carnival, whack-a-diglett

Radium: <Nice to meet you!>

Kal finally gets a game over.

Kal: Dammit! How did I score -256?!

They then notice Rusty.

Kal: Oh, hello.

Edited by QuantumMelody29 on Jun 20th 2022 at 11:51:02 AM

Whack-A-Diglett is clearly rigged

Rusty: Whoa. That shouldn't happen. I mean, we're in a carnival. Big brother said all the games are rigged so you'll play more and...

They pause.

Rusty: I'm Rusty. Or... uh... Iron. Number 26. You must be Kalosium.

They reach out their hand while Pyra does a double hoofs up gesture.

Rusty: Nice to meet you. Need help with that?

Carnival, Wack-A-Diglett

Carnival employee: I'm sorry, but you can't have another go since you broke the machine.

The machine looks fine aside from a little bit of smoke coming out of it.

Kal: I guess I don't need a hand then. And yes, that would be me. Did you also come from the stormchaser, or somewhere else?

Edited by QuantumMelody29 on Jun 20th 2022 at 12:03:59 PM

Whack-A-Diglett, Whacked Too Hard

Rusty: Bummer.

They turn to Kal.

Rusty: Sort of. We don't live in the Stormchaser. We live with this group called the Oasis. Big brother and others from that place rescued me, and I've lived with them ever since.

Beat. She looks around.

Rusty: What else do you want to play?

Carnival, Wack-A-Diglett

Kal thinks.

Kal: Hmm... I'm not sure. Telekinesis would make most of the games too easy. I suppose a ride might be better.

Stormchaser, Hiro's Room

Hiro: -nodding- That's an approach I prefer.

Litwick: -is scoop- <At present, I pity you, Apple-A-Day. This is a hard life you've fallen into, with the friends you've chosen to make. May the good I see in you falter little despite what you may face.>

-it is very difficult to find a place to pet on a tiny candle staring you down with old, old eyes-

Litwick: -to Hiro- <And may you not forget your courtesies, son.>

Hiro: -...-

Hiro: -snuffing the flame- ...yes, Auntie.

-he nods, apologetic, to Percy-

Hearthome, Vegan Place

-Addie accepts this with resigned equanimity-

Waiter: Eh…fair. I found the eagerness kinda cute, but to each their own.

Chingling: <Can't have everything.>

-they note down the order and scurry off, leaving the table alone-

Logan: -inhale-

Logan: …

-you know those moments when your brain leaves the station and will not stop because someone beat the conductor over the head with a wrench-

did you see armies sundered falling Legendary appearing out of somewhere warfare at the Entree's taproot fire from the sky petty pathetic brutality humanity's w̶̳͆o̸̧͑r̷̡̚s̸͎͋t̷̮̎ impulses

Logan: It sure is!

said I'd never siege again careless shots broken bones bleeding out you did this to me how many thousand-thousand families died because you missed yours we're still taking people home we'll never go home again we're so tir

Addie: -sparks-

...green grass, Morelull, gray cobbles, Adelindfluorescent lights, window smudge

Logan: -swallowing- I'm grateful. Heh.

crinkly fur, smooth pleather, wood table. fresh coffee, stale bread…

Logan: -smile, stroking Addie- Must've been quite the endeavor. Haven't…haven't seen much in the news cycle about who got it done, what finally did it.

Edited by Asterisk395 on Jun 20th 2022 at 11:39:22 AM

Carnival

Rusty: A ride sounds great. Wanna go on the bumper cars. My brother says they're one of the best rides in the carnivals at Orre.

Sadie: <I was the Queen of the Carnival once.>

Pyra: <Not of this carnival.>

Sadie: <We grand dames have nothing to prove.>

Rusty: Or would you rather try the dizzy one?

Jubilife City, Parental Peril Zone

Parental Peril: And how do you suggest I get the J-Team's attention?

Sinnoh Route 202, Picnic

-Ian and Evelyn continue to enjoy their picnic while Tsubomi plays with the other Pokémon.-

Tsubomi: <Yaaay! Friends!>

Piku-chan: <You're gonna love it with us, Tsubomi.>

Tsubomi: <I know I will.>

-Ian smiles at Tsubomi as she enjoys herself.-

Evelyn: It's always good to know you have such good friends.

Me: Indeed it is.

-Tsubomi felt as if she was growing closer to her trainer...-

Zangoose Fair Carnival, Hall of Mirrors

Aurelia: -giggling- It's a laser! In laser tag, you do not wanna get hit by 'em! Oop!

-Aurelia gets grazed by Tina's laser.-

Aurelia: That was close!

Tina: -giggles- And it's all part of the fun!

Aurelia: Yeah!

-Aurelia fires a laser at a mirror, bouncing it off the mirror at Oliver.-

Zangoose Fair, Haunted House

"If the Stormchaser is alive, that explains why the fridge stopped opening for me whenever went to take leftovers," Vana muses. A costumed employee dressed like a Banette jumps out at her, yelling. She stares him down and he backs away sheepishly.

"Anyway, sorry all of that happened to you. Every time I learn something new about the School, I think it won't be possible for me to hate them any more than I already do. You'd think by now the lesson would have started to stick."

The group passes a woman who is dressed up to look like a creepy doll. Normally she would ask them in a creepy voice if they were her mummy and daddy, but she decides to save it for the next people. Got to save her voice, obviously.

"So did you come here to have a good time, or did you have a reason for coming and talking to us today. Because if it's the former, I think this haunted house was a mistake unless we were supposed to be scared of the crushing boredom of the universe."

"You don't need to be so rude!" says a guy in a werewolf costume. Vana doesn't even bother to acknowledge him.

Haunted House

Stewart: Sorry, sir. She's got a lot on her mind.

He turns to Vana.

Stewart: Well, you wanted somewhere private and a darkened room with mostly animatronics on the first part and apathetic cosplayers on the other seemed like a good place to do so.

Astatine: And I'm just a sucker for dramatic backgrounds. Gotta admit, this place really fleshes out a backstory through backdrops.

Stewart: You've clearly read too much TV Idioms.

Astatine: Impossible not to. Whatever the case is, the School's been active in some form for centuries. Like literal ancient conspiracy shit you get from [Assassin's Creed]. A lifetime, no matter how long, is nowhere near enough time to comprehend those monsters.

Stewart: Hey Willard, why'd he go?

Willard, via speech device: Mr. Beckett decided it was good for him to interact with other schoolchildren. Believed that time away from too much electricity will help with his mental health.

Astatine: I do not have any problems.

Stewart: The Diagnostics and Statistical Manual suggests otherwise.

Willard: That's exactly why Mr. Beckett told us to come with.

They approach a wicked witch.

Old Lady Witch: Behold! The ravages of age!

Astatine: Behold, a talking rattata!

Old Lady Witch: Boy, you are good at this ventriloquism thing. Ever considered a job at the Zangoose Fair?

Stewart: I'd be mighty honored, ma'am, but I've got a full-time job as it is already. Kind of like social work.

Old Lady Witch: Such a nice young man, and so talented. You might want to take your young companion to the pharmacist down the street. They have some ointment that'll do real well for those hands.

They approach the exit.

Stewart: Wanna go to the bouncy house?

Astatine and Willard: Bitchin'!

Edited by MasterJayAM on Jan 17th 2023 at 5:25:53 PM

Zangoose Fair, Haunted House Exit

"There's a bouncy house?" Vana asks, clearly excited. She then forces herself to stop smiling and folds her arms in a show of apathy. "I mean, um. Yeah, we can go to the bouncy house. Just one thing."

She turns around and speaks to one of the costumed haunted house workers. "Uh. Sorry about what I said before. You guys are doing great, I just don't scare very easily. So uh." She takes out a small device and taps a few commands into it. "I just transferred you guys ten thousand poké to upgrade your special effects."

The worker stares at her. "You what?"

"Is it not enough? I can get more, my Porygon Z is very good at this."

"No, it's just... what?"

She walks away before they can say anything else. "Okay, bouncy house right? The day's still young, let's do this."

Celestescape

Molly finds little resistance... Until she hits a point where all information just. Stops. Celeste's surface thoughts are an open book, but getting deeper will require more effort.. And also likely draw her attention. The creaking wood of Molly's surroundings is reinforced with steel.

<Hm. I suppose. It's either a tragedy or a triumph, depending on where you decide to cut it off."

<But that's true of most stories, isn't it?"

<As may be predictable, the human girl and the Zorua forged a strong bond. They made up for each others' faults and improved on each others' strengths. A standard story these days, but, again, remarkable for the time period."

<I could sit here and expound on their adventures all day, but I suspect you're an impatient one. Suffice to say, they grew up together. Eventually through hard work their village came to see them as an asset rather than annoyance, as these stories usually go."

<Stopping there would probably make it palatable for a PG audience, but sadly life carries on."

"Time went on, and the Zorua became a Zoroark, and the girl, a woman. Both eventually made families for themselves. And as time marched on, so too did the flames of war.>

"There were a few things I forgot to mention, actually! Blame it on my age, if you want.>

"The two lived in turbulent times, you see. Conflict was never far from the minds of the adults in our protagonist's life. So it was never far from her mind, either. She prepared in secret, as did her Zoroark friend. Their village was not eager for war, but it seemed an inevitability.>

"It did also help that this woman was an Obscuric, to use today's terms.>

At least on the surface, Celeste seems to just think of this as an exciting story she heard as a kit. She also seems... Surprisingly eager. It appears she has not had an audience in a while.

Near Daydre

Daydre is near Daydre, yes.

Carnival, en route to the bouncy house

Stewart: Yeah, those things are great. They're a hit with kids and honestly we never really got to be kids ourselves. We do have an issue with Willard, though.

Hemo: ~Rodents aren't usually allowed unless they have mouth guards.~

Astatine: I admire your generosity. Lemme guess. Dr. Cassander's bank account or Dr. Tran's?

Zangoose Fair, Bouncy Castle

"Stock market, actually," Vana says, as she takes off her shoes to get onto the castle. "As much as I'd like to steal the School's money, they have it all hidden in offshore bank accounts and it's hard to trace. So until then Hummy has to spend his time making and pulling investments. He's getting quite good at it."

She shrugs. "Besides, the last thing those guys want is for us to give them School money. That stuff probably comes from blood diamonds or something."

Her feet now freed from the pesky confines of her shoes, she steps onto the bouncy castle, which is really more of a bouncy town with its size.

Stormchaser, Hiro's Room

-Apple-A-Day, who does not understand Pokemon, just nods solemnly-

-Percy takes several moments to piece together that Hiro did not just call her auntie, but she nods-

Percy: Generally, among Schoolkids, being shown a power by a stranger is the first thing that happens before a murder attempt. I heard a few of the younger ones are on board here, so...be careful about that.

Hearthome, Vegan Place

Adelinde: The news cycle is usually about half of the story that people want you to see. I always assumed the giant purple dragon had a hand in fixing it, though.

Laurie's Bedroom

Laurie proceeded to take out their cell phone and type in Mitchell's number, before showing him their number.

D'Autry, meanwhile, had already fallen asleep on the bed.

The Carnival

"Oh..." muttered Ollie. "I... I see. Um... I guess I'll just—"

He suddenly saw the laser that was headed towards him and dodged it.

"GAH-!"

Route 209, past

Channah: (leaning out of Chiyo's range) ...Yeah.    That's what I'm banking on.   

Solaceon Outskirts, past

Chiyo: -Looks a bit concerned, but doesn't say anything- Another time, perhaps.

-Some meters away, outside of Chiyo's range, the two are being watched by a Black woman with turquoise green hair and a Whimsicott-

???: -Looking through binoculars- Chiyo? What's she doing here?

-Smirks as she lowers the binoculars down that her purple eyes are visible-

Guess we'll find out soon enough.

-And the two disappear as if into thin air-

Edited by rmctagg09 on Oct 9th 2022 at 2:42:47 PM

Mitchell copies down Laurie's number onto his phone, setting up a contact for them. "Thanks," he says, as he puts his phone away.

Then, Mitchell unrolls the sleeping bag in an inconspicuous spot and sets the slumbering Gav and Chris in comfortable spots, before crawling inside the sleeping bag. Drowsiness begins to overtake him, and he struggles to suppress a yawn.

"Good night, Laurie," Mitchell says, as his eyelids droop.

Carnival, Vana zone

Astatine: You trade stocks? Fascinating. I've heard many hilarious things about it. Good times. I'll stick with robbing Dr. Cassander. Every penny I filch from that bastard feels so good to spend. Mostly on cheeses for Willard.

Not long after, the bouncy house attendant fits a mouthguard on the still fidgeting Willard. She then lets the rattata go, upon which he starts bouncing around. Afterward, Stewart then jumps in.

Elsewhere, Rusty appears to be beneath the operating booth. They pull themselves out, having just finished a seemingly critical repair.

Rusty: All done. It should work fine now.

Attendant: How... how do you know this?

Rusty: Back home I read a lot of books on machines.

Attendant: Alright. Hop in then.

Carnival bumper cars

Kal looks around.

Kal: So, you drive these into each other? That could be fun.

Radium: <Looks like they just got repaired, too!>

Edited by QuantumMelody29 on Jun 21st 2022 at 10:06:09 AM

Bumper Cars, Carnival

Rusty: Your welcome!

They say this as they rev their vehicle and start charging toward Kal at about the friendly top speed of the bumper car.

From the stands, their pokémon watch. Maybe having more like-minded friends was all that they needed to break out of their shell.

"You never know," Fox said in response to Gale. "Delta's pretty savvy, that's been our biggest problem here. What Rook got his wings on was a good chance."

Rook/Bishop shot Fox a look.

"Either way, Rook, care to help Murph take down that escaping Vtol?"

"Gladly Commander."

It would be simple enough, scramble the nav signal and force it to either crash or get away.

Gamma felt her vessel shake as she looked at the nav systems, somebody was hacking! "Damn pories!" she muttered.

She thanked that Uncle Jack had always taught her the value of making sure you had an escape plan for your escape plan. She tossed a pokeball and grabbed a clacker from behind her flight seat. Out popped a dragonite, her loyal companion Silver.

"Well Silver old pal. Seems we finally got hit."

<Damn I loved not having to fly you.>

Gamma climbed on Silver's back and gave them a pat. "Alright, let's get outta here."

Silver nodded and took off out of the side, within moments Gamma squeezed the detonator 3 times, the plastic explosive on her VTOL went off.

Rook stared in shock at the results. "Uhm... Murph did you do that? Cause I didn't do that?"

On the monitors, they had brought up a tracking feed of the VTOL... only for it to report in damage and destruction.

Fox blinked, and frowned behind her mask. "Rule 1 of dealing with Delta and his minions, he's Practical with a capital P. Whomever that was, they probably had a backup plan."

Fox turned to Oran Obliterator. "Best be prepped for anything else, who knows what else Delta has on hand?"

Delta sighed as he tossed the phone aside. Gamma had gotten away, that was all that mattered. He didn't care if he got caught now, his niece Emma had gotten away, and she'd be safe.

Now he had no intention of actually being caught, but if it came down to it, it'd-

<JACK BEHIND YOU!> Rodan shouted.

Delta swung about and threw a knife, just as a sudden blast of energy struck him in the helmet.

The knife flew true and struck the target, the mask of one Jackal.

Both men fell to the floor, and scrambled to their feet, ripping away their damaged equipment. Face to face at last, Jack King smiled as he saw the face of Silas Grant, whose expression was distorted in rage.

"Hello Jackal."

Silas just glared, his left eye glowing. Jack laughed at the sight. "Nice trick!"

It had finally come down to it, both men grabbed the pokeballs on their belts, the fight... was here.

Carnival bumper cars

Kal: Okay then...

Kal in turn starts driving directly towards Rusty.

Radium: <Doesn't this sign over here say not to try and hit people head on?>

Veilstone Warehouse

Alex: -jumps, whirls around0- "Ack! Don't sneak up on me like tha- Wait, Tagg?"

Veilstone, Dave Zone

Seigbert: "Excellent! We can compensate you! Probably."

Storm: "What do you know of the J-Team?"

The Daydre Dimension

Fou: -pokes Daydre with a paw like this- <Hey. Hey you. Merlin needs you again.>

Carrier

Oran Obliterator: "Oh trust me I'm more than prepared!"

Fortran: <He definitely isn't. Also maybe we should go investigate that commotion.>

Edited by Umbramatic on Jun 21st 2022 at 6:04:19 AM