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  1. 4 likes
    Shout out to @Tormented for paying for this site which doesn't do much of anything for him. Given a certain other site is being filled with bots I'm even more appreciative than before. Even if not many people are around it's still nice to have this place.
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    Dear YCM Community Members, Destitution does not arrive at our doorstep without warning. It is the culmination of a slowly beaten drum. Today, we on these very forums count the days that YCMaker has dared to abstain from implementing updates; tomorrow, we will live in a constant state of wait, never truly enjoying the fruits of his coding because of the anticipation we let to consume us. When I was a passionate card creator, I awoke each day overflowing with excitement, not about what new feature, what new interface, what new shiny effects might be unveiled— what pulled me out of bed each day was envisioning the cards I would create. The captions, the artwork, the attack-to-defense ratios and wondrous titles were so dreamy that when I awoke I often had to change my sheets. Today we count the days. In my day, we got lost in the hours. Tyranny does not just arrive at our doorstep without our complacency. Neither does the yugiohcardmaker disappear without our complicity. If we continue down the currently trodden path, we risk everything. I ask the yugiohcardmaker community— what is it that we value: facile novelty, or our fundamental craft? I already know in my heart that our community knows the answer to this question. Your deputy, Falling pizza
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    What did Quinn look for when looking at the sky for banes or boons of fortune? It would have been difficult for Quinn to enunciate. On some level, fortune-telling was always an intuitive process, an internal question to oneself as it was externally to the world. How was one feeling? Quinn had noticed in their brief time as a ghost that most people assumed that the laws of action and reaction were those of the material. But that was not true. The laws were universal. You had to put energy out into the world to get anything back. The same begat the same. So perhaps Quinn carried the energy from the morning chase and the hospitality of breakfast when xe foresaw the rest of the day going just as well. Quinn and Nathaniel were on the road a ways -- side-by-side, with Cassiopeia on Quinn’s other flank gripping zir hand -- when Quinn’s curiosity got the better of it. “I had to step outside to feed Normandie and Cassiopeia, but you seemed in much better spirits when I returned. What were you and Billy talking about? Or was this simply the mystical power of breaking fast?” Nathaniel gestured to the extra Pokéball on his belt and said, “Wanted to ask him what I should do with this li’l guy. It's a Trapinch, apparently. It has these huge jaws and kinda looks like an armored bug. Billy told me that the trainer it was stolen from should be on the route we're headed to, so I said I’d find them and return it to her.” “Trapinch” sounded familiar. It was probably in a list of Sinnoan Pokémon that Quinn had skimmed once upon a time, but he needed to double-check the Pokédex for it now. “Oh, I see!” Quinn said. “That does look like an interesting Pokémon. We will keep our eyes peeled for anyone who looks like they are missing their precious contraband.” After a moment, hy added, “Hopefully they are not as destructive as that Magmortar was, or as strong of a hugger.” “I can deal with a strong hug. I want to see strong Pokémon.” Nathaniel grinned. “Speaking of, I asked Billy about the rumor he mentioned, too. We gotta explore that marsh area. If there’s a super rare Pokémon there, I want to meet it. It might be the next member of my team!” Quinn looked down at his shoes and thought about laundry again. “Well, I will try to stay out of your way this time. I know you were excited about seeing a Ratffian before I found Normandie and all those Ratatta,” it said. Nathaniel waved the concern away. “There is no such thing as ‘dibs’ on a Pokémon,” he said. “The way I see it, you were the right trainer at the right time for Normandie.” In hindsight, perhaps they had misjudged Nathaniel, Quinn thought. Nathaniel had always been forthright, but Quinn always saw him as struggling against destiny, trying to beat the odds instead of letting the cards fall where they may. Was he not the one obsessed with rare Pokémon? Creatures that needed an extra helping of luck to even find? But no, Nathaniel believed in fate. Maybe it was because he believed in fate that he struggled. It was an idle thought, though, not worth voicing out loud. Even if Quinn wanted to, by the time he reached the end of it, there were already new things to take in. There was a woman just ahead of them on Route One Oh Two, and she was waving them to her as she approached. “‘Scuse me!” she said. “You lot seen any shady individuals ‘round here? ‘Bout so-and-so tall, long red ‘air, jacket wiv a bird on the back, maybe bit of an attitude? ‘E took my Pokémon, and I can't find any leads on the fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu-- the fug who did it.” Quinn did not answer the question right away, partly because, well, partly because ze needed a moment to parse the woman’s accent, but also because Quinn was shocked at the whims of the universe, dropping everything right into their lap. “What a coincidence,” Quinn said. “Nathaniel and I encountered an egg thief who matched that description this morning. Nathaniel had to tackle him to the ground and got a Pokéball to the face for his trouble.” It felt Cassiopeia tug on their hand and quickly added, “Cassiopeia here was instrumental in slowing the thief down, of course.” Another half-formed thought crossed Quinn’s mind, and this one had more dire consequences, so they felt freer to ask, “Although, what if you are working with that man and are coming after us now looking to resteal the Pokémon away again?” The woman shook her head. “Not at all. I’m the victim! Took my Trapinch, ‘e did!” “Is that so?” Quinn said, eyeing Nathaniel’s belt. “That is the Pokémon Nathaniel told me was in that ball.” Eir gaze drifted upwards, trying to meet Nathaniel’s before returning to the woman. “I suppose the Trapinch would not obey you if you were deceiving us, so perhaps it would be best if you summon it with our supervision. Nathaniel?” Nathaniel handed the Pokéball over and the woman activated it without hesitation. Out sprung that strange orange creature. After a moment to inspect its surroundings, its eyes locked on to the woman’s and it let out a cheerful chattering sound before scurrying over to her side. “Arfur!” the woman said. “You had me worrie- OW!” Arfur the Trapinch had clamped his jaws around the woman’s ankles. “Hey, I missed you too, but don’t chomp my wellies!” the woman said, shaking her leg in a vain attempt to release herself. “I don’t got an extra pair, you know that!” She resorted to wedging Arfur’s jaws open by force, and the Trapinch settled for being scooped up into the woman’s arms and some more excited chirping. The woman said, “Bit of a biter, he is. I really can’t tell you have grateful I am to have ‘im back! If I can do anyfin’ for you lot, just say the word and I’ll do my best.” Quinn could not help but applaud the reunion, the second one they had managed that morning. Gone was whatever darkness and suspicion fae might have had. “Yes! Fate smiles on us this day. I knew the winds were favorable the moment I stepped outside this morning. It is an omen. Are you also on a Pokémon journey? You should come with us.” The woman looked at Nathaniel. “If your friend’s alright wivvat, I’d love to come along! I could actually use a new travelin’ group, if I’m being honest. The last one kind of…” She looked down at Arfur. “…kind of left us here?” “Of course he is alright with that,” Quinn said, now finally getting the gist of the accent. “In another miraculous coincidence, we had to say farewell to a companion of ours this morning as well.” Not that the woman would replace Belladonna, of course, but a third was still welcome. “I will let Nathaniel introduce himself, but as I said before, this is Cassiopeia, my partner and tether. My name is Quinn. I am an artist, fortune teller, new Pokémon trainer, and a ghost!”
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    good news after trying some half-hearted fixes, giving up, procrastinating for half a year, building a new computer, and installing but not checking the game, my copy of darkest dungeon works again so failing a massive technical failure on my end the blag will return next week
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    by popular demand i'm posting this meme here too
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    Plot: In this world, all of the negative emotions humans harbor leak out into reality as Cursed Energy. When enough Cursed Energy accumulates, something repulsive is born. For millennia, humanity has tried to explain supernatural phenomena with ghosts, spirits, gods, and devils. In reality, that shadow you see in the corner of your eye is probably a Cursed Spirit. For just as long as Cursed Spirits have haunted the earth, a certain sect of society has sought to destroy them. Jujutsu Sorcerers, humans able to use Cursed Energy to their own benefit. Predominately an Eastern profession, their methods have been used by others throughout the centuries. You might know them as Exorcists, Witches, or Shamans. Their missions are all the same: Destroy Cursed Spirits. However, the West has always been disorganized in their efforts, compared to the beacon of Curse Eradication known as Jujutsu High in Japan. The United States has initiated steps to begin training young Jujutsu Sorcerers in their hopes to destroy the threats to the country that seem to be popping up more and more everyday. This facility, located in Erie, Pennsylvania, You are one of the chosen few recruits of the Jujutsu Justice Association. Give Your All for Family and Friend Give Your All for Countrymen and Country. Give Your All for the JJA. Give Your All. Rules: Application Skeleton: Database:
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    ←Previous Post Week Sixty-Four -- The Shrieker Part Two Ahhhh. I gave a list of reasons this blag didn’t update in my announcement post, and they’re a little embarrassing, so I won’t reiterate them here. It is good to be back, though. I find Darkest Dungeon is one of those games that’s pretty easy to come back too. The actual control scheme is a point-and-click affair. The actual mechanics are complex, but the front-facing ones are, put simply, “make their number go down and your number not go down.” I was able to get through this fight without much effort, though I would have liked some actual reward for all that trouble. But we’ll get to that in just a moment. We covered most of the Shrieker mechanics in the last blog post about it. Last time, though, was more a struggle for survival. 16 damage was more of a threat than it is now. I mean, it is still a threat, and the Shrieker gets three threats a turn, but we’ve scaled to match. There’s never a doubt that we can’t survive. But what my screenshots fail to capture (I do not understand my new computer but the screenshots are kind of lame. I’m doing my best with what I’ve got, but it’s something that will not work next week) is that the Shrieker is still annoying. It’s a bird, which means just like real life, it’s got a high DODGE stat, and though I’ve got Sethera on buff duty and some accuracy-boosting relics, it’s able to sidestep at a few key moments is not great. It also has very strong resistances at Champion-level. This is a bleed-focused party composition, and a 95% bleed resistance makes someone like Damian only inflict his premier status effect only half the time. We lost four coin flips over the course of this fight, each of which would have meant an extra fifteen damage getting through. So we don’t kill the Shrieker this time. That’s fine. The goal for quest completion was survival. We just needed our trinkets back, and we got them. We could have gotten some better shrieker quirks than we ended up with if we’d won (Sethera ended up with Corvid’s Appetite, which increases how much food they eat), but all of these heroes had already braved the Darkest Dungeon and come out the other side. This week also gave us an opportunity to make sure my chosen party for the fourth and final run through the Darkest Dungeon is in as tip-top a shape as we can manage. Yui, Skaia, and ABC, which one of you would be most likely to sacrifice yourself for the greater good? Just out of curiosity, I mean. -r ←Previous Post
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    …In a way, Anima almost felt bad for how quickly she had excused herself. But at the same time, there was nothing to do for it but move on, and try to blow off some steam; be that through travel or battle. She nodded along as Jacklyn, behind her, shouted something about this being route 102; it seemed that naming conventions were as simple as Anima had hoped, so for now, there was little risk of getting lost… Until paths split, of course, and then there was only risk of getting lost. But for now, the path remained unsplit, and so, she walked, Confi in hand. There were many pokemon, and many trainers, as far as she could see; so there was no question as to if she’d be able to find something to train against, and yet…Despite her words, and despite her talk of big-game, she felt little pull towards training just yet. “Further in,” she told herself as she walked. “...We’ll train further in. I’d… Like to get ahead of the others,” she chuckled lightly to herself, as she spoke to Confi; the undead-coral simply chirruping in response, as if to say she understood. In some ways, Anima could only assume she did. Still, perhaps because of this, she found herself reaching a strange area around the center of the route rather quickly, where it seemed to split off into two paths which wrapped around a large, marshy center; as if beckoning travelers to go around the marsh rather than through it. And yet, at the center, there was… A massive statue, partially obscured, as if having been sunken into the marsh. It was large and oval shaped, almost like a Clobbopus… Almost. Stranger still, there was someone standing in front of it: a man, with black hair. Curiosity, of course, killed the skitty; and while there were few more skittish than Anima on a bad day, she was also… Hopelessly curious, and so she found herself stepping into the marsh. It was uneven ground, and unpleasant to step into. Her face instinctively turned to one of disgust as she stepped through, socks soaked in an instant, and she became acutely aware that she would, at the very least, need to change socks and do laundry asap. But that, wasn’t why she had stepped into the marsh, and so she walked up until she was near enough to the man to get a better look at the statue, without looking at him. “Excuse me, uh, sir,” she began, holding Confi tightly as she spoke. “But I, er… Saw you looking at this statue so intently, and wanted to ask, um… do you know what this statue is of?” The man turned to face her, at her approach; revealing himself to be sporting a gas-mask on his face, though, Anima tried not to show her surprise at this. "Of? Yes. Of course. Of. Course." He said. Then muttered those two words to himself again before speaking up. "But is that really what you should be worried about? Do you know how many contagions are in the air at any given moment? How can you just walk up to someone and talk to them without proper precautions? What if I had the plague?" He looked down and seemed to be thinking. "Do I? I don't think so. But I can't rule it out..." “...Because I’d, um… Hope that someone with the plague wouldn’t go out in public, for fear of hurting others,” Anima began to reason, trying to sort through his… Strange manner of speaking. If she was an outcast, he was a… She shook her head. “And I know I’m not sick, or Confi wouldn’t have let me out of bed, if that’s something you’re worried about,” she smiled as gently as she could. “Um… Is there a reason you’re worried about sickness and contagion, though? Is there something going around?” she asked, an almost worried tone to her voice. “Should I stop by at the next Pokémon Center for a vaccine…?” "A reason? Yes, yes there's a reason. A plague?" He laughed, in the barest sense of the word. Letting out an uncomfortably loud and brief "Ha!" before growing silent for a moment. Then, "do you not know? Can you not tell? No, you wouldn't know. No. Know." Like before he muttered these two words again. "You're not even from here....yes, yes. Of course. Of. Course." He seemed to grow a bit anxious and then he suddenly looked at Anima intently. "A trainer. You're a trainer. Which means. Which means, which means, which means....Yes, a battle. We should battle." He nodded and turned fully towards her. "A triple battle. I want a triple battle. I need to do a triple battle." Anima frowned. She didn’t like… Anything about the way he spoke. It was as if he knew something she didn’t, as if she was in some sort of grave danger, and… As if he was looking down on her, for not knowing as much as he did. So when he mentioned a battle… For a second, she was ready to take him up on it. No matter how scary he looked, she was ready to battle him… Until he mentioned the type of battle, and all excitement seemed to drain from her face. “Er… Sorry, but I don’t have two Pokémon, let alone three,” she explained. “I… Er… I’m hoping to specialize in Ghost Type Pokémon, since they’re the ones I feel the most comfortable around,” she continued, before shaking her head. “But… What is it that I don’t know? That I can’t, um… Tell?” "Statue?" The man slowly turned to the statue and stared at it. Then. "Ha! Yes. Statue. That's all it is. Of course that's all it is. But is it? Is anything really just what it is? Are you?" He turned back to Anima. "No. You're. Something. Something about you. You're going to be important. How, why, when...." He shook his head, roughly, and his eyes looked more agitated than before. "Keep going. Find out. But no, you shouldn't keep going. You shouldn't find out. If you do, you won't be able to not find out." Anima frowned, again. “I won’t be able to find out what?” she asked, her voice growing more… Annoyed, than anything else, as she furrowed her eyebrows. “And who are you, anyways, to declare that I’ll be anything of note?” she murmured, voice almost weary of getting an answer. “To declare what my destiny will be?” "Who am I? Hehehe....who AM I? Yes. How can I really know? Name, I have a name. It's Brady. But that's not who I am, is it?" He stared at Anima for a while. She noticed that he kept tapping his leg over and over, more rapidly as he continued to talk. "Destiny...no, there's no such thing. Just science. Logic. Facts...Yes, science, logic, facts, science, logic, facts." His eyes closed as he repeated this. And when his eyes opened again he seemed calmer. "I don't know what you are here for. But this region. It is...." his voice trailed off. He seemed to be trying to remember something, then asked Anima, "Where am I?" Anima swallowed uncomfortably. Had she just seen someone experience a mental breakdown…? She shook her head, and nodded. “We’re in route 102, and you just introduced yourself…?” she lulled her head to the side, slightly, unsure. “Are you… Er… Okay?” she asked, voice as unsure as that was a stupid question. "102...why...why 102...The Professor. Professor Cedar. I...was going to see the Professor." He glanced over at Anima. "Who are you? Did you...did you need something?" He took a step back as if expecting her to attack. “Ah, be careful…” Anima nodded. “Professor Cedar’s probably in a bad mood,” she advised. “But, er… My name is Anima, and I’m a new trainer. You were staring at this statue, and I came over to ask you about it,” she did her best to explain in as calm a fashion as she could; even if she didn’t fully understand the sudden shift. "I see...I see." He muttered. Then he glanced back at the statue and began backing away from it faster. "Oh. This. This is...what is it..." Anima could see a bit of panic return to his eyes. He looked back at Anima. "I. I should go. I need to. I need to do something. Something. Some. Thing..." He shook his head and continued to back away out of the marsh. “I… Er… Don’t see,” Anima replied, before shaking her head. “But, er… Be careful, and er… Good luck, Mr. Brady,” she waved, as she herself awkwardly began to look around. It was only as he wandered off completely, that she turned her attention back to the statue, taking a step towards it… Only to hear a slight ringing in her ears. She frowned, shaking her head rapidly, as she took a step back to clear her head. That did the trick, the ringing stopping as she glanced away, and… With Confi in hand, she took a deep breath. “That’s… Weird,” she murmured, glancing down towards the ground. It was only the chirp of Confi’s confusion that brought Anima back to focus, prompting her to nod. “You’re right…” she trailed off, eyeing the Pokemon around them, as a Poliwag seemed to emerge from the marsh, almost as if coming out of hiding. “I think… It’s time we stopped procrastinating, and started training,” she smiled, as she knelt down, and let Confi down to trundle towards their (eventual) foe.
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    6 October 2023: old computer's motherboard dies. 11 March 2024: I finally get a new computer. Missed this site quite a bit~
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    It didn't take long for Carmen to realize that her phone was a poor distraction to her environment. There wasn't anything particularly going on at this hour for one, and for another she was also reminded that the less she paid attention to her surroundings the worse it got. After all, she knew what to be afraid of if she could see the danger. She had no idea what to be afraid of if she was looking elsewhere or had her eyes closed, and that was all the more frightening. Putting her phone down the girl looked up and asked, "s-so uh...have you um...found anything?" He sighed, annoyed. "No, nothing. Maybe there's nothing to find..." he picked up the trash can and looked under it and shook his head. "Ughhhh," the girl whined as she placed her chin on the table, defeated. Looking at the dog picture she grumbled, "we're both just Watsons..." The girl made her joke and complaint to herself and the dog picture, but then she thought of something. Why did she make that joke? It was because the dog was named Sherlock, of course, but how did she know that? Looking at the dog, squinting and leaning forward closer she was positive that there was something that told her its name until she thought back. Remembering that there was a name tag on the dog, she looked and found no such thing on the dog anymore. "Eh? Huh?" There were two possibilities here. One, Carmen had made the whole thing up and just assumed based on the dog picture. This could not have been the case though as Carmen had always believed her own irrationally paranoid mind to be correct when it came to such inconsistencies. Which lead to only one other option. "A-aaaaaaaahhhhh!" The girl shouted as she immediately back away, the chair rolling away from the desk as she shoved herself away from it. Brian turned towards her. "Can you be quiet I'm trying to figure this out." "B-b-but I think it's haunted!" She emphatically pointed at the dog picture. Brian made his way over and looked, then looked at Carmen. "Are you sure you're alright? Maybe you should, I don't know, take a nap or something." "Eh?" A mortified look crossed her face at the thought, shaking her head violently to reject the idea. "Taking a nap here?! No no no no, I don't want to close my eyes in a haunted building that'd be the worst! And," the girl gave Brian a side eye, nervously taking a step back and shaking her head. "...I definitely can't sleep here..." Her last mission made her well aware of what kind of man she was dealing with. "You might as well, not like you're doing anything else." He gestured around, "and obviously I'm not going anywhere." His insistence only proved to her more and more that falling asleep in such a place would be the end of her, in a sense. Shaking her head violently still, the girl made her way over to the seal box and, in an attempt to be useful and do something else. Slapping the seal on the picture of the dog, nothing seemed to happen. Brian rolled his eyes and wandered off, "whatever." The girl gulped, knowing that she had just failed to do anything useful but continued to start looking around for anything else in the room that would be haunted.
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    Guess that's a sign for me to set it up. And review the available application when I finally get my butte on a computer. Speaking of characters, I have a Digimon line set up (Shoemon -> ShoeShoemon -> Chaperomon -> Cendrillmon), but I do not know what my Tamer should be, so I thought I'd ask the others here for a bit of input. Should my Tamer be: a. A creepy little girl who likes fairy tales b. A boy who eventually learns to metaphorically become a noble prince for his partner's Mega stage (since that's what Cendrillmon's database entry revolves around) c. Basically b but girl for that princely ikemen girl tomboy feel
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    BanG Dream! It's MyGO!!!!! episode 8
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    Helldivers 2 is so much fun!
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    It's in the name. You craft or acquire a role in a story and you play it out. I guess in this context and the context of other sites with roleplaying sections, you start with an OoC like this one. Sometimes the signups are in a seperate thread, but here, they're... well... here. You get the application and fill it out accordingly. Afterwards the GM judges to see if your character is to be accepted That is how you craft and acquire your role. When the In-Character Thread is posted, you're free to post there. Write it in like how you write any story, except, of course, you're limited to how your characters speak and interact with others. Best to have a good paragraph so that others have something to work with. Based on how you specifically asked this on a Digimon roleplay, I assume there's a certain Digimon partner you want your character to have?
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    "Huh?" Jacklyn repeated for the second time in several minutes today. This one, however, was not out of pure confusion or shock from Anneliese's statement as it was before, though. After the question hit her Jacklyn's expression darkened as she couldn't help but glower at Anneliese only to let out a resigned sigh. "Yeah I guess so," practically grumbling the response. Turning a bit more defensive in tone the girl then said, "but you know, all the others were just lame anyway so who'd even want to hang out with them, right?" As she looked around her smile then returned as she said, "and you know, I'm here on the adventure now like a whole bunch of other trainers while they're just twiddling their thumbs at home. So who's the outcast now? So I'm right where I belong! Hahaha!" Jacklyn let out a hearty laugh as she breezed through the subject, getting her adventurous vigor back , nodding along with Anima. "That's right, there's no sense is just sticking around here. I mean sure this place is pretty cool," in the sense she found it novel how little there actually was here, "but there's a whole rest of the region waiting for us. So, gang, let's go!" And with that the girl marched off through the town, guiding her teammates along. It didn't take long for them to get through the small town they had stopped in before getting onto, "route 102!" The girl declared as she looked up from the map on her pokedex. Though she seemed amped to be in a new area it was still just grass and road for the time being. Looking over to her team the girl said, "Anima, I like your vigor from earlier! And I still need to figure out what being Rus's trainer is supposed to be all about, so! I think getting to training is a great idea!" The girl declared, before walking along the grass and the road, only for a wild hoppip to jump out at her. With a grin on her face she said, "alright, time to show you just what being a trainer is all about. Let's do this!" Having put Rus back in his pokeball after leaving the professor the girl fiddled around on her belt before pulling one out. Throwing the ball she shouted, "go, Ru- " "Bu!" "Huh....Oh..." A defeated expression crossed her face as she looked at the now emptied pokeball in her hand, Cherry having come out from it. She had learned in her quest to understand the professor's question, choosing Rus when she wanted to would be a good first step in being his trainer. "I'm gonna need to label these or something- well anyway, Cherry! I choose you!" The buneary jumped at its name being called, then looked to its opponent curiously. "That's our opponent Cherry, so show them what you got!" The buneary pumped one ear into the air, signaling its understanding, before looking forward at its opponent. Cherry and the Hoppip stared down each other, only for the Hoppip to hop harmlessly in place. Cherry, in turn, hopped in place as well as if joining in on the grass types frolicking. The two accomplished nothing. "Uh, Cherry...what can you like, do?" The trainer asked, not actually knowing what moves her pokemon was capable of. The buneary looked back towards Jacklyn, stopping its splashing about, and cocked its head to the side in confusion at the question. At this moment of distraction, the Hoppip moved in bouncing forward and tackling the shiny buneary in the back causing the Buneary to let out a surprise yelp. "Hey that's cheating! Cherry!" The Buneary hopped back to its feet, a determined look in its eyes. "Alright Cherry let's go...use...uh, tackle?" The Buneary's expression turned to confusion as it looked back to Jacklyn. "Scratch?" It shook its head. "...ember?" It cocked its head. "Hmmmm, what is it...oh, right! Cherry, use pound!" The Buneary seemed to understand that, leaping forward and smashing its foot into the Hoppip and causing it to bounce across the ground like a kickball. Then, righting itself, the Hoppip shot forward yet again. Now paying attention to it and with her acute knowledge of how bunny pokemon could move Jacklyn shouted, "Cherry hop! And," The Buneary jumped up getting higher than the Hoppip before hearing, "pound!" Bringing its foot down it smashed into the top of the Hoppip, forcing the pokemon into the ground and bouncing up again. Stunned from the attack Jacklyn gave one last command, "Cherry, knock it out with a Pound!" Complying, the Buneary hopped up and smashed its foot into the pokemon once more, sending it into the tall grass from whence it came. A smile crossing her face the girl shouted, "alright way to go Cherry!" The girl walked over and bent down, bringing her palm to the pokemon who met it with its raised ear, the two giving an odd high five to one another. "Starting on a victory is a great way to start your own adventure Cherry, but this is just the first step. So let's keep it up!" "Bu bu!"
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    Fen wasn't quite sure what she was expecting of this "aquarium" building before getting to it. For one she was expecting the entrance to be some kind of large glass wall to display the fish in their entirety to the patrons before they could enter. Though, perhaps that would defeat the purpose of the establishment to begin with and with how much danger there seemed to be on the streets having any building made out of glass seemed like a recipe for disaster. All the same she was still expecting that was roughly building-shaped, and so was taken aback by the large penguin like structure in front of her. "Oh...do birds count as fish then?" As they walked in, while Fen was marveling the inside of the building Kelsey had already stepped in and paid for her own ticket as well. While Fen would certainly protest to getting a gift unearned from her new friend, frowning a little, the purchase was already made and so there was little point in not accepting it. No, she would just have to bide her time to give her own gift. The girl resolutely looked towards one of the gift shops before making her way down the stairs with Kelsey. The girl marveled at the glass tunnel, looking at all of the fish that passed by, her interest peaking about each of them. There were definitely a few that had seemed to resemble, if not outright be the same, as the fish as she knew from back home. The girl found this to be a marvel in of itself, though thinking about it more she and Kelsey both seemed to be of the same species. Sure they had their differences, Fen with her magic and Kelsey with the variety of unique armaments and metallic arm, but beyond those surface level ones they were both still human. As such, she wondered if this was the case for other animals too. After all, there were still fish at all so perhaps there were some that were only different from a surface level perspective too. As they made their way to a room filled with more sea life on display, now in glass tanks, the girl looked over to Kelsey as she told her about the strange shark. "Really? I can't say I've ever seen something so well, colorful from back home. Though, hm, I am reminded of uh, these sharks that could move through land when I first arrived. Oh, and there was a rainbow fish that I prepared not too long after arriving too! It was, uh, quite unique for flavor though. I don't think I had ever experienced meat that tasted so different and so well, uh, fruity, across each of its different parts." Her excitement went to concern as she said, "I uh...don't know if we were supposed to eat them either..." Recomposing herself she said, "oh, but the uh, the fish back from my own home. Well, I uh, I wouldn't say many of them are as exceptional as those, though I'm not sure if "standard" applies when we're from such different places. But um, hmmm..." The girl put a finger as she mulled on a bit longer. "Oh! Well, magic is not a commonality amongst all humans and animals, but some animals can use it too. There's this species of fish called the Ice Twine, they're a type of carnivorous fish that travel in large schools together can freeze the water to create giant ice nets to trap their prey. They're internal temperature is also quite low because of this and you can store them fairly easy for long periods of time. Though they don't make the best dish raw as a result. Oh, and while not fish we do have giant beasts that live in the ocean. They make travel between countries quite difficult but they're a marvel to behold as well. Like this enormous multiheaded serpent that can super heat the water around it and breathe giant gouts of steam. It's said that as they grow older they lose their excess heads until only one remains, but the remaining one continues to grow. I've never been able to hunt one though so I couldn't tell you what it's like personally. I don't go on the sea often but there was this one time..." Fen rambled about various sea life that existed until realizing that she was just rambling to Kelsey and grew flush with embarrassment as she cleared her throat. "Er, um, but yes those are just a uh, a few of them. How about you? Do you have any unique fish, or uh, sea life?" The girl thought about it for a moment longer, knowing that she was a mage and the sea life from her planet could use magic. Curiously she furthered her question. "Are they, uh, also armed as you are?"
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    Anima had only gotten through the first of the journal articles when Jacklyn and Anneliese had arrived; though she hadn’t actually tuned back into them. It was their arrival, in fact, that sparked her flipping through the pages back to some of the research notes, specifically those noting locations and sightings of ghost-type Pokémon. “...So Ruins, huh…? Guess that makes sense…” she muttered to herself, nodding as Confi idly toddled around her silently in a circle. “Ah, but that forest sounds interesting-” She had only just finished speaking, when Anneliese asked her first question, shaking her head idly as she read the book. “I… Uh… I’m broke, but no, these are some research notes the professor gave me. Scientific papers and journal articles-- the kind of stuff you use when studying for a paper in your English classes,” she tried to explain, smiling gently as she neatly pushed the various papers together into a pile, and tucked them under an arm. After which, she began to take off her backpack, and began the laborious process of finding her journal to stuff the papers into. “They’re on-” And then, the second question was asked; in response to what Jacklyn had said, no doubt. “Are you two perhaps outcasts as well?” It was phrased in such an innocent way; so much so that it blindsided Anima almost completely. For a second, she stood there in almost complete shock, her smile fading gradually as she realized what had been said, and her movements went slack. For a second, she could only think… …It’s odd. Hearing someone finally say it. There was a reason, Anima knew, after all, why she had never felt like she had truly had friends growing up. She had seen groups of friends, and been around groups of friends; they had called each other friends, but she knew there was a reason that she was only ever on the outskirts of those groups. She knew, that there was a reason why she often happened to be left out of things for such innocuous reasons, such as thinking she wouldn’t want to go even if invited. She knew that there was a reason that she knew so much about each and every one of the people she had called friends, as she had listened to their every crisis… And yet they knew next to nothing about her, save her name in return. And was a reason that she was so curious about a type of Pokémon most often shunned simply for its way of life. It was just odd to hear someone come out and say it. It took her a moment, as she carefully placed the research materials back into her journal, and placed them back in her bag, to reply; closing her bag as she manufactured a gentle smile, and nodded. “...I… suppose so,” she replied, in the tone of one who wanted to do anything but speak anymore, as she adjusted her things in her backpack,. “...I’m, uh..” she trailed off, rubbing at the back of her head. “Well, it’s…” she murmured again, as if trying to find the words. “...I’m going to head on. I’d like to get a head start on my training today,” she explained, her voice and tone quiet as she glanced between her companions, waiting for any potential objections, before… Heading onwards. Not being close enough to hear was generally a good enough excuse not to discuss anything further.
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    Maybe coming here was a mistake. Over the last couple days, Bridget had been put through the wringer and then some. After a rather uneventful landing at Korova, things went smoothly at first. Then everything went down the gutter the moment some thug stole her Trapinch! Arthur wasn't just some random creature found out in the streets; he was a gift entrusted to her for this journey! Naturally, she wanted to get him back, and the small group she'd caught a ride with were willing to help. The entire day was spent trying and failing to track him down, then having trouble sleeping because she was worried sick not just about what could be happening to Arthur, but what the faculty might say or do if they found out she let him get stolen so soon after arriving. Which brought her to this morning, and the reason she was trudging her way back the way she came. Simply put, she was being left behind. Bridget wanted to stay longer to track down Arthur's kidnapper. Her teammates had offered to catch a replacement pokémon for her instead - an offer she refused - but they were "not going to miss the ferry to help rescue him." Out her only pokémon, and with it any promising prospects of catching a new one, as well as the very people who were supposed to help each other in situations like this, Bridget was doing the only thing she could think to do. Turn around, and go home. As she proceeded on the somewhat windy walk back across Route 102, she'd been making one last-ditch attempt to at least get leads on her assailant, grasping at whatever last threads of hope for this adventure that she could. Up ahead on the path were two youths, probably on their way to the next town over. Worth a shot, I guess. "'Scuse me!" Bridget called out to the incoming pair. "You lot seen any shady individuals 'round here? 'Bout so-and-so tall, long red 'air, jacket wiv a bird on the back, maybe bit of an attitude? 'E took my pokémon, and I can't find any leads on the fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu-- the fug who did it." Should mind my language around younger people, especially if I don't know them.
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    Whuff. Whuff. Whuff. A hiss of exhaled air came alongside every flipper-smack that Peat delivered to the pads. Nate was pleased to see that the little cub was starting to get his breathing under control. It was one of the first things any fighter learned; human or Pokémon, Fighting or Psychic type, breathing control was crucial to being successful in battle. Nate angled the pads toward the ground to signal for Peat to pause. A flipper froze mid-air, just before it would have struck the trainer’s arm. “Good job,” Nate whispered to Peat quiet enough to not interrupt the conversation going on nearby. “You’re really getting the hang of those breathing techniques I showed you. I can feel the difference in your hits. Plus, look!” He ruffled Peat’s furry head. “You aren’t even winded, bud. See how big a difference it makes? Remember—A.B.S. Always breathe, silly.” It actually stood for always breathe, stupid, but Nate had softened the tone for his partner. He would never agree with his dad. Kindness had a place in training. Peat barked happily and charged forward to tackle him. Nate managed to keep his knees from buckling, but he stumbled backwards. “Whoa!” he giggled, scratching Peat under the chin. “Wish everyone got this excited about training.” Nate congratulated and praised Peat for another minute before he returned him to his Poké Ball and made his way over to the table. Quinn and Billy were discussing the day's events. He had been listening off-handedly during his training, but now, he felt like a great weight had lifted off his shoulders. “Didja say there had been rumors about a really strong Pokémon on Route One Oh Two?” Nate asked after hastily washing two pieces of toast with a whole glass of orange juice. His notebook had appeared in his hand out of nowhere. “What kind of rumors? Where exactly? Did any of that mention what the Pokémon looked like?” Billy rubbed at his chin like it was a magic lamp he was trying to coax the answers out of. “Well that spot of marshy area I mentioned? Seems some folk encountered something stronger than normal around there. Dunno exactly what it was but I remember hearing something about Pokemon being put to sleep. Course not everyone passing through saw it so either it's nothin’ or there's more to it than simply passin’ by." Nate frantically scribbled all of the information down in his notebook. “Gotcha. Thanks. I’mma look for it and see if I can catch it. I gotta get more teammates if I wanna compete with Quinn to be champion!” He shoved his training pad and his notebook back into his backpack. “Right, well, guess we’ll be heading out! Thanks again for the hospitality. I—oh crap. I totally forgot!” Nate reached down to his waist and snatched the extra PokéBall the thief had bounced off his head. “There’s someone’s Pokémon inside this. The guy hit me in the head with it before he ran off. Any idea what I should do with it? Should I leave it with you guys?” Billy took the ball from him to inspect it. He rubbed at his chin again, thought for a minute, then released the Pokémon inside of it. A small orange bug-like creature with gigantic jaws appeared in a flash of red light. It immediately started trying to bite the nearest structure, but thankfully Billy was quick to recall it. “Well. That’s a trapinch in there. Don’t see too many of those around these parts, so I remember when we do. Someone stayed here recently with one. I think she said she was headed for Route One Oh Two when I talked with her. Maybe you could return it to her, since you’re headed that way?” Nate nodded and clipped the ball back onto his belt. “Leave it to me. We’ll find her.” He threw his bag over his shoulder and looked over to Quinn. “I’m all set. Ready to hit the road?”
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    Quinn was grateful for the food. It was not good to have done so much already without proper nourishment. The same went for Cassiopeia and Normandie, of course. Quinn made sure to keep them in mind. There were a few other things to keep in mind as well given the circumstances. As Billy finished laying out a handsome breakfast with more assorted options than Quinn could count, the first thing thon did was take a plate, load it with all sorts of sweet goodies, and place it to the side. It stood there for a moment of reflection. “To absent friends,” she said. “And, of course, the house spirit.” Then Quinn grabbed another plate and used it to carry two pieces of white bread and some butter to the table. It was enough for zir. Billy’s musings still lingered in the air as Quinn ate breakfast. They just had to respond to some of them. “I am trying not to set my ambitions too high,” Quinn said, “especially not this early into the adventure. Truth be told, I would be happy with an adventure by itself, with or without a gymnasium program to give it structure. Cassiopeia and I will do our best, though, and Normandie and any other Pokémon we encounter along the way as repayment for your kindness. However, be warned I have some stiff competition in Nathaniel over there.” Billy laughed as he looked Nathaniel up and down. “You do look like a tough customer,” he said. After a few more chews, he added. “Well, I don’t know much about adventuring, but way I figure it, you could always aim for a big goal, and if you find you don’t want to anymore, well, nobody will get hurt if you stop.” “Perhaps,” Quinn said. “But I would not want to wander the afterlife wondering if I could have done more. I would rather my dreams be constantly just ahead of my abilities instead of way off in the distance. One step at a time. “Speaking of which, we are headed down Route One Oh Two today, to the next town over. Is there anything you believe we should be on the lookout for?” The first response was a shrug. “Not much to say about it,” Billy said. “There’s a spot that’s pretty marshy, so be careful if you just got normal shoes. Heard there was a pretty tough Pokemon somewhere around there but that might just be a rumor.” “Are not all Pokémon ‘pretty tough’ with proper training?” Quinn asked. That got Billy’s attention more than anything else Quinn had said. He leaned far forward in his chair, his eyes gleaming. “I agree!” Billy said. “With love and care, any Pokémon can be tough!” He seemed to realize he was looming over the table, though, and returned to his normal posture. “But what I mean is supposedly there’s a wild Pokémon that’s a lot stronger than it should be for this area.” “I see,” Quinn said. E looked down at his entirely light clothing and, as Billy put it, “normal shoes” and hoped that the next town had a very good laundry service on offer. At the same time, the idea of a Pokémon worth spreading rumors about was an interesting prospect. Quinn finished its breakfast quickly. It was difficult to not eat lightly toasted bread and butter quickly. Quinn put zir dishes in the sink and stepped outside. In hir bag was a spooled wire. It looked like a kite wire without the kite because that was what it was. Quinn had snipped the kite off early in her relationship with Cassiopeia for this very purpose. Drifloons fed on the wind currents of the upper atmosphere. The cord was so that Cassiopeia could let Quinn know when she was done. They were doing okay, supply-wise. Maybe they could get some more berries just in case. Quinn tossed out Normandie and offered her a few of what she had. The Rattfian snatched them up right quick, gobbled them down, and glared at Quinn as though expecting more. “Later, I promise,” Quinn said. The signs in the sky were right, and Route One Oh Two lay ahead.
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    Carmen was still flailing around. She stammered a few times through a couple different beginnings of sentences before she finally managed, “B-b-but it’s still only ‘yet!’ Who knows what could happen? Maybe you stick a broken one on me and it catches fire or something!” Brian took another step forward. “Well, if it catches fire, there's a water cooler over there,” he said. “I’ll even say a prayer so it’s holy water or whatever. Put the seal on, Carmen.” Her eyes were still as big as dinner plates, but Carmen relented. “Well, okay…” she said. “But let me put one on myself. You’re looking sorta…” She seemed to realize she was about to say something impolite and wisely decided not to say anything. It was something Brian could ignore. He relaxed a bit -- though only a bit -- went back to the box of seals, lifted the whole thing up, and carried it back to Carmen. “Take your pick,” he said. Carmen hesitated again. She reached into the box, then took her hand back out as though she was somehow choosing for her life instead of picking one out of identical pieces of paper. She went back and forth a few times like this, eyes darting back and forth before she finally snatched up a seal and stuck it to her arm, bracing with her eyes closed like either she or the seal was going to explode. No explosions came. Not in the physical sense, anyway. But Brian had had enough of this. He grabbed a seal himself. “Grow up, Carmen,” he said. “God, you were fine handling these things yesterday. I even felt okay letting you take care of yourself for half the night. It’s the same fucking box. They didn’t suddenly become a different sort of magic bullshit.” But before Brian could slap the seal on Carmen’s forehead, her eyes snapped back open. “Ahh!” she screamed. “Assault! Assault!” She ran through one of the doors and came back in through the other one again, still running. Brian walked after her, but Carmen grabbed the garbage can and started throwing garbage at him. When she ran out of garbage, she threw the whole can at him too, though it was a weak throw that barely even reached him. “Hey, Carmen,” Brian said, “did you ever see the movie They Live? John Carpenter? Nineteen Eighty-Eight? It’s known for two things. Thing the first: the phrase ‘I’m here to kick ass and chew bubblegum, and I’m all out of bubble gum.’ Rowdy Roddy Piper came up with that line. Absolute legend. Thing the second: In the middle of the movie, Roddy and Keith David get into a ten-minute fight over whether or not Keith is going to put on some magic sunglasses. It’s stupid, both people know it’s stupid, but they fight on anyway. I’m going to stick this seal on your forehead, Carmen, and so help me Christ, I don’t think you're going to be able to stop me.” Carmen waffled, looking like she was going to say something, but Brian stayed firm, and when it looked like she realized that, her face went entirely expressionless, and she lunged at him. “Fucking knew it,” Brian said even though he didn’t. He dug in his heels, grabbed Carmen’s wrists, and pushed back.
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    Jacklyn, pouting as she had attempted to reverse the conversation with a childish "no you" style of question, found herself more interested as the professor had explained just what her profession had actually entailed. The girl cleared her throat as she bashfully said, "well, I guess a professor is pretty cool then." As Jacklyn was about to ask something, curiosity coming over her, she had stopped as Anneliese's comment had caused a similar dumbfounded expression to cross her face as she let out a, "huh?" Staring at Anneliese, getting ready to say something, the girl looked back over to Anima as she kept conversing with the professor. Composing herself once their conversation had ended, and her curiosity now in focus the girl asked, "does a professor go out and explore to find out about stuff about pokemon?" The woman's gaze flicked downward for a moment. Then she responded. "Suppose some do." "And you raise pokemon too, so...does that mean professors are also trainers?" She groaned. "I guess someone could say that..." "So...does that mean..." Jacklyn trailed off, pondering what she had heard until she realized the evidence could only point towards one conclusion. Stepping closer, she looked up directly into the professor's face with starry eyes and an incredibly joyous expression. "A professor is like a professional adventurer!?" A look of horror crossed her face as she took a step back. "How did you come to that conclusion?" she asked. Jacklyn, seemingly ignoring the ladies horror, said, "oh man, that sounds so awesome. Rus, why didn't you tell me you had such a cool mom!" The Lepash let out an embarrassed sigh as the girl went off. Then, realizing what the woman had said though still ignoring her expression about it, Jacklyn said, "well, you go explore places. You train and battle with pokemon. You get to see all sorts of cool stuff and pokemon too. So that's basically an adventurer!" "I..." she looked over towards Anneliese as if asking for help. Only to find the girl looking wide-eyed and nodding along with Jacklyn. She sighed. "Are all kids so...imaginative these days? It's too early for this sort of thing..." "Hm, I thought we were already well into the morning." Jacklyn looked up to the sky before saying, "oh, we should probably get to exploring more though." Smiling she said, "thanks for teaching me about a cool job that's out there Professor, oh and thanks a lot for raising Rus too! I still don't really know what you meant by "what's being his trainer" or something, but I'll do my best to figure it out!" "Yeah...you do that..." at first she seemed she was just going to close the door then she paused. "Oh what the heck, here." She then handed Jacklyn what looked like a bell. The girl looked curiously at the bell, moving it around a bit in her hand. "Oooh, thanks...what is it?" As she asked, the professor then instructed her to look at the "item dex" portion of her pokedex. Bringing it out the girl used it on the bell to find that it was something called a "Soothe Bell" that supposedly amplified feelings of friendship and fostered bonds between trainers and their pokemon. "Whoa, so something like this exists huh?" The girl put it in her pocket before saying, "thanks a lot professor! I'll be sure to put it on Rus next time we rest...or maybe Cherry would like it? Hmmm...well, I'm sure it'll look cute on either of them, so thanks again! See you again sometime!" Though she had no idea when that would be. As she began to walk off to meet back up with Anima, Jacklyn said, "man, she was really cool...oh! Right, Anneliese. About what you said," remembering the thing that had halted her train of thought not minutes ago. "Outcasts don't have to be just witches or lumberjacks, anyone could be an outcast no matter what they do or look like." The girl frowned for a moment as she looked off back to the house and muttered, "like even a professional adventurer..." Clearing her throat she said, "so there's nothing wrong or weird about a person being an outcast. Got it?"
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    With this weeks Arena tickets I've finished another nearly completely off-focus/4* Special +10, being Say'ri. Now to wait for Amatsu to be refined 'cause HP based Distant Counter kinda sucks.
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    "Uh, right, sir." The girl nodded to the priest as he made his exiting remark, only to let out a large sigh of relief once he had actually left. The girl was glad that she managed to keep the whole, "friends with a ghost" thing under wraps as well as the fact that she didn't have to pay for any damages caused in here. The girl looked over to Anna, who herself seemed to have been staring off into space the whole time her conversation with the priest was going on. Following her gaze more she found that she was staring in the direction of the cemetery. With her new found ghostly acquaintance being missing the girl couldn't help but wonder aloud, "so uh, did she go back there?" "Probably. She doesn't like being around when father is here." "Makes sense," the girl flatly agreed. She wouldn't want to be around someone she thought was going to kill her too. Lana didn't have anything more to say about that, though, so silence fell. And still looking to her recent friend she couldn't help but ask about the priest's closing note. "So like, does your dad not want you being an adventurer or something?" She looked at Lana for a while. "Maybe?" came her reply. "I never asked." "That so?" She expected as much, or at the very least she should have and wasn't the least bit surprised by the response. Not wanting to upset the person who was putting a roof over her head, though, Lana further asked, "do you think what I told you about the dungeon was dangerous?" "How could they be?" Anna said. "Words do not hurt." Lana stood silent for a moment unsure how to respond to the girl before shrugging. "That's true." She went silent again, unsure what else to say. She didn't really know what to talk about with the girl, in fact she didn't really know what to talk to people about in general that wasn't work or dungeoning. There was always complaining, which her friends back in her home village had done a plenty, but she didn't really think Anna was the type of person to really get complaints. Nor did she think that's what Anna's father was talking about in the first place. She was also getting very tired and having Farrah around was the only thing that caused her to forget it in the first place. "Well, I guess if there's anything you want to talk about, dungeon or not, we can chat about it. But, I think I'm gonna go to bed. I've had a long day and...ugh, I need to go buy some stuff tomorrow too. So, night Anna...and Farrah too, if you're like here and I can't see you or something." And with that, Lana made her way off to bed.
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    In any other situation, Anima might have felt bad… No, that wasn’t correct. In any other situation, Anima would have felt bad; she would have felt like Jacklyn had overstepped her boundaries, or that Anneliese had gone a bit too far, even if it was only driven by ignorance. Yes, in any other situation, on any other day, Anima would have liked to think that she would have scolded Anneliese, or tried to apologize for her; but perhaps today, and the day before it, had simply just been so weird that her morals were slipping. She didn’t go so far as to chide, harass, or continue the bullying, of course. It wasn’t as if she desperately wanted to point out that the old woman in front of them could certainly have filled the outcast role on her own, and that she didn’t need to stick to any labels; or that she very well could have been some sort of wicked witch, given her personality. She certainly hadn’t already thought of several other insults hidden behind flattery as well, given how wise the professor must have been in her myriad fields, given that wisdom does come with age. No, no, instead, she simply sighed, rubbed awkwardly at her neck, and… Spoke up, suddenly feeling somewhat bad for letting the girls loose so easily. “Er… Well, regardless,” Anima tried to push past the naive-insult that Anneliese had accidentally stumbled into, as she spoke; neither apologizing for it either. “If you put together the PokeDex information for this region, um…” she trailed off, closing her eyes. She needed to move the conversation along before they got bogged down-- And so, she made for the first question which came to mind. “...I have an interest in ghost-type Pokémon,” she explained, squeezing Confi tightly, as if to punctuate the comment with one of Confi’s disgruntled chirrups. “Do you… know of any that may be able to be found, or seen nearby?” she’d ask, tilting her head idly to the side as she spoke. "Hm?" The professor looked over to Anima, then down at Confi. "Ahh..." Suddenly she walked away from the door. There's noises inside of ruffling paper and things being knocked over. Then she walked out, winced at the sun again, and pushed a stack of papers at Anima. "There's some notes there." "Thank you," Anima smiled; as happy to have gotten answers, as she was to have, hopefully, defused the situation. "I'll... Er..." she trailed off, glancing blankly at the other two for a moment. "I can't speak for the others, but, I'll get out of your hair now-- Thank you again," she gave a slight bow as she took the papers, and began to back away from the house. She only paused to look back up, as she heard a slight rustling. “Here,” the professor called out, before nonchalantly tossing a Dusk-Ball her way; which Anima lost no time in catching in the same mess of jumbled items she held both Confi and the papers in. “Thank you…!” she gave another, more sincere bow this time, before briefly wondering if the others would follow... And resolving that, ultimately, they surely would eventually as she retreated towards the center of the town. It was only once she found a suitable spot, that she plopped Confi down onto the ground, and put the Dusk-Ball with the rest of her trainer-stuffs in her backpack, before finally rifling through the papers with… More interest than she would have liked to admit; though, she had to be careful given the fact that many of these papers felt… Old, as if they had been printed out, or written on ages ago. Still, for the most part, they were… Actually what she expected from the professor, in contrast to the rest of the woman. “...I see…” she trailed off, reading them very closely as she began to wiggle slightly from side to side. “...It’s theorized that their knack for scaring people comes mostly as a defense mechanism,” she read the words with a slight nod. “Though others instead have seemed to come to enjoy it, it is rarely ever done out of malice, but rather as a way to cement themselves as being,” she continued. “Ooh, now this is interesting…” she cocked her head to the side, trailing under the words as she spoke. “For further research, I’ve listed some locations that may be of interest due to ghost-sightings…” she trailed off, taking note of the locations… And then continuing to read on to the next page. “Are Ghost Types truly the Dead Returning to Us, or are they Species of Ethereal Beings That Simply Resemble What We Imagine the Dead to Be? Or, How I Stopped Worrying, and Learned to Love the Ghost Type…” she trailed off. “...What a terrible essay name. I have to read this now…” she trailed off; deciding it was interesting enough that she wouldn’t even question why, along with a flurry of actual research notes, answers, and information, she had been handed several printed-scientific papers on the matter of ghost-types as well.
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    As Fen had greeted her guest, Melissa had made her exit, prompting a smile and wave from Fen as the girl left to take care of her own business. Once Kelsey had let herself in, Fen followed and pondered about the options that were being presented to her. Though she was now aware of the arena from her experience a few days back, she hadn't actually seen people fight in it yet and couldn't help what kind of other individuals were gathered here to fight for what she assumed was sport. She was also curious about what sports they had in this world though part of her could imagine that what Kelsey had in mind was likely some kind of martial arts sport. She also couldn't help but feel sorry for whoever this Adonis person might have been. While all of these were interesting to her, her interest was truly piqued however at the final, more unfamiliar option to her. "What's an aquarium?" she asked curiously. Kelsey laughed a bit. "That caught your attention huh, guess I called it." Then explained, "It's a place you go to look at fish and stuff like that. You sorta...walk around and look into glass tanks filled with them swimming around." "Ooooh....interesting" The girl had known that sometimes restaurants kept seafood in tanks of water and then prepared them at their freshest. She hadn't heard any of them be called an "aquarium" before nor were they ever to the scale of what Kelsey was talking about. But perhaps this was just something unique to this world too. "Do you eat them?" "What?" Bahahaha!" Kelsey burst out into laughter, doubling over in the process, and took some time to recover. "Oh my god..." She took a breath and steadied herself. "Sorry sorry. But, no, not at all. I'm pretty sure that'd get you thrown out real fast." "Hmmm, I see," the girl said, a small frown on her face. She hadn't cared about Kelsey's laughter really, and instead was more upset that she wouldn't be able to partake in more of the unique seafood she had found around here. Then after a moment more she smiled. "Well, that's a shame, but I have been curious about all of the different kind of animals here - I've seen a lot of strange, even if familiar looking stuff these past few days. So, that sounds like a great place to go." "Yeah you'll probably see a lot of strange things here. Heck I still see stuff I never saw before." She poked Fen's forehead. "There's one right here after all." As her forehead was poked, Fen couldn't help but feel like something similar was said to her a few days prior. Shaking off the feeling she smiled saying, "well maybe we'll see more by the end of the day!" Excitedly the girl waited for Kelsey's lead before following her to the aquarium.
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    Hug Nebby Fight Turtonator (as long as I don't hit the spikes, I don't explode) Catch Vigoroth (Leftover) Blacephalon, Misdreavus, Froslass
  34. 1 like
    Quinn had to agree with Billy. “You can tell us all about the regional goings-on in just a moment. I am rather curious and I am sure Cassiopeia is too,” e said. “But we should get this egg to its rightful owner first. Do you have a way to alert your brother so that we do not all collapse in a Sing-induced stupor?” Billy waved his hand. “Ah, don't worry. From that distance it won't put you to sleep right away, so just go on ahead and give him a tap.” “Very well,” Quinn said. She checked on zir Drifloon who was still flitting around, hovering over Quinn’s shoulder. “Let us still get you back in your ball for now just to be safe, Cassiopeia. I do not want to take more Pokémedicine from these nice people than we already have.” When Cassiopeia protested, Quinn added, “Do not worry, we can find you a nice sunbeam later. It is a beautiful day out; they should be easy to find.” Once that was sorted, they went back outside to the scene of Jigglypuff desperately trying to calm a Magmortar. Bobby was nearby, both trying to keep things under control and trying to not pay attention, which would have been a comical scene if the circumstances were not so serious. Quinn did as they were told, giving Bobby a light tap on the shoulder and showing him the egg still cradled against Quinn’s chest. Bobby grunted, stood up, and clapped his hands together a few times. The Jigglypuff surrounding the Magmortar scattered at the signal, which allowed the distraught Pokémon to finally stand up from its sedation. Some part of Quinn was worried about the morning’s events playing out again. For example, what if fae and Nathaniel had apprehended the wrong thief, and had reclaimed the wrong egg? Indeed, as the Magmortar saw Quinn approach, she raised one of her hand cannons. Magmortar were generally only five Starly tall, but that still towered over Quinn, and she could see a glow down the barrel. The rest of Quinn, though, was undeterred. Xe held the egg out in front of her and simply asked, “Is this yours?” The Magmortar’s entire demeanor changed as soon as it saw the egg. She lowered her cannon claw, accepted the egg gently, and sat down. Quinn saw tears running down her face. “Oh,” Quinn said. unsure of what kind of tears these were. He thought about physically comforting the Magmortar, hugging them or just petting her on the head, but did not want to cause more distress than had already been caused. They settled for words: “It is a terrible thing, being kidnapped,” Quinn said. “I hope this brings you peace.” They gave the Magmortar another moment, walking backwards for a few steps before turning around to head back inside… …only to be swept up in a hug from the Magmortar the second it turned around. “Oh!” Quinn said, a different “oh” than the one before. “Okay, a hug after all, then.” Of course, Quinn’s position was not great for reciprocation, so ey settled for simply holding the Magmortar’s hand/cannon/claw-things until Bobby came over and convinced the Magmortar to let Quinn go. The hug was warm, though, in more ways than one. Billy was still there just inside the daycare. “The goings-on, then,” Quinn said. “We will keep an eye out for Team Phoenix. But if the champion is missing, how can Pokémon challenges be completed? I would hate for my and Nathaniel’s journey to be cut off so soon.”
  35. 1 like
    Sibyl's grin grew wider as she managed to take another chunk out of her opponent. "Yeah yeah yeah, looking pretty small now aren't ya, hahaha," the girl laughed to herself only to be silence as water started falling down on her. "The hell?" With this abrupt sprinkler induced rain, the girl paused for a moment. Looking down at the ooze it seemed to be absorbing the water, growing back in size once more. With a face full of wet hair now the girl's expression dropped further as she said, "hey hey, what's the big deal here!?" Annoyed that all the work she had done to tearing this thing to pieces had been going to waste, she started to scowl and look around. Something had caused this sudden rain fall and she intended to find out what that was and give it the thrashing of a life time. As the girl continued to look around every which way for her perpetrator her eyes finally rested on a figure outlined by the rain. She had heard noises coming from behind her this whole time though she had opted to ignore them entirely up to this point. Whatever it was she figured she could just deal with it once the fight was over. But, without any proof, she was certain that whoever this invisible man was they were what was behind the sudden squall. Her eyes narrowed as a fourth arm grew out of her side, and with an unnervingly calm voice uttered, "oh. I see." The girl broke off into a sprint towards the invisible figure, the calm that was previously on her face replaced entirely with ferocity. As the slime reached out to grab her legs, trying to keep from reaching the man, Sibyl shouted, "I'll get back to you!" and jumped over the arms. With one of her shadowed fists the girl had very easily punched the invisible man, he himself not seeming to put up much resistance. "If you want to get involved in the fight so bad then I'll be glad to welcome to you to it!" The demonic villain then grabbed what she believed to be his head, lifting him up and smashing him back into the ground over and over again, a few curses being muttered from the figure as he was manhandled. Letting go of the man as the slime monster made its way back to her she said, "oh right, you!" Sibyl's expression was haphazardly shifting between enraged and gleeful as she stomped on the man's head, hearing a crunch of glass beneath her shadowed covered feet. "Then I'll just tear you both apart!" The slime used its massive bulk to try and envelope the girl as soon as it got close enough, however Sibyl seemed fine to engage it in a test of strength with this creature. The two arms that had been mouths beforehand slowly started to bulk up and lose any semblance of shape, becoming just blobs of darkness at the end of her arms. Smashing them against the creature's body, pushing it back, the girl then morphed the two other arms coming from her waist into mantis blades beginning to slash repeatedly and tear the slime out one chunk at a time. The girl's eyes then focused on something, a black basketball sized sphere darting about inside the slime. "What do we have here?" The orb was, however, out of her reach. To make matters worse she could feel the slime beginning to try and toss her to the ground once more. However, rather than back off the girl continued to press forward. Turning her mantis blades back to claws, the girl dug her hands into the slime. Rather than just be tossed again she decided she would try its own move against it. As the girl was lifted in the air, with her claws well dug into its body, the slime tore itself in half as the tossed it over her head and onto the ground, smashing the slime there. Getting back on her feet Sibyl, now flanked on both sides by two slime halves, let out a low and feral growl. Eyeing the orb in the bottom half of the slime she said, "let's see how much longer you can play this game of keep away."
  36. 1 like
    I'm setting myself a reminder to reply to this later. I've now seen it and I acknowledge it. Once I have the time, I'll do you a proper response that is unlike my usual lazy/busy ways. Sorry for making you wait.
  37. 1 like
    With her warning having been issued to Keres and the elves, Ryia saw that the one approaching the elves was not stopping any time soon. The two of them were barely able to handle the one they were dealing with as was, and she felt getting into a coordinated two versus three with two vastly stronger enemies would be much worse then simply splitting them off. As a result, seeing that the wolf was charging towards Pan, Ryia decided to meet the challenge head on once again. As she started she called out, "Ackrin, help those two," to which the earth spirt merely nodded and turned to face them. Ryia kept moving towards the wolf, knowing that if she just stood still like normal it was likely to pounce or grapple her which would put her in an unfavorable position. She would lose in a straight up clash, still, and so decided to test the waters instead. Bringing up her shield, the girl moved to bash away whatever attack it was going to send however the wolf had the faster reactions moving away and getting struck only in the shoulder by her failed parry. Ryia twisted away from the lycan, now close enough to reach for her face, and swung her mace only for it to end up in the outstretched creature's hand. Ryia knew that this werewolf was stronger than her and felt that getting into a contest of pure strength would result in her defeat. As such, the girl quickly stepped back and drew her long sword, only for the Lycan to toss her mace into the woods behind it. The girl frowned, having some attachment to the weapon and feeling annoyed at it just being casually tossed by the werewolf, but would worry about it later. Stepping quickly in the girl swung her sword at the lycan's shoulder, the blade digging into its flesh only for the opponent to quickly swipe and pierce through her armor with its claw into her shoulder in retaliation. The girl attempted to step away to not be in grapple range, grimacing as she felt the pain radiating through her arm, but the lycan had another idea as it continued to put the pressure on her and advance. Thinking quickly to her fight against the previous Lycan the girl slid her foot back again, conjuring once more and earth wall to propel the Lycan into the air. The werewolf hadn't noticed what was happening until it was already in the air, perched on top of her magical construct with unsteady footing, but looked down and poised to dive off towards her. Taking advantage of the situation, Ryia quickly backed away from the wall so as to not be pounced on however was not fully retreating. Once the Lycan had descended, Ryia quickly charged the lycan to take it unaware. The lycan for its part was surprised as suddenly, regaining its footing after landing, it found a blade in its neck. The Earth Chosen continued to press her strength against the sword to keep it lodged in their and, after a howl of pain, the Lycan lunged forward to bite down on her. Bringing up her shield, Ryia stopped the Lycan from chomping down on her, struggling as she pushed back against the creature's mouth. As she continued to press the blade deeper, the Lycan had no sense to retreat and realized in this contest time was not on its side. Grabbing the girl's side trying to push down on her, the girl could feel its strength and weight trying to overwhelm her as she continued to push back. Though her loss seemed inevitable at this point, she suddenly felt a gust of wind push against her pushing her blade deeper into the creature's neck. As the blood continued to flow and the wound grew, Ryia could feel the Lycan was losing strength and decided to keep up the pressure. Mustering up all the strength she could, the girl parried away the head she was forcing back with her shield. While the lycan was tossed off balance, it sent a wild claw out, striking into her armor once more and piercing her side. Wincing in pain once more, feeling the strong claw tear part of her flesh the girl let out a shout before pulling her blade back and swinging once more, digging deep enough into the lycan's neck that the creature toppled over, dead and bleeding. Panting from the wounds she was accumulating as well as how much effort it took to defeat just one of these, Ryia caught her breath before looking to where to go next. Ackrin, meanwhile, continued to stay his vigil. Waiting for a moment that a distraction would aid the two elves, to shoot rocks at the lycan to provide such a distraction.
  38. 1 like
    Aaaand that's it! This was a tough one to get going but we managed it in the end. In 4th place, one of what I assumed would be in finals, Fable! In 3rd place, the not quite as loved sequel, Halo 2 In 2nd place, the hilariously out of place Sonic Riders! And in 1st place, probably the best known Xbox game, a game that essentially made the system. Halo: Combat Evolved!
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