About a few hours later, a notification would pop up saying he had gotten a spot. Company transport would be provided as soon as possible.

It seemed a big job was open and they needed all the available manpower.

Bishop in a power loader PRB worked with Hacks to move the pods out one by one. Silas stretched a bit as he talked with Dr. Williams about the environment.

"So it's perfectly safe for pokemon? Why not just send in a pokemon team?"

"Well we would, but the place is Pokefutures, tech only works for human hands. And before you say anything about armband techniques, simply put the Entraburn would do more damage before anything substantive could be grabbed."

Silas sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. Of course there was something preventing it from just being simple. "So, because you have no idea what is actually going on down there?"

"Yep, you and the Reclamation Team will be sent down there, hence why we need these," Williams responded patting one of the HEV Pods.

"Alright, best get everyone ready," Silas muttered.

He stepped over to the 'team' and took a deep breath. "Hello, I am Captain Silas Adam Grant of Team Asimov. I'll be leading you all into the depths today, we'll be discussing the HEV gear soon enough. First, however, any questions?"

Sinnoh, Jubilife City, Tech Expo Interior, Devon Corp Booth:

While the Electrode charged the small Pokémon to tackle him, the Grubbin was still swaying around wildly after having been spun around like that. And, though it prevented him from actually attacking or even properly defending himself, by sheer luck, it also allowed the small Bug-Type to evade the attack by merit of swaying out of the way mere moments before the Electrode managed to hit him, and, though it may not have helped him actually do something, at least it did mean he would not get KO'd.

"One may feel fear in the face of danger so long as one banishes fear when danger actually arrives"

Sinnoh Region, Jubilife City, Techspo Interior, Devon Corp Booth:

<It's something all Porygon can do and—-> The Porygon passively explains to Stipax before suddenly changing their tone after being informed about their new type disadvantage and shouting in the form of a loud beep, <SON OF A GLITCH!>. The lunge attack would prove super-effective, causing the Porygon to get flung back and fall over 90 degrees on their side imitating a Minecraft death as they flailed their legs, partially clipped through the ground, and poofed in a cloud they would have disappeared with...only to still be there laying down knocked out.

Noticing two of their allies were already fainted and Pichu struggling to hold his own against Tricky, Electro-Bomb would begin to lose their temper and start fuming with visible steam leaving their sides. "Damn that little worm! I need some help over here!" The trainer responsible for the Electrode shouted at their cohort, who simply replied, "I've got you covered fam, Pichu use Thunder Wave against that Grubbin!" The Pichu would try to comply and send a paralyzing bolt of electricity flying toward the Grubbin, only to have it get immediately redirected towards Tricky for no effect whatsoever.

< Wow, you two are complete idiots! Your plan would have worked, if it weren't for my Lightning Rod ability! Double fail for the fact that Electric mons can't be paralyzed!> The Manectric boasted with a devious smile after chuckling to herself a bit. Before Tricky or Chopper could react though, the Electro-Bomb went absolutely livid and hopped between the opposition before their trainer could say anything.

"Electro-Bomb hold up, I haven't given you an order yet!" Their trainer tried to say before ordering their next move, but before he could say anything the Electrode began violently shaking and flashing, rapidly flickering between red and white before unleashing a violent explosion that would result in the Electrode's immediate KO. While Chopper was able to avoid the blast, Tricky wouldn't be so lucky as she yipped in pain while flung several yards away, thankfully not crashing into any walls or chairs. While initially dazed, Tricky would be able to shrug off the hit and come back to her senses after shaking her head a bit and stumbling back to Travis, taking a moment to rest her side on his left shoe without him noticing. The Team Lightning Pichu would be even less fortunate, having been caught in the blast with more than half of his health already gone and the Explosion dealing the final blow.

"You fucking idiot, you cost us the match!" The Electrode's trainer scolded before the defeated mons were returned to their pokeballs. Noticing that the party's mons were still standing, Mark and Travis cheer boastfully with the skill to back it up as they high-fived each other, the latter failing to notice Tricky fall abruptly on her side as he moved.

"My bad Tricky, take this you've earned it!" He congratulated before pulling a hyper potion out of his backpack, twisting off the spray head, and water-falling the concoction into the Manectric's mouth. Shortly thereafter Tricky would feel revitalized and stretch herself out a bit like a dog waking up before barking victoriously.

"Good work as always Chopper, take a minute to hydrate!" Mark shouted with a legitimate smirk before he tossed the Machoke a plastic water bottle, grabbing another one for himself shortly after before the two began chugging their bottled water empty and making two successful back-to-back shots into a nearby waste bin.

"Man that was bullshit! If that Electrode hadn't have self-destructed out of nowhere we would have—" The female Team Lightning Spark who leered at the party earlier shouted before Mark snapped, "Shut up and pay up, chumps! You all lost, you owe us, get the fuck out of our way and get lost!"

"Nah screw you guys, we don't follow rules and we don't take BS from anyone, especially the likes of you!" One of the other Sparks argued before Mark would flat out threatened, "Look, you can all do this quick and easy, or we're gonna thrash you for what we're rightfully owed..."

"You can't be serious man! That goes against The Vow!" The same Spark who refused to pay stammered before Travis called him out on his bull. "Oh I see how it is: Screw the rules, but only when they're inconvenient. Think you can just pick and choose this kind of shit and get away with it?"

Travis would simply crack his neck and knuckles before explaining in an unnaturally cold manner, "You all misunderstand me. I wasn't threatening these pokemon would hurt you...I would."

"As if! We outnumber you three to one, and your friends don't exactly look like they know how to fight without mons!" The female Lightning Spark scoffed before Mark gave a leer of his own, "I've had to fight 5 people at once all by myself, some of them psychics...and I won with little effort. You chumps think you can take me on after we just wiped the floor with your pokemon, is your money really worth it?!"

"Dude let's just pay them and go, this ain't worth it!" One of the Lightning Sparks who hadn't said a word until now demanded before rudely bundling his pokemon dollars and tossing them towards the party before fleeing the scene. After a tense moment of silence, the remaining Team Lightning Sparks would begrudgingly do the same.

"Out of the way stupid kid!" One of them would shout as they ran past Hailee, who until now was unseen by the party, or at the very least Mark and Travis.

Living The Fever Dream

Route 201, past

Kid 3: (looks down) Sorry... I know...

Kid 2: (glares at Tagg, unconvinced)

Kid 1: (flinches, then relaxes under the touch, sniffling) That would. That would be nice...

Kid 3: I guess - we could try adventuring together? Like, uhh, just for a little bit, so we can see -

Kid 2: NO! We're not taking orders from this, this old guy! Who even are you?!

Storm clouds begin gathering overhead, promising heavy rain.

Kid 1: I won't c-cry, I promise... Really -

Kid 2: No because you'll just get scared and screw everything up! Like you always do.

Kid 3: (as lightning flashes nearby and the smell of smoke enters the scene) Well yeah but we gotta do something, or we'll never get out of here!

The kids start bickering again.

There is no disdain in nature, there is no humiliation.

Route 202, past

I'm not that old you little shi-...

-To Kid #2-

That's not a nice thing to say about your friend. I'm Tagg but that's... unimportant.

-As the storm clouds gather and the kids start bickering amongst themselves-

Hmm, rain, something you're going to have to get much more used to as you go forward on your journey, and sometimes you won't be so lucky to have a Pokémon Center nearby. Especially on the way to Pastoria from Hearthome let me tell you.

But luckily this is Route 201, and Sandgem and its Center aren't too far away from here. You kids wanna take a ride on my Torterra?

Gaia: -Eyes perk up-

Her tree's good enough to serve as an umbrella for you three.

Edited by rmctagg09 on Feb 9th 2022 at 10:57:49 AM

Eating a Vanilluxe will give you frostbite.

Hammerlocke Stadium, VS Raihan

Raihan: Not bad, you three! I wouldn't expect anything less than top-tier strategy from you!

Me: Don't sell yourself short, Raihan!

Evelyn: You give us quite a challenge yourself!

Raihan: Very well!

-Raihan prepares three Poké Balls.-

Raihan: Haxorus, Garchomp, Duraludon! Appear!

-Raihan throws the three Poké Balls into the air and from them jump a Haxorus, a Garchomp and a Duraludon.-

Evelyn and I: Who's that Pokémon?

-Ian takes his Pokédex out of his pocket and checks it, while Evelyn levitates it out of her pocket to check.-

Evelyn's Pokédex: Garchomp, the Mach Pokémon and the evolved form of Gabite. A Dragon and Ground type. When it folds up its body and extends its wings, it looks like a jet plane. It flies at speeds equal to one as well. It is said that when one runs at high speed, its wings create blades of wind that can fell nearby trees. It never allows its prey to escape. Garchomp is a Pokémon that is capable of Mega Evolution.

Ian's Pokédex: Duraludon, the Alloy Pokémon. A Steel and Dragon type. Its body resembles polished metal, and it's both lightweight and strong. The special metal that composes its body is very light, so this Pokémon has considerable agility. It lives in caves to avoid the rain because it rusts easily.

Raihan: Garchomp, Haxorus! As long as that Piplup is on the field, Duraludon is at risk of rusting! So stand guard!

Wyndon Stadium, VS Hoops

Me: Raru, use Confuse Ray!

-Raru's eyes glow a bright gold and he flashes an eerie light at Bis!-

Turffield Stadium, Pitch

-Emilie steps out onto the pitch, semi-nervously because of the Wooloo eating the hay bales. Waiting for her is Milo himself.-

School Hunting Trip, Circhester

Platinum: So, the plan is simple. Remember the time that she stopped a runaway truck from hitting someone back in Castelia City?

♪Show me the wisdom of the world... Tell me the secrets of the heart... and the sweet~ mysteries~ of love~...

Jubilife Techspo, Devon Corp Booth

-Hailee watches as the group of trainers dash by without noticing her-

Hailee: Okay, looks like they're gonna go ahead and fight some more Grunts. Should I perhaps stay here or go after them?

-Hailee thinks about it for a while-

Hailee: Well, if I follow them, I might come across a super-strong Grunt. But I also might find Banjo!

-Hailee decides to follow the trainers, but she wasn't trying to catch up to them, instead speed-walking behind them all so they wouldn't notice her-

Hailee: Okay, go in, fight whatever opponent awaits me and those people, find Banjo, get the heck outta here. I know the plan. I just hope I can be of worth when it comes to battling strong opponents....

Galar,

Logan: …the Stormchaser's parking violations. >_>

-their dictation peters off, and they turn their gaze a few degrees back to the table covered end to end with packets of legal summons-

-they smile-

Courier, a Dedenne: -pokes- <Hey. Hey don't give up on me yet lol.>

Logan: why would you say 'lol' out loud

Courier: <Is that the real question you wanna ask lmao>

Logan: why'd you stop at 'lol'?

Courier: b3(4u53 1f 1 t4l{< l1{<3 t#15 t#3n p30pl3 574rt (0|V|pl41n1ng r0fl|V|40xoxo

Logan: -heartfelt- Nice.

-they have a very nice smile-

-kind, warm, and—just a bit mischievous, but in a manner suggesting they conspire with you—

-with it they slump, inch by inch, facefirst into the paperwork pile-

-and emit, with their incomparable grace, a tiny, hoarse scream from the depths of their staticky soul-

Logan: why did I sign up to be the J-Team's Ranger. what is the matter with me

Courier: <hahahahaha>

Logan: even when they don't punch new problems into existence they all just swarm

-the third person at the table munches on his snack cake, eyeing Logan with bemusement-

Logan: -to the second- zeal the stormchaser's not even here any more

Logan: if I see another notice I'm gonna pop

-someone in a suit wanders by, depositing a sealed envelope onto the pile-

Logan: aaaaaugh

No mind to think. No will to break.

Galar,

-Zeal is just kind of sitting back with his legs crossed. He's not doing a very good job of hiding the amusement on his face.-

Zeal: Feel like you ought to set some ground rules so this sort of thing doesn't happen again.

-He tilts his head.-

But more seriously, this is an absurd of paperwork. Is this the norm?

I'm done here.

School Hunting Trip, past

Vana smiles and snaps her fingers at Platinum's explanation.

Vana: Oh, right, I've got it! We steal a truck and try to hit an innocent bystander with it, and then that will lure her out to save the person. Then we can jump out and attack her or talk to her. Am I on the right lines?

Wyndon Stadium, past

Bis gets hit by the Confuse Ray and Disarming voice. She tries to recover, but there is suddenly a hula dancing Zoroark behind her, and that is rather distracting.

Bis: <What...?>

She tries to turn back to her opponents, because she needs to focus on the battle, but where Raru was standing there is now a palette swapped version of Hoops who is spinning cotton candy in a machine.

Then looking up, the palette swapped Hoops is actually a puppet, with the strings being held by a giant Ray wearing clown makeup.

Clown Ray: And the weird part is that it took you a second look to notice this.

Bis shakes her head.

Bis: <I need to focus. I'm fairly certain these things aren't real... and yet I can't look away.>

Hoops watches on as Bis turns slowly on the spot, looking at random points in the air.

Hoops: Are you okay?

Bis makes no sign of having heard and continues to examine the air around her.

School Hunting Trip, past

Platinum: Wrong-o, Stantler breath!

♪Show me the wisdom of the world... Tell me the secrets of the heart... and the sweet~ mysteries~ of love~...

Galar, Wyndon Park

Logan: It's not. I'm not a lawyer but I know people who know people who do, and the people the people I know know know at least two thirds of these are transparently bs. -no, no-

-a Corviknight lands on the roof of their pavilion, the beams creaking under its weight-

(-Logan doesn't spring to their feet, but picks up a quiet alertness-)

(-they rise slowly and calmly, hands nowhere near their Styler—-)

-it drops another three envelopes onto the stack and leaves-

Logan: Motherfucker!

-perfect silence of the sort that only occurs right before you get really loud-

Logan: ...sorry, Dad.

-they press the heel of one hand into an eyelid, shedding glitter-

Logan: -mutter- someone's trying to make us leave.

-Addie holds up an envelope to Zeal's eyes:-

Addie: <Haha, wanna bet anyone listening can't understand Monese?>

Logan: -at a normal volume- Which we're doing! There's no reason to keep this up!

-Addie squeak-squeaks, bright and cute and her chubby-cheeked grin does not at all meet her eyes-

Addie: -cheery- <I would not bet on it, but the people doing this can read thoughts, probably! What you gotta know is the Stormchaser got inspected, on schedule, and everything was fine.>

Addie: -nibbling on an Oran Berry, dire- <Then our other swimmer buddy got possessed and these started piling in.>

-Logan's ranting into their hands, just under earshot- Addie: <And didja know the Stormchaser kicks off people who mean to do the J-Team harm?> :>

-what goes unsaid: they may or may not have spent the last few months (with Zeal or no) between the Oasis and the Stormchaser, concealing the fugitives the J-Team's hiding-

Logan: —liability's important, but a full exorcism squad because someone tripped in the entryway of our ship

Addie: <wanna get—> :o

Logan: —to the bottom of this if I have to call them up myself. Or maybe just go to my room and take a nap.

No mind to think. No will to break.

Galar, Wyndon Park

Zeal: If you need a rest, take one. If so much of this is nonsense it really shouldn't make a difference if you put it off, should it?

Disclaimer: This is not legal advice, I technically am a lawyer myself but I know very little of the inner workings of Rangers and definitely have not taken the bar here in Galar.

-He gives a crooked grin for the tiniest of moments before settling on a more pensive expression.-

I really don't mean to make light of this, I'm just so disconnected from the current state of affairs that I'm not sure what advice to give beyond moral support. Like, I know barely anyone involved, and next to nothing about the enemies of the week. I've been out of the loop for a while now and catching up takes time.

-He glances at one of the files.-

And it sure doesn't help that I'm the horrible sort of person who feels schadenfreude in this situation despite having no negative feelings toward you whatsoever.

-He lets out a small sigh.-

That aside, if there's anything at all I can do to help I'm more than willing. Don't want to see you getting too tired out, after all.

I'm done here.

School Hunting Trip

Vana: Okay then, what's your genius plan that involves Gold and trucks?

School Hunting Trip

-Platinum facepalmed.-

Platinum: It doesn't involve a truck! It involves how my sister was treated after the event!

♪Show me the wisdom of the world... Tell me the secrets of the heart... and the sweet~ mysteries~ of love~...

Sometime in early 2022, Hoenn Region, Rustboro City, Devon Institute of Science and Technology, Dorm Room 204 E-Wing:

After a solid 10 minutes or so of walking with Tricky close by, Travis would reach the dormitories and spot the E-Wing a short distance away. As he accessed his rotom phone to send Claudia a follow-up text of his arrival, Travis would see a notification regarding his internship application to Team Asimov having been accepted.

“No way! If I wasn't desperate for an internship I wouldn't believe my luck! If only it were this easy last week, but this might be even better than anything Devon could have offered,” Travis said after a quick laugh, followed by a sigh of relief.

“At least I'll have some good news of my own to share if whatever Claudia's working on is actually worth my time...but how soon is ASAP exactly? We talking days, hours...minutes even?”

After going up a flight of stairs and finding Room 204, Travis would initially send a text to Claudia informing her of his arrival. After waiting a couple minutes with no response whatsoever, Travis would try knocking on the door which would prompt a response. “Just a minute!” A nervous, faintly lilted voice presumed to be Claudia's announced, followed by the sound of empty cans being knocked over and fading footsteps. Assuming this would take forever, Travis would instinctively lean on the wall by the door, easing weight off his bad leg while crossing his arms in a lax, unconscious manner before the sound of footsteps returned and grew louder until the door was unlocked and opened, revealing what could best be summarized as the distaff counterpart to the common Super Nerd trainer class design, albeit with a few subtle differences.

“S-s-salutations Travis! I-I wasn't sure if you were actually going to come here or not. Everyone else I invited either said they were too busy or never responded. P-please, come in! I'm sure you're eager to see my VR Project in action!” Claudia said with a noticeable effort to overcome an innate sense of social anxiety.

“Well I just so happened to be passing by, I figured I'd stop and see what you've been up to since...how long has it been?” Travis replied, entering the dorm with Tricky and closing the door behind him. He was about to remove his shoes out of politeness before Claudia stopped him, whatever she was originally going to say being cut short as he began insisting apologetically, “You're going to want to leave those on! Pardon the mess, but my roommate hasn't bothered to clean up after herself and I've been too busy with more important work to keep up on it,” Heeding her warning, Travis would keep his shoes on and trusted Claudia to guide him across a dirty carpeted floor with all sorts of trash scattered about.

“I know Tricky would never let me live in a messy home. Always reminds me when things get out of control, I could help clean up around here if you need me to,” Travis offered while Claudia lead him through the living room. < You know if I had the ability to I'd make you sleep outside if you didn't pick up after yourself! > Tricky remarked, with nobody beyond herself knowing what she said.

“P-please don't! I appreciate the offer, but I didn't invite you and everyone else here to clean up after me,” Claudia protested as the two walked through a short hallway over a mountain of laundry and past some empty chip bags of various sizes before reaching the door to Claudia's room and dramatically swinging it open to reveal a modest bedroom that was only slightly cleaner than the rest of the dorm, “Prepare, to be amazed” Claudia said trying to sound confident, but was too unsure to sound like anything beyond an awkward reference attempt.

“Woah...what am I looking at?” Travis replied, trying to feign excitement before almost immediately giving up and revealing his confusion. He spent a moment struggling to make sense of what looked like one of those full-body scanners that would be found in an airport, only down-sized and haphazardly connected to a bunch of server towers in the corner of the room.

“Oh it's just the project I've been working on since the beginning Trav; if I may call you that, and it'll make more sense if I show you what it can do rather than trying to explain it,” Claudia replied while rapidly typing in a bunch of commands to her custom-built desktop that looked like your stereotypical gamer rig, with an RGB keyboard, a desktop decorated with a bunch of pokemon and tech-brand stickers. And 3 monitors synced up to each other with several simultaneous programs opened and running. After a moment she would rush into the full-body scanner and pushed a few buttons before the machine started booting up.

“This project's taken me over a year to get this far in development, and while I've crossed some milestones I've been stuck on this part especially...until last week!” Claudia explained, turning giddy with excitement as the full-body scanner began spinning faster and faster until emitting a bright, powerful teal beam, consuming enough power to totally murder the electric bill of whoever was responsible for paying it. Once the machine died down, Claudia was nowhere to be found, which surprised Travis and worried Tricky who was initially convinced this strange human she had seen only a few times before was dead.

“What...the...fuck?!” Was all Travis managed to say, completely dumbfounded over what just happened until he overheard a loud, repeated notification from Claudia's computer that would draw his attention.

Sometime Later That Week, Obsidian Peak Labs - Northern Unova - Derelict Entrance:

Travis would instinctively raise a hand, and upon being called, would ask, “So like, what kind of tech were they working on here? I get it was human tech, but was any of it going to be used for pokemon training or exclusively humans?” Compared to everyone that was here, Travis felt relatively out of place, clad in black slacks and an unbuttoned lab coat showing a black graphic-tee of an Aron skull with a glowing green eye, but he maintained his typical laid-back persona with relative ease while he could.

Living The Fever Dream

Wyndon Stadium, Hiro vs.

Hiro: -recalling her- Unfortunately for you, gods won't be what you're fighting, here. I revere Reshiram, but I serve Truth—"your master's greatest student" is meaningless without knowing who your master is, and "I will never be helpless" is blatantly false.

Furthermore.

-he holds up a freshly-minted Apricorn ball, warmed all through-

Hiro:    This is my starter. You've just defeated the sweetest, most personable member of my team.   

-when the stranger writes, it blots out the descriptions beneath-

Hiro: [[evil:[[white:There's one way this goes, traditionally.

-Hiro's words, here—they click into place with weight-

Hiro:    And most of all—   

-the world watches/the word watches-

-the world Unown-

Hiro: -with narrowed eyes- Your technique is sloppy.

Zen: (visibly strained) <Send. Out. Your next.>

Hiro: -half-smirk- Sure.

-yes, he was stalling-

-he fastballs an Apricorn Ball onto the field—Parfait craters the earth, soil melting to glass around her feet-

Hiro: You seem to be under the impression I'm going to give you a good fight.

-a bead of sweat trickling down his neck- What do you think of my disappointing you?

-he taps his finger on his skull, indicative-

Hiro: What if I told you she was using you? If she had no intent of following through, once she got what she wanted? Every one I know she's made a deal with has been wrung dry and left to the wayside—

---

Megan: -frowns-

Ever: Dw about it

---

Hiro:    To tell the truth, there are better fights to be had. You won't come out of this having proven yourself.   

Parfait Hiro used Swagger?

Parfait: -picking apart what she can see of Zen, critical- <...oh, that's so dangerous.>

-Parfait musters a closely-guarded flame-

-the heat rising around her shines with the light of home—she gathers it into her fur, cradling it close-

-and when she thrusts her palms forward, the soulfire not only burns but Burns, absolute-

   Parfait used Lorekeeper's Art: True Secret Power!   

Parfait: -playing up amusement, not hiding concern- <Whatever's going through my Trainer's head, I can say with complete honesty I think you're in a bad situation.>

-she punctuates her statements with burning, distant blows—waiting for one break in concentration to bring a strike or word to bear-

-each is parried by an invisible force-

-or maybe just Zen moving very fast. But they are telekinetic-

-and. Possibly on fire?-

Zen: <I chose to be here. I'll worry about the consequences.>

Zen hurt themself in their zeal!

No mind to think. No will to break.

School Hunting Trip

Vana: Fine, we won't hit anyone with a truck! Why is it relevant what happened after?

Stormchaser, Halloween

-Angela devours the offered berry and rises from her floor-laying with a weak cackle-

Angela: <I rise again to... Uh... I guess wait for Mira-... Galey-Galey.>

Techspo, :> Be Emer

You hold still for a moment as you watch the impact of your uh... Impact. Once it's through you sheepishly squint to check if the grunt's not too banged up and after feeling satisfied by the answer you let out a little whoop as your tail starts wagging.

"Hah! Yeah you picked the wrong fight there!"

Meat Palace

I... I don't know. I'm sorry but I'm just working with what knowledge on these things I've got.

-Rakash flinches a little-

Whatever, give me a moment to get over this migrane and we'll get to work.

Anthem: <Alright but be careful. The moment things get too hot, run.>

Yep. Yep... Alright, we ready?

It's clearly a case of backroom political albumizing.

School Hunting Trip

Platinum: Because she was showered in gratitude and adulation by the people she saved, their family and the truck driver. The headline read, if I'm not mistaken, Psychic Superheroine Saves Senior Citizen: Young woman stops vehicular accident, rescues three.

Radon: And you aren't.

Platinum: My point is, my sister was treated as a hero, and you know how heroes are when dealing with hostage situations...

-And then, the tone of Platinum's voice suddenly turns sarcastic.-

Vana: Isn't that right, Vana-chan...?

Meat Palace

Joybringer: I'm ready.

Evelyn: I'm as ready as you are, though I think Joybringer would be the better distraction. After all, he's been taking belly-dancing classes aside from his Gym Challenge.

-Joybringer nods his head in agreement^* even though the lessons were offscreen. I should really write a post of him at the belly-dancing lessons one of these days.-

Joybringer: That's true.

♪Show me the wisdom of the world... Tell me the secrets of the heart... and the sweet~ mysteries~ of love~...

A pink-haired researcher was present.

Maggie: "Not too much here, hoping we can figure out what's up with this place and, well, reclaiming and putting Pokefutures Tech to work *is* kinda PEFE's thing."

"life is just a series of increasingly canon-eluding ao3 tags" ~ everydunsparce "Keep your hellfruit away from me, tempter" ~ also Every

"We're not certain what kind of technology, hence why we're necessary," Silas explained. "If we knew, letting the pokemon go in to clear it out would be easy."

He gave a brief wave to Maggie before turning back to Travis. "All we know for certain is that if it is Pokefutures made, it's probably not good."

Dr. Williams stepped up. "Quite right, and this is where you all in the Reclamation Team step in. Your job is to explore the labs and recover what you can, communications will be difficult thanks to the entraburn down there... but if it involves Entralink bleed then anything they were doing probably wasn't good."

"The tunnels will be tight so you'll have to limit your team," Silas said. "I'm taking Hacks, Khan, Conroy, and Tae. Trust in your team and navigating should be easy."

~Care to tell them about the fancy toys we're giving out?~

Silas let out a sigh and walked over to the pods and hit a button. There was a loud hiss as the pods opened, revealing what looked to be metal hazard suits. "The Hazardous Environment Suit, essentially protective suits that will make it so you can walk through the radiation. I already have protective gear," he said patting the breastplate of his mando armor.

Another button press and the suits themselves opened with another loud hiss. "They are also semi-mechanized so you don't have to worry about carrying the weight of the plating and power supply. Best get yourselves ready and your team picked out."

Khan was staring at the entrance to the labs. <This will be quite the task.>

"It's normal for us. Honestly adventures like this are my bread and butter," Silas responded with a slight smirk.

School Hunting Trip

Vana: Okay, three things. First, that was a weird way to say that. Second, so I guess you're saying we take a hostage to lure out Gold. Third, and most importantly: don't say chan, you fucking weeb.

linguini gratitude

Wyndon Stadium, field

Parfait: <Oh, you're strong. But this is so not likely to be worth it for you.>

-the heat-haze shimmer about her clouds her position—she fights cautious, wary of desperation casting itself as pride-

-and frankly, a terrifying amount of skill-

Parfait: -whirling aside- <Like, this is a sport! It's for fun!>

-she reconsiders, eyes pinballing between the angles attacks come from-

Parfait: <...normally. It might actually be freedom-and-sapience stakes on our end.>

-the blinding glow of her palm briefly goes dark-

Parfait: <And aside from the self-betterment there's, like, expressing relationship troubles. Or working through baggage. Or money. We...we know a lot of outliers.>

-and she tries to melt through the psychic corpus barring her way-

Parfait: <Debatably. Point is—>

Certain Finish: Assurance! -Zen takes the hit directly, and is sent skidding back-

Parfait: -tsk- <I know why I'm pulling out the stops. How much pride do you have to prove to risk this in the arena, fella?>

Zen: <Lot of people watching.>

-wait-

<Can't look too bad in front of them.>

-that voice didn't come from Zen's body-

-as astral limbs strike from behind-

Zen used Force Palm!

Parfait: <Gah!>

-the last few seconds a blur—the announcer shouts rapid-fire, with playback on the big screen:-

-deceptively light on her feet, Parfait whirled at their taunt; biological afterburners propelled her to face the assault-

Parfait: H-heh—you're faster than me…!

-she blocks and deflects—the astral barrage overwhelms her, battering her back and up-

Parfait: You're stronger!

-at the killer blows, Parfait's adrenaline kicks into high gear—her Aura flares-

Parfait's Metabolic Blaze!

-Hiro holds his hand out to her-

Parfait: -grinning, pained- <Hah…popped my spine!>

-she slips into a stance very much like Hyphatus's, her inner fire taking on the aspect of a flashbang-

Hiro: Up. Left. Rise—brighter.

But you're juggling so many variables.

Hiro: Now.

Demon Flips the Cart: Heat Crash!

-she slams toward Zen, meteoric, hurling a wave of scorched earth toward their physical body-

Parfait: So a job for two becomes five times as hard!

-the flame ringing her neck flares white; her awareness swells-

-Hiro gives a command-

-she selects a stone from the tossed-up earth…melts it igneous, and hurls it into the wave-

-Zen skids back, repositions to retaliate-

-their Mega Evolution gives out, and they faceplant-

Zen is no longer able to battle!

Zen: <...There. Impressed?>

Parfait: -exhale, stretching sore spots- <Briefly.> :c

Hiro: Pretty impressed. Still worried.

-Aghamora, being extremely good at positive reinforcement, says exactly the right thing before recalling Zen, not to avoid an awkward conversation but just to keep things moving along-

Dunsparce didn't stop being a thing or anything.

School Hunting Trip

Platinum: That's the plan, Vana!

-Platinum's purple eyes shimmer faintly.-

Plainum: And Are You Pondering What I'm Pondering?

♪Show me the wisdom of the world... Tell me the secrets of the heart... and the sweet~ mysteries~ of love~...