Former Cipher Operations HQ

Crochet: -Is here, not looking particularly happy- <This region, the last time I was here...>

Macraulloween

-Ian marvels at the power of the punch that Helmsman threw-

Me: Wouldn't wanna be on the receiving end of one of those punches...

Stormchaser Hall

Tsuki (Buneary) and Musubi (Enolga wowed at the interiors of the airship.

"Is it me or does it seem bigger on the inside?" Alexa asked.

The Stormchaser

Kim: “I’m not really sure if it says anything about my personality, but I love Popplio. Its whole line, in fact. That’s probably why I became one. More to the point, though, I can finally understand Paul now, so...” (She smiles over at her partner Pokémon, and is trying not to cry.) “...that’s good.”

(Beat. In an attempt to hold back her tears, she picks up her notebook.)

Kim: “You... mentioned you had a Trainer, Hikari? What’s his name?”

Stormchaser Hall

"Colton. You may have heard of him, he has a book published," Amy said, not even noticing Curtis slam the door violently behind her as they left the room.

"Even still, there's one thing he's given us as a trainer that I've rarely seen anyone else give their team: credit."

Halis: "I just wanted to not f-feel useless in my human form, to be honest. That's why I was so excited a-about it at first, but now I just realize I'm not much of a c-combatant without another form to use."

They're still sad and upset about all of this.

Halis: "This... t-this is why I liked following someone else. It's why I liked following Luci. It meant I could f-fight and be helpful without having to switch back and forth all the time."

They remember something else.

Halis: "...Luci..."

A memory of how they split off from Lucius's party a while back, how they basically threw away all of that time spent together for nothing.

Halis: "I... I'm sorry, Luci...!"

As a result, they start crying again, the memory having come at a very poor time.

The Stormchaser

Kim: “Colton...” (beat; it hits her) “Wait. You mean Reh-ver?! As in the Prax Obscura, Second Edition Reh-ver?!”

Paul: <The what?>

Kim: “The ultimate book on Obscural techniques?! You’ve never heard of that book?! I’ve heard of that book and I can’t use Obscura for the life of me, and sweet Arceus I still can’t believe I can understand you!”

(she breaks down crying)

Kim: “Reh-ver is the most incredible author in the history of history, and now I find out that he’s your Trainer?! You deserve all the credit you can get!”

Edited by OPALGARNET16 on Nov 12th 2019 at 11:07:09 AM

Stormchaser

Me: Prax... Obscura? Colton wrote that?

Piku-chan: <Maybe if you asked nicely, you, Kim and Colton can read from the Prax Obscura and help train your powers...>

Me: Hey, you're right, Piku-chan! That could work...

Stormchaser Hall

Archer: Sure is! We should probably find you a room...

-Hm. That door wasn't there before.-

Stormchaser Hall

"With all due respect," Amy sighed, shrugging her shoulders. "If that's how you're going to carry yourself around him it would probably be for the best if you find a way to keep that excitably in check or stay the hell away. If you're going to treat someone like him as someone to put on a pedestal, I can't think of how you treat people that do deserve praise lauded onto them."

As Silas stepped out, he saw the party, "Ah, hello everyone. Kaiiseii how did yo- wait you probably just took the access keycard from Shaun."

<Ain't those biometrically locked?> Snakeye asked.

Silas stared, then Snakeye got it, <Ooooooh... they're related.>

"Can't get around sharing DNA."

Snakeye shrugged as Hacks opened the door to the outside, ~Come on in everyone, we'll be getting ready soon!~

The Stormchaser

Kim: “So you’re saying Reh-ver isn’t worthy of praise?” (beat) “Reh-ver?” (she takes out her notebook) “I hope I’m saying that right.”

Stormchaser Hall

"Half of his inbox is gratitude, requests for follow-ups and paragraphs of praise that take longer to read than it takes to listen to [Thick as a Brick]. Why is pronunciation such a big deal to you, anyway?

"Besides, I'm not saying he's not worth praising. I'm saying he's not worth praising to such an extent - if you were just like "oh yeah, that book. It's helpful, it's clever, and cheaper than T Ms", then I'd be fine with that. But a caps-lock squeeing fangirl who seems ready to consecrate the very dirt he'd throw at you as a Lycanroc for eating up his time? Not a lot can give him a headache, but I'd bet bits to boonbonds that would," she explained.

Edited by AbsentCoder on Nov 12th 2019 at 8:40:46 AM

Stormchaser

"Uh, is there a problem?" Alexa asked.

Oblivion Wing

-Kaiiseii sticks his tongue out.-

Kaiiseii: "Papa really oughta watch how much he hits the bottle."

Hia Valley

-Fenrir Howl-chains into a Wild Charge to clear his way through the horde surrounding him.-

-Misaki is having a tough time capturing the Beowolf, likely due to it not being a native mon.-

-The Beowolf leaps out of the styler circle and lands in front of her. Misaki does the only reasonable thing she can.-

-With her left arm, she hastily draws a sigil on the ground. Her right arm pulls back and her fist slams into the Beowolf.-

-The Metagross emerges from his Poké Ball and seizes the Beowolf in his arms.-

-Misaki overclocks her Styler and wraps up the Beowolf.-

Oblivion Wing

-Pent shot Silas a wave and put away the damaged object he was repairing-

Persephone's a good name. That being said, a little ominous.

The Stormchaser

Kim: “...Please, Hikari. Excitable? Yes. Very. A fan of Reh-ver’s book? Yes. But a ‘caps-lock squealing fangirl’...” (she chuckles) “...that might be a bit of an exaggeration. Besides, if you think I’d actually act like this in front of Reh-ver’s face, you’d be wrong. [Peart] taught me better.

“Speaking of [Peart], I already told you why pronunciation is such a big deal to me- okay, the Keldeo part was a lie, but my father did have a Pokémon named Taran and I did mispronounce it when I received his postcards from his travels around the Pokémon world. That and given that I am a lingual consultant and both my parents were linguists... well, what can I say except the importance of pronunciation was practically drilled into my brain from a young age.”

Stormchaser

"... Fine. The first syllable has the same enunciation as 'reap'," she said. "Will you be able to sleep tonight?"

Stormchaser

Kim: “Ah. Ree-ver, then.” (She writes it in her notebook.) “And yes, I will.”

(Her notebook reads:)

MY INITIAL BELIEF WAS WRONG. REVER RHYMES WITH BEAVER. WHY HE COULDN’T PUT THAT ON THE FRONT COVER OF THE OBSCURA I’LL NEVER KNOW, BUT AT LEAST I KNOW.

Stormchaser Hall

Amy looked over at her notes before sighing.

"He didn't put it on there because out of 3,000-odd fan letters, you're the only one who asked. That should paint an image of how much people care about pronunciation of someone's name they'll never meet."

Stormchaser Hall

Me: Wow. I had no idea Colton was that famous...

The Stormchaser

Kim: (pauses; she has nothing to say to that rebuttal) “I...”

Paul (carefree as ever): <Yeah, honestly, she’s got a point, you know? Personally, I’d be saying ‘Reh-ver’ myself and I wouldn’t care in the least. Don’t mind pronunciation, really.>

Kim: (horrified) “I’m sorry. I-I’m so sorry. I’ve made such a terrible first impression. Thank you very much for the choker, b-but I think I need some time alone for a bit. Uh... goodbye, Hikari. Thank you again.”

(She exits.)

Kim: “Come on, Ian.”

Stormchaser Hall

"The book's been out for almost a year - and he doesn't make public appearances to promote it or anything. He put his email on the back out of obligation along with the rest of his bio out of obligation and that was [Pandora's Box]," Amy regaled, grabbing the choker from Kim's hand.

Oblivion Wing

-Julius holds in a squee as he and Magnus enter-

Stormchaser, Alexa

Archer: Oh, no, doors just appear like that. You could probably settle in inside.

The Stormchaser

Kim: (sheepishly) “Yeah... I don’t deserve that (the choker), given what you’ve seen of me. I-I’ll be taking my leave now...”

(She walks back to her room and shuts the door behind her.)

Kim: (from inside her room, in a whisper, to herself) “Oh, sweet mother of Arceus, she’ll never want to speak to me again...”

(She facepalms herself in shame.)

Kim: “Ian, what in the world was I thinking...?”

Edited by OPALGARNET16 on Nov 13th 2019 at 1:51:23 PM