J-Con— Braker's Section

Cuddles: <Oh, sorry~! I got confused. I thought you were a weremon.>

J-Con— Kim's Section

(Kim eventually decides to wait for a few more moments for Evelyn— or anybody else— for that matter, to respond.)

Another Part of J-Con

(A bronze-colored Jigglypuff is in the facilities and is frolicking around with delight, having stumbled onto the J-Con from the outside.)

(The Jigglypuff— whose name since birth has been Puxiki— is open for interaction.)

Edited by OPALGARNET16 on Jul 22nd 2021 at 6:27:17 AM

Hammerlocke Alley, Past

Aislinn gives Griffon a quizzical look and shrugs.

The wave fills the narrow alley, hitting more Yamask than it would normally. Their numbers are starting to look rather scattered. Sunny and Roy's intervention certainly doesn't help them, as their combined efforts send yet more Yamask flying.

10/35

"They're.. after something I have."

Blair slaps another one that gets too close.

9/35

"They're being a little more brazen now than in their last couple attempts, though."

A couple Yamask hurriedly fire off a salvo of Shadow Balls. One in particular fires directly into the sky, seemingly at no one in particular.

Battle Court

Daydre is here, seated on the sidelines.

Man, that guy has some wild eyebrows.

Stormchaser, Kitchen - Recently

-it's...an exceedingly awkward silence-

-punctuated by occasional sips and the strangely audible flicks of some layer of eyelid or another-

-Megan opens her mouth...glances at the unapproachable aura Fray exudes-

-closes her mouth-

Fray D. -examining fingertips- <...>

Megan: ...talk to them.

-...-

Megan: ...so...how've you been holding up?

-she almost quails under the quizzical eyebrow Fray raises-

(-it's really weird finally having a Pokémon that's taller than her-)

-she swallows, and goes for the plunge-

Megan: I mean! You don't have to answer! But—we've all seemed—

-awkward- ...kind of fricked up, by the whole mind control experience?

-rubbing the back of her neck- ...Thespi and them seem to be trying to take it in stride, but I know Thespi's AO3's got a bunch of "I know you're in there" ficlets now for a reason. Vee and Pippy got...kinda injured...again…

Megan: !

-she looks up—Fray's gaze is level, and she's reached down to place a hand on Megan's shoulder-

Megan: -inhale, steadied- ...Pollen's. Acting weird? I need to talk to her, but.

-such a calming presence—sniper-still, with all the focus channeled into attentiveness-

Megan: -gesticulating- You've been acting—normal! Really—new normal, calm and collected...uh...ever since you evolved, really.

-she feels more than sees Fray incline her head-

-Megan thinks-

Megan: -laughing, a little sad- ...one moment, you're a scared little lizard, and the next you've got it all figured out.

-a slow, methodical blink—inner eyelids, then outer, and reversing-

-Megan knows what Vee's slow blinks mean, and wonders if the same is true for Inteleon-

Megan: -beaming- If you don't mind me asking, how...how did you do it? Grow up, I mean. I always wonder.

-she watches Fray tilt her countenance contemplatively, as if choosing her words-

-she looks so calm—lining up the perfect shot that will tie off this whole thread of inquiry once and for all, one syllable at a time-

-standing there, imposing-

Megan: -expectant- ...

Fray D.: <...>

Megan: ...

-...-

Megan: ...Fra—?

Fraidy: -wailing, hands to her head- <I don't know???>

Isle of Armor, Battle Court

Megan: -sitting next to Ever (or possibly Daydre), probably- ...oooh, always interesting to see a new battler take the field, huh? Strong start.

Thespi: <I am rooting for the sky orb, thank you very much!>

-and faint- <...aw.>

-glancing around- <And the training session group's almost all here!> ^_^

Megan: I am aware, thank you very much

Edited by Asterisk395 on Jul 20th 2021 at 6:41:59 AM

Battle Court

Channah: -watching Tagg's battle intently-

Korexis: <You can do it, Akiko - >

Channah: - Welp.

J-Con

-Kamon follows with his nose in his phone as his team wanders the convention-

Veil: -chatters on in a nonstop stream about all the cool merch and colorful humans and please please please can i have a spectrum plushie-

Rockstar: <...A had nae idea thit this grep had sae many fuckin fans, a dunno if - Here, geez a minute, lad. Goat tae be a hunner pircent sure ye want it cos - > -almost bumps into an oddly-colored Jigglypuff and stops, blinking- <Aw sorry a - ...Yer no a shanee, ur ye.>

Hammerlocke

"Don't mind the bird he's weird. Could you tell me what you have that is so important?"

Griffon: "Who are you calling weird?"

Nightmare tanked a few more Shadow Balls before releasing another Sludge Wave.

J-Con- Puxiki's Section

Puxiki: <Nope! I'm just a differently-colored Jigglypuff. Hello there! My name is Puxiki; what's your name?>

Battle Court

Tendril, your turn!

Tendril: -Appears-

Use Sunny Day!

Tendril: -The Tangrowth raises her arms as the sky starts clearing up-

Mustard: Trying to get around our weaknesses, eh? Luxray, use Fire Fang!

Luxray: -Rushes at Tendril with her fangs wreathed in flames, boosted by the sun-

Tendril: -Pirouette's in place to dodge Luxray- <Nope.>

Now, Growth into Earthquake!

Tendril: -Vines grow rapidly as she creates a tremor-

Luxray: -Combined with the recoil from the earlier Wild Charge, faints-

Tendril: -Does a victory roar as her vines contort into all sorts of shapes-

Edited by rmctagg09 on Jul 20th 2021 at 7:00:58 AM

J-Con

Rockstar: <Am Rockstar. This wee galoot - > -indicates the Dreepy- < - is Veil, n they big wahn is Kamon.>

Veil: -notices- <oh hai isn't this place so fun there's so many people and pokemon and i get to meet all these cool peoplemons like you why are you here puxiki?>

J-Con- Puxiki's Section

Puxiki: <I just stumbled in here. What's a "peoplemon"?>

J-Con

Rockstar: <Eh, people n/or Pokemon.>

Kamon: -finally looks over- Hmm? Oh, you two making a new friend?

Veil: <yeah yeah yeah!>

J-Con- Puxiki's Section

Puxiki: <Hello there! I'm Puxiki, and- hang on, are you speaking English or Monese or...?>

Defiant Wing

Taipan: I concur with the "blame later" thing. If you have any ideas how to stop a plummeting plane from crashing from the mesosphere, now would be a good time to mention it.

Vali Hospital, Circuitry

Ma'at has been lurking within the networks, doing her share in taking down security protocols, though likely having some difficulty given the complexity of the system.

Ma'at: Pardon me for falling silent, everyone but I have been struggling to navigate the hospital's systems. Looks like our hosts don't do anything in halves. I would say that this took me eight times longer to breach. But I've achieved enough control within the system to make things less inconvenient. Do you have any security subroutines you need shutting off?

July 4th, Isle of Armor

Priscilla: Oh, he isn't single. I think.

Tommy: Yeah. I have a girlfriend.

Priscilla: Well, she's lucky to have such an upstanding young man as you.

Earlier Priscilla had already known that the whistleblower was "off the market," at least until his partner's opinions on the matter were made a bit more clear. But inquiring that would be inappropriate.That said, there's something about him that just screams "I unwittingly create a harem of other people I'm mutually attracted to and it's just a mess." But who was she to judge? It's not like she's any different.

In the meantime, she was calling on Murphy to send a few grill orders by Gale's way.

Priscilla: And sent. I should expect a few smashburgers and a steak ready for pickup soon.

An especially awkward beat followed.

Tommy: Where's Jon?

Priscilla: He went beachcombing with his birds.

Tommy: Okay then. He's certainly out of the way.

Priscilla: Out of the way for what?

This was certainly an odd development, but then again, while she tried to play it low key whenever she was flustered around her teammates (to varying degrees of failure, especially around Gaia), she flat out gave up denying that she still had feelings for Jon.

Tommy: It's okay, I know about the whole superhero thing—the Aurabolts, I mean. I know Mr. Grant is a member.

Priscilla: Way to rip the bandaid off, Whistleblower.

Tommy: I know you're still keeping that a secret from him. I'm psychic to some degree but I'm really bad at it. I can sense things and sometimes I can read a loud-enough mind, but that's it. I do know you're still keeping that a secret from him, and I didn't feel confident blurting it out until I was certain he was out of the room. And yes, I know why you dumped him. I've been there.

Priscilla: Okay, first, can you not infer things about my romantic life? And second, what do you mean by "keeping it a secret?" Certainly you don't think—

Tommy: Yeah, no. I know you're a superhero, but that's more body language talking. You have that sort of personality. I kinda figured you used that to figure me out. But I'm drawing a blank at who you might be.

He turns to Alice.

Tommy: And don't worry, ma'am. We've already met. I already know who you are.

Priscilla: Great. Figured out by what's essentially me but as a dude— Oh, Arceus, you're that side character from the show. The "intrepid young daredevil journalist" who's friends with the TV version of Jackal. Who was that again?

Murphy, from Priscilla's Phone: Parker Garfield.

Priscilla: I thought they wanted some random everyman character for male teens to project themselves. The Rad White. The [Columbus Ohio]. The Jimmy Olsen.

Tommy: The Peter Parker?

Priscilla: And called it. Name's Taipan, by the way. Armor and heavy weaponry is my thing. Disruption of organized criminal activity is my main game.

Tommy: Arachna-Guy. Pleased to meet your acquaintance.

Priscilla: Does that mean your spinarak, T-0131—the one you took from my brother's company—did he?

Tommy: Yeah.

Priscilla: Like in the comics?

Tommy: Uncomfortably so, yes.

Priscilla: That certainly explains why Henry wants him back so bad. Is he still with you?

Tommy: Yes.

He takes out a ball and out pops an oddly colored spinarak, in the colors of a shiny ariados.

Tommy: Meet Tobi. Say hi.

Tobi waves with one of his forelimbs.

Priscilla: Good thing he's still with you. His abilities in the wrong hands could be disastrous. And nothing's wronger than a corrupt corporation.

Edited by MasterJayAM on Jul 22nd 2021 at 11:41:24 PM

J-Con

Kamon: -tired smile- Well aren't you adorable.

Rockstar: <He doesnae speak the language, dinny bother. Wer werkin oan it.>

Kamon: Where's your trainer, little friend?

J-Con- Puxiki's Section

Puxiki: <Sorry. I don't have a Trainer...> (He smiles sheepishly.)

Circhester Stadium Stands

-Ian and Evelyn watch the battle intensely. They know what move Ozzy will go for next.-

Me: -telepathically to Evelyn- ~Ozzy's definitely gonna go for the Power Trip next turn...~

Evelyn: -telepathically to Ian- ~True, but there's something Kim and Ozzy should be wary of...~

Me: -telepathically to Evelyn- ~What do you mean?~

Evelyn: -telepathically to Ian- ~Eiscue has a special ability called "Ice Face" which allows it to change its form.~

Me: -telepathically to Evelyn- ~Meaning?~

Evelyn: -telepathically to Ian- ~When Eiscue uses Hail in its Noice Face form, it changes into its Ice Face form. And if Eiscue is hit by a physical attack in its Ice Face form, the ice cube on its head will break. The thing to remember is that the ice cube on Eiscue's head can serve as a substitute... So, if Ozzy uses Power Trip now...~

Me: -telepathically to Evelyn- ~Eiscue won't take damage at all!~

-Ian and Evelyn shout out to the pitch.-

Evelyn: Ozzy!

Me: Don't use Power Trip!

Battle Outside Hammerlocke, VS Hoops

Evelyn: Tot, use Air Slash, then go help Sud! Sud, use Iron Defense!

-Tot turns around to face Pol and fires a cutter blast of air at her before flying over to guard Sud from Api's Night Slash, allowing the Imitation Pokémon to raise her arms to guard. Her body tenses up as a metallic aura surrounds her, buffing her defenses.-

Wild Area (Bond or Break 2)

Evelyn: Would you like to give it a try, Braker?

Wild Area, Hero's Arrival

-Ian finally finds the source of the cry for help. Ian manages to find this scene as Ferrum says "Nobody's coming, you hear me?" and then decides to use this moment to get the drop on the Templar and his assistant, unaware of the circumstances. He doesn't know who the damsel is. He doesn't know who her captors are. All he knows is that he must help a person in need, as is the hero's way.-

Me: That's where you're wrong, scoundrel!

-When Radon looks up to see that someone has arrived, he would see Ian standing like Awesomeguy with Piku-chan on his shoulders.-

Radon: HUH?!

Piku-chan: <HERE I COME TO SAVE THE DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYY!!!>

-Piku-chan chuckles at his declaration.-

Piku-chan: <I've Always Wanted to Say That.>

Lee House, Pokæmart

-Ian and Evelyn look around the Pokæmart, looking at all their wares, but not bringing themselves to touch or buy anything.-

Me: Wow... This place sure is different compared to the Pokémart...

Evelyn: Spelling aside, I would assume?

J-Con

Veil: <that's too bad i love being with my trainer he's the best he buys us all sorts of fun things to wear and really good food and millions of toys but BEST OF ALL he'll play games with me ALL DAY and not get sleepy i love kamon>

-said trainer is currently tripping over himself as he wavers and loses balance-

Rockstar: <Now, Puxiki here might no want one, it's no fer everywan.>

Circhester Stadium- Stands

Braker: "...oh, right, this is an Eiscue."

Walter: <I am ashamed of myself.>

Circhester Stadium- Battle

(Ozzy, meanwhile, smirks.)

Ozzy: (to Ian and Evelyn) <Already ahead of you! Fear not!>

(He promptly flies towards the Eiscue, with his wings glowing in a steely silver, and hits it in the head, knocking the ice off of its face.)

Eiscue: <Owie...>

Kim: (smirking, she sees her chance) "Now."

Eiscue: <Huh...?>

(Ozzy smirks, flies forward, and glows in the dark black energy of Power Trip. Seconds later...)

(The Eiscue is thrown backwards against the wall. A cloud of smoke forms, and when it fades... the Eiscue collapses.)

Eiscue: (weakly) <Urf...>

(Ozzy lands.)

KIMBERLY BOND HAS DEFEATED MELONY'S EISCUE

MELONY HAS ONE POKEMON LEFT

The Wild Area (BOB2)

Braker: "Yes, of course."

Elton: (excitedly) <'Another Bond or Break game?! I'm 'ere for it!>

Braker: "Of course..." (to Evelyn) "Your help will be needed."

J-Con, Puxiki's Section

Puxiki: <Oh, no; I'd love to have a Trainer~!> (then, to Veil) <All that sounds really fun! You think we'd watch anime together, too?>

Battle Court

Mustard: -Recalling Luxray- Not bad, not bad at all. Go, Corviknight!

Corviknight: -Appears and glares-

Mustard: Now break that Tangrowth as one breaks a board, Nasty Plot into Hurricane!

Corviknight: -Mutters darkly before beating his wings at high speed at Tendril-

Tendril: -Is blown off her feet and lands in a heap, brought down to the last quarter of her health-

Okay, wasn't expecting that, will have to remember that trick.

Growth into Focus Blast!

Tendril: -Grows her vines even larger before firing a ball of Aura that removes about half of Corviknight's health, before getting fainted by another Nasty Plot + Hurricane combo-

Hitodama, you're up!

Hitodama: -Appears- <Nice to be on this side of the arena for once.>

Fire Blast!

Hitodama: -To Corviknight- <Don't worry, this won't hurt a bit... after you've fainted.> ^+^

-And unleashes a gout of flame at the corvid, boosted by the sun-

Corviknight: -Burned- <I think I'm done...> @_@

Battle Court

Korexis: -admiring- <Isn't Hitodama cool?>

Channah: Yeah, all of Tagg's mons are. Oh look, it's... -pauses, thinks- those people I should seriously know by now. Who's that one again? Mel? Damn my memory...

J-Con

Veil: <that would be so much fun yes my trainer watches lots of movies with us especially his own!>

Rockstar: <Even Sharpednado...>

J-Con- Puxiki’s Section

Puxiki: <Cool! I prefer anime films myself.>

Defiant Wing - With Roguemaster, far past

-Gaia just sort of... stands there, wavering confusedly, as Rosemaster grabs her finger.-

-She yanks it away, glaring at Rosemaster, seemingly trying to muster the energy for a more vicious comeback - but Rosemaster's outburst comes first.-

-...-

-For a moment, she's silent, chest heaving with no doubt excruciatingly painful breaths. Eventually she speaks.-

Gaia: ...The vines. Can you run... electrical signal... through the vines? Kill the bombs... connected to them. If not... poison. Kill the vines... wither them... loosen their grip on the bombs... and hope Bishop can defuse them all in time. Crash landing... on water, we can survive. Bombs detonating... on impact... not so much.

Isle of Armor - July 4

-Alice stares at Tommy for a moment, as if still processing the whole exchange between him and Priscilla. Then, despite herself, she chuckles slightly humorlessly.-

Alice: ...Well, now I feel rather foolish for keeping up the pretence. I did wonder whether it was advisable to have all of us gathered in one place so publicly like this, even before a member of my particular rogue's gallery decided to gatecrash the event - but then my reputation as a killjoy is sufficently established even without making an attempt to sabotage the captain's birthday do.

-A thin smile forms across her lips.-

Alice: So yes, it's Gaia. Pleasure to re-make your acquaintance. Rumours of my death were not greatly exaggerated, but it's still the explanation I'm sticking with. And I've heard tell that Arachna-Guy has had quite an impressive career of his own, beyond the times when we've rubbed shoulders and those empty platitudes I fed you earlier. We've come up against Mr. Kwan's employers several times ourselves. It's good to know we have comrades in the good fight.

-She shakes her head.-

Alice: Still, if there's one thing this conversation proves more than anything, it's that it hardly even seems worth bothering with the facade of work-life separation. Whatever happened to pretending not to know that I know you know I know? I might as well just list "spy-slash-superhero" as the job title on my resume.

Wild Area - Aurelia in Adversity

-Upon hearing Ian call out to him, Ferrum releases his grip on Aurelia's wrist and chuckles, the metal rod pulling itself out of the ground and hovering in the air.-

Ferrum: ...Well, well. Looks like we got ourselves a Good Samaritan! Run along, boy. You'd be surprised how vicious the wildlife can get out here. Better to just walk away and forget you ever saw anything... which, incidentally, I can help with.

-As if on cue, the Bronzong starts drifting towards Ian.-

J-Con 2021 - With Apple-A-Day

-Lissa blinks, before dropping her hand and fixing Percy with a withering glare.-

Lissa: ...Ah, so that's what this is about.

-She gives a frustrated sigh.-

Lissa: Well, my deal is that I had some creep in a suit's Malamar constantly peeking in through the back of my head and walking me around like a puppet for so long that I forgot which thoughts were mine and which were his. Then when that finally came to an end after fucking years, the psychic flare was so intense that I'm lucky it just wiped me off your radar rather than frying my whole damn brain from the inside out. So there, that's my fucking deal. Take it or leave it, asshole.

J-Con 2021 - With Ever Merle

Lucius: ...Yeah, no, the funky little bird thing - I mean, the bird-bird, not the bird wearing a human face - is right. I have never heard of either of you or anything about you in all my life.

-He blinks at Merle.-

Lucius: ...Thanks, though. I mean, I don't normally dress like this, it's a cosplay thing, but... still, thanks. As for spotting somemon weird... I'm sorry, but everyone I've spoken to today has been acting weird. You included. I dunno if I'll be much help if I expect insanity as, like, the baseline.

Edited by Herbert40k on Jul 20th 2021 at 5:22:27 PM

J-Con

Kamon: Does... Does it want to come for a walk with us?

Rockstar: -to Puxiki- <Up tae ye, mate. Wer jist wanderin the con.>

Battle Court

Daydre is probably sitting within talking distance of Megan but not right next to her! She hears the bit about the training group and refrains from commenting.

-slight wince- "Ooh, chaining. Always forget that's a thing."

Upon noticing Channah looking in their direction, Daydre gives her a small wave.

Battle Court

Mustard: -While recalling Corviknight- I'll have to start taking things a little more seriously now, this is exciting!

-Throwing an Ultra Ball-

Now it's your turn Lycanroc!

Lycanroc: -Appears-

Mustard: Use Stone Edge!

Lycanroc: -Sends out stone shards at Hitodama-

Hitodama: -Gets clipped by a shard while she's in the midst of dodging, losing a quarter of her health- <Ack!>

Focus and use Energy Ball!

Hitodama: -Calms herself before firing an Energy Ball at the Midday Lycanroc-

Lycanroc: -Is brought down to half health- <Oof!>

Mustard: Howl into Stone Edge!

Lycanroc: -Howls before sending out more shards-

Hitodama: -Is brought down to the red- <Ack!>

Probably won't be able to knock out this Lycanroc before he manages to faint Hitodama so...

-To Mustard-

Okay, you may have won this round, but let's leave them a bit of a Memento of our time together Hitodama!

Hitodama: -Eyes suddenly glow before she spontaneously faints-

Lycanroc: <I don't feel too good...>

Go Pugh!

Pugh: -Is very much... still a Clobbopus-

Lycanroc: -Figuratively and literally looking down on Pugh- <That's it? She's not even fully evolve-Is quickly Power-Up Punched in the jaw by Pugh-

Wyndon, J-Con

Percy: ...Ah. My apologies. I understand.

-she does genuinely sound contrite-

Apple-A-Day: Uh, I'm really sorry—

Percy: Not now, Apple.

-Apple-A-Day makes the universal "come on, really" gesture-

Percy: ...Well, if Apple trusts you, I guess I do as well.

Merle: Hm. Fine. Well, if you see a Corvisquire, and she looks...I dunno, like she's up to something nefarious, maybe just scream.

Narrow: <Or maybe come find us again.>

Merle: <...Or scream.>

Stormchaser, Ranger's Lair

Quibilah: <Eh. I wouldn't want to have to deal with being a mammal. If we need somethign these days we climb in one of Every's robots.>

-she eyes the babies clustered on Igor-

<Alright, off you go.>

-and sweeps them off with a brush of her tail-

<Sorry, Geodude.>

Isle of Armor, Battle Court

-Ever is observing-

-quiet whispers-

Watch what's happening. By controlling losses, Tagg is gaining incremental control over the match. If every loss costs your opponent something, it becomes part of that subtraction equation and gives you an accumulating advantage in the late game.