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Today's the big day...the propsal to my girlfriend at the Water Lantern Festival. Wish me luck everyone!

Oh wow, I had forgotten about this place. It exists for a long time, no? Hi there!

Haven't posted in a while so here's some random assortment of drawings from the last few years with varying degrees of completion, all belonging to a project of mine I've had for a while.

Gentle reminder that I'm aiming to upgrade the forum later this week. Will confirm an exact date. Had intended to do so today but caught an illness that I'm recovering from.

The Stranger

Happy birthday @yui

Blood in the Water

The Starlight Glows Bright

Looking like roughly 7th April-ish for Forum upgrade.

Yo Yo I'm Kopushi nice to meet you all I'm a massive fan of Demon Slayer, Yu-gi-oh, Pokemon, Dragon Ball, etc etc some other animes I can't list them all.

The Center of Gravity Levi's Notes and Thoughts on Team

Man I haven't touched this in a while...sooooo bit of an update on me lately: my girlfriend and I have been together for a full year dating, I got demoted from site security director back to normal guard (drop in pay, have to work weekends, but a whole hell of a lot less stress), the girlfriend and I are becoming home owners (won't be living together until married, might I add), annnnnd come November 2nd during a Water Lantern Festival...I'm going to be proposing to her.

Chigusa marveled once again at the psychic power that Selini displayed, briefly wondering how comparable she was to a psychic pokemon, as they blew away a few of the crowdent. Then a bit of fumbling around, it had seemed that there were now new pokemon out on the field, ones that were decidedly not trying to crowd and eat them. Well, Chigusa was taught not to be a hasty judge of character and the newly freed pokemon hadn't been given the chance to eat them yet, so perhaps it was more of a presumption on her part. One she hoped to be true. It took her a moment, then, to realize that she was being called to. She looked back over to Shawn, realizing that he had called her by the nickname "Useless." She was pretty sure that she had already said that her name was Chigusa, or Chi or Aki for short, but he had gone and said something like this. Truthfully, even if it didn't show on her face, Chigusa was quite surprised by this man's forwardness going straight from her actual name to a nickname. She knew that nicknames were generally reserved for the popular and friends, and since she had never been to Gallar nor this region she was certain it was not the former. She had been called many nicknames in the past, though it generally was some kind of thing like "Weirdo," or "Strange Girl," or some variation of "Hello" in several different languages - something that took her sometime to figure out was not just people enjoying saying a greeting over and over again. "Useless" was however a first for her, and as it had been something she herself had said she was certain that the boy was also paying attention to what she was saying. This must've meant he was actually far friendlier then she originally thought, already having one of her premature presumptions overturned. As such she wasn't quite sure if the new pokemon were going to eat them or not, but as everyone else seemed to think that she should get one for her own use she was fine to follow the crowd on this one. Of course, as Shawn told her to get one herself, and she let go of him, she immediately knew that there was a problem. She knew it before she let go of him, really, but it was all the more evident now that her legs were not behaving and she was immediately wobbling trying to take even a single step forward. Thankfully her new friend, at least on his end, was there to help her out and drag her along to the pokemon. Dahlia had already taken one for herself, leaving both some kind of snake pokemon and a cow with a fishtail. The Calfin looked to her and she locked eyes with it, it slowly dragging its way over to her while she then let go of Shawn and bent down to look at it closer. She stared at it, as it looked curiously to her. The girl finally spoke up asking, "are you going to 'ai me?" The Calfin cocked its head, not sure what the girl had just said. The girl, looking at the blue tuft of hair on its head went to pet it without warning, an act that seemed to startle the Calfin but not displease it. "Ooooh...suave..." After a moment more the girl asked, "do you want to help?" The Calfin looked around, and nodded before taking on a much more confident stance ready to fight. It then looked back to Chigusa, as if waiting for her to say something to which Chigusa realized that she was now probably considered this Pokemon's trainer. Chigusa never had much of an interest in becoming a trainer but, being into literature as she was and living where she did, it was quite frankly impossible to not be aware of them and what they were like. In fact her time in Paldea forced her to learn about being a trainer due to how the largest academy there was structured. All the same, she only had a surface level idea of what moves a pokemon could even learn were but she figured she should give it at least the most basic of commands to get it to fight. Looking at its blue tail, the girl was reminded that Anna had called it out as a water type pokemon. So, she flatly told it, "use a water move." The Calfin eagerly nodded its head and then went to fire off a jet of water from its mouth, like what someone would expect from some kind of water gun, attempting to aid its fellow water type in fending off the Crowdent.

Fixed width variants of each theme have been added, you can change it at the usual place. This is previous design with the width remaining as it was.

"There is no way you were two hours late because of me! You probably ran off after another Pokémon!" That… was not wrong. Anna had, in fact, gotten distracted by a Pokémon. A Rattata who had alerted her to some unrest going on at the harbor. Not that she had seen any sign of that herself. Still, she hadn't been in the city for very long, what with hurrying to make it to the meeting spot on time. She was sure that Professor Appel had meant for this to be some grand meeting with at least a couple dozen young trainers. The sun would be shining overhead, like it usually was in the Zeia Fields. The professor would arrive, right on time as usual, where Lytos Pier met the main harbor. As he would call it, "the junction between land and sea." There would be a speech, since it was expected, but it would be short, because it was him, after all. And everybody would smile and laugh and even the most nervous of them all would relax. Because that was who the professor was. And they would depart with more smiles and waves, and then Anna would return to the lab with the professor to continue his research. But that was not what happened. Instead, Anna had volunteered to do this for him, and now she and the five remaining trainers huddled in a circle to dry off in a dark warehouse. Outside, a veritable hurricane lashed its fury against the walls, rattling the rafters and blowing rain into the open doorway. None of them were far enough inside to avoid the rain entirely, but none of them dared to venture further in where they couldn't see, either. At least, not until Nikolaos brought out his flashlight. The rest of them seemed to ease up at the light and named themselves, but Anna tensed. Not even the introduction of two of their Pokémon was enough to drop her shoulders. Because she could hear something. Something that the others seemed unaware of, though those with sensitive ears would hear what sounded like high-pitched squeaking. Dahlia had hit the nail on the head with her comment. They were not alone, and the others did not like the light. "Light." "Bright." "Sun?" "Lightning?" "Bad." "Twofeet." "Two others. Bigmouth and dreamflower." "Dangerous?" "Dangerous." The Totodile and Munna, called Chomper and Pinky, both tensed and moved forward to stand between the group and the inner part of the warehouse. Anybody paying attention to the two Pokémon would be able to tell that something was wrong. Anna sucked in a breath. "It's nice meeting you all," she said, keeping her tone steady. "But, uh, I need to bow out for a moment. I'll be… right back." The girl walked past the two Pokémon to face the darkness. Small pinpricks of red light broke up the blackness, which from up close could be identified as glowing eyes. "It's fine, it's fine," the two-toned girl reassured. "We won't hurt you. We just came in to get out of the storm. The light's for us to see by." "Hurt us?" "Storm." "Bad light." "Hate light." "Bad twofeet." "Run?" "Bighouse no escape." "Attack?" "Attack." BGM: Pokémon Anime Sound Collection - Raid! "Come on, listen to me. Wait, no, hey, turn off the light—" Anna turned around to shout at Nikolaos, but she wasn't able to finish her sentence. Something small and heavy crashed against her back, and then several more followed suit. The girl fell to the ground on her stomach again. "Ouch," she groaned. "I did not need another crash landing today. And this time, I don't have somebody to break the fall for me." She glanced up at Shawn and the others, who were all a good several feet away now. Closer to her, Chomper and Pinky faced off against the darkness. Tiny claws dug into the back of her raincoat as several creatures ran forward at the group. One of them jumped into the beam of the flashlight, revealing itself as a tiny brown rat Pokémon with black extremities and red eyes. Anna struggled to rise, but found herself unable to when several rats stood on her, their weight keeping her down. She lifted her head instead to shout out a warning. "Be careful, everybody! These are Crowdent! They're pretty weak, but don't underestimate them, especially in these numbers." OOC: Our first fakemon appearance! I will be including a picture of Crowdent and any future fakemon in the Discord chat. Also, we have our first battle! However, only two of you have Pokémon. Guess the rest of you should've decided to bring your own, too bad so sad. :P However, there might just be a way for those of you without a Pokémon to join in as well... And yes, the Crowdent are attacking all of you, not just Chomper and Pinky. Fortunately, those two Pokémon are also between all of you and the rats.

Chigusa watched as the next girl who declared their stay here walked up to the door. It had seemed that her suggestion to break down the door had been taken into consideration as the girl began shoving on it to try and get it open. Though, there was definitely something off about how she was shoving it. The rain and wind had obscured her vision but even then she was confident enough to say that the girl wasn't actually touching the door. In fact, she wasn't even moving towards it to preform such a shove. The girl wondered what was going on here and curiously leaned forward, only to immediately feel the ramifications of her actions as she took a slight step forward, losing her balance from the lean. Chigusa seemed to be frozen in place in her half stepped pose, a small wobble in her legs, and let out a heavy grunt as the original three to talk had begun to discuss leaving. Chigusa looked to the girl who advised against breaking an entering. Nodding she said, "gracias," thankful as if the advice had never occurred to her in the first place. Then as each of them began to introduce themselves Chigusa parroted, "Isaac, Reina, Qadir," before the trio left. With a soft spoken, "bye bye," she watched them disappear into the rain. Now it was only the five of them left, to which Chigusa could still only stare in curiosity at the girl attempting to force the door open by putting her hands up to it. However, Chigusa found her attention caught by something else. A strange foreboding sense of being watched and eerie noise coming from the sea behind her. Turning her head to look at it, making out nothing but the darkness and flashes of white from the occasional bout of lightning, the girl didn't end up wandering towards the eerie noise only because a secondary noise had come to distract her instead. In fact her attention was split two ways, the first with the sound of running and the second with the sound of the door being forced open. Chigusa didn't know how the girl did it, wondering if she was magic, and just let out a somehow both awed and flat sounding, "ooooooh," her expression barely changing at all as she slowly brought up her arms and managed only a single clap. She then looked down at the pink girl, who had crashed into one of the two remaining boys, and greeted her. "Alola." Chigusa attempted to make an arch with her arms, but they too seemed to wobble at attempting this action only to eventually fall back down to her side. The girl blinked up at her, eyes still glazed over from the pain. "Alo-what? Huh?" She made no attempt to get up. "Hm." Chigusa stared at the pink haired girl for a moment before saying, "hi." "Oh, hi!" the girl's expression cleared and she smiled brightly, though the side of her mouth twitched in a wince. "Sorry to uh... crash in like this. But I'm here now!" She looked around. "Not a lot of you here though, huh? Did the others not see the poster?" Chigusa blinked a few times, processing the things she had just said before saying, "ooh. The assistant." She looked over to the collapsed boy and with a near impossible to read tone said, "nice find."

The boy in the beanie said nothing while the others spoke their piece, but the darkening expression on his face said it all. He was annoyed at their disagreement. "Sure, you can't get anymore wet, but you can get sick. And it's not stupid at all!" By the end, his voice rose into a shout. "What's stupid is staying here! Why wait around like this when it's obvious that nobody's coming? That poster was probably just a prank or something! And you!" He whirled on the girl currently trying to break the warehouse door down with her mind. "What are you doing?! What if the cops show up?" His voice rose in dismay. The girl in an orange shirt, who until now had seemed willing enough to stay, looked to have changed her mind as she listened to both him and Dahlia. She leaned away from the latter, as if further distance would prevent her from getting either condition the woman spoke of. "I think…" she started. "I think I'm going to leave now. Even if I can't start my journey now, I'd rather not start off on the wrong trench foot—er, foot. And it's probably best not to begin our journey with breaking and entering either," she drawled out with a look toward Chigusa and Selini. The boy in the headband shook his head. "I doubt anybody will notice right now. Still," he glanced at the sky. "The weather's not getting any better. And I don't know if it's the storm or something else, but I can't get any signal here with my phone." He took out his phone and showed the screen to the gathered people, but especially Shawn. "I tried to call my brother an hour ago, but wasn't able to. Honestly? Kind of spooky." Despite his words, his voice itself came out flat. "I hate to agree with him," he nodded at the beanie boy, "but I think we all might be better off finding some shelter before we get electrocuted. And not in the warehouse," he added. "Yes, there's a low chance anybody notices, but I'm not risking getting my trainer's license revoked over this." "Argh! Why did everything turn to shit?!" the boy in the beanie scrubbed at his hair through his hat. "What if we got the wrong place? Or what if something happened to the assistant? Or maybe it really is a prank? Crap, I don't know, and that makes everything worse!" He shook his head. "It doesn't help that the longer we stay here, the more likely we all are to come down with something later!" The boy seemed to realize he was spiraling. "Listen," he took a deep breath. "I can't stick around any longer or I'll go crazy. You're all free to do what you want. I'm not your boss. Just… be careful. And don't get arrested. I'd hate to hear of anything happening to you all later on. Would make me feel bad." He took another breath. "The name's Isaac, by the way." "I'm Reina," the girl chimed in. She leaned toward Dahlia briefly before darting away. "Good luck with your trench foot. I'm leaving before I catch that." "She was obviously joking," the last boy muttered. Then, even quieter, he said his name. "… Qadir." Isaac adjusted his beanie one last time. "Well, hope I see you all later on our journeys." Then he turned around and walked away from the pier, toward a hazy building in the distance. For those who had already booked a stay, they would recognize it as Hotel Atlantica. Through the rain, they could only make out bright points of golden light and the vague outline of pointed spires. But even that seemed like a beacon of warmth and safety in the storm. "Stay frosty, but not too frosty, you hear?" Reina waved and followed Isaac toward the hotel, Qadir trailing behind with one last nod. And then they were five. Qadir's words proved true. The storm was not getting any better. In fact, it seemed to worsen, as if determined to make the group of five change their mind about staying behind. The clouds had covered the sun and cast the land below into an early night. Soon enough, everybody was treated to the sight of rain falling sideways. In the distance, a small potted plant hurtled through the skies before crashing onto the deck of the cruise ship S.S. Lemu, still docked at the port. The warehouse door was giving way with each psychic shove. Perhaps it was because of the ruckus Selini was making, or the ambience of the storm, but Chigusa was the only person to hear what came next. A low, mournful howl that came not from the land, but from the sea. One could have mistaken it for the wind itself, but for the deeper, almost yawning cries. The sound blended with the crashing of the waves like the notes of a song. Chigusa and the others would get the unmistakable sensation of being watched. It was an eerie feeling, made even more so for the girl by the deep singing that only grew louder as time passed. Try as she might to look out over the sea, though, she would spot nothing capable of making that sound. Though it was difficult to see much of anything. The scenery would go from pitch black to a blinding white whenever the lightning flashed. There was not enough time for one's eyes to adjust to either the light or the darkness. And then suddenly, the singing stopped. Soon after, Chigusa heard the patter of frantic footsteps from the opposite side. A few seconds later, a young woman who looked about the same age as everybody else whipped around the corner, hands clutching at her duffle bag. Though far more bedraggled, her distinct cotton candy locks identified her as the same girl that Nikolaos had traveled with for part of the route to Khalk Harbor. "I'm here! Sorry I'm late! I got lost on the road of life!" she shouted. The girl skidded to a stop, but her feet gave out on the slippery path. For a second she stood there, arms spread wide like a bird's in an attempt to right herself, and then she crashed forward, headbutting Shawn in the stomach. The two fell to the ground, splattering mud and rain everywhere. "Ow…" the girl groaned, rubbing at her skinned knees as she sat up. "That really hurt..." Distracted by her pain, she hadn't yet realized she was half sitting on the boy. At that same moment, Selini finally broke the warehouse door down. It fell to the ground with an even louder crash, revealing the shadowy interior of the warehouse. A few pinpricks of light winked at the group from the darkness. OOC: A lot happened in this post! Feel free to react and respond. You can also post more than once this round if you feel like it, though that's of course, entirely optional.

Clobbering time

Quinn whooped as the Ralts teleported up and hit the deck once again, unconscious. Not even Alicia’s deranged attempt at a reprimand could sour the moment, especially when she still conceded defeat and left with both of her goons. It also helped that everybody else on the pier was just as elated that Team Phoenix had been chased away, hooting and hollering and a solid three cheers from those who still did that sort of thing. Quinn let out its other two Pokémon so they could share in the celebration, and especially congratulate their newest party member. Normandie went over and licked Pisces right on the contact point of one of her Tackles, which seemed like a big deal for her. Cassiopeia did not immediately celebrate with the rest, however. Instead, the Drifloon looked down at her stringy hands and arms and took a deep breath before looking over at Quinn. Quinn returned the gaze and saw a new measure of Focused Energy behind their companion’s eyes -- a spark that could lead to something more. The moment passed, though, and soon Cassiopeia was blowing around the dock, allowing herself to be carried by the seabreeze and daring anybody to catch her in her exultation. One of the fisherman judges clapped Quinn on the back -- a strong enough tap that it very nearly caused her to go tumbling off the dock edge, but that was beside the point -- “Well done,” the fisherman said. Then he went into this whole spiel about the conclusion of the contest, including an indication that they were open to being influenced by past events. Quinn looked out among the rest of the crowd waiting to be evaluated, trying to see if he was getting swept up in the moment or if everyone else agreed on such a ceremonial appraisal. Perhaps as expected, there was a mixture of reactions. They were mostly positive, but there were a few dissenters. Quinn was used to some level of negative crowd reaction, and was sure e could handle it here as well, but fae shook its head. “Surely the process is important,” Quinn said. “I know how special Pisces is, and knew so even before his performance in battle, but he still should be submitted for judgement, and I would request that your biases cloud your judgement as little as possible.” The judges seemed amused, but did still go through the process as requested. “Goldeen huh, it’s rarer here than yonder way, but still not uncommon… This one in particular… seems quite the energetic one! Very nice… I think yes, a fine reward for a fine catch.” Somebody in the crowd mispronounced the word “Sitrus-y” in a way that seemed funny to onlookers, but Quinn did not understand. The reward was enough to distract from that in any case -- not one but twelve Sitrus berries! It was a massive haul, rivalling even Normandie’s hoard. Quinn was careful to keep them separate, just as xe had with the Oran berry from days before, but the elation was just as good if not better than their victory over Alicia. Pokémon battles came and went, but how many more times would Quinn ever enter a fishing competition? Even if this were not the only one, the opportunities seemed like they would be rare. In any case, with all that excitement over, there was little left to do but make sure hir Pokémon were well taken care of at a Pokémon Center and then go out and get some stamps.Dearest Mother and Father, I have made many more friends since my last missive, and have attached a number of pictures of them. Normandie did not want to sit still for any of them, but trust that that blurry mass of fur represents a proud and beautiful creature. There is also Bridget, who is not a Pokémon but an aspiring researcher who has joined Nathaniel and I on our travels. She is a little difficult to understand sometimes, but people have said I am the same way, so I continue to make my best effort. I have also learned how to fish! Of course, I imagined that I would when I set out on this journey. That is how I met Pisces, who you can see in another of these pictures. I write with the hope that many more will join him -- perhaps a veritable school will be coming home with me when this adventure has concluded. Then again, with so many other things to look forward to, I will have to cherish the opportunities to use this newfound skill all the more. We will be setting sail once again very soon, to the Korova Region proper this time. I cannot wait to progress further in this journey, collecting more gymnasium badges, friends to cherish, and, most importantly, more experiences to incorporate into my incorporeal self-actualization. I will report even further when I can. In the meantime, we shall surely see each other on the Astral Plane. Yours, even in death, Quinn

HARSH REMINDER THAT THE FORUM SHOULD BE UPGRADED LATER THIS WEEK YOU WIMPS

Happy Birthday to @Yemachu who keeps the card maker going for basically no reason besides being a cool person

[Wild Card, Bitches] [Name:] Tobias [Attribute:] Ether [Specialty:] Attack [Appearance:] [Height:] 5'9" (175 cm) [Personality:] Forever a free spirit, Tobias is incredibly friendly with both strangers and compatriots alike. He is quick to act and slow to consider said actions, which has on more than one occasion led him to trouble, but he has an habit of finding his way away from it of it just as easily. Like a child who hasn't quite gotten burned yet, he perpetually reaches for the stovetop. His maintains a high energy, often approaching manic, and shows little respect for personal boundaries. Regardless of the difficulty that he causes, it is apparent that he means well, and is more of a pest than an actual problem. As if to make up for his easily annoying nature, Tobias is very helpful toward nearly anyone who asks him for help, perfectly content to spend his afternoon helping someone with menial tasks as long as they don't mind him talking their ear off. His actual interests seem to lie entirely in satisfying his own curiosity, as he wanders into dangerous areas of hollows just to see what he can find. He has a habit of taking things apart, though his success in putting them back together is mixed. It wouldn't be fair to call him stupid, but that is often the conclusion one would draw by monitoring his behavior. [Biography:] The one thing Tobias doesn't talk much about is his past. He typically dismisses attempts to learn more about him, claiming that what happened before is much less interesting than what he has going on now as a Hollow Raider. That being said, bits and pieces have been gleaned from casual conversation. Tobias belonged to a wealthy family as a child, but an "uninteresting turn of events" led them to rags, and quickly had Tobias fending for himself from a young age. Tobias received an injury while exploring on his own during this time, and has alluded to chronic pain related to this trauma. This injury resulted in the loss of his right eye. Through grit and wile, Tobias has managed to become financially independent as a fixer. Despite this, he has no interest in retiring and living comfortably. His gear, consisting of a metal canister tightly fastened to a harness, is stolen goods, and the group he stole it from may or may not be looking for him. While he has not yet made direct use of this device in mixed company, the seams between panels seem to glow faintly when he is within a hollow.

BANG BANG!

Moved to Joke/OP Cards section : )

hold up I didn't read this right at first its a countdown with 7 months left? Moving this to Misc

As the title suggests xD Tbh had never heard of this brand before the request.

Perfect 5/7. Didn't think a volleyball anime would be entertaining. I was wrong Sounds like our admin vs YCM I watched It's A Wonderful Life once a long time. Maybe next Christmas season I'll throw it on. I've seen Shawshank. Idk anyone who could dislike it. Solid movie

Okay so basically. The admin of YCM (YCMaker) has been largely absent for most of its time. For a long period the mods there (including me!) tried to keep things running but there kept being more issues that only the admin could fix but he wasn't around. One day the site just stopped working entirely. Gathered up the mods and we decided to make a new forum. YCMaker miraculously got contacted and brought the site back but we decided we didn't want to have to deal with him anymore and stayed here. Some people came over here some stayed there and some left entirely. There are two mods there that YCMaker made mods after realizing they had no mods anymore (and then promptly got rid of most of their mod powers, so they can basically only manually ban people and move or lock topics and I think that's all?) The healthcare CEO thing is just a joke/meme. As far as why this forum is also not active there's a few reasons. 1. Forums in general are less active than they used to be. 2. A lot of the active people moved on over time especially with all the problems mentioned earlier. And those that are around sorta are split between two forums. Those staying here don't wanna deal with bots/ycmaker being absent/etc, and I can't speak for why the people on YCM stay there. 3. Specifically the card section is less active because a lot of the people who are still around were never very active with the card side of the site (It's why you'll see RP and such getting posts while other sections don't as much) For a while I hoped more of the card making people would make way here from there and we could have a stable and chill place but I dunno if that'll happen anytime soon. I think that covers it all?

;9

As the bell had rung, Anima was at least a little happy that she had been given a little time for sensation to return to her limbs. She was lucky the Frillish was apparently young, she decided, as that meant the poison wasn’t as strong as it could have been. If it had been much older, or even on the verge of becoming a Jellicent, it was very likely that her entire body would have gone numb; or that, at the very least, she would have been lacking sensation in her arms and legs still, rather than drying off with a towel she had packed in her backpack. In fact, since she had dried herself mostly off, and draped the towel over her back… She had cradled the ball in her hands, staring at it idly, as Confi toddled around her. The ringing bell hadn’t changed that fact; for even if she showed them her catch… She was determined to hold onto it, and keep it. An encounter with a Pokémon like that was rare enough in these parts, and she… Couldn’t help, still, but feel a bit bad for the Pokémon. As she understood it, for a Frillish to be cast out to make their own kingdom, was tantamount to being thrown away from their family, and that… Had to hurt, one way or another. So it was, that she was barely paying attention as they examined her catch, instead, her attention almost entirely drawn to the Pokémon itself as he seemed to pose for them. Twirling in the air, the Jellyfish-like Pokémon let his ‘leg’ like tendrils flutter about not unlike a dress, or a robe as he showed himself off, clearly enjoying the attention he was getting - and even seeming to perk up when they called him rare. A small smile came to Anima’s face as she chuckled, only to pause as she was then… Given a Dusk Stone?! “I… Th… Thank you so much!” she spat out, after a moment; with enough force that her Frillish seemed to startle-mid twirl, tumbling down onto the table, as she stared down at the stone. The Dusk Stone, as it was, had a connection to many ghost-type Pokémon, and had been studied by many researchers who had shown interest in the typing. She felt as if she needed to thank them more, somehow, and yet… Before she knew it, she was being shuffled off so the next person’s catch could be evaluated. Her smile, only grew, as the Frillish flew through the air to come up in front of her, crossing his arms, as if to get in her way. He let out a loud chirrup, not dissimilar to that of Confi’s, but with an almost annoyed tone… And she laughed a little, as she gently lowered a hand to his head, and began to scratch around the side of his cheek. “Sorry, sorry! I didn’t mean to almost leave you behind, they were just moving me on already,” she laughed a little, seeming a bit more in her element as she interacted with the Pokémon than she did with people. “Still… You’re rather special, you know? I’m going to have to figure out what to call y-” "My goodness, I did not think that there were so many Pokémon in the water! I believe I've seen Finneon before but I have no idea what that is, Anima! Are these new friends?" Anima cut herself off as she glanced upwards, from her new Pokémon, to see Anneliese. She paused then, for a moment, before nodding, lightly. “...Yes, this is my newest friend,” she finally replied, voice wavering a little. At this, the Frillish flew upwards, between them; still floating a bit off the ground, as he began to twirl again; determined to be the center of attention in this moment. She felt as if she was unsure what to say, or how to continue, words seizing themselves in her throat as the Frillish began to twirl… And then Jacklyn spoke up as well, filling that dreadful silence, and giving her time to think. “...Right,” she nodded, a smile coming to her face once more, as she crossed her arms; an almost proud look coming to her face. “You’re not far off from the truth, actually, Jacklyn!” she turned to the girl, with an excited look in her eye. “Frillish - and Jellicent - are thought to be the remnants of nobility and aristocracy who perished long ago, their souls returning to the sea and being reborn as Frillish. As you’ve stated, they make their Kingdoms underwater; though they’re actually way deeper down than that light would have you believe! Instead, Frillish use that light to attract food and those who are nearing the end of their lives, so that they can join their court, and help them establish a new Kingdom…” she trailed off, voice lowering. “As… Well as to keep the souls of the departed from wandering the seas alone, because they’re well aware of how lonely it is to do so themselves. That’s… Why they make Kingdoms, after all, isn’t it?” she mused, or wondered aloud as she stared at her twirling Pokémon-- And for a moment, she felt as if she understood then, why he had come to her. Still, she let her arms fall back down to her side, as she knelt down to Confi - who had been toddling around her legs - and began to give her a bit of attention, seeing as she had been letting out annoyed chirrups the entire time she had been focused on their new ally. “...Ah, that’s it, isn’t it?” she asked; as if anyone would know what she was saying. “Confi, your name is short for Confidante-- Because for the longest time, that’s what you were for me. My trusty Confidant,” she explained, even as Confi let out a satisfied chirping noise, before looking up to her Frillish. “...So, by that logic, since you’re a member of the Aristocracy, who sought some friends... Why don’t we call you Aristo, then?” she asked, as the Frillish finally stopped twirling-- And lowered himself, to meet her gaze… Before letting out an affirming chirrup, swishing from side to side as he closed his eyes, and looked quite pleased with his nobility being recognized.

Since the song did not continue down in the statuses, gonna post the video outright xP

All in all, I had a pretty good birthday! Delicious food, great gifts, good family, caring friends. Not much to complain about

The way Bridget explained Technical Machines made Quinn feel like knowledge of them was information e should have absorbed before setting off on this journey, but there had been so many other things -- so many books, so many pamphlets -- that Quinn supposed it was understandable that things fell through the cracks. Before Quinn could ask any follow-up questions, though (what sort of magic? would they have to forge contracts with denizens of the infernal planes?), Bridget had both proposed and taken action on progressing further down the route, away from the baleful statue. By the time Quinn had managed to pack up and follow suit, Bridget was already well on her way. It was all Quinn could manage with their not-even-five-Starly-tall body just to keep up and the questions were forgotten. Quinn was glad to have Route One Oh Two behind hir. Meeting Bridget had been exciting and the encounter with the Malamar was a strong indicator of what the next few steps on the journey would be like, but also, of course, there was mud everywhere now. Every step was uncomfortable, even as the ground firmed up. Wet socks squelching inside wet shoes gave way to the somehow even more intolerable feeling of dried, crusty fabric rubbing against ghostly skin. The only thing keeping Quinn going was the glimpses of Islebury on the horizon, the red roof of its Pokémon Center in clear view promising laundry, lodging, and loving care for zir exhausted Pokémon. Quinn stepped out of the Pokémon Center a couple of hours later, having made good on those promises, having even found time to shower between loads of laundry. There were still somehow hours left in the day, too, and a whole new town to take in. She had already heard murmurings of acquiring fishing equipment and other fishing-related materials, and while he was excited at the prospect of a new experience, surely there was more to Islesbury than just its aquatic neighbor. Case in point: it did not take long for Quinn to stumble across a kindred spirit in this regard. A taller woman -- taller than Quinn, at least -- came out of a diner lamenting the menu, and though Quinn did not mean to stare, the commotion the woman caused certainly attracted a reasonable amount of attention, and when she demanded food with the threat of starvation, Quinn could not help but feel a pang of sympathy. “Oh! Yes, I have…” Quinn reversed their backpack to be more of a chestpack and dug around the various pockets, bypassing Normandie’s berries with a mumbled “No, those are not mine to share…” before seizing on some granola bars at the bottom of the bag, buried between a travel paint kit and the book of star charts. It pulled one out and offered it up to the woman. “It is a little smooshed, but still fine nourishment for both body and spirit.” The woman sighed. “I suppose I cannot be picky. Very well, that will do for now,” she said. The flourish she made with her hand indicated she thought Quinn was doing her a favor, even when Quinn felt quite the opposite as he gingerly placed the bar in the woman’s hand. “I know what it is like to be starving,” Quinn said. “I would not wish such a fate on anyone.” But with such morbidities out of the way, Quinn immediately perked back up. “Oh, but we should acquaint ourselves, too. My name is Quinn. I am a ghost!” “Yes, that would be- you’re a what now?” She looked Quinn up and down, looking suddenly tense, and then poked their forehead. She sighed again, this time with relief. “Is that some kind of joke from… wherever it is you’re from?” Quinn smiled. This was familiar territory for him. “I am from Sinnoh, and still a new ghost, which explains my materialism,” xe said. “I am trying to make the best of my death. Surely you would want to do the same? Oh!” An idea crossed Quinn’s mind, and fae went digging back into eir bag, finding zir Pokéballs much easier than she did the granola bars. “You can poke Cassiopeia too if that is something people do where you are from? I promise she is just as corporeal as I.” “It’s not,” the woman said, her lips pursed. She looked over Quinn’s shoulder. “What about them? Are they ghosts too? Is this city not only full of fish but haunted as well?” “That is a good question! I have not asked them,” Quinn said. It turned around and waved at their companions as they wandered the harbor. “Hey!” Quinn called out. “This woman wants to know if you are also ghosts! You have to say if you are, you know. That is part of the Ghost Law!”

Vanilla, fuck the haters if you can't enjoy vanilla it's a skill issue this will filter out the weak 141

"Your her... help is here!" Min Opinions

The One Who Found The Rest Of You

With Ryia still holding Lucas in place after her devastating combination attack with Keres, Lindow intended to take full advantage of the situation. Appearing at the Lycan’s flank with the Cleaver raised high above his head, the Thunder Chosen tore into the back of his foe’s legs with a brutal two-handed slash. Lucas snarled in pain, erupting to life once again and furiously shaking Ryia off before turning to lash out at his new attacker in feral rage. But Keres was ready. She quickly blasted him with another powerful jet of water, causing the hulking figure to stumble and leaving him vulnerable to Lindow’s follow-up. “Ha! Atta girl…” Lindow sneered through his fatigue. Pushing his speed to the limit, he quickly closed the gap again, this time slashing at the Lycan’s stomach. The plan was simple, requiring no communication between the Water and Thunder Chosen despite their lack of affinity. With Lucas’s wounds clearly fatal, all they had to do was overwhelm him until his body realized he was dead. “Tsk,” Lindow muttered. Even at death’s doorstep, the Lycan managed to avoid the brunt of his attack. Lindow’s eyes narrowed in begrudging admiration as Lucas countered with his claws immediately. The shriek of scraping metal rang through the clearing as Lindow turned the Bandit Cleaver flat in a desperate parry that sent him skidding backward. Panting, Lindow retook his stance as Lucas charged forward. He could tell his foe’s strength was finally waning, noting that the follow-up attack seemed sluggish and sloppy compared to earlier in the battle. Growling with effort, Lindow ducked and weaved under another series of swipes from Lucas before darting under his arm and slicing at his ribs with the Bandit Cleaver yet again. The wound wasn’t deep enough to end the fight but enough to keep Lucas’s attention away from the spectacle happening behind him... Meanwhile, Keres swirled the water above her, moving it faster and faster into a spinning vortex. With all her might, she shot it up into the air and curved it above the wounded Lycan just as he turned to attack Lindow again. The water crashed into him between the shoulder blades. At first, the beast stayed standing even as the water tried to crush him. But his wounds soon caught up to him, and his legs gave out. He came crashing to his knees and then, as the rest of the water rushed over him, fell forward, catching himself with the palms of his claws. Seeing the opportunity he had been waiting for right in front of him, Lindow dashed forward one last time. With his own primal roar, he swung the Bandit Cleaver in a deadly arc, aiming for Lucas's neck. The blade bit deep, severing the Lycan’s head from his body, and seemingly causing the entire woods to grow silent. The beast’s lifeless form slumped to the ground, finally still. The Thunder Chosen stood over the fallen Lycan, panting heavily but victorious nonethless. “It's over,” he muttered, wiping the blood from his blade with a wide swipe to the side. "let's have a rematch in the underworld someday, kay?"

Chigusa's ears perked up as her face continued to be pressed against the ground. While she could barely see anything going on, save for the area illuminated by the flashlight, the girl could definitely hear something coming. It wasn't just the various introductions of everyone else, but the introductions being made by some things else. She wasn't really sure what it was at first, simply hearing the high pitched squeaking but before long a pack of something called a crowdent was rushing them. Chigusa, of course, could not see them. She also lacked the strength in any of her limbs to get herself up, let alone run. So, naturally, she was pretty sure that meant she was simply going to be eaten by the whole swarm. What a bummer of a way to both start and end the journey. It seemed, however, that she was not first on the menu to be eaten. She could hear the struggle of the others as they started fighting the crowdants, and specifically two more of the people here had fallen to the ground as she had. Chigusa had never experienced so many kindred spirits in one day and if the situation were different she would've found it heartwarming to know there were others who had problems standing on their feet as she had. Unfortunately her imminent demise dampened this. It was then that someone had walked over to her, telling her to get up. While this was a task that was impossible for her, she looked to see the boy reaching out his hand to her and so decided to try with some assistance. Reaching up and weakly grabbing onto his hand, the girl managed to get to her feet, shakily as it may have been and said, "merci," as he told her he didn't want to see her get eaten. She was glad to receive such a compliment, and stood behind him as she decided to confirm his suggestion from earlier. "Oh, I am useless in a fight." Though thinking back on her life Chigusa was starting to wonder if she were perhaps less than useless in one. With no special abilities to speak of and the ability to lose to a first grader in a foot race quite convincingly, she was certain that she was more likely to drag the boy down with her than anything else. But she reciprocated his feelings in not wanting to see someone get eaten, broad or otherwise, and so she had a thought. If she couldn't fight, maybe there was someone else who could? "Ooooh...Selini." the girl called out, still in a very unconcerned tone at a normal volume to the pyschic. "Can you shove them?"

"My nom is Chigusa Akihara." Was this girl broken in the head as well as the body? She had basically crumpled to the ground and now she was talking about eating while introducing herself? "Aki Desu? What's that supposed to mean?" While he was still worried about the girl's physical and mental state he was growing even more antsy as the older girl, apparently some kind of weird magician, kept hinting that something was wrong. What did she know? Was this some kind of trick? Were her buddies about to come out and mug them when they were paying attention to her? He nudged Chomper in the hopes that the Pokemon would get up to no avail. "You know I don't think any of us has much money on us right?" Shawn said. Then glanced at the bright and fancy flashlight. "Well maybe he does." "I'm Selini, but please just call me Lini. As pointed out, I'm a psychic. I'm generally not awake and alert like this, but for all intents and purposes, please just treat me like anyone else. And this here is Pinky, my partner. He's a service pokemon meant to help me with my powers." Shawn was about to make a snarky comment about psychics but stopped himself at the latter part of her introduction. Service Pokemon? So some sort of disability right? Maybe he shouldn't be so harsh...at least not right away. That's when the other weirdo, the one that had run into him, started once again to talk to the darkness. At first he tried to ignore her but then he noticed something concerning. Chomper wasn't just up. He was alert. Something like that almost never happened and it immediately put Shawn on guard. "Uh, I think..." He wasn't able to get his full sentence out when suddenly a swarm of....not Ratatta came out of the darkness towards them. "Blimey!" he called out. "Be careful, everybody! These are Crowdent! They're pretty weak, but don't underestimate them, especially in these numbers." "Weak for a Pokemon you mean right? Ever get Tackled by a Zigzagoon before? I'd rather you run into me again than that!" He didn't have much time for more than that as everyone surged to action. The magician girl looked like she had armed herself and the other guy was trying to go grab the Pokemon that the assistant had brought. Which brought to mind his own Pokemon. "Alright Chomper lets show em what you're made of, Aqua Jet!" He called out and water surrounded Chomper as he surged forward and crashed into the nearest Crowdent. "That's right mate, keep it up!" He shouted for Chomper to continue like that. As he did this he took a few steps back towards the Aki Desu girl. She had fallen to the ground and he imagined she would have trouble standing up. Especially if she got swarmed by those Pokemon. He thrust his hand towards her "Get up, and stay behind me if you can't protect yourself." His blush was hidden by the darkness but he still snapped defensively at her, "I just don't feel like seeing some broad get eaten by Pokemon okay, that's all!"

Nikolaos had decided that he was the stupidest person in Lemu. He was a complete and utter dunce. His spirit Pokémon was a Dunsparce—no, Dudunsparce—and even amongst his dopey kindred, he was particularly empty-headed. Stupid. Stupid. How could I miss a thing as obvious as that? What am I gonna tell Vasia? Sorry I couldn’t come and find you, I was dumb and failed my journey on my very first day. How? Oh I just ignored all of the stuff you ever taught me. A little kid would have done better. To understand what had caused such a revelation, though, one would have to turn the clock back a few minutes. “Chomper is awesome!” Nik crowed. He swooped in and leaned as close as he dared to the Totodile. “He looks tough. Is he native to Galar? Have you ever battled together before?” His amber eyes were alight with awe and, to a lesser degree, envy. “I hope my starter is half as cool as Chomper.” He had wanted to ask more questions about Chomper when one of the girls collapsed. She treated the whole ordeal like it was totally normal for her, not even bothering to roll over so that her face wasn’t smooshed against the floor. “Hey. Uh, Chi, Aki, uhh… is the desu part of your nickname? Or was that separate? Because you kinda paused between the two.” Nik used his flashlight to start rummaging in his backpack for some pre-packaged snacks he had tucked away. “Are you okay? Do you need help? Is it a blood sugar thing or something? I have some snacks with sugar in them. You can have them if you want.” His hand was still shoved into his backpack when Dahlia approached. Nik frowned. That was the girl that had jumped to blaming him for abandoning Anna. “I’m not causing her any trouble,” he said defensively. Even to his own ears it sounded petulant. “I’m being careful not to point it where it will blind anyone. The dark is a danger too, you know. Someone could trip and break an arm or a leg. But if it bothers you I can turn it down. It’s adjustable,” Nik twisted the cap near the end of the metal flashlight counter-clockwise and the light dimmed considerably. “Happy?” Dahlia gave him a thumbs-down and walked away. Nik rolled his eyes toward the ceiling and muttered something rude in Greek under his breath before he went back to rummaging through his bag, triumphantly pulling out a package of peanut butter crackers just as Dahlia started to introduce herself. She was apparently a performer. A street magician. Nik had questions he wanted to ask, but he was too stung by her attitude and repeated attempts to make him look bad to put voice to them. He was a performer too. He had made some of the money he used to put towards his journey by playing on street corners and singing popular songs. That was exactly where the money for his flashlight had come from. He would have assumed they had a lot in common, but she was more than happy to throw him to the Woofes. Did I do something to her? Was it some kind of cultural boundary I overstepped? Am I just being too sensitive? Nik was glad when Linni the psychic released a munna that she called Pinky. It was a welcome distraction. “A service Pokémon to help you master your powers?” He wasn’t a very learned person. School was hardly his favorite subject, and the feeling was mutual if his test scores were anything to go by, but even he knew that service Pokémon were hard to get. There was a whole process that involved proving to the government that one was needed and also that they were properly trained. Once the process was done, that Pokémon had a lot of privileges that a normal one lacked. Access to Pokémon resisted areas. A pass to travel through most international borders. Nik shook his head. “Being psychic must be a lot harder than I thought. I always figured it was just cool powers and no drawbacks. Glad to know the secret of my underwear is safe at least, I guess.” Chomper and Pinky tensed and moved in front of Shawn and Linni. Nik blinked, shocked. He recognized a danger response when he saw one. “What’s going o-” Anna sucked in a deep breath and then cut him off. Her tone was even, but he could still see how tense she was. Nik watched her leave and walk into the darkness. She started to talk to nothing. Again. She had done that several times on the trip to the city. Nik was beginning to wonder if she was crazy. She was saying something about not hurting… someone? It was hard to hear. Then something about the light. His irritation flared again, unsure why his flashlight of all things was such a contentious subject. The moment that made him realize he was such a dunce struck. He heard something the moment after Anna stopped talking. Faint, easy to miss, but when he really strained his ears he could make it out. Squeaking. Chittering. Nik gasped. He knew that noise. Crowdent. It was just a pest. They got into houses and had to be removed by traps or by being caught, but they weren’t a threat. They were scaredy-rats on their own. The only time Crowdent would pose a problem was if they had formed a swarm. Which never happened domestically. It only happened in… in… "Come on, listen to me. Wait, no, hey, turn off the light—" Something slammed into Anna and knocked her into the ground. That was the moment Nik decided he was a total dunce. Of course this warehouse has a Crowdent infestation. Anna tried to warn me. Even Dahlia realized something was wrong and she isn’t even from here. I’m supposed to be the one that knows this area, but all I did was make everything worse. Nik was frozen. His flashlight hung limply at his side, still casting a dim beam of light forward toward where Anna had fallen. The pack of crackers slipped from his grip. This is my fault. I have to fix this. I can’t let everyone else get hurt because I’m stupid. What would Vasia do? Dahlia tried to bludgeon a few Crowdent away with an umbrella. Several more leapt onto her and pulled her to the ground. Come on! Think! Vasia would say that all the best trainers would make the best of a bad situation. Know your environment so that you can avoid danger. Not like that helps now. I shoulda been paying attention. Nik growled and slammed the heel of his hand into his forehead hard enough that it broke skin. What else did she say? Improvise. Use what you have. All I have is this dumb flashlight. I don’t even have a Pokémon yet. Getting a Pokémon is why I came here. Gah! Why did Anna not hand them out yet?! Nik jolted like he had been hit by a super-effective Thunderbolt attack. “I’m so stupid! Anna, where are the Pokémon the professor promised to hand out? Please tell me you brought them!” “Oh! Yeah, they’re right here in my bag!” She shouted from somewhere in the darkness. “We have to get to them! Crowdent are cowards! They’ll run if you have enough Pokémon out!” Nik hadn’t wanted to admit before that part of the reason he had been so quick to pull out his flashlight was that the dark scared him. It wasn’t a phobia, but it made him uncomfortable. A lot of the Pokémon that dwelled in the dark did too. They were just so… different. Unlike any of the daytime Pokémon. They scurried and scavenged and hid. They were attracted to messes and superstition said they carried all kinds of diseases. He knew that had been disproved, but the connotation was still there. No time like the present to suck it up. I need to get over it anyways. Vasia always said that there were plenty of awesome nocturnal Pokémon. Nik shucked his bouzouki case off his back and put it on the ground between the two people with Pokémon. “Hey. Watch this please. It’s really important to me.” Nik said loud enough for Shawn and Linni to hear. He didn’t wait for a response. He turned and cranked his flashlight all the way up to max. The beam of light tripled in intensity, shining all the way to the other wall of the warehouse. It revealed a swarm of Crowdent rushing toward him. His hand shook, but he pointed it directly at the group. The bright light caused them to hiss and spit and stumble, freezing. “Cover me, if you can!” Nik shouted. His stomach churned. His skin prickled up into goosebumps. You caused this. Fix it. A good trainer cleans up his messes. He summoned all of his courage and rushed forward, toward the Crowdent swarm. At the last possible second he jumped and soared completely over the swarm he had stunned. A second later they recovered and turned to chase after him. One of them jumped for him and Nik swatted it away with his flashlight, sending it sailing across the warehouse. He kept moving toward Anna without stopping. He knew that if he stopped his legs would quit working.

Lini's efforts were ultimately, to her great relief, not fruitless. She didn't like using her powers like this, and she certainly didn't like the idea of breaking and entering, but if asked to pick between that and spending another minute in this storm, she'd break as many doors as it took. Especially once the storm managed to get even worse. At the first sign of the weather's increased severity, Lini didn't waste a second hurrying in through the now-doorless doorway, if only to get herself out of that accursed wind for a time. Plus, she had to admit, breaking stuff was a bit fun, once one looked past the potential consequences. That was just human nature. The inside was, as one would expect, extremely dark. Lini couldn't see anything inside, despite her best efforts. She tried to feel around on the walls for a light switch, but if there was one, it wasn't anywhere she was looking. A fact probably owed to the fact that she tried to stay near the door, juuuuuust in case. The only times she could see further into the warehouse were when lightning flashed across the sky, and even then, a flash of lightning was hardly enough to have time to really make out what she was seeing. Just shapes and some little red lights was all she could discern, really. Some shapes big, with hard edges, some smaller and softer. Lini was also fairly sure she could hear something in the warehouse, but honestly, it was hard to tell through the noise created by all the wind and rain outside, plus the thunder. For all she knew, what she heard was in fact the storm. After concluding the warehouse was suitable shelter, Lini poked her head back out of the doorway, holding down the hood of her poncho to keep it over her head. Just in time to hear someone address what was surely one of two obvious Donphans in the room. "Nobody else finds it weird that the bloody door was just ripped off the warehouse!?" "Feel free to thank me later," Lini smiled. Neither her expression nor her tone were mocking or sarcastic; it was cheerful and genuine. Except for the glance she cast at the girl who was apparently Professor Appel's assistant, the other Donphan in the room. So he couldn't even bother to show up himself? Again, Lini didn't blame him in this weather, but for want of a means to reach him and tell him the hellish two-hour delay his assistant had made everyone sit through, that girl would be hearing a word or two about it from Lini once she had the chance. "But for now, how about we all take this inside? I mean, unless you want to stay out there. You do you, I guess, if this is your kind of weather."

"Non. There was no bangou on the ad." "The heck is a bangou? Is that some kind of fruit? Did you suddenly break halfway into your sentence?" Shawn's disbelief was wasted on the girl who immediately shifted to asking if they could break down the warehouse door. Even if it was that easy to do he doubted the law would be very happy with them if they started busting up what was likely the city's property. "And I thought I'd be the 'delinquent' here." He muttered. The trio from before seemed none too happy about the various suggestions, and Shawn shared the sentiment that the phones suddenly not working was somewhat eerie, but he still didn't feel like up and leaving was the way to go. Or to be exact he didn't want to get lumped in with that Issac guy. Shawn couldn't really put any reason for it but perhaps he simply didn't like his face. Still he almost immediately began to doubt his decision again as the storm only increased in intensity. So intense was it that he could swear he heard the door to the warehouse being battered by it. "Wouldn't it be funny if the storm we're stuck in broke the thing down anyway..." Distracted as he was he didn't notice the person approaching until it was too late. "I'm here! Sorry I'm late! I got lost on the road of life!" Shawn turned just in time to get struck by something hard, though perhaps empty as well, in the stomach and was knocked off his feet. Landing with a splash and getting himself somehow even more wet. His instinct was to hit whatever was on top of him but he soon noticed it was just some weirdo girl with pink hair and stopped himself just before swinging. He lay there confused for a moment as he waited for the girl to realize she was on top of him when suddenly the warehouse door came crashing down. "Bloody hell..." he groaned at the surprising turn of events. "Not a lot of you here though, huh? Did the others not see the poster?" And now they were just having a chat while she sat on top of him. Did she not realize still that he was there? Should he shove her off? But if he did she'd probably end up getting hurt and Shawn would feel guilty and everyone would target him as the jerk in the situation despite having been crashed into. "nice find." "Oh, yeah, totally meant to do that. I always try and draw people to me by making them tackle me into the ground its kinda my thing." Shawn responded with heavy sarcastic bite. And then this other weird bird came up and started to chat with the girl too. Was she ever going to stand up? "Oh, and thanks to you too! Sorry I sat on you," Finally he was freed from the awkward situation but he wasn't any happier about it. Still the girl just seemed so....chipper that he couldn't respond with all the snark he had been saving up. "Whatever just...don't do it again I guess," he grumbled. “Here, take my hand. That was a nasty fall.” He glared at the other boy's hand and found that the snark had simply skipped a few moments, or maybe he just didn't want to look so pathetic to be needing help after being knocked over by some girl, as he immediately refused to take the offered hand and stood up on his own, saying "a fall, sure, that's what I call it when someone gets body slammed into the ground." Now that he was standing instead of focusing on the girl, apparently who they were waiting on all this time, Shawn turned his attention to the Cufant in the room. He gestured over at the broke down door and shouted, "Nobody else finds it weird that the bloody door was just ripped off the warehouse!?"

Nikolaos ran after the departing trio before they could get very far. “Hey! Wait up!” He stopped when he caught up to them and smiled. “You guys said you’re staying at Hotel Atlantica, right?” “Yeah,” Isaac replied with a smile. “What’s up?” "I'll try to send a message to the front desk for you when the professor finally gets here. Just in case you want to come back. It's only like an 8 minute trip if you hurry. The professor is a good guy. He wouldn't stand us up, I promise." Isaac cast him a look. “Man, I’ll be real with you. At this point, I don’t want anything to do with the professor. He can keep his reward. Thanks anyway, though.” The others nodded their agreement. “Ah, yeah,” Nik pushed his soaking hair back out of his face. “I don’t blame you. This rain really is something else, and, uh…” he looked back at the girl from Borya Town who was currently trying to bash the door down with her freaking mind. “Things are starting to get kind of crazy here.” Nik gave a farewell salute. “Was nice meeting you all! Order some avgolemono soup from the kitchen when you get back to your room. It’ll chase the chill out of your bones faster than a Fire-type.” “Yeeeah,” Isaac drawled the word out. “Not sure I want to stick around for that. I’ll try it though, thanks for the recommendation. Hope I see you around!” He waved before continuing to walk back. Reina gave one last glance at Selini and shook her head before leaving as well. Qadir just turned and left. Nikolaos shouldered his carrying case and walked back toward the waiting group. Most of his attention was on the girl from Borya Town he had spoken with before, who had not mentioned in their conversation she was apparently a PSYCHIC. Which to be honest he thought was fair. It wasn’t exactly something he would tell just anyone if he had been born a psychic. A lot of superstition surrounded the whole thing and people tended to treat psychics differently once they learned about them. Hey. Heeyyyyy. HEY! Can you hear this? Are you reading my mind? Helloooo! I’m wearing pink boxers with moons and little howling Woofes on them right now! Nikolaos watched the girl closely to see if she reacted, but if she had been reading his mind, she was a great actor. She continued to mentally rail against the warehouse door. The frame was giving way though. It was bending, and then, just as it was about to give way, Nik heard a familiar voice shouting. “Anna?” Nik spun around just in time to see the cotton-candy haired girl slam into the boy from Galar he had been talking with earlier, sending them both tumbling to the ground. Behind him he distantly heard the sound of the warehouse door slamming into the ground. The whole situation was rapidly devolving into chaos. It only got worse once the street magician from Kalos helped the girl up and the two quickly came to the conclusion that—”You’re gonna blame me?!” Flabbergasted was not a word that Nik used lightly. Mostly because he thought it was a very silly word, and he couldn’t say it with a straight face, but also because it was not an emotional state that came over him with any frequency. His day-to-day life was usually a very predictable thing. Nik was utterly flabbergasted. He was so shocked that when his hair fell past his bandana into his face and became a soggy red curtain that blocked his vision, he barely noticed. “What did I do?” His experience traveling with Anna had been confusing from start to finish. She had stopped them both to chat with wild Pokémon no less than three separate times. “I started running when the rain started and then when I looked back, you had disappeared! I thought—” Nikolaos shook his head like a wet dog and sent tiny drops of water scattering in every direction. “That isn’t important right now. Are you okay man?” Nik walked over and crouched down to offer Shawn his hand, his expression kind and concerned. “Here, take my hand. That was a nasty fall.”

To say her joke had fallen on deaf ears would have been incorrect-- But it also wasn’t fair to say it had done exactly well either. For the most part, the comments had, at least seemed to either put them off, or been ignored out of ignorance, though, that was to be expected. Something like Trench Foot, or Chilblains… They weren’t exactly the most common of knowledge, especially if you hadn’t traveled anywhere where they may have been the most common thing. But, regardless-- The comment had done its job in getting under the skin of one or two of the stragglers, and prompting them to leave so that there were only five. And, of course, with their departure, Dahlia could glance towards something a bit more interesting, which prompted a raised eyebrow from her as she twirled her umbrella a bit. Though, of course, the act of looking wasn’t anything special or worth noting in the slightest; anyone would have looked at what Dahlia heard-- And was now witnessing. One of their number, of the five remaining, was… Slamming full force into the door, someway, somehow. She wasn’t… Touching it, but she was certainly focusing on it very hard, and it was certainly rattling, like a beast was slamming into it. Dahlia raised a gloved hand to cover her mouth, and her smile, as more responses than she could verbalize at once came to mind. One of admonishment (a rant starting with something to the effect of-- “Ah, so are you trying to get us thrown out, accomplices to your tantrum? Tsk, is that any way to treat prospective colleagues?”), another goading (a snap of her fingers, followed by a “Ohhh, why didn’t I think of that? He must be trapped in there! Perhaps we should all try and find crowbars, ehhh? Though, I hardly think we’ll make much of a difference with how you’re going at it right now…”), and even one which merely spiraled into questions (beginning, of course, with wonders of if the girl had ever considered showbiz). But… She didn’t exactly have a reason to state any of them, as the door began to buckle-- And as, at the same time, someone new joined their group, slamming into the crabbiest-amongst them. A laugh escaped Dahlia, even as she brought her hand up again to cover the smile, shaking her head as the scene played out in front of her. The property destruction, of course, was entertaining-- But this? This was priceless, especially as the girl who had rattled off more languages than Dahlia could count greeted their new arrival-- And helped to swiftly unravel the fact that she was, in fact, the assistant they had been waiting for. Dahlia’s smile softened a bit, back into the grin it seemed perpetually stuck in, as the girl wondered why there were so few-- And Dahlia held out a hand towards the girl as she took a step forwards, offering to help her up. “Nope!” she announced, nodding. “Or, well, it’s more apt to say that there’s no one here left. There were a few people here, around the time the poster said to be here, but,” Dahlia paused, idly spinning her umbrella with her other hand as she chuckled lightly. “Guess they didn’t have the stomach for the wait!” she exclaimed. “But hey! That’s a good thing, right? Lets you weed out the ones who aren’t patient enough-- Or who won’t be committed enough, right?” "Huh, really? Oooops," the girl drawled out the oops, though her chipper tone belied her words. However, Dahlia caught the slight downturn of her mouth. "I guess I was even later than I thought! Ahaha, the professor's going to kill me," she ended her sentence in a singsong. "But you have a point! If they can't stick around this long, how do they expect to make it as Pokémon trainers? Law of the jungle, and everything." She took Dahlia's hand then. "Thanks!" A light flashed in her eyes. "Oh, and thanks to you too! Sorry I sat on you," she apologized to Shawn. “Exactly, exactly,” Dahlia reassured, her grin staying as she nodded along to the second half, taking careful stock of the emotional state of the girl in front of her. “If they can’t tough out an hour or two of rain, they’ll never make it a night stuck camping in the forest during the rainy season-- And if they can’t do that, then they’ll never make it as trainers, it's as simple as that,” she continued with a gesture towards the sky, and a quick thumbs-up. “And, on the note of the Professor, just tell him one of us delayed you-- I mean, it’s not that far-fetched, is it? New people, new foreigners, new town… We’re bound to get lost, right?” she suggested, her tone taking on one less of reassurance-- And now, one of mischievousness. "Yeah! Exactly!" the girl grinned, agreeing wholeheartedly with Dahlia. "Being a trainer isn't just standing in an air-conditioned gym or ordering your Pokémon around while you do nothing. At least, that's what I feel, anyway. The professor, on the other hand, might disagree..." However, her eyes lit up at the woman's suggestion. "Yes! I'll say, I was delayed talking to uhh, him!" she pointed at Nikolaos. "I did meet him earlier, so it counts, right?" “Exactly, exactly!” Dahlia grinned with a quick nod. “And it’s believable, too! He’s a bit of a talker, you see, so the Professor won’t have any real reason to doubt you,” she explained. “And worst comes to worst-- I’ll back you up! Two against one is always preferable when it comes to corroborating someone’s stories, after all,” she gave a quick wave, before glancing around. “But for now, I should leave you be-- Let you apologize or talk to anyone else you need to without crowding you, so if I do have to back you up, it looks more credible-- Wouldn’t want them to think we were working together, after all,” she gave another quick thumbs up, and then took a few steps back, as if that entire conversation hadn’t been within earshot of the others.

Shawn wasn't a stranger to getting caught in the rain. This didn't mean he enjoyed it in the slightest. He wasn't exactly dressed for it but at least he didn't have much with him to get soaked anyway. Something something clouds something silver lining right? "Whatta stupid saying what does it matter what a cloud is lined with not like you can get to it anyway." Shawn grumbled to himself and flinched as he looked around. He didn't like being in a crowd and the last thing he wanted was to draw attention as the weirdo who was talking to himself. Thankfully most people seemed to be either more concerned about the rain or being distracted by someone who was way too excited in this weather. That guy had come up to him earlier with the biggest smile and the dumbest questions. When Shawn had mentioned he came from Galar, no way he was going to talk about his even more disastrous first home, the guy's immediate response had been, “Galar? Is it true that the Pokemon there are 100 feet tall?” "Yeah sure and our Pokeballs are the size of cars. No of course they ain't that big that's just when they Dynamax." Thankfully the guy went off to talk to someone else not long after that and Shawn was left to his own thoughts. Okay, maybe that wasn't so thankful. It wasn't long before Shawn began to wonder if they were being tricked. Maybe this was some sort of TV show and there were thousands of people right now laughing at the dumb kids who decided to stand around outside a warehouse in the rain because a piece of paper told them to. What even were they there for? Why the heck did Shawn care about some task some professor in some weird region wanted them to do? He had half a mind to just up and leave. "We've been standing around for almost two hours, and the assistant still hasn't arrived. So I vote we just leave and start our journey now." Until someone suggested just that. The moment that the guy voiced the thought that Shawn had only internalized he could only respond in one way. "That's really stupid." It had come out so naturally despite that he himself had the thought seconds ago that Shawn wondered if there was some sort of deep seated psychological issue at play there. ...Yeah maybe the rain was making him even more negative than usual. His casual remark was drowned out by both the rain and by the much more...noticeable woman who had responded to the suggestion. The heck is trench-foot? Sounded like some obscure Poison Pokemon ability or something. Whatever the case the things she was saying was just making him even more paranoid. The more he thought about it the more this seemed like one big prank. Maybe this was some kind of special event that this region held to mess with people for their entertainment. After all this place was locked down most of the time right? The more this thought solidified itself the more on edge Shawn got. Until finally he blurted out, "This professor's gotta have a number right? Or an office or lab with one? Anyone got a phone? If you don't want to call em give it to me and I'll give them an earful for ya."

Jukebox Hero

Heart Is Where The Home Is

Jacklyn had a proud smile on her face as Anima went off to learn more about fishing supplies, and even getting them fishing rods. After all, to go wholly into something like this and get that excited about it was too part of an adventure, so she was glad to see that spirit in her companions. And she would do well to match that spirit. As Anima called to them, Jacklyn shouted back, "of course! We'll become fishing legends in no time!" It was then that Jacklyn heard a splash come from the side to her, looking over to see that Anneliese had vanished from where she was previously. Walking over, bending down to look into the water and see Anneliese surfacing there, the girl smiled saying, "I like your enthusiasm Anneliese, but we got fishing rods to fish with! Maybe we can try using our bare hands later though, I haven't tried that before either." Were Anneliese to need help Jacklyn would either help pull her out or simply go into the water herself to help the girl. Finding a spot to go fish, the girl took out her rod and got ready. "Alright, let's see if I got this down. First all you do is take this little thing off and then go," pulling back her rod the girl shouted, "hiyah!" before swinging it as hard as she could, sending the line into the water. Standing there for a few moments the girl said, "alright and now we wait..." Jacklyn continued to stand motionless for a few moments more before saying, "hm...nothing's biting. Maybe if I do a little," the girl started to move her arms about, trying to shift the line's position, which was difficult in of itself due to how far away from her it was, before starting to essentially flail her arms as it trying to find the "perfect position" where fish or pokemon might be. Tiring herself after a bit of movement, the girl stopped for a bit grumbling. Then, after keeping her posture still as she tried to recover her stamina she suddenly felt a tug on her line. Excited for her catch the girl immediately pulled back her rod almost immediately, sending it out of the water to show that nothing was on the end of it. Giving a small glare at the hook before it plunged back into the water the girl sighed. "This is a lot harder than I was expecting."