might as well embarrass himself now, since he doubted his question would be applicable to Keith's team. Still, canid.

Prince coughed. "So, I realize this probably isn't applicable to your teammates, but do you have a pack hierarchy in your team? At least, on the canid side?" He cast his gaze across the room, not wanting to meet Sirius' eyes if it wasn't the case. "I know Mel's planning to add more canids eventually and I'm wondering if you've ever had to deal with, y'know, position challenges."

He paused as his gaze caught on an Eevee across the room. Oh yeah, Eve was supposed to be here, wasn't she? Looked like she was enjoying a steak at the moment, so he'd stop by after she was done.

He turned back to Sirius. "I mean, I haven't really had to deal with any yet, but..." He shrugged. "I suppose I'm just getting prepared in case it is an issue in the future."

---

"Ohhh, yeah, that makes a lot more sense." Cirrus nodded and glanced over at the current occupants of this pool. "And you'd definitely need the depth if there's a lot of 'mon that prefer being underwater. Which is probably the case, now that I think about it." Unlike Mel, who only really had Stream and Signal as primarily-aquatic 'mon.

Tempest nodded along thoughtfully as father and son relayed the story of how Brighton's lures turned purple. Definitely an interesting series of events, though she doubted Signal would appreciate any questions she'd have to clarify the Chinchou side of things.

"That does sound like a plausible explanation for what happened," she agreed. "And it's fortunate that the only significant side effect is the color change." She got back to her feet and gave the pair a short bow. "Thank you for answering my question, Brighton, Hebenon. Perhaps we can speak more another time."

That said, she returned to Cirrus and Stewie, ready to continue the tour.

---

Zephyr took off from the edge of the roof, briefly catching Vine as he leaped into the sky and flipping him forward before gliding down to their side of the battlefield. Vine landed, rolled, and then trotted over to take his place beside Zephyr.

Zephyr shifted her wings restlessly, holding them half-open as she waited for the battle to start, while Vine kept half an eye on Millicent and Willow.

There was a beat before Zephyr said, "Soooo, when do we start?"

---

Eve nodded to herself when Cyanide confirmed it for her, digging back into her steak. Of course Prince wouldn't be here; they'd left him behind for this trip and it wasn't like he could Teleport or anything.

---

Melissa sighed. "To be honest, I probably wasn't in the best place a while back, so I can see the team taking their cues from Wildfire and the older members to keep it all hush-hush until either they could figure things out or I was in a better place to handle it. And, if I'm right about where some of the cracks are or when they started, some of them probably started way back when I was newly on my own. And making all kinds of mistakes while trying to skate under the radar of the old Elite Four." She turned to look pointedly at Wildfire again. "It does mean we should probably be talking about the situation soon. And dealing with it."

Wildfire rolled his eyes and nodded. "Yeah, yeah. Not here though."

"Not here," Melissa agreed. She did turn a curious look on him. "Although, why do you think I was looking into Shadows if I didn't know anything about what was going on?"

Wildfire paused and then face-palmed. "Layla told you, didn't she."

"At least someone realized it was probably a good idea to keep me in the loop," Melissa replied dryly. She tapped her head to Wildfire's and lowered her voice. "You need to stop pulling the protective older brother thing now; I'm a lot older than I was then. I can handle it."

Wildfire sighed. "Habit," he offered.

"Yeah, I know." She shook her head and turned back to Eddie as he responded to her non-question about Keith learning Seviper.

"Huh." She watched the family reunite for a moment. "I did hear about that. That Keith makes sure his Pokémon get family time. As far as I've dug up, both of my birds with kids either aren't real big on family or they're not too concerned with...I guess, helping someone out?" She grimaced. "On the other hand, I've been doing my best to track down my Growlithe's kids and only managed to find one so far. Though, I've heard Prince might know the location of the other."
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Old 03-04-2021, 07:30 PM   #570
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Sirius happily latched onto the change of subject. "Well, you're right in that it hasn't really been applicable for the most part, but the other canids on the team do acknowledge me as kind of a leader," the Mightyena stated. "Mostly, anyway. Noxie and Ruby consider me an older brother, Cotton's never overtly acknowledged such a thing, but he does seem to respect me quite a bit- I think I'm one of his only teammates he's never stolen food from. Chromium is another story- she doesn't really show a lot of respect in general, and typically needs to be told how something would benefit her before she'll act on it. Nowhere near as bad as the Slakoth we used to have, thank Arceus, and she hasn't really shown much interest in trying to usurp my role as leader, if you could even consider it as such. Her interests lie more in her artwork- she's a Smeargle, see. But yes- I think the respect I tend to command is more of a general thing, it's not just limited to my fellow canids. I'm one of Keith's older Pokémon. I was around since Gemini and Nagini were just a young Koffing and Ekans- they actually used to be quite the pranksters back then, if you can believe it," he grinned reminiscently. "I was around before either Peeves or Liliana even hatched, and now they have a kid of their own. Many of us old hands tend to be just as respected by the others as Keith himself." He cleared his throat. "I apologize if this doesn't answer your question as well as you were hoping," he added "It's just not something that's really come up much with this team."

~~~~~

Hebenon and Brighton both nodded their agreement that the color change being the only real side effect was a fortunate thing. "No problem, miss," smiled Brighton. "Nice to meet you- uh, what was your name?" he added sheepishly, realizing he'd never been told as much.

"Ah, yes- this is Cirrus, and this is Tempest," Stewie said, introducing the Swablu and Ralts in turn. And soon, they were both ready to continue the tour, and so on they went, Stewie leading the way through a nearby door. "Here we have the kitchen," he added. It was a spacious room, including a table and chairs for more casual meals, and a range of appliances against the back wall. There was also a large-screen TV on the wall, same as the ones that could be seen in the dining room and the pool room. Standing beside the stove was a Slurpuff, keeping an eye on a great deal more steaks. "As you can imagine, not everyone has eaten quite yet. Cotton, am I correct in assuming those steaks are for...?"

"Gyarados and Dhelmise, yep," confirmed the Slurpuff. "Who are these, Stewie?"

"Ah, yes- this is Cirrus, and this is Tempest," Stewie introduced the guests. "Cirrus, Tempest, this is Cotton, and over there is Shelley." At first, it didn't look as though he was pointing to anybody for the last one, until a Torkoal shyly walked out from beside the sink. She said nothing, but gave a small smile, and puffs of White Smoke emitted from her shell, forming a smiley face in midair.

~~~~~

After a moment of nothing happened, Zephyr posed the obvious question of... when did the battle start? "Ah, yes, of course," Salazar nodded. "The battle will begin-"

However, this sentence was abruptly cut off as, with speed to rival a gust of wind, Willow rushed onto the battlefield, targeting Vine with a sudden, unexpected Quick Attack!

"...right now," smirked Salazar. "I trust that's unexpected enough?" With that said, he took a deep breath, and exhaled a blast of Dragon Breath in Zephyr's direction.

~~~~~

After they'd taken a few more bites of steak, Cyanide got another look at the Houndour, and began to rethink her stance on this- perhaps it'd be best to give Eve sufficient notice, lest the Houndour notice her first and catch her off guard. "Psst. Eve," Cyanide whispered. "Dunno if that's your guy, but the Mightyena over there, Sirius? Just noticed, dude's talking to a Houndour I ain't never seen before."

~~~~~

Eddie nodded as Melissa admitted to having not been in the best place some time ago, and therefore, it being reasonable for the team to want to keep things quiet for the time being. He frowned as Melissa mentioned the old Elite Four- Keith had spoken of them before, but never with any level of fondness. Unapproachable, unreasonable, and unfathomable in the reasoning for their leadership decisions. He elected to not pursue that subject further- it tended to be a sore one among many of Fizzytopia's more seasoned residents, and he wasn't eager to open up that can of Wurmple if he didn't need to.

The subject, however, turned to that of Pokémon's families. Eddie nodded. "Oh, yes. Keith puts a great deal of importance on his Pokémon's family time," he stated. He looked slightly concerned as Melissa mentioned the decidedly sparse amount of information she had on the location of her Growlithe's offspring. "If I may ask, what's the story there?" he asked. "And is there any way I can help?" he offered.
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Old 03-16-2021, 12:21 AM   #571
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Eve almost choked when Cyanide told her there was an unfamiliar Houndour talking to one of her teammates. "What?" she coughed out. No, there was no way he was here. She popped her head up to look in the Mightyena's direction and squeaked, hastily ducking back down and almost stepping in her steak. "Ohmygod, he's here. What's he doing here? I thought he was back at home."

---

Prince huffed a laugh. "Yeah, I kinda...figured that out after talking to you for a bit." He glanced around at the various teammates eating around the room and shrugged. "It's alright, though; I probably should've expected that our teams might be a bit too different to have much overlap for the kind of situation I was asking about."

He got to his feet and stretched, catching Eve looking over at him from where she was eating. "Well, either way, I appreciate the help. And the conversation." He nodded towards where Eve had ducked back down. "I'm pretty sure I saw one of my teammates come in with the Umbreon and kits, so I'm gonna go say hi. You're welcome to come meet her, if you want."

---

Tempest flushed as she realized that she hadn't introduced herself or her teammate, but she only managed to give father and son an embarrassed bow before she hurried after Stewie. Cirrus chirped a cheery good-bye to the room as they left for the next one.

Through the nearby door, they ended up in the kitchen, where a Slurpuff kept an eye on the stove. Stewie introduced him as Cotton and a female Torkoal as Shelley, both of whom Tempest treated to a respectful nod. "Well met, Cotton, Shelley."

"Hi," Cirrus chirped, tilting his head to one side. "Do you do a lot of cooking, Cotton?"

---

"Ah, yes, of course." Salazar nodded at them. "The battle will begin--"

Vine caught motion from where Willow and Millicent were standing and threw himself to the side, tumbling head over heels as the Quick Attack still managed to knock him off his feet. Zephyr startled and used that response to immediately take off, Agility letting her gain some distance from the Dragon Breath so she could Work herself Up for an actual exchange.

Vine skidded to a stop, back on his feet, and flicked his gaze over their opponents, searching for an angle of attack. He narrowed his eyes as he discarded Sunny Day and then whipped up a Leaf Tornado, making his best attempt at hiding a Twister in its midst before letting it loose in Willow's general direction.

Turning to Salazar, he finally replied, "Not really. We've been ambushed worse by our own teammates, but we tend to play rough." He shrugged, hoping his Taunt wouldn't backfire too badly, and bared his fangs in a grin. "Then, again, we understand if you'd prefer we kept our sharp edges to ourselves."

Above them, Zephyr flipped through some Acrobatics as she started her dive, planning to come from behind while Salazar was distracted.

---

Melissa and Wildfire sighed in concert. "For reasons I still have to figure out, my Gothita has been going behind my back to...arrange things for various members of my team." Melissa grimaced. "One of whom was my Growlithe, who didn't realize she wasn't actually up for it until after everything had already happened. So, in a bit of...a delayed retroactive attempt at an apology for not noticing, I'm trying to reconnect her with her kids, but I've only been partially successful so far." She'd manage to track the Growlithe kid to...a Grass-type specialist? Or something like that and he was now an Arcanine. Seemed to be doing well, though, from what she could tell. The Zorua kid, on the other hand? Annabelle had covered her tracks well with that one.

Melissa shrugged at Eddie's offer. "I mean, if you know how to find who might have gotten a Zorua about...a year or two back?" Not that she really expected he'd be able to. Though, it wasn't like she was an expert at tracking someone down either.
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Old 03-16-2021, 01:40 AM   #572
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Cyanide looked on in mild amusement at Eve's reaction, for sure enough, the Houndour in question was in fact the teammate she'd been talking about. "Dunno, but he's here, and he's looking this way," Cyanide replied quietly. "And Sirius is looking this way, too- they're probably gonna come over here," she added. "What are you gonna say to him?" she asked.

~~~~~

Sirius nodded. "Glad I could help at least somewhat," he replied. Then, he looked over to where Prince had nodded. "Ah, yeah, that's Cyanide over there," he stated. "Sure, I'll meet your teammate."

~~~~~

"Oh, you bet," grinned Cotton. "I actually just used to assist Hermione in here, back when she was on the team, but after she went with Eddie, I kinda stepped up. Nowadays either I'm doing the cooking myself or I'm helping Keith or Willa. Usually Willa- Keith tries, but Willa's clearly got the better cooking skills. And even when it's just me, it ain't usually just me- Shelley's a big help as well," the Fairy-type added with a respectful nod to the Torkoal, who gave a modest, shy smile in response. "It was actually mostly Willa who did the cooking today, I'm just getting these last steaks ready for Willa's Gyarados and Dhelmise so she and Keith can eat together."

"Hermione's a Weedle Keith used to own," Stewie explained. "And at the risk of sounding ridiculous, that Weedle is the best cook I've ever known. Taught Cotton here everything he knows. Taught Shelley a thing or two as well." Shelley blushed slightly, flattered and flustered by all the kind words.

~~~~~

Willow's Quick Attack didn't catch them nearly as off-guard as she had been expecting it to, and she found herself facing a Leaf Tornado, albeit with something more within- Willow, knowing Leaf Tornado herself, was quick to recognize something more to this one. Deciding on the spot to try and overpower the whole mess, Willow flapped her fans furiously, generating a powerful Hurricane to not only dispel the less powerful wind-based attacks, but also do some good damage to the Snivy responsible for them in the process..

Salazar smirked in response to Vine's Taunt. "Oh, would you, now?" he responded. "If you prefer to play rough, then hit us with your best- you'll see nothing less than that from us!" However, seeing Willow already going for Hurricane in response to Vine's first attacks, Salazar decided to focus on Zephyr. Not seeing the Fletchling anywhere at a quick glance, he got a shrewd idea as to where she might be, and more to the point, from where she might strike. In anticipation of this, Salazar prepared a powerful Poison Tail to strike down any attempt at an attack from behind.

~~~~~

Eddie listened quietly as Melissa explained about her Gothita making arrangements behind her back, including for her Growlithe, who had had some rather belated second thoughts about it all. He shook his head sadly at Melissa's question. "I wouldn't know where to begin, I'm afraid," he said. "I'll keep an ear open for anything, though, and if I somehow find anything out, I'll be sure to let you know."
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Old 08-10-2021, 12:48 PM   #573
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"So this is the place." Danny said as he slipped off Blair Wind's Swellow. "Thanks for the lift, Blair."
"What-ever. We are not friends. I'm doing this for...business purposes." she turned up her nose, and once Danny was safely on the island's deck, she took off. The island. Sludge Wave Coast.

Home of Keith Masters, who was, judging by what Danny had heard (and what Blair's parents knew) was a famous, powerful trainer, that Danny would love to try his strengths against. From his spot on the docks, he looked around. There were many buildings; a lighthouse, laboratory, Pokemon Center, and what seemed to be a Colosseum. There was also a battlefield. A battlefield - or, exactly what Danny was here for.

Looking for the grandest building he could find, he walked up to what seemed to be the Poisonous Palace; a three-story, large building that commanded respect. Danny gulped and knocked on the door.

"Keith Masters?"
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Old 08-10-2021, 01:27 PM   #574
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(OOC: Minor note, but Sludge Wave Coast isn't an island- rather, I picture it as a small town somewhere on the east coast of mainland Fizzytopia.)

It was a pleasant day at Sludge Wave Coast, in terms of the weather. Even the sea looked pretty calm; the boat docked at the edge of town, with the name "Banette's Revenge" painted on her stern in a striking shade of red, was barely rocking at all. But none of that really mattered, for Danny's destination was clear- he'd walked right up to the Poisonous Palace and knocked on the double doors, calling the name of the man who lived within.

The doors flew open within seconds, but all Danny saw was a Pawniard, floating in midair, with a yellow aura around her body that made it clear said floating was the result of Magnet Rise usage. She had a crazed look in her eyes and was brandishing one of the blades at the ends of her arms, pointing it right at Danny. "PAWN PAWNIARD PAWN PAWN-" she began threateningly.

"Oooookay, Ginny, that'll do for now," came a voice, the source of which quickly became apparent as a Dusknoir rose up out of the floor to the right of the Pawniard. "People have heard of our Trainer, he's pretty well-known, not every stranger who comes to the door knowing his name is a trained assassin."

"...Pawniard," conceded the Pawniard. She lowered her blade, but as she backed off, she did not take her eyes off Danny until she veered in through a doorway further down the hall.

"Sorry about that," the Dusknoir said, turning his attention to Danny. "That was Ginny, Keith's Pawniard. Paranoid, obsessed with security and keeping everybody safe. She means well, though," he shrugged. "To her credit, she's never hurt an innocent person yet. Aaanyway, sounds to me like you're here to see Keith, yeah? Right this way." And he led the way... not very far, as it turned out. First door on the right, Peeves phased right through, before opening it from the inside to let Danny in. "We got a visitor," Peeves called.

There were three people in the room, Danny would be able to see right away, and judging by why he was there to begin with, he'd almost certainly recognize at least one of them. "Thanks, Peeves," said that man. "Hi, there," he added, turning to Danny. "So, who might you be? I'm Keith Masters, and this is my lovely wife Willa, and our daughter Maribel." As he introduced them, he gestured to the other two people present in the room with him, both of whom nodded and smiled to the newcomer, though all were waiting for him to introduce himself now. In addition to the three people, a few Pokémon could be seen in the room. A Normal Form Meowth and a female Meowstic, who had been sitting right next to each other, both turned to look at the newcomer, and from their position atop an aquarium in a corner of the room, a Pincurchin and Pyukumuku began chattering; judging by Peeves's poorly-stifled chuckles, it seemed the pair were making some really bad puns.


*As a result of reaching 10 Bond, Fred learned Gummi Bomb (Water)!*

*As a result of reaching 10 Bond, Fred learned the MT Move String Shot!*
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Old 08-10-2021, 01:51 PM   #575
CrazyCreeperKid
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Danny didn't expect the door to be answered so quickly - he also didn't expect to be answered by a floating Pawniard, who had murder in their eyes. Danny didn't understand Pokemon speak, but he knew that the Pawniard's "PAWN PAWN PAWN." must've meant something threatening and potentially murderous.

Then, there was a voice he would understand. Danny thought that might be Keith Masters; but the source of the voice soon appeared; a Dusknoir. Speaking human language. This was getting interesting. Dusknoir, or, Peeves, explained the Pawniard's (Ginny) aggressive and justified behavior; she was just being defensive.

Danny stepped inside and followed Peeves to the first door on the right; and after Peeves unlocked the door, it swung open, and as Danny walked inside, he saw three people; one he recognized.

"Keith Masters." He said in his mind. Keith himself. Keith introduced himself; Danny didn't need it, as he knew a lot about Keith already, even his wife, Willa Carnet, and daughter Mirabel.

Danny was also met with quite a few Pokemon; a Meowth and Meowstic; and a Pincurchin and Pyukumuku, who seemed chatty.

"I'm...I'm Danny. Danny Daybreak. I've heard a lot about you and how good of a trainer you are." Danny said to Keith, trying to stay calm even though he was terribly nervous. "And I'd like to challenge you to a battle." He took a Pokeball from his belt and released his Servine, Fleur, as if to prove that he too, was a trainer.

A trainer who wanted a fight.
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