Mystical Realm: Zone of Folktales

[Jahotsafits]

Originally Posted by Lil'twick

Jahosafits-

You decide to break a piece of bread and head it over to your right. Jeritza takes the bread and hands it to his sister. You overhear her name "Mercedes" as the boy hands it over. Then the bread goes to their father, who was sitting across from you, and lastly their mother to your left. They all fill their bowls with the stew and begin to dip the bread into the stew to eat it. You see Jeritza grab an egg and pop it into his mouth.

"Ah, interested in our Wooloo, eh?" the father speaks up to your question. "Well, my son and I are the ones who are the shepherds in the family." You notice a small hint of venom in his voice.

"My wife helps around the house and is a weaver for the tribe. And my daughter is a scholar. As for our lifestyle? It's simple. We use every part of the Wooloo, especially if one needs to pass for one reason or another. They provide cloth, milk, and meat for the tribe. We treat them with respect both during their lives and their death. Not many other livestock can withstand the harshness of the desert... Well, besides Numel," the man laughs after a rather serious exposition.

"Ah yes, the Numel," you hear their mother speak up. "After the incident, the tribe leader decided it would be best not to have them around. Still, the milk was rather delicious."

"Anyways, young traveler. What brings you here? I can tell you've been around livestock your entire life," the father speaks up. "My son told us how you helped, and well he needs punishment yet again. So, while you are our guest since you got our son out of this mess... You must be the one to enact the punishment."

The rest of the table slightly froze, and you can hear Jeritza's breath tighten. You look at the man a bit confused, who gives you a rather savvy smile. He claps, giving off a hearty laugh. It seems he took things quite lightly, all things considered.

"So, once our meal is done, you shall duel our son. A battle between Pokemon Trainers. What, did you think I was going to have you lash him or something?" the man says, continuing his boisterous guffaw. You can see his wife start rubbing her temples, muttering something under her breath.

"Father, are you sure we should have a Pokemon Battle so late?" Mercedes speaks up.

"It'll be beneath the stars! The heavens themselves will know that judgment would be passed," he responds to her with a softer tone. "You know that the stars shine brighter at night."

She nods with approval, and you see the mother just grab your dessert and start to gorge. Seems she was stressed out at this point. Meanwhile, Jeritza just gives you a nervous glare. What was being expected out of you anyways? A Pokemon battle sure, but what else. Well, it seems you had the entirety of dinner to prepare for the fight ahead.

What do you do?

Bobert slowly began to eat cautiously as the events transpired and mulled over the uncomfortable request. "My family is a group of farmers with a plantation out, (gives location), who do a bit of everything from plants to livestock to a small mining operation and dairy. I opted to see the world and well..." Bobert grew silent a moment before starting again...
"I...", he hesitates " am on a personal training journey in hopes that I may raise a better team with some of my pokemon and foster a better mindset... for one of them..." He breathed in deeply. "It is by happenstance that we ran into each other so I... I think it should be by happenstance that he chooses the pokemon I use... I brought six with me and I think a double battle would be best for the sake of expediency?" Bobert was not entirely comfortable with the scenario but wanted to give his audience a fair shot.

After the tense meal, Bobert removed his jacket and placed the 6 poke balls into it scrambling them in case his opponent was keeping track and recognized any of the balls.
(Lumina, Euthanasia, Ulin, Marble, Ovata, Phoenix). "We will have a simple 2-on-2 match. Either way, I gain some experience, and you..." Bobert looks over to that weather confused by the whole thing, "get disciplined I think?"

[Prof.Enigma]

Originally Posted by Lil'twick

Prof. Enigma-

The boy furrows his brow as you reject the cigarette. His eyes tell you everything he's thinking. "Liar." How would he know? Still, you were determined to keep to the terms of your contract, and that seemed to be respected well enough. He then looks at Eustace, who seemed prepped and primed to answer your questions.

"The Tower, what our city of rogues was built around. It would've been impossible not to see it, considering you can see it everywhere here. It lays at the heart of our city and is home to ancient technology. Most of it is made from cogs and runs on steam... It seems the people who built it were into clockwork. There is an elevator installed within that takes you to the top, where they suddenly stopped building..." Eustace explains.

"Some call it Babel," the boy then speaks up. "Down in the rogue's district."

"I thought you were a homebody?" Eustace then asks the kid with a bit of surprise.

"Well, before what happened earlier this year... I did explore quite a bit," the kid gives a distant smile in response.

"Regardless, wouldn't it be best to leave now before later? You want as much daylight as possible," Eustace tells you. "Once you return, I can give you more information. Besides, I have an appointment with an appraiser in about half an hour," he continues.

Seem you wouldn't be able to able to gleam any more information here. Best to head out now, especially since you could see the boy getting a little antsy. It looked like he wanted to return home, not sit here and go on a trip of his own. Odd... still, the Raichu looked more than ready to wreck shit.

What do you do?

Avalon was secretly screaming like a child given the keys to a never-ending candy shop, THEY HAD A TOWER OF BABEL TOO? "I did notice it on my way in but, I didn't think that would be the place. Regardless Eustace is right, we're burning daylight. Lets Clock and Roll"

He felt his partners roll their eyes at that joke, but both Mark I and Luca stood by his side. "Lead the way" Now he was strongly more intrigued. Out of all the things he shared a love for with his siblings, were technology and history. This tower would have both and despite him looking to bring something home to his siblings, he now also wanted to see what else he could find as a personal keepsake from such a monumental place. Absolutely first and foremost above all else... He needed to come back with something to help the Magerna. He refused to leave until he had something to help.

Magerna in his homeworld was one of the few species of pokemon alive, but its existence is threatened back home as more and more Magerna aren't able to keep up with the sands of time and are overall corroding in their soul-hearts without someone or something to keep them active. There used to be whole nations with Magerna, treated as family heirlooms passed down from parent to child. But due to human nature... they started to force the Magern to do things they didn't want to. Force them to battle, make them into slaves... whatever their masters pleased. There were those treated as royalty, and those treated no better than the earth they all stood upon. With a Soul-Heart, owners were able to torture them into submission should they try to rebel. This led to them dying in waves due to losing the will to live. Becoming little more than lifeless husks of metal that could move.

[Lil'twick]

Jahosafits-

You explain yourself and propose the doubles match. Thinking about it, the father nods. If that was your terms, then that was your terms. Two on two, and more than that. This was something to test your skills and the skills of your team. Not all who wander are lost. So it was impertinent to showcase the power you had gained on your journies. For this was the will of the family before you. The will of the tribe you were with. The wonders of the starry sky... And the earth below. This desert was its home, and it was time for you to eat its history.

Soon, food is put away, and you find yourself on the main road of the village. The sky was filled with stars, and the night itself was clear. A bonfire was lit, and the both of you were off to the side. The fire illuminate Jeritza's face, and you could notice something was off with him. Yet, what it was, you couldn't tell. Just darkness.

"Alright, let's get this battle started, blessed by the skies above!" you hear a woman shout, and see Porrima standing between you both. Looks like she was standing in for her husband.

"Let's go..." Jeritza breaths out, voice hoarse and... was it hunger?

"Both sides choose two Pokemon. This bout is over once both Pokemon are defeated!"

"Herdier, Dusclops, let's go!" Jeritza howls.

The two Pokemon are released from their Pokeballs. The Herdier once more released from its Dusk Ball, but the Dusclops was... different. A ball that was Skeletal in nature. It looked more like a Skull than an actual Pokeball, and you could hear murmurs within the tribe. Was this not known? No, it didn't seem so. That a shepherd boy had something like this... strange indeed.

Though the worst part about this was, of course, that this was a Dusclops. Yet another one you have to face on your journies. Once, back in the Phantom Isle. Though that one took pity on you and helped save you from the Mime poisoning the water. This, however, looked different. It was cold, unmoving... what was Jeritza thinking here.

"I know your moves, how you think. I've been watching you... you know. Finally, someone interesting to fight!" the boy then cackles, his eyes going wide and pupils shrinking. He has a wide, malicious grin on his face. "Now satiate my hunger, and punish me!"

What do you do?

Prof. Enigma-

"That's quite awful..." the teen groans at your pun before heading out the door.

The smell of tobacco hits your nose as you head out yourself. This was... different from anything you've smelled before, and you can see the teen take a long draft of it. You see him then puff it out, forming a smoke ring before it flies away into the sky. He then puts the cig back into your mouth, relighting it. You notice him use a white lighter with... what looked to be a gold engraved name. "Du Pont."

"Now, to the Tower," he says with clenched teeth. You can see him dart a glance at a building. It looked to be a quaint little cafe.

You then follow him through the northern exit of the plaza. Every once in a while, you notice him dart his gaze between the alleyways. The Raichu also looks to be on high alert, and you can see the voltage coursing through the scarf. Considering the dirt discolored buildings, and the more broken roads... this was not the safest place in town. You can see dilapidated posters hung along the buildings, and some suspicious brownish stains every once in a while. City of Rogues indeed.

After about a half hour on foot, the smell of tobacco started to fade. The teen takes the cigarette out of his mouth and spits before stomping it out. He just leaves it behind and continues forwards. Soon, you reached a rather pristine plaza. From dirt and muck, the flower of the city blooms. You can see a great many people here, most of them at a ticket booth. Looks like it was all tourists, looking to get a view from the elevator to the top. Though you see him and the Raichu avoid the line entirely and head towards the entrance.

"Here. He's with me. We're going spelunking on requesting," he then says to what looks like a guard, before slipping a hefty wad of cash to the guard. They nod in response and let you both in.

This place was... not like anything you've seen. A blue, ethereal glow hummed through the entire building, and you can see platforms suspended in the air as well as attached to the walls. Blue circuitry ran through the bricks that made up this place, though you couldn't tell what this material actually was. You see a rope ladder to your right and a roped-off line that leads to the elevator. Seems this was public hours.

"Ah, spelunkers," you hear a voice before you see a woman beckon you over. There was a small desk set up, with various doodads on it.

"Seems you've paid the fee already. Then here, our standard fair kit," she hands over a brown leather bag to the teen before he tosses it to you.

Looking inside, you see a few items that'll help you:

You have obtained the following items
-x1 Escape Rope
-x3 Smoke Bombs
-x3 Super Potions
-x3 Full Heals

"We expect anything you don't use to be returned. It's quite awful to try and get these off the corpses," she says with a blank face.

"If you don't return within 78 hours, we'll file a report that you have died within the tower," she then further says, no emotion still. Guess this was quite common.

Looks like you had a little bit to repair before your descent. You see the teen fiddling with the lighter, looking at you. Guess it was your call, after all.

What do you do?

[Jahotsafits]

Originally Posted by Lil'twick

Jahosafits-

You explain yourself and propose the doubles match. Thinking about it, the father nods. If that was your terms, then that was your terms. Two on two, and more than that. This was something to test your skills and the skills of your team. Not all who wander are lost. So it was impertinent to showcase the power you had gained on your journies. For this was the will of the family before you. The will of the tribe you were with. The wonders of the starry sky... And the earth below. This desert was its home, and it was time for you to eat its history.

Soon, food is put away, and you find yourself on the main road of the village. The sky was filled with stars, and the night itself was clear. A bonfire was lit, and the both of you were off to the side. The fire illuminate Jeritza's face, and you could notice something was off with him. Yet, what it was, you couldn't tell. Just darkness.

"Alright, let's get this battle started, blessed by the skies above!" you hear a woman shout, and see Porrima standing between you both. Looks like she was standing in for her husband.

"Let's go..." Jeritza breaths out, voice hoarse and... was it hunger?

"Both sides choose two Pokemon. This bout is over once both Pokemon are defeated!"

"Herdier, Dusclops, let's go!" Jeritza howls.

The two Pokemon are released from their Pokeballs. The Herdier once more released from its Dusk Ball, but the Dusclops was... different. A ball that was Skeletal in nature. It looked more like a Skull than an actual Pokeball, and you could hear murmurs within the tribe. Was this not known? No, it didn't seem so. That a shepherd boy had something like this... strange indeed.

Though the worst part about this was, of course, that this was a Dusclops. Yet another one you have to face on your journies. Once, back in the Phantom Isle. Though that one took pity on you and helped save you from the Mime poisoning the water. This, however, looked different. It was cold, unmoving... what was Jeritza thinking here.

"I know your moves, how you think. I've been watching you... you know. Finally, someone interesting to fight!" the boy then cackles, his eyes going wide and pupils shrinking. He has a wide, malicious grin on his face. "Now satiate my hunger, and punish me!"

What do you do?

Bobert's skin began to crawl at the cryptid aura being emitted from the trainer and the absence of the ghost before him. This was indeed not a typical fight and as such the traumatized boy opted to go with the best two on his team as this wouldn't be an easy fight probably. The lad reached into his pocket and pulled out a post-it and some weird headpiece note and took out 2 balls one standard poke and an Aether Ball withdrawing from them Ulin and Lumina respectively at his side. Bobert then placed the note in Ulin's hand which confuses her and placed the "ears" on Lumina.
"Here goes nothing..."
With a deep breath, Bobert looks over and sends out his first commands:
"Ulin;", points at the ghost," use Sucker Punch . Lumina;" points at the dog " use Sleep Powder."

---lumina equipping Magical Elf Ears
---Ulin equipping Definitive Ultra Mega Pass

[Lil'twick]

Jahosafits-

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!" the preteen before you cackles, hearing your orders. You see a few people in town react with shock. Whoever was in front of you was not the shepherd boy you, or anyone else properly known.

"You think that's enough to stop me, idiot? Dusclops, Taunt that Ivysaur! Then Curse it!" He orders and the Pokemon lets out a rumbling hum. "Herdier, Play Rough with the Gurrdurr, before following it up with a Take Down!

The dog barks in response and waits for its partner to act. The hulking ghost wags its finger at Lumina, pissing her off and locking out her status moves. She no longer tries to fire off her Sleep Powder attack, too enraged. She looks at you, waiting for attack orders. Meanwhile, Ullin just sits there, trying to sucker punch a move from the Dusclops. Yet, there was nothing she could do. After all, the Dusclops were only given orders to use status moves.

Thus, the Herdier has free reign in its all-out assault. Channeling fairy-typed energies, the dog rushes forwards through the sand at blinding speed. It begins its assault, playing rough with the Gurrdurr and dealing super effective damage against it. The dog then slides back, before bursting forward and barreling its head into the Gurrdurr. It uses the momentum to safely land, but it has taken a bit of recoil.

You then see the Dusclops cut its life, a needle piercing its body. You then see Lumina wince in pain as the curse befalls her, and then you look at the Dusclops. The reaper ghost grabs the Sitris Berry it was holding and begins to munch away at it. Completely countered in the first round of combat.

"Give me more, more!" he shouts, a hunger lacing his voice. "Why don't I give you a chance, huh? The hunt is only fun if you fight back! Herdier, keep up your assault with another Play Rough into a Tackle! Dusclops, send out a Will-o-wisp at the Ivysaur before Hexing it!"

What do you do?

[Prof.Enigma]

ShadowDRGN: Castle Joyeuse:
Tsu’uts only seemingly stared back at you with no inclination of answering by any means you could discern. It was Ada who ended up answering in her partner's stead. "To answer the question I have only recently been acquainted with Tsu'uts. They seemingly found me and my starter partner as we traveled from the Paldea region, leaving school to come to Fizzytopia for a student exchange year with Manzana Academy and NFCU. Despite finding us I don't actually own Tsu'uts and they have been following me so I decided to call it what my people called it back in the days before "Na too" became a commonplace" Ada looked at the photos and selected two that you took " these look the best, thank you these look amazing!"

She ended up selecting ones that happened to catch both the sword and the shield in the same picture.
"I do have some more places I want to grab pictures of if you are ok with it.
I want to grab some pictures of the fabled kings crown and then of the murals depicting the warrior's gravestones"

Tsu'uts decided they would then move from the perch upon Ada's shoulder and decided to perch upon yours instead. Something about you had perked its interest and you couldn't help but wonder that since this natu was only following Ada and it was waiting for the right time to find its trainer. You also couldn't help but wonder if that was you.

Regardless, it seemed as if Ada was waiting for your response before continuing on.

[Jahotsafits]

Originally Posted by Lil'twick

Jahosafits-

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!" the preteen before you cackles, hearing your orders. You see a few people in town react with shock. Whoever was in front of you was not the shepherd boy you, or anyone else properly known.

"You think that's enough to stop me, idiot? Dusclops, Taunt that Ivysaur! Then Curse it!" He orders and the Pokemon lets out a rumbling hum. "Herdier, Play Rough with the Gurrdurr, before following it up with a Take Down!

The dog barks in response and waits for its partner to act. The hulking ghost wags its finger at Lumina, pissing her off and locking out her status moves. She no longer tries to fire off her Sleep Powder attack, too enraged. She looks at you, waiting for attack orders. Meanwhile, Ullin just sits there, trying to sucker punch a move from the Dusclops. Yet, there was nothing she could do. After all, the Dusclops were only given orders to use status moves.

Thus, the Herdier has free reign in its all-out assault. Channeling fairy-typed energies, the dog rushes forwards through the sand at blinding speed. It begins its assault, playing rough with the Gurrdurr and dealing super effective damage against it. The dog then slides back, before bursting forward and barreling its head into the Gurrdurr. It uses the momentum to safely land, but it has taken a bit of recoil.

You then see the Dusclops cut its life, a needle piercing its body. You then see Lumina wince in pain as the curse befalls her, and then you look at the Dusclops. The reaper ghost grabs the Sitris Berry it was holding and begins to munch away at it. Completely countered in the first round of combat.

"Give me more, more!" he shouts, a hunger lacing his voice. "Why don't I give you a chance, huh? The hunt is only fun if you fight back! Herdier, keep up your assault with another Play Rough into a Tackle! Dusclops, send out a Will-o-wisp at the Ivysaur before Hexing it!"

What do you do?

After a horridly rocky start, Bobert has an idea and set's it in motion.
"Lumina Pumpkin Bomb and Ulin use Chocolate Magic on the Dusclops."
"Ulin use Drain Punch on the hardier. Lumina use String Shot and tie the bomb to the Dusclops.

[Prof.Enigma]

KingSalmon: Artisan’s Row::

Lady Ellie had been gone not truly more than a few moments before she returned and she carried with her a box, as well as several pokeballs. "Now I know that I should bring up your reward should we be able to best my situation here. So, here it is. Upon completion of my task, I shall give you something I no longer have any use for. " She opened up the box and as you peek inside you felt something tug at your gut.
Inside the box contained a silver marble-like orb that held a blue, brown, and tan streak curving through the center of the orb.

"My partner has long since left this plane of existence and I am no longer wanting to use this stone with anyone else anytime soon, and I saw your partner would be best fitting for this stone's use." She sealed the box and stowed it within the folds of her pockets before tying her pokeballs to her waist.

"Over here on the side of the mounds, I have a wellspring and within it, I have been having some troublesome Trubbish, Tandemaus, and one very stinky Garbodor." She leads you to the wellspring and sure enough, you could smell the trouble from here. " I haven't been able to drive all of them off in one go, sadly all of my partners aren't as young and spry as they used to be since they were handed down to me by my mother before she passed. This is why I need your help, or rather any additional trainer's help. No one else in the town would help me for fear of having the pokemon head to their water sources instead."

" I wish to not harm them but I need them gone and to be frank I'm not sure where I can have them go, if you have any solutions to this barring driving them off I would be glad to listen dearie"

[Naru]

Originally Posted by Lil'twick

THE MYSTICAL REALM

The Forest of Wands

A sea of coniferous trees that eat up, and surround, most of the Mystical Realm. Many Pokemon call this place home, causing there to always be some sort of going-on happening within. Those who come to this place always seem to find themselves sucked into one grand adventure or another. Yet, while most of this place is harmless, the heart of the forest is not to be trifled with. (Please reply in OliveDrab)

Whisperwisp Bog[Shadow Area]: Deep within the forest lies the Whiserwisp Bog, the place where the Park Staff stop protecting, leaving it to the Arbitrator of the Forest. A whimsical fog hangs above this swamp of fallen trees and shady muck, bringing in all sorts of fantastical and magical beings. Will-o-wisps commonly are seen floating around, whispers of souls who congregate to this strange place. If you want to play with the fae, or even just see what lurks in the deep, this place has strange effect’s on one’s heart.

A large Arcanine trudged through the bog, undeterred by the warning signs and odd fog that seemed to loom over him and his trainer. His harness and service Pokemon vest was snug against his body as his trainer slowly wobbled along behind him. It was hard for her to find footing for her crutches along the murky bog mud, but she was determined.

Elka Shang was a twenty-one year old girl, who, unfortunately, was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy in her legs around age nine. By the age of thirteen, she had mostly lost the use of her legs, needing to use crutches and having a tremendous amount of trouble with her stamina due to being bedridden for so long. She had always dreamed of being a strong trainer, but due to her disability it seemed her dreams would be dashed. She was crushed. However, her, parents felt pity for the poor girl and gifted her a small Growlithe around the time her disability had considerably worsened...and Elka saw an opportunity.

With gradual commands, Elka was able to teach her Growlithe, Seirios, commands and have him aid her in getting around. After much training, she was able to get him certified as an official service Pokemon who aided in her walking and protected her. When her legs and arms grew too tired, Seirios would scoop her up and carry her on his back, allowing her to navigate the world with ease. With Seirios, she felt like she could take on the world and made it her mission to be a future Pokemon researcher. This dream lead her to Fizzytopia, where new regional variants seemed to be coming up.

Was it research that lead her to the bog today? Not exactly. She had heard murmurs of magic in the bog, and she had a wish if the rumours were true.

She wanted her free mobility back, and she was willing to do anything to get it.

Seirios whimpered and paused, turning to face Elka. He jerked her from her thoughts and stared at her, knowing she was struggling through the bog.

"Yeah... it's tricky. Don't worry though, I'm still okay. Let's keep going." She wobbled slightly on her crutches and motioned forward. Seirios dipped his head and lead the way. He had his own fears about this trip, if Elka could walk again... where would he be? Sure, he was a strong Pokemon in his own right but he was far outshined by Elka's dragons. He sighed, knowing all he could do was follow commands and see where it lead them.

[Lil'twick]

Jahosafits-

Your Pokemon hear your orders, and your opponent's Pokemon do the same. Lumina starts off this round, sending out seeds that end up getting planted on your foe's side of the field, while the Herdier once again rushes Ulin. The dog plays rough once more with Gurrdurr, dealing a massive amount of damage. The Gurrdurr, however, seems to be focused on a different target as she magically douses the Dusclops in sticky, slowing chocolate. The reaper golem just huffs, sending out flaming wisps that end up scorching Lumina's skin.

"Look, are you even trying?" Jeritza asks with a downtrodden gaze.

He sighs as the rest of the round continues, with his Herdier just tackling Ulin. The Gurrdurr then responds with a Drain Punch, finally landing you a decisive hit and restoring a nice amount of HP. Though it doesn't make up for the deficit that the Play Roughs have caused, it at least keeps her up and running. Lumina, however, fires off a string shot at the Dusclops. She tries to tie the bomb together, but it is still growing in the soil and will be for a while! The Pokemon then focuses its gaze on Lumina, hexxing her. The Fizzytopian Ivysaur screams as the curse rips through her and her burn.

"If father's punishment was to bore me to death, he's succeeding..." the kid then mutters before kicking a pebble. You can see something changing in him.

What do you do?

Naru-

"I know when you go down all your darkest roads..."

Your Arcane leads you through the wisps and fog, down to the bog. The place the rangers had warned you about, yet you were determined. That if you regain the use of your body, you were willing to pay any price. Yet, as you continue, you feel the fog get deeper. And thicker. To the point where it could almost choke the life out of you. This was your darkest road, wasn't it? At least it was better than being locked in a bathroom... for now.

Seirios soon stops, his foot touching bog water. You do your best to move next to him, and look out over the water. A strange, hulking shadow was atop the lake before it let out a wolf-like howl. It turns around and walks away, disappearing within this all-consuming fog. It then starts to clear, and you see small lights start to appear. Floating harmlessly atop the bog. This place felt different now.

You then hear a child's laughter and feel a presence next to you. A young child, looking up at you, with a shit-eating grin and a playful look in her eyes. She then looks down into the bog and looks up back at you. And back at the bog, then you, then the bog. After a few minutes of this awkward silence, the child speaks.

"Hi, miss! Are you perhaps, well, looking for something here? You are, aren't you? I can see it! Well, I'm looking for my brother! We played in the bog, and now he's gone gone gone! Where to, well, down there of course!" she exclaims, pointing at the bog.

"Say, you want to play too? Play with me! Play with my brother and me!" she starts to exclaim, her voice getting higher and higher pitched.

You get this gut-wrenching feeling that there was something wrong with this girl next to you. Not to mention it was really hard to get a read on her face, clothes, or anything. A figure with a voice, nothing more. But still, it felt wrong... like every part of your body and soul wanted to flee. You look at Seirios, who looks at you confused.

What do you do?

[Jahotsafits]

Originally Posted by Lil'twick

Jahosafits-

Your Pokemon hear your orders, and your opponent's Pokemon do the same. Lumina starts off this round, sending out seeds that end up getting planted on your foe's side of the field, while the Herdier once again rushes Ulin. The dog plays rough once more with Gurrdurr, dealing a massive amount of damage. The Gurrdurr, however, seems to be focused on a different target as she magically douses the Dusclops in sticky, slowing chocolate. The reaper golem just huffs, sending out flaming wisps that end up scorching Lumina's skin.

"Look, are you even trying?" Jeritza asks with a downtrodden gaze.

He sighs as the rest of the round continues, with his Herdier just tackling Ulin. The Gurrdurr then responds with a Drain Punch, finally landing you a decisive hit and restoring a nice amount of HP. Though it doesn't make up for the deficit that the Play Roughs have caused, it at least keeps her up and running. Lumina, however, fires off a string shot at the Dusclops. She tries to tie the bomb together, but it is still growing in the soil and will be for a while! The Pokemon then focuses its gaze on Lumina, hexxing her. The Fizzytopian Ivysaur screams as the curse rips through her and her burn.

"If father's punishment was to bore me to death, he's succeeding..." the kid then mutters before kicking a pebble. You can see something changing in him.

What do you do?

Bober growing frustrated that his plans are not functioning whatsoever gives out his next set of commands.
"Ulin Use Dynamic Punch on Herdier followed by Fucus Punch. Lumina uses Sleep powder on Dusclops followed by Doom Desire!"
Bobert is pulling at straws at this point and doesn't really notice much of a change in the once-friendly advisory. However, one thing is for certain...ghosts are a real pain to deal with...

[Zelphon]

Originally Posted by Prof.Enigma

Zelphon: Whispering Bog
You led your pokemon away from the knight and gandered to your next goal in sight. You had been told to head down the path, then follow the path through the trees... which must have been this although it was easily missable had you not been paying attention to where you were going. But where were the gnarly faces the knight spoke of?

Inspecting these trees as you walked deeper along the path... they began to mutate before your very eyes. A fog rolled in suddenly and all you could see was your feet on the path, and the faces snarling at you from within the Fog. Creepy.
There was supposed to be a river too, but you had surmised you hadn't reached that just yet... You hardly knew what you were to do should you get to it. How deep was it? Would you have to recall your partners from within their balls to cross? What about the last part he told you about, trust not your eyes but your skin? What did your skin have that your eyes didn't in that matter... Unless there was some illusion cast upon things making it so you couldn't see them?

What would you do?

Unsure on how to proceed with the situation Rylie stops briefly to think of some potential solutions to the problem at hand, the trainer wishing he had thought to train any of his pokemon with Defog or something to that effect before deciding to make do with the tools he has at his disposal.

Working under the assumption that the mist might be carrying with it some sort of Status inflicting effect the trainer orders Naula to lead the party while letting off periodic Heal Bells to both combat the supposed ailments as well as provide a guiding noise for which Rylie and R.E.S.C.U.E follow in the event that visual contact is lost.

The trainer then hands out two items to his companions a Mr.Ping Microphone to Naula to boost her audibility and a Shadow Lance to R.E.S.C.U.E before ordering the latter pokemon to begin marking nearby trees as they are passed.

Trusting in the guidance of his pokemon Rylie then closes his eyes and follows the pokemon in the hopes that following the knight's advice would yield some results, the trainer frequently getting bumped and cried at by the Falinks keeping him from face-planting in the treacherous bog.

[Prof.Enigma]

Zelphon: Whispering BogThe tinging of the bell from Naula helped guide you through the fog and as you walked you soon understood the advice you were given. The fog hid clear barriers that you accidentally walked face-first into.

So your sense of touch was needed rather than your eyes... Well, Naula helped to lead you both but stopped shy as they came to what seemed to be an abrupt stop. There was a chasm laying before you with... Bodies? It was odd looking. Something didn't seem to be right but another thing struck you.

There was a pathway above the chasm that you only noticed because the fog seemingly rolled along the top of it rather than just drifting to the ground below. That was your pathway through and ensuring all three of you were safe you made your trek across.

"Bravo, finally someone haveth the galls to cross, not just turn back from where thy came"
The voice called out once you reached the end but it didn't have a face, at least at first from what you could tell.
Suddenly as if it was a cape being dropped all of the fog and trees and the chasm vanished. As if it didn't exist in the first place and you could see the winding path that you were following through with Naula.
R.E.S.C.U.E lined up in front of you and Naula ready to block an oncoming attack should something attempt to... But nothing came.

"Well come in, If that old geezer decided you were just enough to give you the path, you're worth hearing out"
You saw the voice come from a small child sitting on a railing of a modest cabin. What was unnerving was the fact that the voice's age didn't match the visual age of the vessel it was coming from...

What would you do?

[Raves]

Originally Posted by Lil'twick

Raves-

The Larvesta meekly looks up at you and your bare arm and crawls along. It tickles a tiny bit, its little feet and warm fur soon curling up onto your forearm. Using your spare hand, you pull out the flower booklet once more and read it over. Though, it soon becomes a tad hard to read as the Larvesta begins adjusting itself to find a comfortable position.

Once it finds one, it starts to emanate warmth. The bug was like your own personal heated stuffed animal and helped make the snowy environment a lot more tolerable. And, most importantly, helped clear up some of your mental fog, allowing you to fully devote yourself to reading the booklet.

Camellias- A pinkish-red flower grown out of bushes. Due to its hardy nature, it is resistant to snow. It is one of the few flowers that bloom in the wintertime, causing light amounts of pink to pop out amongst the white landscape.

With her analytical mind, Statis tries to work out where to head out. Anything that would stand out against this winter landscape would be immediately seen. So the only choice would be to determine where the proper amount of sunlight here would be so they could stand out. It was pretty dark and dismal here at the time, so the only answer would seem to be bringing out the sun.

And that leads her to point towards the weary Larvesta. Seems the way to find the flower would be to revitalize the bug. If the moth larva could regain its strength, it surely would be able to light the way and thaw through winter. She then points towards the sky, and you could see a blizzard coming onto the horizon.

A new task has appeared! Figure out a way to revitalize the Larvesta! In the state it is in, it'll need an ample amount of warmth, food, and a safe place to rest. Send out your Pokemon to find shelter in this wintery landscape to weather the storm. If your blood isn't flowing, then the body wouldn't be able to move, after all.

What do you do?

The frigid air both felt unsettlingly bitter yet simultaneously empty as he flicked through his booklet, readjusting for the gentle warmth of the Larvesta he was linked to, whose radiant heat made this dead environment just a little more tolerable. He quickly spotted the article in question, albeit slightly obscured by the bug's fuzz.

"Pinkish-red...grows-s-s in bushes...hardy, resisisisistant to s-s-snow...appears as pink amidst th-the white..." he murmured, still feeling the cold as he looked up at the Elgyem. The psychic pokemon's analytical mind reacted as her hand spots began to glow, forming a train of images in Rory's mind. Sometimes it paid to have a pokemon capable of memory alteration when the same creature is versed in mentally visual communication.

Anything visible would be immediately seen. The best way of find anything visible is in the best spot of light, such as sunlight. It would make sense, plants need sunlight to grow. To do so in this dull atmosphere would be an exercise in futility. Ergo, the most logical choice would be to bring out the sun in a meaningful way.

Statis then pointed to her trainer, or rather the Torch pokemon in his arms. Of course, it made sense. Bring the bug back to relative strength, and it'll be able to live up to its role as lightbringer.

He nodded as the Golisopod looked towards him, curious on what his plans were, and as he closed his pamphlet, he then saw where the psychic pokemon was pointing: the distant grey rumbling sky encroaching on their position. We're on a timer...if we're caught in the midst of that blizzard, we're as good as dead. The teen clambered slowly to his feet, Larvesta in his arms still, as it nestled into him.

"We gotta get this little guy b-back to health...it's probably hungry, and wants some warmth to help get it on its f-f-feet...and shelter. We need a roof over us...before the storm lands and buries us..."

The two pokemon before him understood the situation, and at a small hum Rory turned his gaze to the Elgyem, who gestured to his belt. Right, he'd need more hands on deck.

A couple of flashes of light later, he looked at his group. Bylii gave a small trill, before shrinking back suddenly as the air hit the Cutiefly, while the considerably larger Araquanid gave a hiss as it touched the snow with his legs. Both were confused about their situation: had their master not stated they were heading to a meadow, rather than a snowy hellscape?

"We n-need to find a safe p-place and food. Bylii, your natural aura reading abililility should be good to find some berries in the snow, so go with Statis to f-find some for this little guy," he whispered. "Roneta, you're on c-call. We need shelter, and your scald should help there. If you can melt us a path with it while w-we look for a safe spot from this incoming storm that'd help a lot...though if we can get some in a small bottle, that'll work for some warmth. Xig, help out with any digging we need done. Your metal claw should make short work of any ice we come across, as w-well as getting some leeway into making an emergency sh-shelter if we need it."

With orders given, the group nodded and began to spread out in search of the vitals required to weather the storm. Rory meanwhile continued to cradle the Larvesta in his arms, trying to shelter it as much as he could from any wind while keeping a nervous eye out on the grey front slowly approaching. I dunno how long we got before it slams into us, but we need to get this larva up to strength before the snow consumes us...

[ShadowDRGN]

Originally Posted by Prof.Enigma

ShadowDRGN: Castle Joyeuse:
Tsu’uts only seemingly stared back at you with no inclination of answering by any means you could discern. It was Ada who ended up answering in her partner's stead. "To answer the question I have only recently been acquainted with Tsu'uts. They seemingly found me and my starter partner as we traveled from the Paldea region, leaving school to come to Fizzytopia for a student exchange year with Manzana Academy and NFCU. Despite finding us I don't actually own Tsu'uts and they have been following me so I decided to call it what my people called it back in the days before "Na too" became a commonplace" Ada looked at the photos and selected two that you took " these look the best, thank you these look amazing!"

She ended up selecting ones that happened to catch both the sword and the shield in the same picture.
"I do have some more places I want to grab pictures of if you are ok with it.
I want to grab some pictures of the fabled kings crown and then of the murals depicting the warrior's gravestones"

Tsu'uts decided they would then move from the perch upon Ada's shoulder and decided to perch upon yours instead. Something about you had perked its interest and you couldn't help but wonder that since this natu was only following Ada and it was waiting for the right time to find its trainer. You also couldn't help but wonder if that was you.

Regardless, it seemed as if Ada was waiting for your response before continuing on.

Manuel puts a finger to his chin, and the rest of the world fades away as he takes a moment to think this through. What an odd encounter. Natu aren’t native to Paldea—or neighboring Kalos, for that matter. Ada coming across a wild one would be rare, indeed...

Feeling those tiny feet perch on his shoulder, Manuel glances over to see Tsu’uts preening themselves meticulously. The photographer laughs, reaching over to pat the bird’s head with his fingers, “yes, I see you,” he chirps.

Their level of comfort with him isn’t beneath his notice, but it’s rather... difficult to bring up the subject politely. Even if Ada is only their caretaker, rather than their Trainer, it nonetheless seems rude for a stranger like him to bluntly ask if Tsu’uts belongs with him. Hmm... how to broach this...

“Of course, Ada. I don’t mind taking a few more photos,” Manuel affirms, letting his camera hang from the lanyard around his neck. His eyes stay glued to the Natu, and he takes a breath, “before that, though...”

“I was thinking. Tsu’uts is able to see the future, yes? Perhaps they’ve been following you because they foresaw meeting the person who will become its Trainer by doing so. That could explain why you encountered them so far outside their natural habitat,” he explains, holding out his finger for Natu to perch on.

“What do you think? It’s just a theory, but I think it’s a reasonable one.”

[Lil'twick]

Jahosafits-

Ullin looks at you a bit confused, before realizing what your orders were. Well, that seemed to cause your opponent to have a little bit of a chuckle. Even if it seemed like he was a kid possessed, if anything else. He looks at you, seeming to have already picked apart the orders in his brain.

"Herdier, use Take Down on the Gurrdurr! Then I want you to use Work Up!" Jeritza orders the dog, then looks at the Dusclops.

"Sleep well, we shouldn't need you to finish this up," he states with a warmer tone.

You then see his eye twitch, and a pissed look on his face. This didn't seem to be the orders he was thinking of, but nonetheless the orders he gave. What was going on? Something strange indeed.

The Herdier starts to barrel towards Gurrdurr as she starts to charge up a Dynamic Punch. She tries to swing but ends up missing. The Herdier then tackles her, making up for the healing she had received the previous round. Even if the recoil manages to take some hit to his health as well.

Meanwhile, the Dusclops just watches as Lumina peppers it with Sleep Powder. The reaper golem closes its singular eye, drifting gently to sleep. The Fizzytopian Ivysaur then lets out a doom desire, foretelling her opponent's doom. Though, she almost certainly won't be seeing it.

On the other side of the field, the Herdier works itself up as the Gurrdurr charges her Focus Punch. She slams through the dog, who yelps in pain. The Herdier looks at her, barely standing. Seems there was some bark and bite still left. Yet, these orders could be seen as a complete throw. What was happening?

You then see Lumina slump to the ground, the curse placed on her eating away at the last bit of her health. That was that then. You only had one Pokemon left, while your opponent had two. Even if the Dusclops was profoundly asleep.

What do you do?

Raves-

Thinking quickly on your chilly feet, your send out even more bugs to help the one that was fading fast. Well, that was certainly a problem, wasn't it? You clutched the weakened Larvesta close to your chest as the bug struggled for warmth as your team tried to find shelter. Of course, this was quite a risky thing. You were given orders to find shelter, but in a meadow like this, there would be nothing suitable. No, it seems to only things that your Pokemon could bring back were some hardy winter berries and a path through the snow.

The Larvesta struggles as it squirms against you, and you could start to see the snow barreling down in the distance. With no shelter in sight, you only had one option: to make yourself a shelter. Of course, with all the snow around, perhaps making a hole and trying to dig out a burrow would work. Or try to make an igloo? There were a few things that you could potentially do here, but there was always some amount of risk involved. Well, no matter what, you needed to figure something out before you were buried in freezing sleet, snow, and hail.

What do you do?

[Prof.Enigma]

Originally Posted by Lil'twick

Prof. Enigma-

"That's quite awful..." the teen groans at your pun before heading out the door.

The smell of tobacco hits your nose as you head out yourself. This was... different from anything you've smelled before, and you can see the teen take a long draft of it. You see him then puff it out, forming a smoke ring before it flies away into the sky. He then puts the cig back into your mouth, relighting it. You notice him use a white lighter with... what looked to be a gold engraved name. "Du Pont."

"Now, to the Tower," he says with clenched teeth. You can see him dart a glance at a building. It looked to be a quaint little cafe.

You then follow him through the northern exit of the plaza. Every once in a while, you notice him dart his gaze between the alleyways. The Raichu also looks to be on high alert, and you can see the voltage coursing through the scarf. Considering the dirt discolored buildings, and the more broken roads... this was not the safest place in town. You can see dilapidated posters hung along the buildings, and some suspicious brownish stains every once in a while. City of Rogues indeed.

After about a half hour on foot, the smell of tobacco started to fade. The teen takes the cigarette out of his mouth and spits before stomping it out. He just leaves it behind and continues forwards. Soon, you reached a rather pristine plaza. From dirt and muck, the flower of the city blooms. You can see a great many people here, most of them at a ticket booth. Looks like it was all tourists, looking to get a view from the elevator to the top. Though you see him and the Raichu avoid the line entirely and head towards the entrance.

"Here. He's with me. We're going spelunking on requesting," he then says to what looks like a guard, before slipping a hefty wad of cash to the guard. They nod in response and let you both in.

This place was... not like anything you've seen. A blue, ethereal glow hummed through the entire building, and you can see platforms suspended in the air as well as attached to the walls. Blue circuitry ran through the bricks that made up this place, though you couldn't tell what this material actually was. You see a rope ladder to your right and a roped-off line that leads to the elevator. Seems this was public hours.

"Ah, spelunkers," you hear a voice before you see a woman beckon you over. There was a small desk set up, with various doodads on it.

"Seems you've paid the fee already. Then here, our standard fair kit," she hands over a brown leather bag to the teen before he tosses it to you.

Looking inside, you see a few items that'll help you:

You have obtained the following items
-x1 Escape Rope
-x3 Smoke Bombs
-x3 Super Potions
-x3 Full Heals

"We expect anything you don't use to be returned. It's quite awful to try and get these off the corpses," she says with a blank face.

"If you don't return within 78 hours, we'll file a report that you have died within the tower," she then further says, no emotion still. Guess this was quite common.

Looks like you had a little bit to repair before your descent. You see the teen fiddling with the lighter, looking at you. Guess it was your call, after all.

What do you do?

The kid was constantly looking back and forth watching the backways as he led Avalon to the tower... Something was going on in this town more than was let on to be believed to the outside world. Such was a given though Avalon supposed. Cities covering up dark secrets by those who were wealthy enough to control and dictate the place upon which they declared theirs... Avalon was far too used to that. It was a shame that had happened to East and West Gearan from his homeland. Once a whole city, was mysteriously lit ablaze and those in power seizing for control to cover up whatever actually went down with the fire. Even the Elite Member and her daughter were forced to vacate their home and the father vanished.

Perhaps there was more that went on within the tower, that could be the reason this city was such. Regardless he couldn't focus on this much and stuck to his lane following the kid to the tower. He watched as the kid handed a wad of cash that seemed more than enough to keep the receptionist happy and quiet, also ensuring that he got a spelunking kit that held some well-understood items, which was also concerning that they just causally expected these to not be returned should 78 hours pass from when they enter.

Something about the tower itched at his brain, and for but a solid second his thoughts separated. "What are we doing?
" We are supposed to be climbing the tower but something here is... weird. It feels like we should be apart when we enter this place but I don't want to do that.

"Agreed, let's just clamp down and stay as Avalon."

Shaking a shiver off of his back, he recalled Mark I to stay within his Pokeball for the time being, only leaving Luca out because Mark I was still but a babe in a sense, and Luca could be trusted to handle themselves.
"No use for us to waste any more time. Let's go. Lead the way kid"

He hoped he was making the right choice going forward

[Lil'twick]

Prof. Enigma-
Something feels wrong. You feel wrong. You were splitting again. Back to two, from one. Take the axe, and split yourself down the middle. Yet, you chose to stay as one. To discard the axe, at least, for now. The ticking of the machinery, though, compelled you to keep that axe. Compelled you to split. It would be a fight in and of itself to try to stay 'whole.' Yet, was that really the best course of action? To be 'whole'? What did that mean, really?

The boy looks at you, eyes blinking a bit. Did he know? No, he couldn't know. It would be impossible to know. The only people who knew we-

"Hurry up," he tells you with an annoyed grunt.

Believing your decision is the right course of action, for now, you take the lead. Heading down the spelunking ladder, you hear an odd hum. You then hear a noise behind you as the boy lands on his feet. That was quite a decision, to jump. It didn't really seem like he had any care for himself, did it? Drugs, disregard for physical well-being, and who knows what else. It was all just for him to get his fix. That's why he was here.

Making your way down a curved hallway, you soon find yourself in a room. Broken-down machinery, ones you've never even seen before, are littered around the room. All that could remain were their skeletal structures of them, pulsating with weird chips and cores. You can see a few people in here, investigating them, and overhear them.

"Any working tomestones?" you hear one of them ask another person, who responds by shaking their head.

"Damn it," they respond, before moving on to a different machine.

The teen just ignores them and pulls you toward another hallway before speaking in a hushed whisper.

"The first few floors are just littered machines, having been picked clean for a while now. Sometimes the maintenance nodes come up here to try and repair these irreparable machines. Why do most of the archaeologists stay up here, where it's safe," he explains as he gently pushes you up against a wall, getting close to your ear. You could smell the whisky and cigarettes... But also what seemed to be diesel?

"Secrecy is the name of the game here... From what I know," he sighs before stepping back a bit.

"So, we can explore these floors if you want, or just try and head down deeper into the depths of the tower. I don't really know what lurks here, just the bare basics of the first few floors. Usually, the fifth floor is where the sentries are still active. After that, I know nothing," he states. Your Lucario nods with the statement, seeming to not be alert at all as of this time.

What do you do?

[Zelphon]

Originally Posted by Prof.Enigma

Zelphon: Whispering BogThe tinging of the bell from Naula helped guide you through the fog and as you walked you soon understood the advice you were given. The fog hid clear barriers that you accidentally walked face-first into.

So your sense of touch was needed rather than your eyes... Well, Naula helped to lead you both but stopped shy as they came to what seemed to be an abrupt stop. There was a chasm laying before you with... Bodies? It was odd looking. Something didn't seem to be right but another thing struck you.

There was a pathway above the chasm that you only noticed because the fog seemingly rolled along the top of it rather than just drifting to the ground below. That was your pathway through and ensuring all three of you were safe you made your trek across.

"Bravo, finally someone haveth the galls to cross, not just turn back from where thy came"
The voice called out once you reached the end but it didn't have a face, at least at first from what you could tell.
Suddenly as if it was a cape being dropped all of the fog and trees and the chasm vanished. As if it didn't exist in the first place and you could see the winding path that you were following through with Naula.
R.E.S.C.U.E lined up in front of you and Naula ready to block an oncoming attack should something attempt to... But nothing came.

"Well come in, If that old geezer decided you were just enough to give you the path, you're worth hearing out"
You saw the voice come from a small child sitting on a railing of a modest cabin. What was unnerving was the fact that the voice's age didn't match the visual age of the vessel it was coming from...

What would you do?

Surprised by the increasingly strange and seemingly magical nature his quest has taken with the addition of invisible barriers, strange children, and gruesome chasms Rylie takes the time to rub their eyes just to be sure the fog wasn't still playing tricks on him.

Not wanting to take any chances with his friends Rylie recalls both of his pokemon back into their balls with R.E.S.C.U.E doing so without a fuss while Naula lets out some small cries of concern and disapproval as she disappears into the safety of the capsule.

Resolved to cross and converse with the odd-toned child in their cabin the trainer looks on nervously towards the invisible bridge that would supposedly keep them safe from joining the bodies below. Swallowing his fear the trainer places all of his Pokemon's pokeballs into his Backpack and holds them in one hand, with the thought that if worse came to worse he may be able to chuck the bag safely to the other side.

Doing his best the trainer then proceeds to inch across the invisible surface in a shuffling motion and lets off a silent prayer to Arceus.

[Raves]

Originally Posted by Lil'twick

Raves-

Thinking quickly on your chilly feet, your send out even more bugs to help the one that was fading fast. Well, that was certainly a problem, wasn't it? You clutched the weakened Larvesta close to your chest as the bug struggled for warmth as your team tried to find shelter. Of course, this was quite a risky thing. You were given orders to find shelter, but in a meadow like this, there would be nothing suitable. No, it seems to only things that your Pokemon could bring back were some hardy winter berries and a path through the snow.

The Larvesta struggles as it squirms against you, and you could start to see the snow barreling down in the distance. With no shelter in sight, you only had one option: to make yourself a shelter. Of course, with all the snow around, perhaps making a hole and trying to dig out a burrow would work. Or try to make an igloo? There were a few things that you could potentially do here, but there was always some amount of risk involved. Well, no matter what, you needed to figure something out before you were buried in freezing sleet, snow, and hail.

What do you do?

With imminent doom on the horizon, the bug pokemon and their bug catcher trainer set to work. The Cutiefly and Elgyem searched using the bee fly's skills with aura to find food, while the larger arthropods began to surge forward to make a path in search for shelter. However, it wasn't too long before things became much more apparent to Rory that this plan wasn't going to work.

"...this is a mead-d-dow...there's nothing in sight but plains and rolling hills..." he stammered as the Larvesta squirmed in his arms. It was frigid and he wasn't thinking completely straight, and as the psychic pokemon and bug returned, the food situation wasn't much better. A few handfuls of berries built for winter survival, with not much nutritional value in them, small in stature and likely procured from some bramble bushes. No use. Worse still, despite making some considerable headway, Xigua and Roneta's effects were only giving them a path, and not actual shelter. No, there wasn't any shelter on these plains from the howling storm encroaching.

Thus, the only option was to make shelter, and fast. The teen at least was knowledgable about emergency shelters, such was one of the major boons of being an avid outdoors camper. In such cases when a storm was on the horizon, a couple options existed. One usually would opt to construct a bivouac, but on open terrain such as this there wasn't much use there and the force of the wind would blow away any canvas. A dugout burrow was also an option, but that seemed self-defeating, and the snow on the way would only mean they'd be making a deeper tomb for themselves. An igloo or some other form of wall could work in stopping a lot of the wind, but this didn't offer much in the way of overhead shelter.

But what if we combined all three? Rory shivered as he looked around. The snow was fairly deep, but not exactly fresh either, which meant it could be dug into easily. Xig had demonstrated that fact well enough, the Golisopod's massive shovelesque arms ideal for dredging and digging soft ground, while the Araquanid had the tools to turn that churned snow into something more robust. Statis could help as well, using her psychic skills to shape and keep the snow up while the two worked, while Bylii...at least could keep spirits up. The tiny bug pokemon perhaps was more suited to supporting the group morally.

As the howling of the wind picked up, Rory could see the dark clouds broiling and billowing closer, and a decision had to be made.

"Change of p-p-plans! Xig, start digging the snow up with metal claw and get a wall up against that storm coming! We need to make our own shelter! Statis, use your psychic skills to clump the snow dug out and compress it into the ground for a found-d-dation. Once we got a bit of a hole made, start piling the snow up and reinforce it. Xig, you use mud shot to give the snow more of a physical structure, while Roneta utilises spider webs to give us a skeleton to build our shelter off of! We ain't got a lot of time, so focus on the side closest to that incoming storm first!"

"Once we got a solid cover, work on keeping it solid! Soak the snow gently, Roneta, so ice forms on it to give it more rigidity. Statis, keep up the psychic support there and keep a calm mind to focus on the task. We need a dugout and a covering dome to keep the worst of the weather out. Bylii, uh..." Rory trailed off as his brain began cycling to try and think of something the bug pokemon could do, as the Cutiefly deposited their menial findings at his feet as the teen hunkered down. The fairy didn't have any physical traits, and wasn't exactly built for much besides searching for stuff, yet as the tiny insect peered at their shivering trainer and the squirming larva, the desperation of the situation only reinforced itself as the bug's aura sensing capabilities caught sight of Rory's backpack. Bylii peeped a few times before circling the teen, who slowly caught on to the insect's idea. Oh yeah, we got other berries! Why didn't I think of that before?

The need to survive was paramount, and the Cutiefly realised it was do or die, literally. Focusing on the survival aspect, Rory could only feebly squint as the tiny fly began to glow and grow, though not by too much admittedly, yet as the evolutionary light cleared up the trainer, in spite of the dreary scenario, couldn't help but smile at the Ribombee as they gave a cheery trill, the faint scent of honey in the air around it lifting his mood a little. The bug type dipped into his backpack and pulled out a reasonably sized berry, one often used by trainers to help thaw frozen pokemon, and a much smaller Cheri, a gently spicy berry that was nature's pick-me-up better reserved for warming pokemon up and easing the muscles, curing any paralysis on them. Handing both berries to Rory, the bug nodded before focusing and procuring a small pollen puff and offering it to the weakened Larvesta.

"Oh! You can keep the others healthy with those puffs! Thanks Bylii, but we're not out of the woods yet. Get going, guys!" With that call, the various bugs gave a nod and set to work, time being of the essence, and Rory got ready to huddle down when the Golisopod started digging. Desperate times call for desperate measures. I just hope we got enough time...

[Naru]

Originally Posted by Lil'twick

Naru-

"I know when you go down all your darkest roads..."

Your Arcane leads you through the wisps and fog, down to the bog. The place the rangers had warned you about, yet you were determined. That if you regain the use of your body, you were willing to pay any price. Yet, as you continue, you feel the fog get deeper. And thicker. To the point where it could almost choke the life out of you. This was your darkest road, wasn't it? At least it was better than being locked in a bathroom... for now.

Seirios soon stops, his foot touching bog water. You do your best to move next to him, and look out over the water. A strange, hulking shadow was atop the lake before it let out a wolf-like howl. It turns around and walks away, disappearing within this all-consuming fog. It then starts to clear, and you see small lights start to appear. Floating harmlessly atop the bog. This place felt different now.

You then hear a child's laughter and feel a presence next to you. A young child, looking up at you, with a shit-eating grin and a playful look in her eyes. She then looks down into the bog and looks up back at you. And back at the bog, then you, then the bog. After a few minutes of this awkward silence, the child speaks.

"Hi, miss! Are you perhaps, well, looking for something here? You are, aren't you? I can see it! Well, I'm looking for my brother! We played in the bog, and now he's gone gone gone! Where to, well, down there of course!" she exclaims, pointing at the bog.

"Say, you want to play too? Play with me! Play with my brother and me!" she starts to exclaim, her voice getting higher and higher pitched.

You get this gut-wrenching feeling that there was something wrong with this girl next to you. Not to mention it was really hard to get a read on her face, clothes, or anything. A figure with a voice, nothing more. But still, it felt wrong... like every part of your body and soul wanted to flee. You look at Seirios, who looks at you confused.

What do you do?

The world is a scary place, especially when you're not accustomed to it. Elka spent a large part of her childhood inside due to her disability, longing to play with the other children. Now there was a child in front of her, someone who finally wanted to play but... something seemed wrong.

"Down... there..?" Was all the confused Elka could mutter out. Seirios nudged her, trying to get his trainer's attention, a low whimper formed in his snout. Elka stared downward, her reflection was not visible in the dirty water, but she was sure she wouldn't like what she saw. Every bone in her body wanted her to run, but she was so inclined to just... play. It was like an unstoppable force had moved it's way into her hands, scrunching herself down to touch the murky waters.

Seirios whimpered, knowing full well that something was wrong. He kept trying to get his trainer's attention, but she was far too fixated on the bog water in front of her to pay him any attention. "So if I play, you'll... help me?" She asked, her arms now entrenched up to the elbows in the foul bog water. She stared down, as if in some sort of trance. "I want to find the heart of this place, the magic. I want to walk again." She murmured, staring into the murky abyss below her. Was the girl's brother really... down here? There was a pit in her stomach, but she couldn't bring herself to pull away from the girl.

[Lil'twick]

Raves-

Realizing you needed to build shelter, you quickly have your Pokemon get to work. While the three bugs were working on building that shelter you and Bylii instead focus on reviving the Larvesta. You take out a few berries and feed them to the fluffy moth larvae. It takes a few bites of them, but both barely seem to help out. While there are signs of its vitality coming back, it doesn't seem to be enough. Bylii then lets out a Pollen Puff, which seems to at least perk up the Larvesta and cause some color to return to it.

Xigua then motions to you, and you see the shelter has been built. The winds howl as the snowfall picks up, and you all rush into the shelter. Your team managed to create a suitable shelter for your needs in that time, and it was warm enough too. However, there was one thing that you for sure could use. Fire. it was a dangerous idea, for sure, but you can see the fire-type was still shivering. If you could just warm it up somehow, perhaps that'll allow you to finally get past this trial. Of course, there was a risk of everything melting if it failed...

What do you do?

Naru-

"Oh? You'll be playing with me!? You'll play with my brother and me!?" the girl cheerfully exclaims, pumping her arms up in the air and jumping up and down.

"Yeah, we can help you! Do you want to walk again? That's something that can be arranged," the girl then gives you a mischievous grin before grabbing your hand.

You soon feel her grab your hand, and with some supernatural force drag you into the water with a single swing. You feel the filthy water of the bog soon fill your lungs as the girl drags you down, and cackles. You then see what she meant by her 'brother.' The skeleton of a man, almost certainly from long, long ago. As you see the girl she transforms into an older woman, cloaked in bog weed and other aquatic plants.

As the light starts to fade from your eyes, you feel the water expelled from your lungs. You found yourself within a giant, twisted oak tree. The now woman hummed as she was pouring tea, a will-o-wisp floating around her head and seeming to talk with her. You find yourself sitting at a table, with a few scones and tea cups set out.

"It's time to play a tea party!" the woman states in a sing-songy voice, pouring the tea into the cup before.

"Now deary, my brother and I very much would love to play with you," she states.

You notice her hair was that of flowering water, and her skin was a murky blue. The same as the bog. She wore a dress crafted out of bogwood, and the wisp around her head bounced up and down. Her eyes were pitch-black torrents, and she dripped with every step she took.

"Some tea. Elderflower with a touch of Dragonroot. It is rare for your kind to be so open to committing to deals such as these. My brother and I were human once. We played in the bog as kids, and always felt a connection to this place. Yet, as adults, we both met our human ends here. I was transformed into an Undine, while he performed the lantern rite, and became a wisp. Can't speak now, poor deary," she states with a humph.

"I do apologize for dragging you down into my home, though. The hags are dangerous. Right," she states and snaps. You soon see Seirios get flushed in, the Arcanine barking in confusion.

"Now, while my power is weaker than the bog hags, and much weaker than some of the other faeries here, my prices are considerably cheaper. I can give you new legs, but I need to hear what you can offer me in exchange," she states. "Once you're ready to negotiate, take a sip."

You had a weird feeling in your gut. This didn't feel right, but you knew leaving now would be considerably more dangerous. The mention of hags twisted your very soul and knew that would very much not be something you'd wish to deal with. Still, you had a feeling this was not a price you'd want to pay. Were you truly that desperate?

What do you do?

[Prof.Enigma]

Originally Posted by Lil'twick

Prof. Enigma-
Something feels wrong. You feel wrong. You were splitting again. Back to two, from one. Take the axe, and split yourself down the middle. Yet, you chose to stay as one. To discard the axe, at least, for now. The ticking of the machinery, though, compelled you to keep that axe. Compelled you to split. It would be a fight in and of itself to try to stay 'whole.' Yet, was that really the best course of action? To be 'whole'? What did that mean, really?

The boy looks at you, eyes blinking a bit. Did he know? No, he couldn't know. It would be impossible to know. The only people who knew we-

"Hurry up," he tells you with an annoyed grunt.

Believing your decision is the right course of action, for now, you take the lead. Heading down the spelunking ladder, you hear an odd hum. You then hear a noise behind you as the boy lands on his feet. That was quite a decision, to jump. It didn't really seem like he had any care for himself, did it? Drugs, disregard for physical well-being, and who knows what else. It was all just for him to get his fix. That's why he was here.

Making your way down a curved hallway, you soon find yourself in a room. Broken-down machinery, ones you've never even seen before, are littered around the room. All that could remain were their skeletal structures of them, pulsating with weird chips and cores. You can see a few people in here, investigating them, and overhear them.

"Any working tomestones?" you hear one of them ask another person, who responds by shaking their head.

"Damn it," they respond, before moving on to a different machine.

The teen just ignores them and pulls you toward another hallway before speaking in a hushed whisper.

"The first few floors are just littered machines, having been picked clean for a while now. Sometimes the maintenance nodes come up here to try and repair these irreparable machines. Why do most of the archaeologists stay up here, where it's safe," he explains as he gently pushes you up against a wall, getting close to your ear. You could smell the whisky and cigarettes... But also what seemed to be diesel?

"Secrecy is the name of the game here... From what I know," he sighs before stepping back a bit.

"So, we can explore these floors if you want, or just try and head down deeper into the depths of the tower. I don't really know what lurks here, just the bare basics of the first few floors. Usually, the fifth floor is where the sentries are still active. After that, I know nothing," he states. Your Lucario nods with the statement, seeming to not be alert at all as of this time.

What do you do?

The whisky and cigarettes... and diesel? That stirred something in Avalon that shouldn't have, these scents, the closeness of his body to his, theirs... Fifteen years, in all of their fifteen years of living they only felt this flutter in their stomach once, no His, no theirs.

HER

He smelled like her, and they didn't like that it was causing them to react in such a way... they never liked anything else but the ladies before... Did they change when they came to Fizzytopia without knowing it? Avalon was so flustered he heard half of what he said before forcibly snapping themselves out of it. It was taking all of his focus to just remain together even more so now... Focus on the tasks at hand, and sort feelings later.

"Let's... Let's head to the Fifth floor. I'll be ready to fight if need be with my Beldum and Lucario. As we go can you fill me in on the sentries and what they look like and do? And what are the "Tomestones" they were talking about back there?"

He figured those questions would help keep his mind at ease. He did wonder if those were anything like the Eclysia Pyramid sentries from back in the Avieum Region back home. Robots made to look like pokemon that were long extinct in his home world to guard the once-fabled Jewel of Life before its shattering. Those were a challenge in of itself since they not only physically attacked intruders but also controlled pokemon to fight you with as well. Their AI was nothing to laugh at and when one finally did break down and didn't self-destruct, Krelia was ecstatic for months trying to get it to work within a companion AI she was making for herself. He did wonder if she managed to bring that back over here and got it to work here... Perhaps if he could get a functioning part of the sentry that might also keep her happy. That is if he fought and defeats one. IF they can even be fought and defeated.

Regardless he followed the "teen" as he led the way.

[Prof.Enigma]

Zelphon: Whispering Bog

As you shuffled inside whispering silent prayers to Arceus, you were greeted by the supposed witch of the bog.
She was not like the stereotype one would think when they hear the word, Witch.
First off she appeared young, it wouldn't be a surprise if she wasn't. She was also exceptionally good-looking, and her outfit seemed like your typical fall weather ensemble.

Once she got you inside, she started to rapid-fire questions that she already seemed to know the answer to, making this a somewhat blurred whirlwind as she gathered and tossed items over her head, not caring if they hit you or the floor as none seemed to break.

"You are? Right, you are that trainer that codgy old knight sent here, I have eyes and ears within that shoddy place, you never know who you can trust these days.
No not that one
No not this one either"

More bottles and knickknacks flew about before she started to dig in other cabinets and drawers. She was searching for something and whatever it was must have been so tucked away she clearly forgot where it was
"You are here to free that poor Mimikyu right? Yes, of course, you are why wouldn't you, that poor thing has been stuck there for quite some time. I have been working on freeing its curse but alas I have been struck with one of my own preventing me from leaving my own little area. Oh? Fret not about me it was something placed by my mentor so I could learn to undo it. I've nearly cracked mine but this AHA"
She triumphantly pulls out a glowing bottle of golden sparkly liquid and popped the lid for a quick sniff check,

"Yeup this is the one, here take this to your troubled pokemon and pour it on its head. Oh wait I'd rather not have you have to walk all the way back there, you tucked your pokemon away yes? Wonderful! Then I can do this!"
She then shoved the bottle in your hands and flicked her fingers with a snap! The snapping noise was rather loud and you noticed pink mist swirling about your feet before it envelops the whole of your body whisking you away.

As the surrounding area faded you heard some final words from the witch "THANK YOU FOR VISITING AND REMEMBER POUR IT ON ITS HEAD"

The next moment after the light suddenly became normal and not pink you found yourself standing next to the Mimikyu and your Dunsparce sitting next to each other eating some berries they must have found nearby.
The Mimikyu didn't seem to have enough strength to speak but looked intrigued by the bottle in your hand, and without a second thought or moment's hesitation it grabbed it and pulled it underneath the cloth it wore as it... Assumedly poured it atop its real head. It probably would have been fine with pouring on its cloth head but it was over and done with as the Mimikyu dashed around the place excitedly.


~~~~~~~~

This concludes the rest of your adventure, I have sped you up a lot to finish the plot and free you from this adventure, I also have left the Mimikyu's communication remains up in the air for your discretion when you RP your reply.

This Mimikyu is also catchable and should you catch it, it is Female, Level 30, and knows the Egg Moves Curse, Grudge, and Destiny Bond. The witch also slipped into your inventory the following Items;
1x Spell Tag that was attached to the Bottle
1x Bag of Fairy Dust
1x Fairy Ball
1x Big Nugget
1x Golden Potion Bottle Key Charm ( Memento Item)

Dunsparce also gained + 5 Levels

[KingSalmon]

Originally Posted by Prof.Enigma

KingSalmon: Artisan’s Row::

Lady Ellie had been gone not truly more than a few moments before she returned and she carried with her a box, as well as several pokeballs. "Now I know that I should bring up your reward should we be able to best my situation here. So, here it is. Upon completion of my task, I shall give you something I no longer have any use for. " She opened up the box and as you peek inside you felt something tug at your gut.
Inside the box contained a silver marble-like orb that held a blue, brown, and tan streak curving through the center of the orb.

"My partner has long since left this plane of existence and I am no longer wanting to use this stone with anyone else anytime soon, and I saw your partner would be best fitting for this stone's use." She sealed the box and stowed it within the folds of her pockets before tying her pokeballs to her waist.

"Over here on the side of the mounds, I have a wellspring and within it, I have been having some troublesome Trubbish, Tandemaus, and one very stinky Garbodor." She leads you to the wellspring and sure enough, you could smell the trouble from here. " I haven't been able to drive all of them off in one go, sadly all of my partners aren't as young and spry as they used to be since they were handed down to me by my mother before she passed. This is why I need your help, or rather any additional trainer's help. No one else in the town would help me for fear of having the pokemon head to their water sources instead."

" I wish to not harm them but I need them gone and to be frank I'm not sure where I can have them go, if you have any solutions to this barring driving them off I would be glad to listen dearie"

Arne’s eyes widened at the sight of the promised reward. That was precisely hwat he had been looking for in Artisan’s Row and and had lost all hope of finding. The coincidence was every bit as strange as it was welcome. With that stone, Gustav’s ultimate power could be unlocked, and his road toward surpassing the rest of his family would be made considerably shorter. But before he could claim it, there was a tricky matter to solve.

At the sme time... isn't this a bit too convenient? This woman may talk in a strange manner, but she's no fool. I can't help but feel she might be trying to goad me with a fake stone... Either way, there is only one way to find out.

“A horde of Trubbish, Tandemaus and a Garbodor…”

The terms of his contract were now finally clear, even if he was skeptical about the promised payment. He was to deal with the infestation, but there was a wrinkle: the woman seemed to prefer he do it without resorting to violence.

“Lady Ellie, I’m afraid I am a Trainer, and not only that… I’m a northerner. There is a particular way our forefathers taught us to deal with problems, and it is not generally through the use of diplomacy.” He stopped to think for a moment, not wanting to get on his contractor’s bad side. “The only solution that occurs to me is to direct them to the city’s underground waterways, which I was told lead to some sort of ancient crypt. I doubt they would cause harm in there. It would certainly be closer than to try and lead them all the way to Whisperwisp Bog. But the problem remains of how to drive them where we need them to go. I do not expect an infestation to be cooperative – I might need to employ some force.”

He called out to his partners, who were still roaming about the Lady’s garden. Gustav, Rudy and Sever rejoined him, and could still rely on Hansen, Mindy and Pulver still in their respective devices. He was prepared, he told himself.

“Could you lead me to the source of the trouble?”