ITT: We are all Pokémon Trainers

Old Chateau, 28 minutes until sunset

(Simon has the common sense to read out loud as soon as he starts on the article. Once he finishes, his face looks grim.)

Simon: Isn't it wonderful when your attempts to find answers land you nothing but ever more gruesome questions?

(He turns to the page on Keres next, since he's heard her name referenced multiple times. He's aware they have precious little time before "game over", so to buy them extra, he tries to walk and read aloud simultaneously.)

Hearthome

-Dune is on his laptop, flipping through various tabs and pages filled with properties for sale in Orre.-

Dune: No... no... no... Okay, I remember that building, and that thing has a sinkhole right under it. Man, there has to be one building - building! Not a house, not an apartment - here that isn't an extortion.

Old Chateau, 28 mins before sunset

-After listening to all of this, Phaz says:-

Phaz: So. A 7-year-ish girl stuck in perpetual limbo and who might have been brainwashed by whatever the hell she encountered. Joy.

Cynthia: <... That's terrible. The simple thought of staying like this is... Horrible. She only wanted friends...>

Phaz: Well... She might need someone now. I can't help but feel bad for her afterlife.

Ashley: <Let's just move on the topic. And places.>

Phaz: Good idea. Now, what's behind door number one...

-He then proceeds to go to the end of the corridor and take a peek at what's inside the last room by going into it.-

Hearthome City

Lucius is sitting on a bench near Amity Square, scribbling in a notebook.

He leans back in his seat.

Lucius: ...Maybe I should get back into the heroing business. It'd be a more proactive way of tracking these guys down.

Bishop: <In this interests of safety and common sense, I have to advise against that.>

Lucius: It'd be a lot more exciting than just sitting here.

Bishop: <It also requires a level of physical fitness that you do not currently posses. There are other things you should be attending to at present.>

Lucius sighs.

Lucius: I already told you, I'm not talking to him.

Bishop: <I can understand your uneasiness. However, given Titan's contribution to your rescue, I think you should at least give him a chance. You wouldn't have to meet with him in person. Myself or Kirk could get in touch with Epsilon and discuss the issue with her. It would be preferable to simply ignoring the matter.>

Lucius: Who said I'm ignoring it? I just have more important things to deal with right now.

Bishop: <Ah. That explains the drawing in the margin of Mr Smith being eaten by a giant Tyrantum.>

Lucius: It's for illustration purposes, okay?

edited 26th May '16 1:54:42 PM by Herbert40k

Posting this now so people have time to gather

Route 209

-Jacob is standing here before the Hallowed Tower, sitting next to the stream while his team trains a small distance away-

-Save Siegfried who sits next to Jacob-

-He sighs and looks up at the sky-

Route 209

-Jacob may hear a crackling/ticking sound nearby, speeding up and slowing down in troughs. Should he look over, he'll likely see Deziree waving a Dowsing Rod around.-

Deziree: Nooope... not here... wait, yes! ... Nope. Hrm.

Velvet Room

-Dune and Galvani arrive.-

Dune: I'm not sure if I want to wear the usual groom's suit...

Galvani: <Look, I know you don't like it, but there aren't a whole lot of other options. Unless you want to be in a dress.>

Dune: You would like that, wouldn't you?

-The Magnezone starts unabashedly blushing.-

Route 209

-Is also walking down the Route-

=Eterna City Pokemon Center=

Zachary: "Ughhh....What happened?"

Aurum: ~You fell unconscious. On the floor.~

Zachary: "Aw man....I hope EJ is okay at least, i'm happy that we brought Wingtip back"

Aurum: ~By the way, what did that card contain that make you happy?~

Zachary: "Well it contains a few noteworthy adresses that we ought to check out, but first we have to return to Jubilife and let the Sheriff know about this"

Aurum: ~Finally, we're making some progress~

Zachary: "Yup, and we still have no idea what Not Marlin's true name is"

Bunby suddenly bursts in through the door

Bunby: <Okay guys I finished my freak-out!>

Aurum: ~Let's go, Zachary~

Zachary: "Wait wait....Hey nurse, do you think you could give this to EJ once he wakes up?"

Zachary hands the nurse 300 Poké and she nods as she walks to EJ's room

Aurum: ~You're giving away 300 Poké?~

Zachary: "Aw come on, EJ was helpful! Now, let's go to Jubilife!"

Zachary, Aurum and Bunby walk out of the room and Zachary calls Aurum back to his Pokeball as he jumps on Bunby and flies off to Jubilife

Velvet Room

-Lane arrives, playing with his Hanged Man card-

Lane:So...who's up this time?

-Beat-

Wait, I have a date with Tori tonight, craaaaaaap hope this doesn't take long.

Route 209

-Jacob, feeling a little mischievous, rolls a single coin into grass near Dezi-

-He sees Tagg and waves-

"Oi! Hey Tagg. Come sit for a sec?" -He pats the ground next to him-

Velvet Room

-Verax is here, reading a book-

Velvet Room

Daydre walks in, headphones already on and connected to her phone. Huh, looks like they do function like normal headphones.

-Sits-

Hey Jacob, what brings you out here?

Route 209

-The Dowsing Rod goes crazy for a second as the coin goes rolling past.-

Deziree: OO! OO!

-She goes chasing after the signal. Man, that coin is going really far.-

Route 209

Jacob: "Training. Thinking. The two aspects of my entire personality, it seems. You?"

-To Jacob-

Thinking, mainly.

Route 209

Jacob: -He nods and goes back to looking up- "Right. Makes sense."

"... Hey, can I ask you something?"

-To Jacob-

Yeah?

Hearthome - Past

So, um... What do we do...?

Route 209

Jacob: "Just... well, there's a lot I want to ask, I still feel like you're a puzzle that needs to be put together, but..."

-He shakes his head- "I'm just... curious. Last time we talked I kinda... insensitively joked about PTSD and I didn't know you actually had it, which, would make sense but you seem to just be... so resilient against trauma and stress. If you don't mind... just... when did that all start? How did that happen?"

I suspect I've probably had it since the time I saw Tokarev shoot a guy in the head back when I was 13 and then tried to murder me, but it really came to the fore roughly six years later.

Old Chateau- 27 minutes until Sunset

-The pack have different reactions to this information. Verigan, Ralli, and Ekundayo fall on the Sympathetic side, while Barclay and Kiaran were still indigent as ever. Audra, as usual, simply absorbed the information with nary an comment.-

Kiaran: <I really don't care if she is an scary little girl ghost. I just want my little sister back.>

Barclay: <Hear, hear.>

-When Phaz looks into the open room, he can see a play fort having been made out of the bookshelf, books, table, trashcan, and many other miscellaneous items. It takes up most of the room.-

True Name: Keres Xenia

Name of Referral: Keres, Xenia, Mom (The Mistress)

Species: (Former Human) Haunter

Arrival at Chateau: Keres first started visiting several centuries before my residency, and only a mere month after my moving in, became one of the first ghosts to take up permanent residency in the Old Chateau. (Note: Before that, Keres was a wandering spirit, having simply gone wherever she wanted on a whim. After becoming smitten with Nirvana over the course of her visits, she eventually settled down with her.)

Memory Status: Keres remembers some of her previous life, but most of it is bits and pieces. The most vivid memory is of her rather violent death. (Note: Based on descriptions of her memories and other details, I have more or less narrowed down her time of death to sometime in the days where suspected witch craft was considered a valid reason to execute someone. Or rally up an angry mob. I do believe Keres fell into the latter category.)

Personality: Keres is a difficult individual to approach, much less interact with. Having built up a shell of snark, bitterness, and angst over years, it is no wonder that she only has a select few friends. Even then, Keres is still rather rude, but much nicer. Keres is stubborn to a fault and will do whatever she thinks is best for those she cares about, even against their wishes.

Keres is surprisingly good with children, showing motherly qualities one would never expect of her. Perhaps this is why she and Nirvana had more or less adopted The Mistress as their own problem child. Surprisingly, Keres is quite shy and reclusive when it comes to her emotions, preferring to let it stew until they overflow in an emotional meltdown.

Keres has sunk back into her shell ever since Nirvana and The Mistress become what they are as of recently. Without Nirvana’s emotional support, Keres has gotten much more unpredictable in her actions, becoming increasingly desperate to restore her family unit. An emotional meltdown of awesome proportions is looming over the horizon. I fear that Keres will go too far or do something she will regret soon.

Relations:

Keres had one of those one in a million fairy tale relationships with Nirvana, literal soul mates if you will. Well, in my unprofessional opinion at least. It was quite frustrating watch Keres stumble through courting Nirvana. It went on for all the centuries of Nirvana knowing her, before I finally cracked and set the two up. It was getting simply frustrating after the initial amusement wore down. Anyway, Nirvana balances out Keres in personality, and is perhaps one of the nicest beings on this planet. The two would be married by now if Keres could work up the courage to propose and get it into her head that it is okay to do so, even though the ‘until death do us part’ is more or less moot. Keres is the most upset about Nirvana’s puppet-like state, more or less being a shell of who she was before.

Keres treats The Mistress as an daughter, but is unable to bring herself to face her without a way to fix her. I suspect that the self-loathing fool has somehow justified it in her head to be all her fault. Keres was always the more strict of the parents, and much more responsible as well.

Keres and I are close friends I suppose. I consider her to be the closest thing to a sister I have ever had. I know that interfering would be ill advised, and that the best thing I could do is stay alive and provide an anchor to reality for her. I still worry though, and I know that it goes both ways.

Keres and The Butler were more or less cordial until the event of this month, with their conflicting opinions of how to deal with The Mistress’ current condition. They have only spoken fleetingly to each other, since.

Keres has been sparring buddies with Bellona for a long time, but with the siding of Bellona with The Mistress, Keres has seen it as a personal betrayal. I am greatly saddened to see such a friendship fall into ruin, and hope that the two do not do anything to further enrage the other. Well, besides Bellona having kicked me out of my personal room out of spite. She's probably trashed my room by now. The woes of being friends with such people.

Keres acts as a role model for Huet, unfortunately, and used to indulge with his incessant tagging along, but with the situation as it is, has ceased to allow it.

Keres is the one who brought the most recent additions to the Old Chateau; the Cyril sisters. Keres found them a scant two decades ago on a scouting trip to see how the outside world had changed.

Most Common Location:

The Storage Room: RW 2 F

Notes for Handling:

Keres does not like beating around the bush when it comes to others, so if you want a straight answer out of her, it is best to simply ask. Due to her method of death having been burnt at stake, Keres is easily scared off by any sort of fire; although, using this method is a sure way of making yourself a mortal enemy of Keres and highly reviled by anyone who particularly cares about her, myself included. Pitchforks and torches get similar reactions. It is very difficult to reason with an angry Keres, so diplomacy is moot if any aggression or transgressions have taken place earlier.

Route 209

Jacob: "That... would make sense. You'd think I'd have something similar because you know... seeing my parents and all. Maybe that's what my nightmares are? I don't know. Maybe it's just not too bad because I take loss relatively well in stride? I don't know how it all works."

-He shakes his head- "So about five years ago? About two years before I showed up to all this madness... Anything in particular happen?"

Maggie: "Hm..."

-Maggie tries approaching the metal thing slowly-

-Lisa and SleepyHead are also here-

Elizabeth: <I'm so glad you could all make it. The room is much livelier than it's been the past few days.>

-Elsewhere Blitz is jogging through the city with an Arcanine who seems to be merely walking quickly, or trotting, hard to tell-

Ammon: <Come on, are you trying to keep up?>

Blitz: "Can it, Ammon-" "-You've got twice as many legs-" -"And that's without your moves!"

-Ammon chuckles at his trainer's response and rushes ahead-

Ammon: <Hey, if you catch me I'll give you a ride back!>

-Blitz just shakes his head in response before noticing Ammon sitting in the path. Blitz breaks into a brief sprint and attempts to touch Ammon, only for him to teleport away suddenly and pounce Blitz to the ground from behind-

<Nice try~>

-The now grumbling young man and his chuckling canine may have landed roughly in front of Lucius and Bishop-