Pokemon: Mind and Soul [IC / PG / Not Accepting / Co-Hosted by Skaia]

[Mr. Hyde 204]

The stream of water didn't seem to affect the Skrelp much, as the Pokemon seemed only displaced in the water.  Luckily, their instructor, and guide, was able to land a clean electric attack with their Chinchou.  It knocked the Skrelp out quite effectively.  Oswald kept holding onto Snipe as if he were some kind of automatic weapon, scanning the now murky waters for more Skrelp.  One of them must have let loose a smokescreen to hamper their vision.  Knowing how ineffective Water Gun was going to be here, he opted to use it strategically.  Squeezing snipe once more, the Remoraid let out a jet of water that seemed to scatter most of the clouded water.  

Once a Skrelp was in view, Oswald aimed Snipe in it's direction.  Snipe's eyes seemed to hone in on their target as well, Locking On to the Skrelp.  With another gentle squeeze, Snipe opted to shoot out a glob of mud at a incredible speed towards the Pokemon.  

[LordCowCow 842]

The Skrelp that had tried to attack Bubbles seemed to be confused as they Pokemon they were attacking vanished into thin air. Still they were hiding within the smoke. And all of the remaining Skrelp, three uninjured and one injured, flocked together under the screen. However the smoke was soon displaced by Snipe's attack and the four Pokemon seemed to panic.

As the clerk's Chinchou fired off an Electro Ball at the group they were forced to scatter to avoid it. Which was when Snipe's Mud Shot struck the slowest to move, the injured one. They were covered with the mud and immediately began to sink as it was too weakened to shake off the mud.

The other three didn't bother trying to regroup. Instead they each went for a different Pokemon. One made its way towards Ursula and, as it got close, hesitated when seeing the reflective barrier in front of it. Instead of charging they shot out a jet of water from its mouth.

The other two went for a more physical approach. The clerk's Chinchou was hit by a Faint Attack while Oswald himself was in danger of one of the Skrelp Tackling him directly. As it got closer Oswald would see the poisonous liquid on the Skrelp's body which would potentially inflict the Poison status on contact.

---

"if this building is haunted, then it's up to an adventurer to clear out any malignant or wayward spirits that are still here."

Dennis looked horrified at the girl's enthusiasm. Was she serious? She wasn't afraid? A ghost appeared right in front of her and it made her want to stay even more? He shuffled back a little, shaking his head. "You're absolutely insane." He accused, eyes wide.

"My Gummy Bewears!"

He jumped as the girl suddenly appeared and made a dive for the snack that the ghost had dropped at his feet. He let out a groan. "Not another..." And then he looked down.

And his face turned bright red.

The ghostly hands grabbed tightly onto the bag of gummies as Belle tried to wrest it from them. The two struggled together as Dennis watched, uncertain how to respond.

Then, finally, he spoke up. "L-let her have it, Haunter." He said, stumbling over his words.

The ghost hesitated, then let go of its grasp on the snack. Which caused Belle to fall backwards from its suddenness.

Dennis winced, hesitated, then stepped forward. He offered a shaky, sweaty, hand to Belle. "S-sorry about that. Um. Do you. Uh. Need help?" He stared at the girl before shaking his head. "I er, I'm Dennis. Name, you? Er...what's your name?"

The ghostly hands hovered over Dennis's shoulder. Then the rest of the "ghost's" body appeared. Revealing a large, purple, Haunter. It looked over at Ivan and Jacklyn and let out a laugh-like sounding "Haaaun haun haun...teeer".

[Skaia 579]

Jacklyn didn't seem to be bothered by the boy's comment, her fixation on the cleansing of the lighthouse seeming to take precedent there. However, as she heard the shouting of her companion about not liking ghosts, Jacklyn looked surprised and looked around for a second. "Man, it's like she's here with us right now," Jacklyn said towards Ivan. It didn't take long, however, for Belle to actually come up from the stairs and Jacklyn to look excitedly at the girl. "Belle! You made it. Just in time too, we were just about to - " however, she didn't say much more as she and the snack hand ghost went into a match of tug of war. While Jacklyn watched excitedly at the display of zeal that Belle seemed to have in getting her snacks back, this eventually gave way to something else as Dennis called off the ghost. 

Seeing just a regular Haunter appear, the girl's excited face suddenly gave way to a sigh and shear disappointment as she said, "laaaaaame." Deflated once again, Jacklyn waved the Haunter off saying, "well, not you. But," she then looked to the boy, clearly annoyed as she said, "you. You fooled me into thinking there was an adventure to be had in this lighthouse not once, but twice!" Looking at Belle and Dennis, something else clicked in the girl as,  almost as if an after thought she said, "and you stole my friend's snacks. What do you have to say for yourself?"  

[Sethera 290]

Belle was about to lift her precious Gummy Bewears from the floor when the evil pair of hands struck again! Truly, it was a sad and terrible day filled with horrifying memories such as walking, battling, climbing stairs, and now, to add insult to injury, these hands were trying to steal her Gummy Bewears! Again! She would not let this travesty happen again. Once was bad enough.

"Belle! You made it. Just in time too, we were just about to - "

"Not now, Jacklyn," the blue-haired girl gritted out. "I have a mission before me right now." Her eyes narrowed with laser focus on the pair of hands in front of her, almost as if she were sniper from Call to Duty looking through a scope lens. Those hands were currently holding onto the loot, the precious bag of Gummy Bewears. Tugging on the bag, she felt a tug back. "For a ghost, you're pretty strong," she muttered, heaving back with all her strength.

"L-let her have it, Haunter."

Those words didn't register at first, not until the bluenette fell backward, having used so much strength that once the equal force on the other side had stopped, she just was bowled over backward. "Ow..." she muttered, before brightening when she realized she had retained grasp of the Gummy Bewears. "Yes! I win! My Gummy Bewears! Mine! My precious..."

The girl remembered her surroundings when a hand entered her field of view. "S-sorry about that. Um. Do you. Uh. Need help?" What? "I er, I'm Dennis. Name, you? Er...what's your name?"

Belle blinked, not exactly sure what she was supposed to do right now, before a lightbulb lit up in her head. Oh yes, this is just like when Kyousuke offers his hand to Sakura when she fell over. So I suppose I should take it? Putting the hand that wasn't grasping onto the Gummy Bewears over his palm, she used it as leverage to get herself back off the ground. Which she needed. Any forms of exercise, including getting up from a sitting position, was not something she could do very well. Or at all. "Thanks," she replied, before remembering that this strange boy had asked a question. Though not very well. "I'm Belle. What're you doing here?" she asked bluntly, glancing around the room. Now that the emergency was over, she felt her eyelids start to droop again. "Oh, nice, looks jus' like m'room," she observed.

Except that she usually just used her powers to throw the trash into the trash can, so the floor was generally clean of wrappers, but the actual trash can was overflowing. Walking outside her room to empty the trash was just so much of a hassle. The girl's eyes widened in recognition when she saw a comic book on the ground. "Huh? You read Gligarman too? What do you think of the newest edition? I heard they're bringing in a new character, Gligirl, to appeal to the burgeoning female demographic. I haven't been able to keep up with it lately because I've been on a dumb Pokémon journey, though. Did Gligarman ever get rid of the bombs that Mr. Mimer planted on the S.S. Anna?"

She cut off her impassioned rant, however, at seeing a familiar pair of ghostly hands on this boy's, Dennis's shoulder. "We meet again, Mr. Ghostly Hands," she said, eyes narrowing even more when they appeared to be attached--or not attached, actually--to a Haunter.

Jacklyn appeared to have different thoughts, however, "laaaaaame." The girl seemed to deflate, waving the Haunter off saying, "well, not you. But," she then looked to the boy, clearly annoyed as she said, "you. You fooled me into thinking there was an adventure to be had in this lighthouse not once, but twice!" Looking at Belle and Dennis, something else clicked in the girl as, almost as if an after thought she said, "and you stole my friend's snacks. What do you have to say for yourself?"

What?! Belle jumped away from the boy as if burned. "So you ordered your Haunter to steal my Gummy Bewears, huh?" she scowled. "You almost tricked me, but I won't be tricked twice. They're mine," she held the bag against her chest protectively, using her other hand to catch a couple falling Gummy Bewears before they hit the floor. Stuffing them in her mouth, she continued to glare at Dennis and the Haunter, more specifically the Haunter, cheeks slightly puffed out.

Edited July 5, 2019 by Sethera

[yui 577]

Location: Skrelp Harbor
Poké: 0

Kanon had gotten Bubbles out of that pinch at least. Ursula - after preparing herself to fight - was met with a jet of water from one of the Skrelps. It didn't seem pleasant for her, but she pressed on, swimming through and around her assailant and toward the Skrelp heading for Oswald's pokemon. And with an impressively unintimidating battle cry that nobody could hear underwater anyway, it reared its head back and pecked at the Skrelp with all it had in it. So she's more of a team player, Kanon noted. That was probably for the best right now, especially when none of the trainers could communicate.

[Mr. Hyde 204]

His tactics had worked, and were enough to down another Skrelp.  With their numbers lowered, the Skrelp now went on a suicidal offensive, each intending on running themselves into one of the three.  Thank goodness Naomi wasn't here after all, she would've definitely gotten hurt.  Oswald noticed that the Skrelp that approached him was dripping with poison.  No doubt getting hit by any attack from that Pokemon would result in him getting the point.  He waited for the moment when the Skrelp was closest to give Snipe another squeeze around his scales.  However, Bubbles had gotten in the way and started attacking the Skrelp with a tiny fury.  Oswald groaned, bubbles rising from his re-breather.  He had the situation under control.  He then took aim on a Skrelp that approached the now defenseless Kanon, and squeezed the Remoraid once more.  instead of firing off another Mud Shot, the Skrelp was pushed back by a small torrent of water.  Oswald released his grip from Snipe, and then squeezed again.  

This time, another Mud Shot was fired at the disoriented Skrelp.  It seemed that Snipe liked to alternate fire.  

[reparoni 161]

 

---

Ivan rolled his eyes as he clarified that he wasn't a kid, at the age of 15. "Whatever you say, kid." He said, rolling his shoulder. There didn't seem to be anything else of note here. At least, not until the ghost hands came up from behind them. The ghostly hands dropped a pack of more unhealthy snacks near the boy as he claimed the place to be haunted. Ivan simply rolled his eyes once again, turning to Jacklyn. He was sure even she could see part this dumb charade - after all, it wasn't like Ghost-type Pokemon were uncommon, and they hadn't seen any signs that the place was haunted up until now.

He was completely wrong, as Jacklyn seemed to buy the whole thing. However, instead of being terrified it seemed to spark a new interest in the place. "You know it's not really haunted, right?" She seemed to ignore him, turning towards the boy. Ivan simply shrugged his shoulders, before a realization came to him as Jacklyne mentioned Belle. The Gummy Bewears seemed to have been partially eaten already, and he doubted the ghost ate them itself. Did that mean that these were...?

Ivan turned at the sudden outburst that came from the stairs. Just as he had imagined, these treats were hers, and she didn't seem at all pleased with them being robbed. She immediately went for the snacks in the phantom's hands, although the tug of war didn't seem to last as Dennis called off the Haunter. "I knew it." Ivan said, scoffing towards the Haunter as he heard Jacklyn's enthusiasm falter. As Belle and Dennis talked, the more alike they seemed to be. Ivan made a mental note to get the girl a more healthy alternative, before things took a twist as Belle and Jacklyn were upset for vastly different reasons.

"So do you normally go around stealing things with your Haunter?" Ivan said, pointing towards the ghost.

[LordCowCow 842]

"Belle." Dennis repeated dreamily. Belle. What a nice name that was.

"Oh, nice, looks jus' like m'room,"

"O-oh really?" Dennis said, laughing awkwardly. "Yeah it's not much...not that I'm saying your room isn't much I'm sure it's cool but uh....um." Dennis's ramble seemed to have not been noticed as the girl noticed his comic and started talking about the character like a true fan. Which caused the boy's jaw to drop as he stared at her in complete awe.

He shook his head as she confronted his Haunter. He didn't understand what was going on with him but whatever it was his danger sense was starting to kick in now.

"So you ordered your Haunter to steal my Gummy Bewears, huh?"

"N-no!" Dennis stammered. He didn't want her thinking that! "I didn't ask him to do anything! I swear!" He began sweating as the other two came up as well. Surrounding him. Accusing him. Oh no. Oh Arceus.

He whimpered slightly and took a step backwards. "He just...he just brings me things. Food. So I can eat. That's all." His eyes darted from the group to the windows to the trap door. Then he called out "J-just leave me alone! I didn't do anything to you just stay away." He backed up more. The Haunter by his side stopped laughing now and was watching the group warily.

It then shot out a ghostly ray that struck Ivan. Causing the boy to suffer the effects of Confusion.

Dennis's eyes widened, he jumped towards his bed and grabbed some things up, then, muttering "sorry sorry sorry" he tried to run between the group to the trap door and the ladder leading down.

---

The Skrelp that had attacked Kanon was struck twice by Snipe's long range attacks. The first hit caused it to drift and the second actually seemed to cause damage. The part Poison Pokemon looked like it wasn't able to handle any more and, shaking its body, started to drift off aimlessly away from the group.

Meanwhile the Skrelp that had tried to attack the clerk suffered a terrible fate as the Chinchou's Flash caught it off guard only to be followed up by a direct hit from Electro Ball.

The final Skrelp didn't seem to realize it was alone. Due to being distracted by the Inkay trying to Peck at it insistently. Angrily it spit out a Smokescreen which covered the area the Inkay, along with Oswald, was in. Inside of the cloud of smoke the Skrelp decided to focus in on the Inkay. Attacking from multiple sides with continuous Tackle attacks.

Up on the surface of the water Naomi smiled lazily at the Skrelp that, seemingly disoriented, ended up popping up near her. It looked around in a daze for a while before peacefully swimming away.

Naomi decided to take a nap while she waited for the others.

Spoiler

Just about finished up here. One last target left. Feel free to finish it up together and continue on with whatever you wanted to do next.

 

[yui 577]

Location: Skrelp Harbor
Poké: 0

The Skrelp were being cleared up, one by one. Only one was left, but Kanon couldn't quite make out its location in the smokescreen it had put up. She saw Ursula swim out of it, followed closely by the final Skrelp. A decisive peck in a spot that looked like it probably hurt seemed to convince the last one to turn and take off at last. With them cleared out, Kanon took out her Poke Ball, returning Ursula to her spherical confines. She checked her surroundings again. That statue that hopefully nobody had the reckless nature to touch again, and plenty of seawater. At least the statue was something of a lead. Maybe there was something at the bottom?

And so, pointing down near the base of the statue once someone looked in her direction, Kanon started swimming further downward. At the very least, it wasn't a food thing for why all these Skrelp were gathering here.

[Skaia 579]

While the girl was glaring at the boy for having her adventure ruined and thieving from her friend, the girl seemed didn't seem to let up as the boy seemed to panic at them. Jacklyn had only really been expecting him to do some kind of apology or repenting for his transgressions, but the more he insisted he was not in the wrong the more her eyes  narrowed at the boy as he started to move in even more of a panicked frenzy. As he did so, the girl eventually noticed the haunter move into a defensive position, and only look mortified as it had attacked Ivan. Now thoroughly annoyed at the boy, she didn't peel her gaze off of him as he tried to run away. 

Instead, she made a move for it herself. Being both spry and quick on her feet, Jacklyn moved to intercept the boy and with great force, bear hug him into submission. As she did, she scowled right into his face, simply saying, "please, keep apologizing for- " she was interrupted, however, as she felt a creepily cold tongue go across her face. Having been licked by the Haunter, Jacklyn shuttered and threw Dennis at his own pokemon in reaction saying, "ew, gross, ew." 

[Sethera 290]

"N-no!" Dennis stammered. "I didn't ask him to do anything! I swear!" He began to sweat as the trio surrounded him, whimpering slightly and taking a step backwards. "He just...he just brings me things. Food. So I can eat. That's all." His eyes darted from the group to the windows to the trap door. Then he called out "J-just leave me alone! I didn't do anything to you just stay away." He backed up more, the Haunter by his side wary now.

"Oh really?" Belle asked skeptically. "Well, you're wrong. You did have your Haunter steal from me, so that is something. But...I have my Gummy Bewears now, so I guess it's fine," she waved a hand airily. The fact he might have stolen from other people and that it might be wrong didn't even cross her mind. "Just don't take my stuff again." Her eyebrows rose at seeing how...panicked he was, which reminded her. Hadn't she been in this position more than once? Surrounded by people, trapped, unable to escape. But instead of being afraid, she had reacted by shutting down entirely. Words couldn't hurt her if she didn't care anymore.

Eyes dulling slightly, the girl thought, Maybe we should give him some space. However, Jacklyn seemed to think differently, moving to intercept the boy with great force and bear hug him into submission with a scowl, simply saying, "please, keep apologizing for- " she cut herself off at a tongue going across her face, throwing Dennis at his the ghost in reaction saying, "ew, gross, ew."

Rather than try to catch the boy, Belle yawned and popped a bundle of Gummy Bewears into her open mouth. "Heard tha' ev'ry human has a unique tongue print, bu' I dunno if applies ta Haunter too." She sidled up to Jacklyn and inspected her face, poking it slightly, "Huh. Weird, saliva feels kinda...tingly," she frowned, wiping her finger off on her sweatpants absentmindedly.

"Anyway," she turned to the disoriented Dennis and his Haunter, frowning. "Yer gettin' excited over nothin'. We're not gonna hurt you or anythin'," she shrugged, deciding to leave it at that before plopping down on the ground and shuffling over to the Gligarman magazine she had seen earlier.

[reparoni 161]

 

---

Ivan gave the boy an annoyed look, and was about to walk up to the boy when suddenly Haunter let out a beam of light directly at Ivan. The boy reeled back as he felt dazed for a moment, covering his eyes as his vision got blurry. This wasn't much of anything - in Ivan's line of work, he had been hit by various moves. In fact, he was pretty sure he knew what move the Haunter had used on him - he had been hit by it before. Or had he? His memory was as foggy as his vision was, as he saw double of everyone in the room. He tried to focus on what was happening, but his mind seemed to be fixated on this - had he been hit by this move before? And what even move did the Haunter use on him? His eyes glanced around the room, people moving in ways that Ivan was having trouble identifying. Despite his best efforts to straighten the image in front of him, the thought of Pokemon moves scrambled around his brain. "God... damn it..." Ivan leaned on the wall, turning up to look at the scene unfold in front of him, when he saw Haunter lick Jacklyn. Lick.

Ivan knew that move. His vision almost instantly focused itself as the ghost attacked the girl. His snapped out of his confusion, his face barely hiding his rage as he ran up to the boy, who had just been tossed towards the ghost. "You little...!" He barked, grabbing the boys collar with a swift motion. His breath was heavy as he raised his fist, ready to smash this punks face in. And then he froze for a moment, before letting go of Dennis. Ivan lowered his fist, quickly sliding it into his pocket. The glare he had been giving the boy simmered down as he relaxed his shoulders. "...what the fu... hell is your problem!? Attacking people like that!" He shouted, crossing his arms. He had nearly reverted everything he had worked toward right then and there. He glanced towards the others, hoping they hadn't seen his twisted expression.

[LordCowCow 842]

Dennis couldn't say he had expected to be grabbed today. Let alone by a girl. He stiffened up as she did so, unsure how to react, and was relieved when the girl let him go. Even if was in such a violent fashion. He muttered a thanks to his Haunter for helping. Still, this meant that he was in danger yet. The crazy hugger girl was near the ladder and if he wanted to get out he'd have to run past her.

In the midst of his panic came the voice of an angel.

"Yer gettin' excited over nothin'. We're not gonna hurt you or anythin',"

Dennis calmed for a moment. While it was true that the other girl had attacked him she didn't actually cause him any harm. He was still nervous but what if Belle was right?

"You little...!"

The boy let out a yelp as Ivan lifted him up and shouted in his face. His eyes widened and his body started to tremble. But when he let him go something....changed.

"...what the fu... hell is your problem!? Attacking people like that!"

He was still trembling but his eyes narrowed as he looked at Ivan. "Kind of...kind of a h-hypocrite aren't you?" He said. After all this thug had just assaulted him too. Where does he get off telling Dennis what to do?

Dennis was scared. But now he was also angry. And his Haunter was angry too without the fear. So it didn't hesitate when Dennis gave the order, "Haunter, Hypnosis!"

 

---

With the Skrelp defeated the clerk relaxed a bit. That was an unexpected event to say the least. She knew that Pokemon could get aggressive defending their territory but she had never heard of the Skrelp here being anything but docile. The only change was...that statue.

Which Kanon was heading towards again. The clerk shook her head and pointed upwards. Though she'd wait for the others before going back towards the surface. She wasn't going to stick around here again to get attacked by more Pokemon.

Heading lower Kanon would merely find more of the carvings, similar to before, and several indents which looked like they once were used as some kind of shrine or offering. To what was anyone's guess but the longer the girl lingered here the more drawn towards the statue she would be.

Spoiler

So, Snipe and Ursula has gained a level.

If you wanna investigate more let me know and I'll give what info I can. Whenever you're ready to go to the surface the clerk will lead the way.

 

[Mr. Hyde 204]

The Skrelp had finally been defeated.  He gave a sigh of relief, before waving to Kanon, thanking her for the assist.  He had let go of Snipe in the meantime, as the Pokemon happily swam around his trainer.  He had managed to win his first battle, and Oswald praised him for doing so by rubbing the sides of Snipe's body as he swam his circles.  Looking towards the rest, he noticed that Kanon was going back towards the statue.  Oswald tapped her on the back, shaking his head at her.  Just the thought of staring at that thing again gave him shivers all down his spine.  

Instead, he pointed towards the surface, where the Clerk was now headed.  He ushered her to follow, as he began making his way topside.  Once he did, he took out his breather, and goggles, and took a breath of fresh air.  

"What was that all about?  What is that thing down there?"  Oswald asked the girl.  

[yui 577]

Location: Skrelp Harbor
Poké: 0

The clerk and Oswald alike seemed opposed to Kanon delving deeper to see what was at the bottom of the statue. She went anyway, but upon seeing that there was nothing of note down there, Kanon agreed with the notion, wasting no time in hurrying back up. The less time she spent near that statue, the better. Once the girl had resurfaced, she removed all the extra diving crap from her face. Having all her face space taken up by equipment was... there wasn't really a word for how she felt about it, but it certainly wasn't pleasant. Fresh air being back in her lungs - not to mention the ability to speak again - was greatly welcomed. Due to her haste, she surfaced not far behind Oswald and the clerk.

"What was that all about? What is that thing down there?"

"Whatever it is, it's probably what's drawing all the Skrelp here." At least it wasn't a food thing. There had to be some kind of solution to them all being there, right? Like maybe, covering the statue up and setting up a bunch of whatever Skrelp ate in the safer area that the crane was dumping them. No point asking Nomi about it. She had no idea what was down there anyway. Swimming back toward solid land, Kanon continued "The real question is what we should do now that we know it's there, right?"

[Sethera 290]

Well. It looked like Ivan had just made what Belle had said to be a lie. Not that it really mattered. Belle yawned as she looked at the two of them, eyes half-lidded. "Yer all gettin' so excited over nuffin'," she muttered. "Sto' fightin', gettin' tired jes' lookin' atcha." For a second, she had thought she had seen a...strange expression on Ivan's face. She wasn't the best judge of facial expressions, but it had not looked like a happy face. But maybe she was just imagining things. She did that sometimes.

But it looked like that wouldn't happen. Dennis, who now looked scared and angry, narrowed his eyes as he looked at Ivan. "Kind of...kind of a h-hypocrite aren't you?"

"Ah-hah!" Belle muttered as she picked up what looked to be...yep, there was the date--the newest issue of Gligarman. Opening up the comic book, she started to read. "The city of Mothim...a city plagued by villainous foes. Once more, the Mimer delivers his message of doom!"

"Haunter, Hypnosis!"

"Tha's kinda unusual f'r a message o' doom..." the bluenette mused. Wait. Her eyes widened in realization. "Wait, what's going on?" she asked, shock sending a jolt of adrenaline down her bones. "Hey, hey, stop that." She forced herself to stand, wobbling slightly. "I don't want to fight here. I just finished fighting an annoying rat and now I just want to take a nap and read a comic book." The girl began to stagger closer to the others, comic book still in hand.

[reparoni 161]

 

---

"Kind of...kind of a h-hypocrite aren't you?" Ivan growled at the kid. Ivan didn't really have a good response to Dennis - he knew that what Dennis was doing was different than Ivan's burst of anger. After all, he wasn't hiding behind his Pokemon like a coward. Ivan glanced back towards the duo, seeing Belle. She seemed occupied with looking for a book on the floor or something. As his eyes were shifting towards Jacklyn, however, Dennis acted. "Haunter, Hypnosis!"

Ivan didn't have much time to respond as the Haunter blasted Ivan with the Hypnosis. He brought up his arms in vein as he felt himself start getting tired. His vision was starting to get blurry. "You coward..." He said as he fell to his knees, yawning as he resisted the move as much as he could. He glanced up to Dennis. "You better... not be here... when I wake... up... kid..." He hissed drowsily. The others were saying things, but he couldn't hear them as he slumped to the side. Ivan landed with a loud thud on top of the scattered garbage.

It didn't take long for him to start lightly snoring.

[Skaia 579]

Jacklyn was none too pleased as she was still wiping her face off from the weird lick that she had just received. As this happened, she then watched Ivan move forward and nearly clobber the kid, with an expression on his face that she had only seen once before. All the same, as eventually he let go, Dennis didn't seem to be alright with Ivan roughing him up as he called her friend a hypocrite. Clearly annoyed by this, and by Dennis's general attitude, the girl was about to call him out when he suddenly called out for his Haunter to use an attack. It was one that she, or at least Cherry would've been, familiar with and as Jacklyn noticed what it was doing she looked around. Seeing something close to get out of the Haunter's gaze, Jacklyn dove behind Belle, and took cover behind her. 

While it had seemed that both her and Belle were fine, Ivan didn't seem to be too lucky as he had already passed out. Annoyed the girl shouted, "I didn't want to fight you. I just wanted you to apologize for stealing from my friend. And I guess now for putting another one asleep! But!" Taking out a pokeball and no longer taking cover behind Belle, "if you want to fight, as an adventurer and trainer I'll battle you!" Sending out Rus from her pokeball, the Lepash letting out a puff of smoke from its mouth as it looked to be challenging the Haunter, Jacklyn crossed her arms and glared at Dennis. "So?" 

[LordCowCow 842]

"What was that all about?  What is that thing down there?"

"Whatever it is, it's probably what's drawing all the Skrelp here."

"Heck if I know." The clerk said. "Looked like some kinda religious thing. Kinda surprised that there's something like that that no one's talked about. Makes you wonder how many secrets we still don't know..." Her face lit up. "Think I could charge people to view it? Ooooh I bet I could make it a tourist spot." She then went off on a tangent to herself about scuba rental and advertising and hiring protection "but maybe we can cut some corners on that bit."

"The real question is what we should do now that we know it's there, right?"

This seemed to snap the clerk out of it for a moment. "Huh? Do something? Nothing to be doing I think. Could give the Professor a call. She might wanna take a look. But not like we can take it outta there."

She paused and seemed to notice something. "Hey does your friend usually do that?"

The woman was pointing near the pier. Where Naomi was hunched over with her face inches from the water, fast asleep. While Knight struggled to keep the girl aloft over the water. Preventing her from floating face down in the water.

Spoiler

Reminder just cause I won't be on laptop doesn't mean I can't respond to things on Discord if you have questions. Just might take a bit longer sometimes.

 

---

 

"I didn't steal nothing from you! I don't want to battle I just wanna be left alone!" Dennis said, backing away in fear of the glare on the girl's face. "People always say to stand up to bullies but when you do they just get madder...." He glanced at the sleeping Ivan, at the annoyed Belle, and then at Jacklyn. "I-I'm not gonna let someone t-tell me that I should let people push me around." Letting out a whimper he looked towards Haunter.

The Ghost was bobbing up and down and, when he caught Dennis's eye, nodded. Dennis sighed and faced towards Jacklyn and Rus. "If there's no choice then I guess I gotta. Haunter, use Confuse Ray."

The Ghost floated in front of its trainer and a glowing orb of light floated towards Rus.

Spoiler

As said before I'll still be around on Discord when I can so if you want info and such be sure to ask.

On that note...good luck Jacklyn.

Haunter, level 20, Levitate. Moves: Confuse Ray, Lick, Hypnosis, ???

 

[Sethera 290]

Everything suddenly seemed to be going weird. The boy that reminded Belle somewhat of herself was looking more and more afraid by the second. Then he made Ivan take a nap, except it wasn't like the kind of naps that Belle would take. This was a forced nap. It was still probably better than, say, what Sabrina did when she lashed out, but that was a low, low bar indeed.

"You better... not be here... when I wake... up... kid..." And then Ivan landed atop of the scattered garbage with a thud.

Belle sighed and fought the urge to just lie down right then and there and join him. No, somehow, the other two had failed their diplomacy saves, or didn't have enough points put into negotiation, and now she had to step up to the plate. And get everybody to calm down. The alternative meant she would be forced to probably sit through yet another battle, or worse yet, join one.

Unfortunately, it looked like that would indeed be what would happen, as even though Jacklyn had...hid behind her for some reason? Now she was sticking her head back out to shout and now, here she was, stepping forward, Poké Ball in hand. "If you want to fight, as an adventurer and trainer I'll battle you!" Sending out her rabbit thing from her Poké Ball, the Pokémon letting out a puff of smoke from its mouth as it looked to be challenging the Haunter, the purple-haired girl crossed her arms and glared at Dennis. "So?"

"I didn't steal nothing from you! I don't want to battle I just wanna be left alone!" Dennis said, backing away in fear. "People always say to stand up to bullies but when you do they just get madder...." He glanced at the three of them. "I-I'm not gonna let someone t-tell me that I should let people push me around." Letting out a whimper he looked towards Haunter before sighing and turning back to the Jacklyn and her rabbit. "If there's no choice then I guess I gotta. Haunter, use Confuse Ray."

"I never said you should let people push you around, I just wanted you to calm down and listen. These two aren't all in the right, but you haven't been helping things either." The bluenette blew a strand of hair out of her face. All of this talking, all of this effort, and for what? From the looks of it, neither one would listen to her, and a battle would happen regardless. "This is stupid," she grumbled. "We could've avoided this. But whatever, I give up," she threw her hands in the air. "You two fight this out. I'm gonna just sit here and read this comic book."

The girl opened the comic again, beginning from where she left off. "Mimer's calling card was left behind, and now Gligarman must rush to the scene of the crime. It will be another busy night in Mothim for Gligarman!"

Edited July 30, 2019 by Sethera

[yui 577]

Location: Skrelp Harbor
Poké: 0

"Huh? Do something? Nothing to be doing I think. Could give the Professor a call. She might wanna take a look. But not like we can take it outta there."

That's a start, at least. Kanon was thinking of things a bit less academic in nature though. If that statue was what was attracting the Skrelp, there was no way to get rid of them without doing something about it. But what to do was a bit out of her field of experience. And even if she made a decision on how to handle it, it wasn't like the people she'd need would likely listen to her anyway. No, this was someone else's decision to make.

"Hey does your friend usually do that?"

Kanon looked over to where the guide was pointing. Nomi. Sleeping. What a shocker. "Unfortunately, yes," she sighed. Gesturing for Oswald to follow her, Kanon swam over to where the useless lump of sleep rested on the dock, lifting up the girl's head and moving to push her back up the dock's length. Along the way, she asked "What would you do about it, Oswald? Weird mumbo jumbo statues aren't something I'm familiar with, but we can't just leave it there if we want to do something about the Skrelp problem."

[Mr. Hyde 204]

"Whatever it is, it's probably what's drawing all the Skrelp here."

Kanon's answer was short and sweet, and made a lot of sense.  It was an obvious depiction of a Pokemon too...it gave him an off feeling.  

"Heck if I know." The clerk responded. "Looked like some kinda religious thing. Kinda surprised that there's something like that that no one's talked about. Makes you wonder how many secrets we still don't know...Think I could charge people to view it? Ooooh I bet I could make it a tourist spot.  But maybe we can cut some corners on that bit."

"As long as you give tourists a disclosure and get a signature, probably..."  Oswald said.  Although, he kinda had a bad feeling about this girl doing such a thing...maybe it would be a test for upcoming trainers? 

"The real question is what we should do now that we know it's there, right?"

"Huh? Do something? Nothing to be doing I think. Could give the Professor a call. She might wanna take a look. But not like we can take it outta there."  She paused and seemed to notice something. "Hey does your friend usually do that?"

Oswald looked over to see Naomi's face inches away from the waters surface.  He shook his head, as he swam over to her, and used whatever momentum he could to get the girl back in a proper position.  

"Seriously?"  The question prompted to Knight.  "The current probably rocked her to sleep, huh?"  He shook his head, as he pushed the girl's inner-tube towards the shore.  "Well, probably best to get away from whatever that thing is, huh?  My head still feels kind of light." 

[Skaia 579]

"Huuuuh?!" Jacklyn let out as Dennis began to shout at towards her, something about what he was saying causing her to become deeply upset and only more frustrated at him. "I am not a bully!  I'm not pushing you around! And I'm not bullying you!" Pointing to her two friends, the girl shouted out, "I'm standing up for my friends here!" Looking to Ivan specifically, as he was physically incapable of doing so himself at the moment, the girl was about to continue shouting about how she wasn't bullying the boy as she heard Belle speak up. Looking annoyed at the girl she said, "it's not like I'm fighting for the sake of it! I am defending your honor! At least look a little interested, jeez." 

Pouting as she turned away from her friend, she said, "fine, whatever. Rus go use - Rus?" Having not really paid attention to her opponent, she missed the first attack he had used and Rus in turn had been hit by the confuse ray. As such, the fire bunny was simply wobbling about, not really hearing anything clearly and just tackled into a wall, hurting itself in the process. Looking at her pokemon, her sleeping teammate, Belle who was reading comments, and the mess of a room they were doing battle in,  the girl just sighed. "Fine, whatever, you win." Clearly not happy, the girl simply called Rus back into his pokeball and then looked back to Dennis. 

[LordCowCow 842]

Dennis could feel his heart beating rapidly and his body was slightly trembling. He wasn't used to fighting, only flight, so he wasn't sure how he would hold up.

As it turned out, though, it didn't really matter much. The girl gave up almost before the fight began. Causing the Haunter to cackle with laughter at its victory and Dennis to stand there frozen and unable to move.

What was that? She didn't do anything? He won? He smelled a trap. Or a trick. "T-this is when I start to leave and your trip me or something right?" He blurted out.

But when nothing happened he started to breath deeply and calm himself done. Unfortunately for him this meant he had time to think about what he was doing. And it almost made him freeze up again. From the sleeping Ivan to the fuming Jacklyn to...the boy blushed. It was all a mess from the start. "Um...Um...s-should I leave now?" He asked, uncertain of his course. His Haunter was hovering slightly behind him, not really caring what they did, but ready to attack again if need be.

The boy glanced over towards Belle and opened his mouth only to close it several times. Finally he blurted out a rapid, muttered, "sorry." towards her.

Spoiler

Rep you can decide when Ivan will be waking up at any point from here on. Though obviously don't stay asleep for too long either.

---

Naomi was perfectly still, almost like a doll, as the two worked together to bring her back towards the dock and up onto the wooden walkway, with a little help from the clerk.

The moment her body touched the wood Naomi jolted awake and sat up suddenly. Seemingly too suddenly as she started to sway in a circle, still sitting, and almost fall backwards again. Only for Knight to zip behind her and prop her head up.

The girl looked around. "Hey. Are we done now? Can we go to bed yet?" She asked with a yawn.

The clerk gave a brief laugh. "You kids sure are something. Hey, I've got to head back to the shop. Be sure to bring the equipment back before the end of the day. And hey if you want to bring more Poke maybe you'll find something else to get your interest." She gave them a big wink before striding away with confidence.

Naomi stretched and dragged herself to her feet. She paused, looked down, and asked "Why am I so wet?"

Spoiler

Feel free to return the equipment sorta "off screen" and just give a line mentioning it. Y'all can go ahead and do what you want next. Get any info you need.

There is a certain thing that'll happen soon but I don't want to do it right after a fight.

 

[Sethera 290]

Jacklyn seemed to get even more riled up after Dennis spoke. She was especially upset at the connotation that she was some kind of bully. Pointing to her two friends, the girl shouted out, "I'm standing up for my friends here!" Looking to Ivan specifically, as he was physically incapable of doing so himself at the moment, the girl then looked annoyed at Belle when she spoke up as well, "it's not like I'm fighting for the sake of it! I am defending your honor! At least look a little interested, jeez."

Defending my honor? For some reason, the thought of that, defending her honor, was a little flattering, if not ridiculous at the same time. It reminded Belle of various RPG games she had played, where the virtuous hero defended the honor of the holy maiden. Did that make Jacklyn the hero and Belle the holy maiden? Was Ivan another holy maiden then?

Putting that thought aside, the bluenette watched the girl deflate as her rabbit Tackled into a wall. "Fine, whatever, you win."

"T-this is when I start to leave and your trip me or something right?" Dennis blurted out.

But when nothing happened he started to breath deeply and calm himself down. He froze, beginning to blush. "Um...Um...s-should I leave now?" He asked. The boy glanced over towards Belle and opened his mouth only to close it several times. Finally he blurted out a rapid, muttered, "sorry."

"If ya wanna leave, 'm not stoppin' ya," Belle mumbled, becoming drowsy once more now that the excitement was over. She paused, unsure what to do in the face of the boy's apology. Nobody ever apologized to her, in fact, she was usually the one being forced to grudgingly apologize for messing something up. Really, it wasn't her fault that one of the trainers got lost in the Gym. Just because the warp tiles were broken didn't mean she had to be the one to tell somebody about it.

Remembering just in time how they handled it in video games, she waved a hand, "Apology accepted, jus' don't do it again." She glanced at Jacklyn, then at the Haunter, before pointing at the Pokémon. "An' you should say sorry ta Jacklyn. Least fer lickin' her face, anyway." She looked at Ivan next, but he was asleep, and there was no use apologizing to a sleeping person. Then she looked back to Jacklyn, hoping the girl would also apologize, at least so then they could get this whole awkward apology session out of the way and everything could be right again and then Belle would be able to finally relax and read that comic book.