ITT: We Have All Become Pokémon

Pretty well, dude, pretty well! I've heard of your interesting exploits back at Silversand.

"Oh, hi!.. Cyk sent you a letter? Not that that's like, weird or anything but it traveled pretty fast didn't it? Or maybe I'm still used to the human mail system.."

Yeah, I met Manaphy again and switched bodies with a Wailord, befriended that Victreebel that from the Salty Spittoon, got a place to stay, learned Flamethrower...

Who all's here in this place besides you, Guy, and Dana?

Yeah, us three are here. Everyone else is waking up at the inn.

Cortez swung around to address Sheila and Wendy directly, accidentally knocking over an ornamental pot plant with his tail in the process. "Don't think I can't hear you gossiping behind my back! I never bullied Maran; maybe I've been a bit rough with the little bastard on occasion, but I'm tryin' to toughen him up! What the hell am I s'posed to do to convince you I ain't a bad boss? Y'want a raise or somethin'?"

edited 15th Aug '17 3:30:05 PM by PresidentStalkeyes

"You out late last night or somethin'?"

Which one? That one we passed by on the way in? Looked kind of homey and rustic, but decent. I could hear somebody yelling his head off in there for whatever reason.

So, what else is new besides you guys being in the tournament? If I know us, something else is bound to have happened.

edited 15th Aug '17 3:33:12 PM by kablammin45

Well...it's kinda complicated. If you want to come inside and talk while I train some more, then I'll explain everything. And there's a different inn here at Hoard, just down the way there.

edited 15th Aug '17 3:31:21 PM by Team42Larson

Fine by me! (I say, stepping inside.)

(Sheila and Wendy simply look at each other again.)

Uh...no, we're fine, boss. (says Sheila.)

edited 15th Aug '17 3:33:20 PM by kablammin45

"I don't think I was out that late. I'm probably just tired…"

Alright, I'm gonna work on my psychic abilities here while we talk. My eyes will flash pink as a result.

(My eyes flash pink to demonstrate this. I focus some of my energy into moving the dummy.)

There's two stories for me to tell. Which one do you want to hear first?

Uh, either one's fine by me. (I say. Marsha and I sit down on a small bench nearby.)

"Whoever decorated the in has a rocky sense of style, wouldn't you say?" Dana gives Goobert an ehh, get it? kind of look.

"Hmph..." the Tyrantrum huffed, blowing smoke from his nostrils. "That's what I like to hear... now, if we're done gossipin', is there anythin' I need to know? Guests, messages? Don't leave me hangin', here; I had a really bad headache last night. That's why I was locked in my office while Maran pulled that Tyrunt stunt on y'all! Underhanded, I tells ya!"

Cyk finally finds Goobert.

"There you are, sweetie!"

I call this one, the Ribombee story.

(I begin.)

When we first set off from Silversand, we returned to the same restaurant from before, where we met another Ribombee, Bella. When PJ had disappeared, he had trained with her for a while, and she elects to tag along. She seems cheery enough, but as we began to work our way to Hoard, something started to seem...off about her.

(I move the dummy a bit with my power.)

Got all of that so far?

edited 15th Aug '17 3:40:57 PM by Team42Larson

*while Jani is looking for a tailor, she opts to take the scenic route through the bazaar. Somewhat embarrassed by the state of her beret, she had already taken it off...but she also hopes to be fairly low-key before she makes her pitch. A couple of the younger mons do stop and stare, a couple more yank their parents arms while pointing, while a few more even remember her first two pitch sessions. The problem is, she needs a distributor...with one in place, there would be a place for folks to make their orders and the company could make better use of the many merchant means of transporting the goods from Silversand to Hoard*

*a few stores in particular catch her eye*

• Falkor's Hardware Store — run by a Drampa. Familiar territory, but who would expect to find it there, after the blitz is done? She wonders if Lucy's might eventually become a general store, with that in mind...
• Gloopy's Goopy Goods — run by a Goodra. It leans on the novelty side of things, and the Wonder Cart is definitely novel, but is the notion of her product being labeled so dismissively good for the long run?
• Buzzy's Toy Store — run by a Flygon. Seems like the obvious choice, but then again, what if Hevea wants to distribute some of his other inventions down the road? Is self-pigeonholing as a toy company a great idea?

*she has a lot to think about, as she heads toward an affordable tailor she noticed during her tour of the bazaar*

edited 15th Aug '17 3:43:30 PM by sarysa

"That's about it, but I feel like I should say it again. She admitted to hunting for fun. She seemed offended that we didn't share that idea, then attacked us because of that. Seeing how you treat Sushi, I don't get how you can trust her after this."

Mila moves closer to the door, and pushes it open slowly. She looks back before leaving however, to see if Finley is following.

"I think I'm going to get breakfast now. Do you want to come?"

Uh...sure, boss. (Wendy says.) Sheila? We got any mail?

(Sheila goes over to check the mail and among the letters finds a letter addressed to Cortez himself. She recognizes the letter as being from the Hoard council.)

Hmm...one of these. If I know these letters, it probably means you have another council meeting to go to, boss. (She hands the letter to "Cortez".)

Yeah, (I say to Marlon.) What sort of "off"?

(I suddenly notice Cyk.) Oh, Cyk! Hi!

edited 15th Aug '17 3:45:32 PM by kablammin45

"To correct Mila a bit, she more attacked us because we were backing away, saying we were scared of her. But if I had to guess, us not being killers contributed." Finley follows Mila behind. "If that's all that needs to be said, I'll see you later. I'm so sorry if I upset you..."

"She apparently has VA."

"Hm..."

[I eat a little more, not really sure what else to say to him.]

"...well, d'ja go anywhere? The tournament doesn't last the whole day, does it?" [I think back to PJ: of course it doesn't, but oh, well, I guess.]

I hear someone ask me for my name. I say out loud that my name is Kyle and ask who wants to know?

"Ah, another... w-wait, what?! I mean... uh... ...ahem," Cortez said, apparently getting cold feet at the idea of being a de facto government official here in Hoard. "Well, if there's one... way of convincin' y'all I'm not a bad boss, the least I could do is to play my part in the political process! I will attend this meeting!" he said, somewhat dramatically slapping the letter against one of his stubby hands in the process.

Close inspection might reveal that there were slight beads of sweat forming around his rocky ruff, however... Fan certainly wasn't expecting to be put on the spot like this. So much for easing into a role.

As you might recall, PJ has VA within him, and we've been on the hunt for the Vector that infected him. We began to suspect more and more that Bella is indeed the Vector that infected PJ, we realized that we had to pull PJ out of the tournament. He blew up at Finley after he didn't agree to it. Push comes to shove, we end up getting him into a room, where he snapped on us for suggesting that his friend is controlling him, and that we were the bad guys, not him.