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

[vivi_]

As the battle raged on between the dangerous duo of Normandie & Shellos against this rude kid's Haunter, the latter resorted to even more underhanded tactics. Stealing Quinn's berry pouch, and taunting Normandie by floating just out of the pokemon's range. Well, two could play at that game. At the same time, though, she didn't want to set a bad example. Fortunately, she just so happened to know someone who almost certainly had no such reservations. With a gentle nudge on its back, Bridget's Shellos turned to her. And once she had its attention, she subtly, very subtly, nodded toward the kid's own snacks. Shellos, for one, seemed to understand the idea, as it began crawling over to the boy's snacks, attempting to steal a few for itself.

Only to be intercepted by Haunter and a big ol' Lick from his big ol' tongue.

But Bridget had at least partly expected that.

"He's at point-blank, Water Gun him!"

At Bridget's command, the Shellos puffed up its cheeks, and released a powerful spray of water. Directly at the enemy Haunter's eyes. Well, she certainly didn't specify that. But she'd have been lying if she said it wasn't at least a bit satisfying.

Edited April 24 by vivi_

[LordCowCow]

JA

Annelise nodded along with Jacklyn. Though she didn't really know herself if Anima was a great adventurer or not if Jacklyn was saying it then it must be true. "She isn't with us but that doesn't mean she gave up. She just..." the girl's voice trailed off. What then? She just didn't want to be with them?

She put her hand to her chin as she tried to think hard on this for some time. She wasn't used to people leaving if they weren't told to by her parents so when she stopped to think about it she wasn't sure how to feel about it now that it was brought up again.

"anyway, what does it matter to you? And what are you all doing here anyway?" 

"It doesn't MATTER to me." Chad said with a shrug and a shake of his head. "I just was curious what happened after a beat her so soundly. Someone like you probably doesn't understand the minds of strong trainers. As for what I'm doing here, do you expect me to stay on that little island the whole time? This is the only place to reach the mainland where the real challenge starts."

"Wait but Chad didn't you say you wanted to 'see what those losers were up to' earlier?"

Chad whirled on Kenta and said, "I did not! Urgh, don't just go saying things like that, right Fuyumi?"

But Fuyumi wasn't paying attention. She was still staring at Jacklyn. "Actually only one of them lost." she said, though the way her eyes narrowed slightly showed she still wasn't sure how it had happened in the first place.

---

QB

The boy reacted first to Normandie's assault on the berry pouch. "Hey don't go stealing my....my..." he tilted his head and narrowed his eyes at the pouch without recognition in his gaze.

The distraction caused him not to even realize that the Shellos had been creeping towards his pile of snacks but Haunter had sprung into action in his place. The boy noticed just in time to see the Shellos hitting Haunter with a direct shot.

He could see that the Haunter was struggling and panic began to set in. "Haunter, Lick..no, wait, get back..." he took a deep breath and shook his head, "we're still winning this! Just keep away and Curse will take them out, don't worry about attacking them!"

Spoiler

Haunter is in red health, one more good hit probably should do it. Vivi leaving it up to Normandie for final blow (but I'd say if you want try and work together to make actually landing the hit more possible)

 

[Skaia]

Jacklyn looked away from Chad as he mentioned that this was the only way to continue forward on the path of adventure, something that was obvious to her. Though, more than that, she hadn't seen any of these three on the boat that they took to get here. This could only mean that either they were all very skilled at hiding or they had gotten here before Jacklyn and the rest of her team. That incensed her more than his implication that she was weak, though that was something she could actually take contention with. 

This was only further supported by Fuyumi's comment, which prompted Jacklyn to give a thumbs up towards the girl. "Yeah! I'm plenty strong and as the team that won more battles, that makes us the stronger team." She turned her eyes away from Fuyumi, feeling oddly threatened by the girl's gaze. So instead she folded her arms and turned herself to face Chad, "not like I'd expect a novice adventurer like you to expect how it works." 

"But as for what we've been doing," the girl's petty spite had just as quickly vanished as her excitement bubbled up. "it's adventuring of course! Anne and I hear just went on some deep sea excursion and found some treasure and..." the girl paused as she had felt wary about mentioning the statue. "And a Skrelp that was like five time the size of a normal Skrelp! My Cherry and Anne's Meredith managed to clean its clock no problem, though." 

As she finished boasting, the girl inched closer to the trio with an eagerness that betrayed any earlier hostility and a genuine curiosity that smothered any braggadocio. "What about you guys? See any cool things? Go to any cool places? Find any neat stuff?" 

[radio414]

Quinn was not exactly happy that Normandie had taken time away from fighting to drag a berry pouch away from the youngster’s hoard, but then again, between the two-on-one nature of the fight and the Haunter’s already defensive posture, it was not like she was ruining their chances. She was just being reckless. It was a different sort of recklessness than the type that would send her flying into the water. Quinn saw the glint in Normandie’s eyes and knew that Normandie already knew. It was also the sort of glint that signaled that Normandie had a plan.

Well, the glint was one signal. Another, more obvious signal, was that she actually let go of the berry bag she was hauling and started chattering up a storm. Despite the Haunter’s Curse weighing on her, her squeaks were as energetic as ever, only this time aimed at anyone who would listen. Bridget’s Shellos was a key target -- who seemed to nod along -- but Normandie also directed some squeaks Quinn’s way, which was more surprising. Was Quinn not supposed to be the one providing instructions? Had they not had that whole bonding moment already? 

But, then again, Quinn considered that trust went both ways. If Normandie had a plan that she thought was worth trying to tell Quinn despite their communication barrier, why should he not listen and try to follow along? Between the occasional running and at least one head nod, Quinn was able to pick up at least something resembling what Normandie wanted. The fact that the chatter stopped once Quinn started moving, inching along the perimeter of the platform, meant that xe was on the right track.

Of course, the Haunter was not blind to all of this. It, too, started to move, clearly hoping to cut Quinn off, but a blast of water from Bridget’s Shellos cut it off in turn. It was a wild spray of water, not even aiming to hit the Haunter, just get in the way and keep it from doing anything more than what the boy wanted from it. With all the water going everywhere, it only followed that Quinn was doomed to get wet too, but Quinn just pushed onwards through it all, until fae and Bridget were on opposite sides of the platform, flanking the boy and his ghostly Pokémon.

Every so often, the Shellos’ Water Gun barrage would be a bit more accurate, meaning the Haunter had to keep its attention on the Shellos and dodge out of the way. It was on one of those dodges that Normandie made her move. She started to glow purple again, but when she ran, it was at Quinn instead of jumping up at the Haunter. But Quinn had crouched down, hands out in front of itself ready to catch the charging Ratffian, and, when Normandie hit those open palms, Quinn stood up and launched Normandie upwards, giving her that burst of extra speed to Pursue her foe no matter how high it had tried to get.

When Normandie landed, it was on top of the boy’s pile of stuff, a triumphant symbol for a plan well-executed, though she immediately started trying to make off with the berries again.

[LordCowCow]

JA

"Yeah! I'm plenty strong and as the team that won more battles, that makes us the stronger team."

"Strong huh? Wanna test that out, let's have an arm wrestling contest!" Kenta said and Chad let out a deep sigh.

"That's not what she meant." He then glared at her, "and I didn't ask what you've been up to. Why would I care about some big Skrelp anyway?"

Fuyumi had opened her mouth at mention of the Skrelp, having been about to ask about it, but upon Chad's words she closed her mouth and crossed her arms and gave a stiff nod of agreement.

"We've probably been to the same places as you, it's not that big of an area." Chad said and rolled his eyes. "Of course, we all caught more Pokemon. Probably a lot better than whatever you managed to round up."

 

---

 

QB

Normandie's strike landed true and the Haunter, weakened as it was by its own Curse, was knocked out. As soon as this happened the effect of the Mean Look was lifted and they would be able to return their Pokemon again.

The boy gasped in surprise as he returned his Pokemon to the ball. His other hand clenched in a fist and he looked angry, and that he was holding back tears, before he turned his face away from them. "Fine! You win! Just take what you want and go like those red guys."

Spoiler

Short I know but, the battle is over! Shellos has gained a level!

Nomandie has gained a level! Normandie has learned Fake Out!

 

[vivi_]

It was done. This child, who had terrible manners, reacted with immediate hostility, and nearly caused Normandie to be seriously injured, was defeated. On the one hand, she was relieved that it was over, and that she & Quinn were victorious. However, she would have been lying if she said she didn't feel just a little bad when she saw his face. Not nearly as upset as she was satisfied at some just desserts being served, but there was still that twinge deep inside.

A twinge that quickly gave way to recognition and curiosity when the boy opened his mouth.

"Fine! You win! Just take what you want and go like those red guys."

Red guys going around taking what wasn't theirs, huh? This certainly sounded familiar. Just the thought of them and their haughty, "we'll change the world" attitude got Bridget's blood boiling again.

"Wait, hold up. Those guys, were they about so-and-so tall? Long red hair, jacket with a bird on the back? Bit of an attitude problem?"

"Y-yeah, so you ARE with them aren't you?" He clutched his Pokeball to his chest and seemed to be debating trying to go out the window.

"What? No! They stole my Trapinch! They nabbed the grand prize from a fishing contest Quinn and I were in! And they had the audacity to act like they were in the right for it! When I get my hands on that miserable lot, I swear I'll..." Bridget paused, taking a deep breath or two to regain her composure before she started getting a bit too into her justified anger. And she put her wild beast of a Shellos back in its poke ball while she was at it. "Point being, we've got it out for them, too. If you don't mind me asking, what exactly did they take? And if you happened to overhear anything about where they might be heading, I'd appreciate that a lot."

"They took all my snacks! D-do you know how long it took to get my stash that big? Then they just came in here saying things about looking for relics or something and grabbed everything up."

"Relics. Got it. Dunno if we'll be able to get your snacks back, but I've got a mind to crash their party and steal back all their stolen stuff." She did steal a glance over to Quinn, though, on the note of snacks. "I don't suppose you've got something we could give him? I don't really carry snacks on me, so..."

Quinn was already fishing around in hir bag. "I can give you a granola bar, but it would not be a trade -- Normandie and I are taking our berries back whether you accept this offering or not."

"W-what do you mean your berries? Haunter only finds things that people aren't using anymore he's not a thief!"

Well, that was for the boy and the ghost to settle. Bridget, for one, was spent. She took a step back, gave Quinn a simple "I'll meet you back downstairs," and started down those hellish stairs. After this lighthouse trip, she never wanted to see another staircase again. And, as if realizing it hadn't met some sort of mischief quota just yet, one of the poke balls on Bridget's person burst open just a couple steps down, with the resident Shellos springing out and latching onto Bridget's leg, making the descent that much harder.

Sure.

Why not at this point?

[Skaia]

Jacklyn put a hand to her chin as she figured the boy had a point about them being to the same places. After all they had just traveled in more or less a straight line to get from each town to the next. However as Chad began to brag about how many pokemon that he had caught the girl could only recoil with a, "geh." She knew they all had at least one pokemon and that if he were bragging about it then he, and all the rest, had probably caught more than the one additional pokemon that she had caught. A point her fellow adventuring companion had made her painfully aware of. 

"Well, uh, I'm not so concerned about quantity of pokemon. After all, a true adventurer catches pokemon that really speak to them and they'll take with them for the whole journey, and isn't concerned about just catching pokemon to say they caught a lot..." The girl trailed off, before she looked back over to Anneliese before she added, "not like catching a bunch of pokemon is bad or anything but - anyway!" She looked back and defiantly stated, "I'm sure my Rus and Cherry are way better than anything you could've caught!" 

Edited May 27 by Skaia

[radio414]

Quinn was tired of all of the youngster’s backtalk, and so was undeterred when he tried to weasel his way out of admitting his crimes. “That is between you and your Haunter,” Quinn said. “I suspect that this is not the first time that this has happened. If you are not careful, it will not be the last, and you will have wronged somebody less kind than we have been.” She did not wait for a response, he simply set down the offered granola bars and took from the pile only what was rightfully theirs. “Theirs” plural, of course -- Quinn’s and Normandie’s.

There was a part of Quinn that believed that Normandie would have been alright following her tumble off of the lighthouse platform. Pokémon were tough creatures, after all, and Pokémon Centers practically worked miracles. That did not mean it had been any less disturbing in the moment. The battle had been a difficult one, but e, Normandie, Bridget, and her Shellos had proven themselves victorious. Quinn reflected on the battle some. Hir relationship with Normandie had developed significantly, shifting from an antipathy towards the chain of command to having to hold the Ratffian back from her more ferocious impulses, to something almost instinctive, like a psychical (lowercase p, unlike the Pokémon type) connection between Trainer and Pokémon. It was different than zir and Cassiopeia’s relationship -- Quinn and Cassiopeia fell into a more expected mold for their roles, even if Cassiopeia was much more of a friend and companion than Normandie ever was outside of battle. And yet, neither relationship felt any better or worse than the other. If anything, it just made Quinn even more excited to find out what his relationship with Pisces the Goldeen would turn out to be, or any other Pokémon Quinn discovered on its journey.

Bridget had already left, having found what she had come here for -- the entity “haunting” the lighthouse -- and not wishing to stay any further if she could help it. Quinn was tempted to join her as quickly as possible, but one thing kept it around just a single moment longer. Like before, it was not for want of conversation -- it was too late for that. Perhaps the desire to lecture was a more apt description. “Let me tell you a story and then, if you are fortunate, we shall never encounter each other again,” Quinn said, “because if we see each other again, on this plane or the next, and you are still recognizable as the creature that lies here before me, you shall be my sworn enemy, and I shall show you no mercy.” Quinn somehow had the self-awareness to tell that her eyes were locked in an unblinking stare, yet different from zir normal eye contact by some intangible measure of solemnity. “A child lies at the top of a mountain. It has been there for hours. Days. And yet, exposed to the elements, hungry and cold, the child thinks not of what food fae could have eaten, or warm, sweet drinks to soothe herself with, or what vices he yearned to experience. What the child yearns for is connection. And not even a singular one, but a community. It does not have to be her family, or preexisting friendship, just the idea that there is something else in the world that they can hold on to, and that thing to something else, and on and on and endless chain stretching to infinity.”

Quinn stood up. “I found what I was looking for, or at least I think I am in the process of doing so. But do not think I would have found it staying on the mountain. I think I would have died staying up there. Well, I did, but you know what I mean.” Again, Quinn did not wait for the boy to respond. The ghost simply retreated back to the platform hatchway and down the stairs, taking notice of the suspicious wetness of the things, gripping the railing all the tighter for it.

[LordCowCow]

QB

The boy was surprised by Quinn's sudden speech. It seemed as though he wanted to argue with them but, as he took in the words, he wasn't even sure what he would be arguing against. However just before Quinn left he shouted, "I-I'll climb down the mountain...you know...sometime!" He debated something and then, "I'm Dennis, by the way!" and turned away from Quinn even if they were to say anything else in response.

---

Some time later, Haunter having recovered, Dennis was talking to the Pokemon. "Dunno what their deal was anyway. But...they were...a bit interesting, I guess?" After a bit more time they began to prepare a bag of supplies, "just in case I have to leave quick!"

---

Upon leaving the lighthouse the duo would eventually find Jacklyn and Anneliese. Jacklyn in a...spirited debate with a young man.

---

JA

"Oh yeah?" Chad said with a sneer. "You probably don't even know how to battle with them properly yet. Amateurs like you get lucky sometimes but that luck can only go so far."

Anneliese suddenly spoke up, startling the young man who had honestly forgotten she was there. "Oh, hello Quinn, hello Bridget, we have found some friends! They're new to this place too, isn't that great?"

"We're not friends." Chad and Fuyumi said in unison. Kenta, after being stared at by the two, also said it with a large delay. Though he didn't seem to have any conviction behind his words.

[radio414]

It took longer than one might have expected for Quinn to make it down the lighthouse stairwell, but that was to be expected given the conditions of both the stairwell and its descender. The former had already been elaborated on -- someone or something had turned stairs that were perfectly manageable and dry on the way up into a precipitous and moist experience -- but the latter was, in equal measure, inexplicable. The stairway had the odd property that it seemed to bend and warp the spacetime around it, stretching outwards towards infinity before snapping back to a manageable depth. And yet, despite that inscrutability, the resultant sensation was not dissimilar to what Quinn had experienced stepping off the boat. The lighthouse interior was dank, yet still cool, though Quinn was managing to work up quite a sweat. As Quinn clutched the handrail, desperate to keep zir weakened knees under xem, they wondered at what the stimulus must have been to cause such feeling. Ascending had not been a problem, only going back down. Was this the effect of another ghost? Had the promised spirits of the realm finally had enough of Quinn’s intrusion?

It was an enigmatic experience, but, with Cassiopeia’s assistance and one or two breaks, Quinn managed to get back on solid ground, and, after a moment, he exited the lighthouse entirely. The blast of fresh sea breeze that hit Quinn’s face as e opened the door and crossed the threshold immediately wiped away any nascent malevolence Quinn had been experiencing, and now that fae had successfully completed another adventure, went to go find the rest of their party and catch them up on the news. Surely, they had had their own experiences to relay as well!

Somehow, despite leaving the lighthouse after Bridget, Quinn managed to find Jacklyn and Annelise first. “Hello!” Quinn said, waving back as she approached. Quinn was excited to see the new friends that Annelise was about to introduce them to, but one of the friends -- the lead one, it seemed -- seemed to take up a contrary position, and the rest of them quickly followed. It was the sort of conflict that, thankfully, Quinn was prepared to resolve. “I see. I cannot make the same oath twice in one day, and I have already made a sworn enemy today, so that does unfortunately default you to the ‘friends’ ledger until tomorrow at the very earliest. I can try to be halfhearted about that if it makes you feel better about your chances, though.” He avoided eye contact and did as noncommittal a curtsy as it could manage. “My name is Quinn. I suppose, for lack of a better word, you could call me a ghost if you wanted to.”

[Skaia]

"Huh?!" The girl's disbelief was exaggerated by her face as Chad had made his comment to her. "Me, Cherry and Rus are in total perfect sync with each other! We could properly battle on land, underwater, even on like a uh...hang glider or something, that's how properly I know how to battle with them!" As Anneliese had made her comment to Quinn, who was now here as well, Jacklyn's "we're not friends!" was in unison with Chad's own. 

Jacklyn wasn't exactly sure what Quinn was talking about with their "oath," but her curiosity was piqued all the same. With excitement in her eyes the girl said, "you and Bridget have to tell me what kind of sworn enemy you made later on." She herself had no such thing yet but it certainly sounded amazing and she was feeling inspired by Quinn's go getter spirit to have such an important figure in her adventuring career already. 

The girl then rushed over and put her hand on Quinn's head before pointing at Chad. "See, we've even got a ghost too!" Jacklyn did not know what point she was trying to make or what comparison there was to be had, but her enthusiasm and one-up-man-ship had little care for such trivialities. "Anyway, if you're so confident you're such a better battler and your pokemon are so much better than why don't we settle it?" 

[vivi_]

By the time Bridget was out of the lighthouse of doom, she wasn't even interested in telling the locals there was no ghost haunting the place aside from that one brat's Haunter. All she wanted to do in that moment was head to the nearest Pokémon Center, get some looks that she didn't like due to the state her unruly Shellos had left her in, and rinse herself off. Fortunately, she was the type of person who could take a full shower in just a couple of minutes, By the time she was washed up, re-clothed, and finding herself reunited with Annaliese and Jacklyn, it was only shortly after Quinn had also rejoined the group. What a crazy random happenstance!

And it sounded like the team was making some new not-friends.

“My name is Quinn. I suppose, for lack of a better word, you could call me a ghost if you wanted to.”

"And I'm Bridget. Don't really have the energy to go 'round making enemies right now, so let's just leave it at an ambivalent relationship, yeah?"

By the sound of it, Jacklyn was itching to get into a battle. Bridget, for one, was content to take a step back and watch how it unfolded. It would be a good chance to see one of her new adventuring buddies in action, at the very least.