Deep Tangle

-Star looks up into the trees at the eyes watching them. She places a hand near her belt in case she needs to wake up the rest of her team, but otherwise just keeps walking. -

Bernadetta: <Let's turn back! We're already off the trail and things are following us.>

Star: -A bit nervous, but puts on a brave face for Bernadetta- W-We'll be fine.

Ballonlea

-there's that sparkle-

Logan: -star-eyesing- Nice.

-...-

Logan: ...so, while you're here, want to check out the Rangers' sponsored Trainer?

Addie: <She likes Water, like you.> :o

Logan: -grin- I'm pretty sure we can get a good box with that.

Ballonlea Stadium - Bede

-gifts, games, etcetera—it passes in a blur, if she's being honest-

-before she knows it—before she expects, she's standing in front of another Gym Leader, facing down his resting [Barbie] face-

Bede: You seemed to, uh...

-scowl- Have a spot of trouble, answering the questions running up.

Megan: Maybe.

Bede: ...well, we'll get there when we get there.

Bede: Sylveon!

Megan: Lapis!

-the crowd goes quiet-

Audience:

Lapis: ^w^

Bede:

Megan: … :|

Bede: What is…

Bede: Why would you…?

Lapis: Bwah!

-Megan opens her mouth-

Lapis: bwaaaaaaaaah… @w@

Megan: .

Sylveon: <...>

Bede: ...moving on.

Ballonlea

Alyssa: O-oh! Yes, that sounds lovely! She sounds lovely!

Diane: We're here in Galar to catch a couple of our friends' matches anyway, what's one more to add to the list?

Ballonlea Stadium

-there's a voice from behind Vee-

Apple-a-Day: It's a novel tactic, to be certain.

Syrnewt: <But hopefully it pans out! And quickly. Being here is very uncomfortable.>

Ballonlea

Logan: -clapping their hands- Great! I'm sure you'll get along swimmingly.

Addie: <Heh.>

Ballonlea Gym - Spectator Zone

-they arrive in one of the boxes- :o

Addie: <Oooh, she's just started.>

Logan: ...Is she doing okay? ._.

Addie: <did she send out her weird whismur clone>

<why>

Ballonlea Gym - Different Spectator Zone

-Vee's formed a Sad Nest from Empoleon down, spare mythril, and Megan's well-used camping equipment-

Vee: <...> -giggles-

-and she's got company- Vee: -yelps-

-she whirls to get her sight side facing them, displacing various fluffstuffs and also some of her fluid mass-

Vee: <Who the f—are you—??>

-...sloshing- <...oooh, dizzy.>

-...sniff-

-sniff- <...apple...?>

Ballonlea Stadium - Bede

Megan: …Fraidy!

Fraidy: -teen-angsty- <Oh no, oh no, oh noooo,,,>

-she hides her face, clutching her pouch of Bright Powder before it-

Bede: Again!

Megan: -urgent- Double Team!

-lightheaded- The riskiest part…

-nothing to fear, or perhaps everything—Fraidy meeps and bounces like a Spoink-

-she claps her hands together and her nervous sweat springs to life, expanding into thin copies of herself-

Bede: I'm not too surprised by this outcome. -shrug- Swift.

Sylveon: <Run as fast as you can.> ~_~

-sparkling- <Can't catch meee~>

-fast-moving eyes catalogue every instance of Fraidy's water clones-

-and wipe them all out-

Megan: Augh, dang—Work Up!

-Fraidy stomps her foot, venting her frustration in a very quiet heavy metal scream of the sort she's been brooding to-

Bede: -bored- Moonblast.

-Fraidy's clones begin to rematerialize—not fast enough-

-the moon comes to earth and strikes her down-

Fraidy: -tail over head- <AAAAA>

-only momentarily—she bounces to her feet, angstily-

Megan: come on, one more time… Work Up!

Bede: Come on now, this is just silly.

Megan: -keening panic-

Fraidy: <aaaaaaaaaaa—> @_@

-panic-adrenaline fills her veins with strength-

Megan: -clap- There!! Baton Pass!!!

-Fraidy gratefully flees into her ball, taking her toys and handing them to…-

Pippy: -touching down- <...>

-he looks worried-

Edited by Asterisk395 on Feb 28th 2021 at 11:58:55 AM

Deep Tangle

-The figures turn out to be Impidimp and Morgrem, led by a Grimmsnarl with odd markings similar to the Rapidash, as they quickly move to seemingly block the way back-

Morgrem: <Intruders, get them!>

Deep Tangle

June: <Oh boy.>

-June's neck flames start burning at full blast as she crouches low to the ground in preparation to attack, while Felix starts to gently sparkle in preparation for a Dazzling Gleam-

-Star turns around, ready to throw Julian's Pokeball at the group of wild Pokémon...and stops, noticing the marks on the Grimmsnarl-

Star: Another one...?

Bernadetta: <EEEEEE-> -her flame grows in shock as she starts forming a Shadow Ball over it-

Star: Wait, hold it! -she steps in between her mons and the wild ones- Ok, um. We weren't trying to intrude on your space. We saw a Rapidash with markings like yours and I wanted to take a picture of them. I just wanted to know what the markings mean. So if you tell us, then mission accomplished. After that, we'll go back to the main road, promise. -looks back at her battle ready Mons- Or we can fight it out. Your choice.

Deep Tangle

-The mons seem... slightly surprised and a little disappointed. It should be clear that the amount of mons gathered would be pretty hard to surmount in a straight fight-

Impidimp #1: -Pointing at Star- <She's not running, like those other Trainers who came months ago.>

Impidimp #2: -Stamping his feet- <You're right, this is no fun!>

Morgrem: <We don't have a script for when they don't fight or run.>

Impidimp #3: <But chasing is fun!>

-The mons then start having a bit of an argument amongst themselves-

Grimmsnarl-EX: <Right, let's have a bit of a huddle.>

-The mons then immediately huddle, some Impidimp and Morgrem staying back, leering at Star and co to make sure they don't try running off while the mons are distracted-

Grimmsnarl-EX: -Turns back around with a wicked grin on his face- <You want to see them? Know what we are? Well, let's take you to them!>

-Immediately the Impidimp and Morgrem gathered surround Star and her team, and start trying to drag/carry them deeper down the path. Despite their potential roughness, they do not appear to be trying to seriously harm them-

Stow-on-Side Stadium, Stands

Hoops: It's not just the thing with Opal. I mean, I've told you guys what it was like growing up there, what my father was like. If I go back, I have to see all the things that remind me of him. The places he used to have me train, our house, the pokemon centre where I'd have to bring Kec and the others. It's just too much of the familiar.

They feel like they've gone a bit too deep, and struggle for a joke.

Hoops: Plus we're going to run into Daisuke, and I think that guy is a weirdo.

S2B1: Station Thirteen

-The hull of the station creaked and groaned, the cracks of individual floor tiles coming loose and drifting into the void audible as a faint tink... tink... reverberating through the floor in this airless corridor. Windows have been blown out, the remaining bars of internal steel reinforcements bent harshly out towards the void. Flickering light-bulbs built into the ceiling flicker as the party progresses onward past a clearly looted security checkpoint though a reinforced bulkhead stuck open and faintly sparking and then a little further down the corridor a few untouched supply closets separated by glass doorways. And then the group arrives in what must have been the central thoroughfare of this station: It is, to be frank, a mess. The floor is littered with marks in spraypaint and what you think may be crayon and there are footprints from many species made in both black oil and what you're certain is blood. A low-grade combat helmet made for in-atmosphere use sits here with a few pieces of scrap electronics inside, a few paces away sits an abandoned baton-like weapon with an open battery compartment. Large reinforced windows let you look into what at one point would have been the command center of this installation but soot and cracked glass obscuring the view of the other side suggests the vital nervous core of the station has been bombed. You can feel a faint beat in the floor under your feet; a bassy rhythm that seems to come from further to the east. The passageway north, marked 'Security' has been barricaded and beyond that is pockmarked with the bullet and laser holes of a frantic battle. At the east end of the hub someone has erected a series of sturdy airlocks that by their welded-on appearance are not part of the original structure of this hallway. A glowing neon sign on the nearby steadfastly advertises amid the destruction of the station around it:

THE SPACE BAR

You can feel the rhythmic pulse in the floor tiles coming from beyond these airlocks-

Stow-on-Side Stadium, Lobby

-Evelyn laughs upon listening to Hoops' joke.-

Evelyn: Where do you think I get it from?

-After Evelyn stops laughing, she nods.-

Evelyn: But, I understand...

Edited by AnimeboyIanpower on Mar 1st 2021 at 9:52:34 AM

Stow-on-Side Stadium, Lobby

Hoops: But seriously, Evs, I don't know if I can do this. To be honest, the reason I came back to Stow-on-Side was that I just couldn't even bring myself to enter the Glimwood Tangle, let alone Ballonlea.

Edited by theoncominghoop on Mar 1st 2021 at 2:52:24 PM

Bomb Situation, Defused

Jonathan: Hey there. Jonathan Halliburton of the Geographer Weekly Online's Halliburton Report. This is my floor director, Thomas Petersen. We were told by Sergeant Sanchez of the CCPD that a few of you, including Captain Hudson, were open for interviews.

He looked at the seriousness of the injuries.

Jonathan: Did. . . did we come at a bad time?

E-mail

To: J-Team Ian
From: Scott McSweeney (scott@kwanindustries.com)
Subject: Museum Invites

They're most certainly welcome to attend. My wife and I will be at the museum. We'll gladly meet you by the front hall to give you your tickets and have you all properly introduced in the gala event. Meet us at the main hallway, between the skeletons of Dippy the Aurorus and Hope the Wailord. Remember, this is a gala event. Wear black.

Scott

Edited by MasterJayAM on Mar 2nd 2021 at 1:47:21 AM

Stow-on-Side Stadium, Stands

Evelyn: I see...

-Evelyn looks around silently before getting an idea.-

Evelyn: Tell you what... When Kim's Gym Challenge is over, we'll go through Glimwood Tangle together. I'll hold your hand if you want me to.

E-Mail

To: Scott McSweeney (scott@kwanindustries.com)
From: J-Team Ian
Subject: Museum Invites
We'll be there. Don't worry. When do you want us to meet you there?

Stow-on-Side Stadium, Lobby

Hoops stiffens and their cheeks go slightly red.

Hoops: Thanks, uh, Evs, that would be, uh, great. Uh, thank you

Kec hides his face in his paws.

Textspace

-For once, Kai's message goes unanswered for some time. When Alice does at last reply, though, the messages come through as promptly as ever.-

Edited by Herbert40k on Mar 1st 2021 at 5:51:29 PM

Kevin was about to protest when he felt a light slap hit the wound, he wheezed and let out, "Let me just get a shirt on."

Marshall looked to Aeson, who whistled innocently.

Kevin did up a simple black button up, with the Interpol Special Response Division Logo on the side.

"The good Captain is fine, he charged after Johan despite being injured, he can handle a few simple questions," Aeson commented.

Marshall stepped forward, "As the second in command I'll field the first few. Sergeant Marshall Boone, what do you want to know?"

Silas looked to the others, and slowly opened the airlocks entering the bar, <Place is beat to the Distortion world and back..> he muttered.

Snakeye could only look around in confusion, <The hell happened here, hoss?>

Ballonlea Stadium - Bede

-Bede looks slightly more serious-

-...it's about time, isn't it-

Bede: ...alright, if the early ones were so much trouble, here's an easy one:

Bede: -gesturing down◊- What colour is my outfit?

-Megan feels that bubbling in her gut, the giddiness—nerves verging on hysteria-

Megan: -restrainedly grinning, thus- We're going to get in so much trouble for this.

I hope it works.

Megan: -matter-of-factly- Green.

-Bede only raises an eyebrow, quizzical-

Bede: That's...

Bede: wrong. So you get—

Megan: Antimagic Field.

Bede: —the penalty!

-the energy of the crowd is yoked to the choice of the Gym Leader, glimmering esoterically-

-iron fills the air, filings and filaments, flickering just out of sight-

-the move's sole evidence is the bare scattering of ferrous dust that makes itself manifest-

-with a stillness in the air-

Bede: …

-all of Vee's fins have gone back-

-her pupil's gone narrow, and she...slowly...turns to look back at the monitor-

Pippy: -focusing- Happy birthday, Vee.

Heh.

-Megan laughs disbelievingly-

Pippy: -quietly, even in his own head- Sorry it's so late.

Bede: -looking for Opal in the stands- ...hold a tick, I swear something usually—

Megan: -shouting- Go!

-Pippy goes-

-he lunges forward in a blaze of light, a radiant blade coalescing around his wing-

Pippy: -mutter- <Flash Cannon.>

Sylveon: <!>

-one vwm, and Sylveon is sent flying-

Bede: Hey! Moonblast!

Sylveom: -glowing- <What the flip!>

Megan: Counterspell.

-he slices the moon in half as it reappears, sizzling strangely-

-crescent and gibbous crash to the stadium floor, inert-

-along with the unconscious form of Bede's Sylveon-

Pippy: -breathing heavily—only partly from exertion-

-Bede catches sight of Megan's expression—strained, incredulous, gleeful-

Bede: ...

-he reaches for his next Pokéball-

Bede: Game on.

Edited by Asterisk395 on Mar 1st 2021 at 3:03:18 PM

Textspace

Scott sends Ian the requisite details plus the address of the museum and its floor plan. An area near the main hall was going to be used for the function.

Secret Hideout

Malacostra prepares her weaponry. Her crabmons scuttle around, looking at the diagram of the museum.

Malacostra: Due to the nature of our targets, we do not have the luxury of having an entire team of grunts at our disposal. This operation, instead, relies on misdirection and sleight of hand. Subtlety is the key to outsmarting their security systems and taking off with their valuables. While I take care of the target assets here, you'll begin swiping the other valuables to this corner. Fortunately, many of the Sturgess Shale pieces not in the entry hall aren't as heavy as the centerpieces in the hall. Sokar shall take care of getting the files for the extraction process.

She points at the diagram.

Malacostra: Of course, Scratch is another obscuric sorcerer I could have recruited but daddy had other plans with him at the moment. Plus, I need a sorcerer with a touch more finesse. None of the flourishes and showboating that he was known for. Any questions?

Edited by MasterJayAM on Aug 17th 2021 at 10:58:49 PM

Secret Hideout

-A hand raises in the shadows as a glint of light reflects off his solferino goggles.-

Salem: Need any assistance, Lady Malacostra?

Textspace

-Ian receives the information about the museum and gives an affirmative that he and Evelyn will be there and will ask Hoops if they want to go with them.-

Ballonlea Stadium

Apple-a-Day: Yes, it is I, Apple-a-Day, please do hold your applause.

-...-

Apple-a-Day: And you seem down, so what's up?

Syrnewt: <This isn't our usual mandate but they're sort of curious about this whole League thing.>

Apple-a-Day: For example, what on earth just happened?

Hideout

Malacostra: Oh, you just worry about your subtle wizard mojo in your half of the plan. If I need your help in the main hall, I'll have you on speed dial. Sokar will guide you through the process.

She pauses. A rotom, Sokar, pops up and salutes.

Malacostra: Then again, costumed clowns do rain on our parade a lot. I'd hate to be the Hunter who had to suffer through that Apple-a-Day the fora keep complaining about. Think you can also keep you updated on any approaching do-gooder while you're swiping rare fossils?

Tac Van

Jonathan: First off, Sgt. Boone, you were outnumbered and according to previous accounts, outgunned. What were the critical weaknesses you exploited to put yourselves at a strategic advantage? Especially given how devious our terrorist turned out.

Tommy: Good first question.

An observant person may notice that the floor director was oddly interested. He also has a sling in his arm.

Hideout

Salem: You can leave that to me...

-Salem puts on an all-too-familiar red baseball cap.-

Salem: Those costumed brats won't know what hit 'em...

Edited by AnimeboyIanpower on Mar 1st 2021 at 3:32:57 PM

"We had detection means on hand and they split themselves up to cover more ground. From there it was clearing rooms one by one taking what we could with surprise," Marshall explained.

"Our pokemon are dedicated to clearing these types of environments, Matrida herself can sense life itself similar to aura senses," Marshall continued gesturing to the gardevoir, "Add in a careful use of flash, door busting moves, heavy hitting moves, and the occasional gas grenade, we make it through."

Ballonlea Gym - Other Spectator Zone

Vee: -creeping closer to the screen- <I...I don't know what this is. Why don't I know?! How don't I—>

-stunned, approaching awed- <—how did they do this? Is it...is it workin'?>

-re-enlivened thus, she seems to remember Apple-a-Day's in the room-

-snerk, riffing- <Hee. Hol' on, lemme just flap these human palms I have together in an adulatory—>

—-and breaks off, pained-

Vee: -..hissing, whine- <Oh, 's nothin', my head's just killin' me.>

-she forces a smile and tries to stop rubbing her face-

-rubbing her face, eyeing them- <...'m a cooler superhero anyhow.>-

Ballonlea Stadium - Bede

-Bede sends out his Gardevoir-

Bede: If the moon's 221,500 miles from Earth at perigee and 252,700 miles at apogee, and it completes one revolution relative to the stars in 27.32 days—what, then, is the average distance from the moon to the Earth?!

Megan: -laughing madly- I don't know!

Gardevoir: <...alright, what.>

Pippy: -tiny smile- <Technical difficulties?>

Megan: -fistpump- Phase Two! Iron Defense!

-armor precipitates from the ether, crystallizing around Pippy's feathers-

Bede: …

Bede: -smirk- Power Swap.

Pippy: <!!!>

-both his and Megan's eyes widen as Fraidy's agitation seeps from his bones into his foe's-

Bede: Guar—

Megan: Nope! Nope nope nope—

-the drop in its edge recovered via sheer kinetic energy, the energy blades bowl Bede's Gardevoir over outright-

Gardevoir: -grunt- ~Could you not tell me to stand still and take the next one? None of that armor will help against that.~

Bede: -sniff- Enough, then. Psychic!

-Pippy's lifted out of his dash and off the earth in a telekinetic grip, his lightsabers flickering out-

-...and yet Pippy displays no small amount of strain-

Bede: -recovering his poise- I can't help but notice your armor doesn't protect against mental disruption. Shame.

-Pippy curls into a ball—-

Megan: Oh, neither does yours. Bang!

-and all the metal on his body lights up-

Pippy:    [!]'   

-his gaze, the gaze of the king, becomes apparent beneath the shield of his wings—searing in challenge into the eyes of the knight he faces-

-the light scalds against Bede's Gardevoir's sterling mental fortitude—he drops him, regardless, giving Pippy the time to-

Megan: -drawing her fists back- (P)ip Man!

-in the selfsame flash, he's before the Gardevoir-

Gardevoir: -shielding eyes- <!>

-slamming his armor-plated wings into his torso-

(-ten, twenty, thirty times-)

Pippy: -not even pausing to breathe- <Rrrr…>

-and he's done, skating yards back to ride off the rush of speed-

-and watch his opponent collapse, battered-

Bede: -sputter- Where is this coming from?

Megan: -breathless- Pastoria, with love.

Ballonlea Gym - Superhero Zone

Vee: <...oh.>

Vee: <...t' answer yer last question, I thin' that was a gift.>

-sniffle- <A promise. Somethin' ridiculous it's hard t' tell—>

Edited by Asterisk395 on Mar 1st 2021 at 3:55:08 PM