Phantom Isle - The Haunted Theme Park

[allishinca]

Allishinca: You were right the first time: that door is open. If it had gone through the door, I probably would have said so. Next time, though, I'll make sure to be clearer.

Though the little blue ball of fire had captivated you, Pluto’s screech snapped you out of it, before both he and Codi disappeared through the open doorway. You give the little will-o-the-wisp a sad look and then followed after them into one of the hotel’s rooms.

Had you visited at the peak of the park's popularity, the room would have looked elegant and expensive with its queen-sized bed and canopy being the first thing to draw the eye. An old television sat in a large wooden wardrobe across from the bed's headboard and a wooden desk sat next to it, under the cobwebbed, dusty, and fogged-up window. A darkened ceiling light sat in the middle of the room and two more lights were attached to the wall on either side of the bed with two bedside tables sitting underneath them. On your right was the door that, presumably, led to the bathroom, while the switch on your left probably turned on the room's light. It wasn't necessary at the moment, though, as the light from the candles in the hall spilled over into the room, alongside the purple glow coming in through the window.

Whatever had made that flash of red when you'd first arrive on the floor wasn't visible, but there were, at least, four other blue balls of fire hovering around the room, illuminating everything for you to see. The four balls were floating around, bobbing and weaving with each other, as though playing a game, once again capturing your attention to the exclusion of everything else. Even Pluto's screech won’t be enough to break you out of it this time.

However, they loosen their hold on your attention when Pluto finds something under the bed, rolling out with it as the two wrestle. Its red coat proves that it's the one who the three of you had seen earlier and, when the two break apart, the three of you get a good view of it. It's a little fox-like Pokémon with a red coat, brown socks, curls between its ears, and six tails. It’s also glaring Pluto down and spreading its tails, preparing for a fight, even as the fire balls attract your attention again.

What will you do?

Pluto confidentially proceeded into the room, while Codi balked at the sight that awaited them. Alli had entered behind Codi, and cautiously peaked out from behind him. The bedroom was in a shabby state compared to the glorious days long since pass. Sitting center was a canopied, queen-sized bed. It was cupped into place by two end tables, with lighting placed on the wall above them. Parallel to the bed stood a large, wooden wardrobe, equipped with an ancient television set. Next to the bureau, a dim window filtered a foggy, purplish light down on a desk. Back when the hotel was still functional, the room would of would of reflected the elegance of the establishment. Now under a thick layer of dust, the room only held tattered sheets and rotting wooden equipment.

Alli turned, and on her left was a wall switch that activated the ceiling light above. To her right was a doorway that probably lead into a water closet. The blazing light from the hallway illuminated the room with assistance from the murky-purple light that oozed in from the window. What had halted Codi in his advancement was the presents of four more glowing fire balls. The light reflecting off of them helped expose the room even more so. The flickering flames danced about the old bedroom, intertwining with each other in a bizarre ritual. Alli's eyes grew wide as she found herself again entranced. Stepping out from behind Codi, she joined the fireballs in their little game. Codi reached out for his trainer, but just missed her shoulder. When she joined the fireballs, he stood back in fear, and refused to approached.

"Psst, Little Bun," he whispered out desperately. Alli did not response, and continued to prance about with the glowing blue lights. Codi followed them about the room, while retaining some distance in a pathetic attempt to get his trainer's attention. "How about some help, Plu?" Pluto took a quick glance at his trainer, and as he did not find her in any danger, looked away. "Pluto!" Pluto was not listening, but was instead down on all fours, sniffing about the room. Codi looked from him to Alli in an exasperated motion. Pluto paid no heed, and instead continued to follow the scent trail as it lead him under the bed. There was a loud shriek, followed by a scuffling sound and Pluto reemerged entangled with another Pokemon. This attracted Alli's attention for a fleeting moment as she and Codi remained fixated on the brawl as the two Pokemon broke free of one another. The culprit was a red fox Pokemon, who stood offensively, ready for battle. Alli barely had enough time to fish her Pokedex out of her pocket.

Vulpix. The Fox Pokemon. Fire Type.

"Pluto! Try using fake out on it!" Alli shoved her Pokedex back into her overalls as another blue orb floated pass her head, grabbing her attention. She began to again follow it wordlessly. Pluto turned towards Codi, and pointed to their trainer.

"Oh, no way! I'm not going to-" Pluto was in no state to argue, and twisted around while remaining locked on the Vulpix. The fox Pokemon spread out its tails aggressively. Codi grumbled as he scooted over towards Alli. She was completely enveloped by the glowing orbs, which covered her like a shield. The strange dance they were commenced in made her even more difficult to catch. Assuming that covering her eyes would somehow break the spell, Codi attempted to reach in while avoiding the fireballs. "If I get burned from this, you're never going to hear the end of it," whimpered Codi as he reached in to cover his trainer's face.

Pluto and the Vulpix continued to stair each other down, as Pluto dived towards it in a fake out attack.

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[Ex-Admiral Insane]

Welcome to Blaze, Celebii, and Ex-Admiral Insane. I hope you enjoy your time here in Phantom Isle.

~!~

Ex-Admiral Insane:
Having had your brave front torn down by your starter, the two of you make your way to the memorial wall set at the Sideshow Alley in order to pay your respects and, hopefully, for safe passage. Thankfully, nothing decides to accost you on the way to the location, though you’re not quite sure whether that’s a good thing or a bad one. Your Ralts is terrified, though; not only is he feeling your fear, along with his own, he’s also feeling the fear and terror that hovers over the park like a fog, one of the many remnants of the Ghost Train accident. Not to mention that of the trainers, construction workers, security guards, and trespassers who had all disappeared or died here under mysterious circumstances.

When you arrive at the memorial wall, though, most of the terror and fear seem to dissipate, letting your Ralts regain control of himself and stop his violent shaking. Perhaps the children the wall is dedicated to have come to protect this place from the rest of the spirits and Ghost-types that make their home here. Whatever the case, you set the flowers down in front of the wall and sit down, wondering how long you should stay to ensure a safe trip while you’re here.

Time passes and still you remain there, waiting for a sign—maybe?—that would tell you that you’ve stayed long enough to be safe in the park. But after examining all the photos along the wall and making up stories and backgrounds for some of them, you eventually end up accidentally drifting off to sleep, the lack of anything to do while you wait finally getting to you. As the darkness descends, the last thing you hear is Rags’ panicked voice calling your name and shaking you.

-------

Blearily, you open your eyes and they shoot open at the sight of another two pairs of eyes looking at you from way-too-close. Scrambling backwards with a surprised yell, you catch your breath and stare at the two translucent children untangling themselves from where they’d fallen in surprise when you yelled. As they right themselves, it quickly becomes obvious that the two are identical twins. They’re even dressed the same and make the same expression as they frown at each other, before turning to speak to you.

We found you asleep at the picture wall, one says.

We were hoping you’d play a game with us, says the other.

It’s very boring here.

There’s no one who’ll play with us anymore.

Except the Dusknoir.

The others have already won, anyway.

Will you play with us?

Both children look eagerly up at you, pleading with you to play with them. You notice they haven’t explained how to play yet nor what the game is and glance uneasily around the tent. It’s then that you realize that Rags is nowhere to be found.

What will you do?

As Lucas stares at the wall waiting, he notices that his eyelids have started becoming heavy. He closes them for a moment.
“Ru!” the Ralts shouts, waking his trainer up.
“I’m just resting my eyes a bit. No need to worry.” The Ralts still looks worried at his trainer. The trainer ignores it and stares at the wall again. He looks at the pictures of the children again and starts looking for details. One girl had earrings in. A bit young for her age. Perhaps she had lenient parents. The earrings would mean that girl was more mature than others her age. He gave a stiff yawn and continued looking. He gazed at a picture of one of the boys this time. He was a bit more dirty and had scruffy hair underneath a cap which had seen better days. The cap was maybe placed to hide his dirty appearance? His family was probably not that wealthy. It must have been a special occasion for him to have come to an amusement park. Lucas started feeling depressed when thinking of the happiness a family was giving their child only to see it destroyed like that in front of them. He didn’t want to think that way and started looking at the girl’s picture again. A more happy story.

Lucas couldn’t hold himself back any more. He shut his eyes again, but this time he couldn’t open them any more. It was like they were glued, they seemed to weigh a ton.
“RU!” Rags was giving another yelp to wake his trainer up, but it didn’t work.
“It’s okay Rags, I’m just going to rest a bit” Lucas said as he fell, lying on his back. The words came out of his mouth as a mumble, inaudible to his Pokémon. Lucas finally closed his eyes completely before falling into a deep sleep, hearing Rags panicking and shaking him. It’s fine Rags, we’re just going to rest a bit, he kept telling himself. We’re just going to rest a bit.

When the young man finally opened his eyes, he noticed four other eyes glaring at him. The trainer gave out a yelp and eased back as he noticed two little identical-looking girls. Though girls isn’t what he would call him. They were translucent and Lucas was staring in shock as he could gaze right through them. The two spectres turn towards him and spoke:

We found you asleep at the picture wall, one says.

We were hoping you’d play a game with us, says the other.

It’s very boring here.

There’s no one who’ll play with us anymore.

Except the Dusknoir.

The others have already won, anyway.

Will you play with us?

Lucas was panicking now. As adventurous as he had sounded before, he didn’t really expect to see any ghosts. Perhaps a ghost type Pokémon, but even that is something you can battle. Rags couldn’t possibly battle this, he thought to himself. That’s when Lucas started looking around for Rags. That’s when he noticed how alone he currently was. Rags was missing!
The trainer gulped as he looked back at the two girls in front of him. Thoughts were racing through his head trying to figure out what happened. Was I hypnotized? Did they kidnap Rags? Do they mean harm, what game do they want to play, why are they here, what do I need to do, where is Rags, why did we come here!?
He started panicking, almost hyperventilating. I need to calm myself down, he thought. A cigarette might help. He reached for his jacket pocket but froze halfway.

You can’t smoke now, there are children here!
Oh right, he thought himself.

Lucas seemed to be going mad as he continued talking to himself in his head:

But they’re ghosts!
Even so, you shouldn’t.
What do you suggest.
The same as you.
What?
I'm you! Stop talking to yourself!
I can’t believe I’m talking to myself now.
Me neither.
Shut up!
Shut up!

He was gasping for breath now.

We need to calm down now!

No! he told himself. I need to calm down. If Rags was still close by, he would be panicking as well because of his trainer’s feelings. He needed to relax for the sake of him and his Pokémon. He closed his eyes and started breathing in slowly before letting out a long exhale. He continued doing this for a while until he calmed down. He opened his eyes again. How much time has passed since he woke? 10 seconds? 15 seconds? Time was going slow compared to his rapid thinking. He needed to say something quickly, but he still needed more time to think clearly.

“Huh?” He finally said, faking drowsiness. “Could you wait a moment, I only just woke up. Give me a few minutes.”
That’ll probably work in giving me a few more seconds. Now what was it they said? They wanted to play a game. They also mentioned Dusknoir.
He realized he had that word before somewhere. It was a Pokémon, but he couldn’t remember why it was so special any more. The trainer took out his Pokédex and started looking up information on the Dusknoir species.

Dusknoir, the Gripper Pokémon. It receives electrical waves from the spirit world with its antenna and is said to take people to the spirit world as well.

That was probably a hint. Maybe the Dusknoir is looking for them to take them to the spirit world. But he knew he couldn’t jump to conclusions yet. Right now he needed to find Rags and the two girls in front of him were in the way.
That’s it! he thought. Though they’re ghosts, they are still two little girls who just want to play a game. Realizing this, he grinned to himself. Maybe he could use that fact to his advantage and manipulate them.
He stood up while pretending to still shake off his drowsiness. He looked at them weary, hiding his fear, and finally spoke, choosing his words carefully. “Actually, me and my friend Rags were going to look around at the park and maybe do some battling here and there. But I guess we could play one little game. I’m sure Rags would like to join as well. Have you two maybe seen him? He’s a little Pokémon about this high.” Holding his hand above the ground, hoping he could find out more. Lucas swallowed once more and bit his lips.

I hope they don’t figure out what I’m doing, he asked himself

[myahoo]

Son_of_Shadows: Ehehe, hope you don't mind how long it ended up being. It kinda got away from me...^^;

At your response, Angela visibly sags in relief, leaning against one of the walls of the tent as James looks to be struggling against a spark of hope. We aren’t entirely sure how to get rid of him, but some of the trainers trapped here should have an idea, Angela says, relief still evident in her voice as she slides down the wall to sit on the floor. There’s a few we got to right after He got to them, but I think they were also trying to get rid of Him, too. She looks questioningly at James.

Tyler’s actually on his way, he tells her, moving to look out of the tent. One of the others must have seen you two coming by and mentioned it to everyone else. He and one or two of them were probably interested to see how we actually got to a live one before He did. He turns back to you. Tyler’s one of the trainers we got to only after He and the Little Ones did. I think he came by to pay his respects, too, but they went after him. He was able to get away, though, thanks to his Sableye, but they eventually got the drop on him. James shakes his head. We hadn’t really started gathering together yet, so it took us a while to find him and, by that time, he’d already found several other trainers who’d fallen victim to the Little Ones. He’d have a better idea who would actually know something that could help.

Yup, and I brought one of them with me, comes a new voice as its owner ducks into the tent with another ghost. Like James, these two have no indication of how they died and would have looked perfectly normal if they hadn’t been translucent. The first one, most likely Tyler by his first sentence, has the air of a stereotypical Pokémon trainer, though his outfit certainly helps foster the stereotype. He also seems rather light-hearted and up-beat for someone who’s dead. The second one looks considerably older than James, Angela, and Tyler, maybe in his late teens where Tyler was maybe thirteen and Angela and James looked closer to nine or ten. He also seemed slightly more unapproachable than the previous three, as he quickly picks the back corner of the tent and leans against it. Hey, James, Angela, living-person-who’s-hopefully-helping-us. I dunno if you’ve met before, but that’s Sam. He motions to the guy in the back. As far as I know, he’s the closest one to actually bringing the Leader down, but he did that ages ago, so I dunno if things’ve changed. Tyler shrugs lightly. Still, figured he might be able to help. So, would someone like to tell us what happened?

-------

Once the new arrivals were caught up, conversation moves to defeating the Leader and attention turns to Sam, who reluctantly goes to sit in the circle that had been formed during the explanation.

From what I remember, the Little Ones like to keep close to the Memorial Wall, but, once the Leader gives them orders, they follow without question. We’ve been lucky so far; they haven’t found us yet, but they will soon.

We saw them on our way here, Tyler pipes up. They were just past that trio of Kiddie Arenas. James and Angela exchange nervous looks, before turning to watch the tent’s entrance.

Sam continues, ignoring the interruption. Interestingly enough, I found that the Leader doesn’t seem to share their clinginess as he had no problem chasing after me himself and barely hesitated once we left the Sideshow Alley. He pauses briefly, staring out at the tent’s entrance as though listening for something before he speaks again. Anyway, there seems to be something of particular value to the Leader in the Ghost Kiddie Arena, although that is a rather obvious place to hide something. However, I’ve had a gut feeling about the House of Mirrors for a while. I dunno what’s there or why that particular place, but something’s telling me that place is important. He glances at the tent’s entrance again, even as the other three ghosts begin getting up and peeking out, and hands you two Pokeballs. I was able to grab these two before I had to leave my body behind. I expect them back. And with that, he and Tyler slip out of the tent and hurry away, Tyler waving cheerfully back at you three.

Angela turns back to you as James continues to scan the surrounding tents, but the two ghosts are visibly tense. You’ve got to go now, she whispers, glancing at James. The Little Ones are almost here and we’ve got to get going before they arrive. If you head to the back of this tent, there’s a path that’ll take you to the House of Mirrors or the Ghost Kiddie Arena. Just follow the white letters. She moves to the front of the tent and both she and James disappear into the maze of tents, too.

What will you do?


~!~


Allishinca:
Pluto begins the battle by diving forward and Faking Out his opponent by feinting left, then right, before hitting the Vulpix, who Flinches back in surprise. The little fox takes a moment to recover and, as Pluto has no further orders, proceeds to make its own attack. One of the four floating Will-o-Wisps suddenly breaks off from the group and zooms over towards Pluto who dodges it with plenty of room to spare. However, while his attention was focused on the ball of fire, the Vulpix fades away until only a Faint shadow remains and leaps to Attack him, sending Pluto into the wall and making the room shudder.

Meanwhile, Codi makes his attempt to break his trainer out of her trance and, with one less fireball to worry about, it’s looking a little bit easier. Still, he doesn’t quite make it through the first time, receiving a Burn from the supernatural fire for his troubles. The second time, he spots an opening and dives for it, but the will-o-the-wisps quickly pass by and he snatches his hands back for fear of another Burn. Third time’s the charm and he covers your eyes, immediately making those captivating little lights disappear from your sight. It takes you a moment to remember what’s going on, but you quickly remember that Pluto is battling a Vulpix, not even twenty feet away from you; you can hear the two exchanging insults, even as something makes the room shudder.

What will you do?


~!~


Ex-Admiral Insane:
The two little girls eagerly nodded at your request to wait, still obviously hoping you’d play their game with them. They wait patiently as you calm yourself down and stare curiously at your Pokedex when you pull it out. Still, they can’t help wiggling a little as they wait, watching you think and ‘shake off your drowsiness.’

At your question, the two children furrow their brows, trying to remember whether they’d seen a little Pokémon recently. They look at each other and seem to have a quick conversation, the way twins were frequently said to be able to do, but the longer you wait, the less it seems they have. Until the twin on the left lights up, like a child with the right answer.

Mhm. I remember seeing a little Pokémon, but it was hiding. I think it got scared when Ty came back from chasing someone else away from the picture wall, she says.

The other twin shivers. Ty’s scary when he’s angry and he was angry when he came back. I don’t think he caught the person who was at the picture wall earlier. She then perks up. D’you want us to help you find your Pokémon?

The first twin perks up, too. Yeah, we can help you find him. And then both of you can play with us.

It’s obvious that these two must have been very young when they died to still want to play games and such. They also don’t quite seem to be aware that they’re dead, either, as they’re both still acting the way you suspect they had been when they were alive. At least they’re willing to help.

What will you do?

[Ex-Admiral Insane]

Ex-Admiral Insane:
The two little girls eagerly nodded at your request to wait, still obviously hoping you’d play their game with them. They wait patiently as you calm yourself down and stare curiously at your Pokedex when you pull it out. Still, they can’t help wiggling a little as they wait, watching you think and ‘shake off your drowsiness.’

At your question, the two children furrow their brows, trying to remember whether they’d seen a little Pokémon recently. They look at each other and seem to have a quick conversation, the way twins were frequently said to be able to do, but the longer you wait, the less it seems they have. Until the twin on the left lights up, like a child with the right answer.

Mhm. I remember seeing a little Pokémon, but it was hiding. I think it got scared when Ty came back from chasing someone else away from the picture wall, she says.

The other twin shivers. Ty’s scary when he’s angry and he was angry when he came back. I don’t think he caught the person who was at the picture wall earlier. She then perks up. D’you want us to help you find your Pokémon?

The first twin perks up, too. Yeah, we can help you find him. And then both of you can play with us.

It’s obvious that these two must have been very young when they died to still want to play games and such. They also don’t quite seem to be aware that they’re dead, either, as they’re both still acting the way you suspect they had been when they were alive. At least they’re willing to help.

What will you do?

"That would be great. Once we found Rags, we can play a game." Lucas was actually getting worried.

He started heading towards props and scenery searching for any places Rags could be hiding, while still making sure he was within earshot of the twins. "He couldn't have gone too far I think, so he's probably still around here somewhere." He was pretending not to be worried or scared, acting like it was all a game. Truth was, he needed to find his pokémon quick so he could move on and get as far away from here as he could. To do that, they needed to actually look quickly. "Hey, how about we turn this into a little game? The first one to find my Ralts and bring him back safely gets to choose the next game we play?" A little incentive to actually find Rags, he thought. I'm sure they'll put more effort if there's something to win.

The young man needed to know more about what was happening. To him it seemed like more and more pawns were in play. He started summing up what he knew: There's me, Rags who is missing, these twin ghosts, a Dusknoir, someone named Ty and a guy that Ty scared away. It was getting harder and harder for him to discern who had good intentions and who didn't. So far, of all the people involved, the two girls seemed to be helpful and showed no signs of plotting something against him. In fact, to Lucas, it didn't even seem that they knew they were dead. They really are two girls who want to play a game, he convinced himself. How long have they been wandering this place? They must have realized something about being dead? Whatever was going to happen, Lucas did not want to be the one who was going to tell them they were dead. It's better if I don't tell them this bad news. They are still little girls and they may not be able to handle a truth like that His plan was to eventually lead them to a Dusknoir if he couldn't shake them off. It would probably take them off my hands. He started feeling a bit more relaxed from thinking of how to escape the two if things started to get rotten.

But he still needed to know more about Ty and whether he was friendly. It sounded like this Ty was possibly malicious and might have hurt Rags. He continued searching the place while asking the two girls. "So who's this Ty that's so scary?" he asked nonchalantly. "Is he mean? Why would he chase somebody away?"

While hoping to get answers, he started thinking about their predicament as well. They were two girls who died, haven't realize it yet and have been wandering aimlessly in this theme park for, quite possibly, a few years already. Lucas felt bad for manipulating them into helping him while planning to get rid of them later. He was considering actually playing a game with them.

Looking back at the two to see if they were searching as well, he listened to whether they were answering his questions. All the while thinking to himself;

I guess one game wouldn't be so bad as a thank you. What's the worst that could happen?

---

Edit: Oh wow, I only just realized that Sons_of_Shadows/Joshua was the one being chased away. Took me long enough. I find it funny to notice there was another "smoker" before me who had the same plan to pay their respects to the dead.

[allishinca]

Allishinca:
Pluto begins the battle by diving forward and Faking Out his opponent by feinting left, then right, before hitting the Vulpix, who Flinches back in surprise. The little fox takes a moment to recover and, as Pluto has no further orders, proceeds to make its own attack. One of the four floating Will-o-Wisps suddenly breaks off from the group and zooms over towards Pluto who dodges it with plenty of room to spare. However, while his attention was focused on the ball of fire, the Vulpix fades away until only a Faint shadow remains and leaps to Attack him, sending Pluto into the wall and making the room shudder.

Meanwhile, Codi makes his attempt to break his trainer out of her trance and, with one less fireball to worry about, it’s looking a little bit easier. Still, he doesn’t quite make it through the first time, receiving a Burn from the supernatural fire for his troubles. The second time, he spots an opening and dives for it, but the will-o-the-wisps quickly pass by and he snatches his hands back for fear of another Burn. Third time’s the charm and he covers your eyes, immediately making those captivating little lights disappear from your sight. It takes you a moment to remember what’s going on, but you quickly remember that Pluto is battling a Vulpix, not even twenty feet away from you; you can hear the two exchanging insults, even as something makes the room shudder.

What will you do?

Pluto knocked the Vulpix back with a Fake Out move, buying Codi some time to rescue Alli, who remained enthralled with the glowing blue lights. The Vulpix was stunned for a moment, but quickly recovered and dived back into the fight. One of the glowing Will-O-Wisps dancing with Alli sudden swerved and lunged at Pluto, who easily dodged it. Turning towards his opponent, Pluto found that the Vulpix had disappeared into the shadows. Before Pluto could locate it, the fox Pokemon tackled him with a Faint Attack, shoving Pluto right into the wall. The violent collision made the whole room shutter.

Codi noticed the room shaking only for a moment before redirection his attention to his diminutive trainer. While she remained in motion with the fireballs, there was only three now, making the whole situation slightly less worrisome. Codi got arrogant with the whole endeavor, and in attempting to cover his trainer's eyes, swiftly received a burn on the back of his hand. He pulled back howling, and shook his paw in order to reduce the pain. Alli continued on with her dance, and Codi allowed some space to develop between them before regaining himself. He turned quickly towards Pluto to ensure that he did not witness that whole display, and then approached his trainer. Seeing another opening, the Lopunny dived in for it. A cheeky fireballs swooped down by his hand, causing Codi to recoil it in fear. Inhaling deeply, Codi mustered all his courage and reached for his trainer. This time he was successful, as a sudden blackness fell over Alli's sight. He pulled his trainer back away from the glowing lights until they were up against a wall.

Alli became aware of her surroundings slowly, like a fog was lifting. She reached up to learn what was covering her eyes, and unfortunately, touched Codi's burned hand. "Ow, watch it!" Codi brought his hands farther around Alli's head, so that it was now his arms covering her face. "My burn there is so bad that I'm probably not going to make it, you know."

"Codi? What are you doing?"
Suddenly Alli recalled the battle between Pluto
and the red fox Pokemon. "Pluto! Is he okay?"

"He's fine! Call attacks already!"

"I can't do that! Not without seeing!"

"Well we don't have a choice!
Call out a move!" Alli was oddly silent.

"What's wrong?"

"I don't know them. Pluto's attack.
I mean, not all of them."

"What do you mean you don't know them?!"

"I usually look them up on the Pokedex.
Besides, Pluto's been keeping up with his training
and had learned a lot of new moves recently, unlike-"

"Yes, yes. I know, I know!"
Codi sighed. "Call what you know, then."

"...Did I already use fake out?"

"Is that the only one you bothered to memorize?" There was a long pause between them as Alli went over Pluto's moves as best she could in her head. She found she could recall at least six of them, including fake out. One was a new move she did not want to use, and another would be useful if the battle went downhill. For now, she called the remaining three moves out:

"Pluto! Hit it with Shadow Sneak, and then lower its defenses with Leer!" Pluto's ears popped up at the call of his trainer. "Then give it a good Poison Jab!" Alli shadow boxed the air as Codi continued to keep her head tightly wrapped up in his arms.

As Pluto prepared himself to go back on offense, the whole room gave an ominous shuttered.

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[FlashFusion]

FlashFusion/Celebii151:
You arrive at the Haunted Theme Park with you Eevee cowering close to you, frightened by the atmosphere surrounding the park. Perhaps he could sense something beyond what you could and was responding to that, but the appearance of your Hoothoot and your giving him the choice of where to go seems to have distracted him for the moment.

Upon deciding to head to the Ghost Train, the three of you go up to a map pinned on a board and attempt to puzzle out how to get to the attraction, to no avail. Instead, you ask Soren to search for the train with a Foresight and he agrees, shooting straight up, as high as he could go. From his vantage point, he easily spots the train, but is momentarily distracted by the other things he notices across the park.

Near the Helter-Skelter, a Sableye and Mismagius hover over an unconscious trainer wearing a black jacket. On the other side, a trainer with a Kingler, a Murkrow, and a shiny Nidoran♀ faces off with a Mightyena. At the entrance to the park, another trainer had entered and is currently heading towards the Sideshow Alley with a handful of flowers and a terrified-looking Ralts clinging to his leg. In the midst of the tents, a giant glob of a ghost melts and separates back into many young children, all carrying the marks of their death, as another child directs them to search the surrounding tents, stands, and attractions. And, above all, there are ghostly figures and Ghost-types everywhere he looked. Trainers walking and talking to their partners, parents chasing after children and chatting with each other as teens and kids run everywhere, looking like they’re having the time of their life. Gastly and Shuppet and Duskull and Misdreavus, all scattered in rather large numbers around the park.

Spotting a Misdreavus and Gastly looking particularly excited and moving in your direction, Soren hurriedly returns to you and begins to lead you to the Ghost Train, making sure to avoid as many of the things he saw as possible. Though he can’t directly tell you what he saw up there, you can tell that he’s now unnerved and very tense; he’s constantly looking around, scanning both sides of the path as he leads you to your destination.

Once you arrive at the attraction, Soren lands on your shoulder and you can feel him vibrating like a taut string, as he scans your surroundings once again. You, however, are examining the Ghost Train, taking in the burnt pieces and charred sides, the broken windows and unstable floor. It almost seems to give off a feeling of horror, terror, and grief and those emotions were beginning to worm their way into your heart when Soren draws your attention to an approaching, possibly familiar, trainer. The newcomer has a Geodude and Yanmega traveling with him, and he seems to have gotten on the bad side of something as there’s blood on his neck. However, it looks like he’s here to investigate the Ghost Train, too.

What will you do?

Thanks for taking me Myahoo, and Blaze and I have decided to do a joint adventure.

As Soren descends from his lookout point, Cele notices that he looks much more shaken than he did when he went up. "Whoa, if this place is enough to frighten Soren, then I don't think it was such a good idea coming here." Cele thinks to himself, not wanting to let his Pokemon see him scared. Soren leads the way to the Ghost Train, helping Cele and Shade avoid as many of the frightening things he had seen as possible, including the Ghost Pokemon and Trainers in terrible situations, like being surrounded by Pokemon or facing off against a wild one.

After they reach the Ghost Train, Cele spots a familiar face. It was Blaze, alongside a Geodude and Yanmega, who Cele assumes to be his Pokemon. What Cele is concerned about, however, is the blood on Blaze’s neck. “Hey Blaze!” Cele calls out as he runs towards the aforementioned. Cele grabs his custom silver and blue Pokedex and scans the Pokemon, the Rock-Type first. The devices comes to life. “Geodude, the Rock Pokémon . At rest, it looks just like a rock. Carelessly stepping on it will make it swing its fists angrily.” Cele then turns to the dragonfly lookalike. “Yanmega, the Ogre Darner Pokémon. It prefers to battle by biting apart foes' heads instantly while flying by at high speed.” “So a Geodude and Yanmega, huh?” Cele asks. “Oh yeah, Blaze what happened to your neck, it’s drenched in blood. Do you need treatment? My Wartortle knows Heal Pulse.” He continues. Asking another question before he gets the answers to the first ones, he speaks up again. “So, you’re here to explore the Ghost Train too?”

[kaisap112]

kaisap112/tau - After communicating his feelings to Quinn through a series of glances, Nook darts off in the direction of his glittering desires, which have been tarnished with thoughts of revenge. Quinn entrusts Banzai with the task of following Nook wherever he may go and looking out for the little Zigzagoon. Kitty also shows some interest in following the boys, but after images of the little Skitty finding herself lost and alone in this ominous landscape flash through Noriko's mind, the female trainer quickly ensures that her pink kitten is safe and sound and adequately prevented from running off. Quinn and Noriko both decide to chase after the pair, but not before Noriko makes a joke about knowing the perfect gift to get Nook for Christmas... perhaps a Team Pocket themed leash was in order!

Though the pair of trainers are fairly quick in deciding to follow after Nook and Banzai, they soon find themselves trailing behind Quinn's energetic Pokemon as they dart around Salty Sam's ominous-looking ship... Despite being wrought out of plastic and metal and being about as authentic as the depiction of Salty Sam himself, in the ride's current state of utter disrepair, it almost looks like a real beached shipwreck under the pale moonlight. Eventually, the pair race so far ahead of the trainers that Quinn and Noriko momentarily lose sight of them. A wash of panic comes over both trainers, particularly Quinn, as they both try to figure out where to turn... fortunately, the call of Quinn's Zigzagoon alerts them to the furry creature's presence, and the two dart after him, who sounds as if he has snuck behind the ship.

Noriko and Quinn sprint behind the ship, only to stop dead in their tracks to find Nook happily eating an Oran Berry beside a floating pirate coat, hat, pants and boots, all of which look surprisingly realistic for such a gimmicky attraction, right down to the polished buckles. The coat moves about as if somebody is inside, though if there is indeed a body holding up this strange ensemble, it is completely invisible to Noriko and Quinn. On the shoulder of the "pirate" is a familiar looking Murkrow, who squawks contentedly as one of the coat sleeves floats up to pat the bird on the head, while the other provides her with a small, glittering trinket to appease her love of shinies. Underneath the Zigzagoon's paws is the coin that the little creature had seen earlier, which he seems to be guarding. Banzai seems a little less pleased than Nook to find himself in the presence of such odd company, and he growls warily at the apparation before him, not quite sure whether or not he can trust what he sees before him. A loud, jovial laugh echoes from the chest of the floating coat, filling the night air with its warmth.

"AHAHAHA~! Oh, Charity, me girl, seems as if y'found me quite a bit o'treasure here..."

The Murkrow tilts her head, looking a bit confused.

"Oh, not th'coin, my lass... The coin's a piece o'rubbish. Not even real gold. No, I'm talkin' about those obsidian eyes y'found me, shining in the darkness... Those gems'll find us some real treasure, hmm? Ohh, they glisten like black gold, don't they, now?" The pirate hat turns in the direction of the Zigzagoon, who is surprisingly unafraid of the pirate spectre. "A fine little ruffian this one is, though he's got that gleam in his eye... You know the one, 'ay Charity?"

Charity looks... less than convinced. Even so, the pirate's laughter continues to fill the air.

"Will y'be comin' with me then, y'little scallywag? I could use a creature like you t'sniff out somethin' special..." The floating coat extends a sleeve towards Nook in invitation. It seems as if the pirate has not noticed Noriko or Quinn yet.

How will the trainers react?

Running after Nook and Banzai, Noriko and Quinn ventured deeper into the ship. Constantly trying to remind herself that it wasn’t an actual ghost ship, but purely made of metal, plastic and other undoubtedly modern materials, Noriko sprinted along. Suddenly, both trainers lost sight of the excited Pokémon; had they gone in even deeper? The trainers promptly panicked – who knew what was lurking in there? “Let’s find them and get out, okay Quinn?” Noriko pulled on Quinn’s sleeve, fully aware who she was ready to blame for any ensuing trouble. The young man did something similar to a nod, but rushed on ahead right after.

Noriko shivered. The pale moonlight didn’t make the place any less creepy – and she was the type that liked moonlight under normal circumstances. First on the agenda was getting the two rascals of Pokémon, then they could all go out and have a cup of tea. Kitty, on the other hand, wasn’t intimidated in the least; instead more than eager to search the realistic shipwreck by herself. “Don’t you dare. You disappear and I’m leaving you here,” muttered the young woman to her partner. The feline meowed happily in response. The duo took off after their friends – with the sound of a Zigzagoon happily calling for his trainer leading them.

Ducking behind the ship where the sound was coming from, Noriko and Quinn screeched into a halt. Nook was absolutely fine, from the looks of it: he was stuffing his face with an Oran Berry, oblivious to the worry he had caused. Just as Noriko was about to unleash a powerful complaint attack at him, she noticed something…rather peculiar. A coat. Floating. In the air. There were also boots, and a hat, and-

Ooh boy.

“Uh, Quinn, correct me if I’m wrong, but is that a floating coat?” Noriko eyed the Murkrow perched on the shoulder of the coat. It was the one from before! One of the sleeves of the coat patted the Murkrow on the head, the bird crowing happily. The other sleeve went inside the coat, and then came out with a shiny trinket. The Murkrow snatched it in her beak happily – oddly satisfied with what looked like a keychain to Noriko. Nook was protectively holding the coin he was chasing under his paws, not worried in the slightest about the floating coat, while Banzai, in all his felineness, hissed at the apparition with his fur fluffed. Noriko was glad at least one Pokémon in Quinn’s team knew better. She jumped at the loud laugh that suddenly echoed in the room. It gave her even worse shivers and seemed to be coming from the chest area of the coat.

"AHAHAHA~! Oh, Charity, me girl, seems as if y'found me quite a bit o'treasure here..." Noriko and the Murkrow cocked their heads in confusion at the same time. The coat talks. Splendid. And it has a sense of irony. The thought had just crossed Noriko’s mind when the coat continued.

"Oh, not th'coin, my lass... The coin's a piece o'rubbish. Not even real gold. No, I'm talkin' about those obsidian eyes y'found me, shining in the darkness... Those gems'll find us some real treasure, hmm? Ohh, they glisten like black gold, don't they, now?" Noriko realized that if this thing was anything, it was a pirate ghost. Nook didn’t seem scared, gazing curiously at the ghost. "A fine little ruffian this one is, though he's got that gleam in his eye... You know the one, 'ay Charity?"

Noriko couldn’t think of a gleam of any other kind than the one signaling Nook’s potential case of ADD, but apparently the ghost had something else in mind. Worried, Noriko poked Quinn, who had been awfully quiet this whole time. What was up with him? The pirate ghost continued to laugh, though his Murkrow didn’t look nearly as confident about Nook’s capabilities. "Will y'be comin' with me then, y'little scallywag? I could use a creature like you t'sniff out somethin' special..." The coat extended a sleeve in Nook’s direction. Not confident at all that Quinn would do anything about this on his own, Noriko, against her better judgment, stepped forward. Had the ghost even noticed their presence? She didn’t have the time to think about that; the coat was trying to convert Nook to his side!

“Hey, you! Coat…thing! Leave the Zigzagoon alone, he’s already got a trainer and we were just on our way out. Come on Nook, let’s go!” Kitty started hollering to emphasize her trainer’s words. She wasn’t going to let her new friend run off with some evil ghost! Noriko glanced over at Quinn, who still wasn’t doing anything. “Quinn, come get your friend! What’s wrong with you?”

[Emp]

The Park

Despite the lack of human activity in the park during its closure, it seems those from the realm of the dead are quite active in these parts. All of the popular rides remain the same as they were prior to the ghost train event, but over time they seem to have become populated by very unsavoury characters in the form of spectres, poltergeists, and even some of the more mischievous Pokémon who want to manipulate anyone brave enough to enter such a place. If you dare to venture here, you'd best have your wits about you.

Areas:
The Big Wheel: Seems like any old wheel ride, but on a much greater scale. Each carriage can easily hold ten people and the top of the wheel is so high that it cannot be seen from the ground due to it being shrouded in the bizarre violet fog. Recently, there have been rumours of it speeding up, its riders lost, but where?

"Steady Shamu!"

Wes scrambled up the rubbery surface of the Wailmer’s back, one arm fastened around the Pokémon’s top lip like a fish hook and the other wrapped around a cardboard box that he didn’t fancy losing to the rough sea. The whale let out a low groan as Wes steadied himself back onto his crown. After all, it wasn’t his fault the tide had changed so abruptly. The trainer realised this, rubbing Shamu’s hump appraisingly as he battled the vicious surf. Wes’s grip on the box tightened as the turbulent waters tried doggedly to buck him overboard, he had to keep it safe no matter what. Squinting ahead he spotted a dark horizon panning into focus – distant rollercoaster tracks like snakes atop of a nest of eerie gates and black rock... Phantom Isle. “Land Ho!” Wes winced as a spray of foam obscured his view, the salty tang shooting up his nose as he coughed and spluttered. Eyes welling up with the sting of seasalt, he instinctively fixed his attention to the cardboard box, dripping wet but still in good shape. A few whimpers rattled from the holes on its top, the kid attempting to hush the cries as they drew toward their destination.

“Great job my friend”, Wes smiled as they docked. Lobbing a handful of Remoraid fritters into the whale’s gullet, the trainer tapped his nose with a Dive Ball before returning to his box, “Don’t worry pups, this fairground is gunna be teaming with kids to adopt you all...” Wes pulled up the hood of his green parka jacket as he strolled through the swinging gates of the deserted theme park, the tails of the coat billowing in the breeze. There was a strange mist carpeting the Island, the trainer could see his own breath as he rubbed his hands together idly. As minutes passed with nothing but the sound of his own footsteps, Wes started to grow suspicious. Something wasn’t right – he was alone. Raising a brow in caution the kid looked over both shoulders, the busy fairground he’d expected turning out to be a ghost town.

“I guess that’s what you get for coming out of season”, he said with a weak laugh, “It’s still early hours. I’m sure it’ll pick up soon. How about I wake you guys up for your morning exercise?” Half interested in walking the Eevee litter, half interested in quelling his isolation-driven paranoia, Wes placed the cardboard box on the footpath and gently removed its top. Morning light broke into the makeshift nest, the sawdust padding still damp from the rocky ride in. The Eevee pups were snuggled together like tan balls of cotton, their fur rising and falling as they snoozed nonchalantly. The morning sun was quick to stir their activity with Katniss, the liveliest pup, vaulting to her feet - sticking a paw in Gale’s face in an effort to rouse him. The pups, brought together by their thrill for adventure, were quickly scratting at the side of the box with their combined yowling waking the rest of the litter up. Haymitch was first to respond, yapping grumpily not having made his mind up on which to pounce on. Rue beamed at Wes, achieving a feat which her siblings couldn’t as she nimbly clambered out of the box and licked her master affectionately. Finnick didn’t seem interested in the others - just himself as he pawed down his morning quiff. Then there was Peeta, the runt of the litter. He looked on shyly at Katniss, not quite sure what to do with himself. Wes felt he could relate to this Eevee the most despite his best efforts not to grow too attached. The boy shrugged off these thoughts and started to plop the troop in a line, crossing his fingers as they started to stretch their legs...

“Stay close by everyone! Don’t eat anything you see on the floor! You can’t pee there!” Wes’s heart was pounding ten to the dozen, and in efforts to quickly rally the group together he set eyes on the nearest ride: The Big Wheel. Wes scooped the Eevee up in his arms and quickly set course, a sort of wicked smile painted on his face. The ride was even bigger up close; peaking into the dark miasma, which Wes was quick to shrug off as winter weather, with each gondola big enough to fit a crowd of tourists. As the carts slowly wheeled around the kid weighed up his options... The litter had been awful rowdy lately... Maybe it’d be best to separate them...

“I must be the worst trainer ever for doing this”, Wes muttered as he lined the pups up in single file, “I guess it’s fine if there’s nobody else around though...” he argued. Despite their age the Eevee didn’t need convincing, daring being a prominent gene in their pool. The same couldn’t be said for Peeta, the pup nuzzling against the hem of Wes’s jeans. “Don’t worry little guy, you can ride with me”, Wes itched the back of the Pokémon’s ear affectionately, facing the clanking ferris wheel and preparing to drop an Eevee off on each cart.

FB

[Thrain]

Thrain:
“That’s true; I certainly did make this place hard to find,” she giggles in response to your comment. “But then, I made sure only people who were determined and focused enough could arrive.” As you take a seat in the rickety chair, a bad feeling begins to pool in your gut, but Blaze jumping up to your lap distracts you from it and, as the fortune teller speaks again, you push away to think about later. “Now, Eric, I believe you said you wanted your fortune told?” she asks, glancing at you to catch your agreement, before she pulls out a crystal ball. “Perhaps it’s a bit cliché,” she admits when she notices you glance at it, “but it has been reliably giving me fortunes for as long as I can remember. Give me a moment.” She stares into the clear orb, resting her hands in a loose circle at its base, occasionally rubbing it every few moments as though to wipe smudges off its surface.

When she speaks again, her voice has deepened and her eyes have darkened until they’re almost black. “Difficulties and treasures; a winding, crisscrossing path; a bright, bright glow and a dark, dark shadow,” she says, never taking her eyes off the crystal ball. She doesn’t even seem to be aware of your presence anymore nor does she notice the way the flaps of her tent begin moving. She opens her mouth to speak again and a great whirling overtakes the tent, the lantern instantly going out. There is barely any light in the tent, but the whipping winds prevent you from seeing much, though their roaring doesn’t drown out the high-pitched scream that is quickly cut off.

After a few more moments of roaring and flapping and tossing, the winds disappear as quickly as they came and the lantern lights back up unaided. The tent is now a mess, the crystal ball shattered on the floor and the table turned on its side. Debris litters the floor, but the biggest thing you notice is the lack of fortune teller’s presence. However, a piece of thick paper lies in your lap, between you and your Growlithe. Cautiously, you pick It up and unfold it, recognizing the writing as a list of seemingly-random instructions, the first of which says to head over to the Sideshow Alley. Could this be part of the fortune teller’s act or was it something else?

What will you do?

OoC: I apologize that it's taken me so long to reply to this. I'll be sure to reply a lot sooner in the future. ^^

Profile

"That’s true; I certainly did make this place hard to find. But then, I made sure only people who were determined and focused enough could arrive," the fortune teller said in response to Eric's comment. The woman had a sly glint in her eye, only worsening the sinking feeling within Eric's stomach. "Now, Eric, I believe you said you wanted your fortune told?" From the way she asked him to affirm his feelings on the matter, it seemed that she was sending a warning, in a way, as if she wasn't responsible for what would occur next. Red flags began to pop up within his head, but the lure of knowing his future was too much for him. "Yes, I'm sure," he said, absentmindedly stroking Blaze's fur. The Growlithe sensed Eric's unease, turning his head to lick his trainer's fingers.

Bending down, the mystic retrieved a pearly white crystal ball. The orb's exterior shimmered in the light, reflecting the tent's contents back to Eric all warped and twisted. He noticed a smile grow upon the face of the fortune teller's reflection. "It's a bit cliché, but it has been reliably giving me fortunes for as long as I can remember. Give me a moment." Eric watched as the mystic rubbed the base of the magical orb; as she looked into the depths of the ball with such an intense gaze... Suddenly, her face changed. Shadows seemed to cling to the contours of her cheekbones as her crystal-blue eyes darkened to an inky shade of black. Her white skin turned pale; it stretched taut above the bones of her face, giving her the appearance of a living skeleton. Her hands continued to hold the crystal in a vice-grip. Eric reeled back in shock, fright clear upon his face, as Blaze issued a bark of warning. A breeze began to blow through the tent as the woman opened her lips to speak. The voice that left the mystic's mouth was not the one she had spoken with previously; it was now strained and hoarse. "Difficulties and treasures; a winding, crisscrossing path; a bright, bright glow and a dark, dark shadow." The flaps of the tent rustled as the breeze flitting through the air turned into a fierce gale. No longer aware of Eric's presence, the fortune teller stared straight ahead, a shell of who she once was. Seconds later, the lantern lighting the shelter went out, and darkness overtook the tent. Eric yelled with fear laced through his voice. Another scream joined his own, and it could only be coming from one source: the woman. Eventually, the wind died down, along with the scream, until no sound could be heard in the tent aside from Blaze's whimpering. Suddenly, the doused lantern re-lit itself, causing both Eric and his Growlithe to jump. The mystic was gone.

The tent was in disarray. The table was overturned, patches of the canvas were frayed in places, distorting the pattern on the walls, and shards were all that remained of the crystal ball. And the fortune teller had disappeared. Her scream still rang in Eric's ears, chilling him to the bone. What could have happened here? he asked himself. Was it all magic? He had gotten what he wanted, but was it all worth it? "Difficulties and treasures; a winding, crisscrossing path; a bright, bright glow and a dark, dark shadow..."

Blaze's whimpers subsided as the initial shock and fear of the scene left the duo gradually. Turning around to face Eric, the Growlithe licked at his trainer's face. As he did so... *crinkle* *crinkle* The sound of rustling paper filled the air. Between Eric and Blaze lay a piece of parchment weathered with age. Yet another chill ran up his spine; the paper had not been there moments before. Blaze jumped off his lap as Eric picked up the paper and glanced at it closely. They were... instructions, the first of which told him visit Sideshow Alley. This must have something to do with the fortune teller's mysterious disappearance! But should he follow these directions after what he just experienced? Did he really want to involve himself in these spectral encounters?

"Yes, yes I can," Eric said aloud to himself, answering his own question. His curiosity was aroused, and a yearn for a hair-raising adventure reared its head within him. "C'mon, Blaze, off to Sideshow Alley we go."

The Growlithe looked up at Eric warily as he approached the tent's cloth door. The pup couldn't help but wonder if his trainer had lost his mind. Blaze finally sighed in exasperation before following Eric out into the night air. A full moon hung above the surrounding buildings and attractions, shining down upon everything in its gaze. A sign nearby pointed every which way, instructing passerby which path to take in order to arrive at the destination they desired. At the bottom of the list, in tiny, messy letters, "SIDESHOW ALLEY" was inscribed. It pointed right.

~~~

Fifteen minutes later, Eric and Blaze stood at the entrance of the infamous alley. Despite the moon's steady light, shadows still plagued the passageway's interior. Taking a deep breath, the duo entered under the darkness' watch...

[myahoo]

Celebii151/FlashFusion & BlazeVA/Plight of Leon: Repost for when you get around to it, Blaze.


~!~


Son_of_Shadows: Repost, though I know you’re trying to work on it.


~!~


King Ghidorah: Repost


~!~


Ex-Admiral Insane: :)
Both little girls perk up when you mention turning this search into a game, sending you bright smiles as one tries to remember where she’d seen the Pokémon hiding. The other ends up poking around the same places you were looking, glancing at her twin to see whether the other recalled where they’d come across a Pokémon.

At your question, the one not deep in thought pipes up. Ty’s the one who makes sure none of the people who go to the picture wall try to hurt us. You get the sense that she’s including more than just herself and her sister in the ‘us.’ He’s not really mean to us, but he’s really mean to the people who go to the picture wall with the funny smoke-sticks. He says the smoke-sticks can control us and that’s why he chases them away. So that none of us have to listen to the smoke-stick people. She then smiles up at you. He didn’t say anything about people with flowers, though, so you must be nice.

The other twin then picks up the line of conversation, but takes it in a different direction. C’mon, mister. I think I remember where the little Pokémon was. She grabs your hand and begins to pull you deeper into the maze of tents, excitedly, certain that she has the right answer. Her twin pouts as she follows you two, but she doesn’t say anything. You try to remember which way the three of you are going, but it quickly becomes a blur; the two little girls are very familiar with the maze and never hesitate at any intersection. It probably doesn’t help that the grip on your hand is chilling.

By the time the girl stops pulling you along and releases your hand, it almost feels like you’ve stuck your hand into a bucket full of ice. However, peeking around a tent corner is a familiar white Pokémon with a green ‘helmet’ sprouting two red horns. The little girl beams proudly up at you. See? Now you’ll play with us, right? She directs pleading eyes in your direction, as her twin goes up to look at your Ralts.

As you prepare to respond, though, you notice something odd about the way Rags is acting: mainly that, though you are standing directly in front of him, he doesn’t seem to see you. He can clearly sense you by the way he searches his surroundings, but his confusion is obvious. Interestingly enough, the little girls don’t seem to find it odd, as one begins giggling at your starter’s expression. The other merely waits expectantly for your answer to her question.

What will you do?


~!~


Allishinca:
At your orders, Pluto tries to Sneak his Shadow behind the Vulpix, but, having just been thrown into a wall, he is, understandably, a little off his mark. Especially when the Vulpix, once again, becomes a Faint shadow and leaps to Attack him again, irritating your starter. He Leers at the fox-like Pokémon as it fades back into visibility and it hesitates for a moment, before sending off a Ray to try to Confuse Pluto. Luckily, it seems the Vulpix wasn’t focused enough to actually hit him with it.

However, when it briefly turns to glance towards where you and Codi are leaning against the wall, Codi begins to have a bad feeling about its next actions. Sure enough, it sends the remaining three Will-o-Wisps spiraling towards you, two of which Codi is not fast enough to dodge. In retaliation, Pluto viciously Jabs it with a Poisoned claw and it backs away, wincing, even as it glares at him. Only a moment later, it stumbles, looking unsteady on its feet, before it tries to shake it off, but the two Pokémon watching can tell that it’s Poisoned. Both battlers are looking a little tired and Codi winces as his Burn makes itself known, but neither Pluto nor the Vulpix look ready to back down. Thankfully, nothing comes of the building’s earlier shudders, but a slight flicker in the light from the hall might pass by unnoticed.

What will you do?


~!~


Thrain: No worries. Just reply when you can. :)
Your curiosity raised and your sense of adventure urging you onward, you and your Growlithe make your way towards the Sideshow Alley under a full moon. The entire way there, the both of you feel the gazes of unseen observers following your path, though nothing comes of it. Yet. A flicker of movement in the corner of your eye has you turning, but all you see is a deserted path.

Fifteen minutes later, the two of you are at the entrance of Sideshow Alley, the tents lining the path throwing dark shadows over the area despite the moon’s light. After taking a moment to gather your courage, you enter, feeling an odd breeze pass you, but you ignore it when it settles. A few steps further brings the two of you to the memorial wall, decorated with pictures of all the children who never made it off the Ghost Train.

It’s then that you realize that you have no idea what you’re supposed to be doing here. A glance at the piece of paper gives you no clues either, so you and Blaze eventually decide to wait to see whether anything come up before moving on to the next place. It only takes a few more moments before something begins to happen. A shape seems to coalesce out of an odd mist under the moonlight and it quickly takes the form of a boy, maybe ten years old, but translucent, who eyes you warily. He looks you over before turning his gaze to your Growlithe and approaching cautiously.

Did you just come from the fortune teller’s? he asks guardedly, glancing around as he pauses just a few feet in front of you. I really hope you did ‘cause we have to get moving. There’s this one ghost here that really doesn’t like living people or anyone who helps them. He looks around again, before motioning for you to follow him. I’m Sam, by the way. I’m supposed to give you a hand with the list. He begins to head toward one specific picture on the other end of the memorial wall, making sure to give Blaze a wide berth as he does so. I’m pretty sure the first thing’s somewhere over here… he mutters, not even checking to see what you were doing.

What will you do?

[Ex-Admiral Insane]

Ex-Admiral Insane:
Both little girls perk up when you mention turning this search into a game, sending you bright smiles as one tries to remember where she’d seen the Pokémon hiding. The other ends up poking around the same places you were looking, glancing at her twin to see whether the other recalled where they’d come across a Pokémon.

At your question, the one not deep in thought pipes up. Ty’s the one who makes sure none of the people who go to the picture wall try to hurt us. You get the sense that she’s including more than just herself and her sister in the ‘us.’ He’s not really mean to us, but he’s really mean to the people who go to the picture wall with the funny smoke-sticks. He says the smoke-sticks can control us and that’s why he chases them away. So that none of us have to listen to the smoke-stick people. She then smiles up at you. He didn’t say anything about people with flowers, though, so you must be nice.

The other twin then picks up the line of conversation, but takes it in a different direction. C’mon, mister. I think I remember where the little Pokémon was. She grabs your hand and begins to pull you deeper into the maze of tents, excitedly, certain that she has the right answer. Her twin pouts as she follows you two, but she doesn’t say anything. You try to remember which way the three of you are going, but it quickly becomes a blur; the two little girls are very familiar with the maze and never hesitate at any intersection. It probably doesn’t help that the grip on your hand is chilling.

By the time the girl stops pulling you along and releases your hand, it almost feels like you’ve stuck your hand into a bucket full of ice. However, peeking around a tent corner is a familiar white Pokémon with a green ‘helmet’ sprouting two red horns. The little girl beams proudly up at you. See? Now you’ll play with us, right? She directs pleading eyes in your direction, as her twin goes up to look at your Ralts.

As you prepare to respond, though, you notice something odd about the way Rags is acting: mainly that, though you are standing directly in front of him, he doesn’t seem to see you. He can clearly sense you by the way he searches his surroundings, but his confusion is obvious. Interestingly enough, the little girls don’t seem to find it odd, as one begins giggling at your starter’s expression. The other merely waits expectantly for your answer to her question.

What will you do?

Smoke stick? What the...? he thought. Sounds like some crowd control weapon. Lucas could definitely understand now if ghosts tried to scare someone off with a weapon. If they were children, they would certainly be frightened of such a thing. This Ty sounds like a nice guy. Someone who protects his fellow ghostly companion. Though he does seem to have mild anger issues. Maybe I could ask him for help when the need arises.

He didn’t say anything about people with flowers, though, so you must be nice.
Lucas practically beamed a huge smile in their direction. He couldn't help himself. It somehow felt good to hear such a compliment coming from a ghost.

C'mon mister, I think I know where the little Pokémon was. One of the little girls grabbed his hand and started dragging him past tents making turns after every so-many tents. Lucas was trying to keep up with them, not because they were fast, but because of their certainty in where they were going and their lack of hesitance when turning a corner. To Lucas, every corner came as a surprise and he had to quickly shuffle his feet to turn. He had almost no time to look at the many tents that he passed and each seemed to look just like the same blur as the previous one. He was going to have a tough time finding his way back. His hand was starting to get cold as well. The girl's hand seemed to have some sort of icy grip.
It was odd though, to him. The girls seemed to be moving towards a specific place rather than looking around. It was almost as if they already knew where he was hiding.

Finally, the three of them stopped and the little spectre that held his hand, now released him. Lucas moaned a bit in pain as he held his now freezing-cold hand in his other to warm it up. Her hand was almost literally as cold as ice and it certainly felt that way to him.
At first, he couldn't see any pokémon around that even seemed to resemble a Ralts. So when he turned around the corner of the tent, he was overjoyed when he finally find a little white pokémon with what appears to be a green and red helmet.
See? Now you’ll play with us, right? She looks in his direction questioningly while the other seemed to be merely looking at the pokémon.
His joy was cut short though, when he noticed Rags' lack of enthusiasm. The Ralts was looking around as if sensing his presence, but otherwise blind to notice Lucas standing right in front of him. The little girls' expressions weren't all that comforting either; one was standing still waiting for his answer, pretending everything was normal while the other one started giggling when looking at Rags.
He was starting to lose his trust in the two. They obviously knew something and he didn't feel like answering their question until he got a reply from Rags.

It was clear to Lucas that something was wrong. Whatever it was, Lucas didn't bother thinking about such things and merely wanted to try and make contact with his starter.
"Rags! Over here!" he shouted. He went towards him to try and shake him while continuously asking Rags if everything was all right and that he wasn't hurt.

[allishinca]

Allishinca:
At your orders, Pluto tries to Sneak his Shadow behind the Vulpix, but, having just been thrown into a wall, he is, understandably, a little off his mark. Especially when the Vulpix, once again, becomes a Faint shadow and leaps to Attack him again, irritating your starter. He Leers at the fox-like Pokémon as it fades back into visibility and it hesitates for a moment, before sending off a Ray to try to Confuse Pluto. Luckily, it seems the Vulpix wasn’t focused enough to actually hit him with it.

However, when it briefly turns to glance towards where you and Codi are leaning against the wall, Codi begins to have a bad feeling about its next actions. Sure enough, it sends the remaining three Will-o-Wisps spiraling towards you, two of which Codi is not fast enough to dodge. In retaliation, Pluto viciously Jabs it with a Poisoned claw and it backs away, wincing, even as it glares at him. Only a moment later, it stumbles, looking unsteady on its feet, before it tries to shake it off, but the two Pokémon watching can tell that it’s Poisoned. Both battlers are looking a little tired and Codi winces as his Burn makes itself known, but neither Pluto nor the Vulpix look ready to back down. Thankfully, nothing comes of the building’s earlier shudders, but a slight flicker in the light from the hall might pass by unnoticed.

What will you do?

Pluto attempted to Shadow Sneak behind the Vulpix, but having just been thrown against a wall left him too disoriented. The Vulpix quickly retaliated by falling back into the shadows and hitting Pluto with a Faint Attack. Pluto fell to the ground and grumbled in annoyance. Looking up, he gave the Vulpix a Leer for a good measure as it emerged from the shadows. The fox Pokemon sent off a Confuse Ray, which fortunately does not make contact as Pluto leap up off of the floor. Codi and Alli remained hidden in the corner of the room when the Vulpix turned and gave them an ominous stare. Codi seemed to realize what the sneaky fox was about to do.

"Uh-oh"

"What is it?" Questioned the still blinded Alli. Before Codi could respond, the three remaining Will-o-Wisps spiraled across the room towards them. Codi dived forward, dragging his tiny little trainer with him. This endeavor allowed the two of them to dodge the first Will-o-Wisp, but also made them vulnerable to the remaining pair, which collided onto Codi's back and side with a sizzling sting. With the Vulpix momentarily distracted, Pluto dived forward and punched it with a good Poison Jab. The fox staggered as it backed away. It glared at Pluto as it tried to shake away the pain.

Alli picked herself up off of the floor, while Codi worked his way into a sitting position up against the wall. With no more Will-o-Wisps in the room, Alli was free of their enchantment, at least momentarily. Codi held his side as he winced due to the burns. He did not want to seem too dramatic, especially with Pluto about. As the pain from his burns increased, Codi became less concerned over toughing it out for posterity. He and Alli now watched the battle intensely as the Vulpix again staggered before catching itself.

"What's wrong with it?" Alli turned back to her Lopunny.

"It's poisoned. I'm dying, by the way."

"You're going to have to try to make it until the end of the fight.
Just hang in there, okay?"

"Call strategy, then!"

"Well, out of the six moves I can remember, all I have left are Recover and Gummi Bomb. I don't think he needs Recover yet, and we've never practice Gummi Bomb before. Besides, I don't want to risk using it in this rickety old building."

Codi was silent for a moment until stating the obvious;
"Little Bun, you're eyes aren't covered anymore. Just check your Pokedex."

"Oh, that's right!" Alli may have giggled in her embarrassment if the seriousness of the situation had not prevented her from doing so. She pulled her Pokedex out of her pocket and scanned over Pluto's entry. Alli familiarized herself with his other moves, before shouting out her orders.
"Pluto! Hit it with another Leer, then another Poison Jab! After that, back off and cover yourself with Detect!" Alli then quickly swung her backpack off and pulled out Pokeball [5/5], readying herself to throw it should the moment arise.

Profile

[Son_of_Shadows]

Son_of_Shadows: Ehehe, hope you don't mind how long it ended up being. It kinda got away from me...^^;

At your response, Angela visibly sags in relief, leaning against one of the walls of the tent as James looks to be struggling against a spark of hope. We aren’t entirely sure how to get rid of him, but some of the trainers trapped here should have an idea, Angela says, relief still evident in her voice as she slides down the wall to sit on the floor. There’s a few we got to right after He got to them, but I think they were also trying to get rid of Him, too. She looks questioningly at James.

Tyler’s actually on his way, he tells her, moving to look out of the tent. One of the others must have seen you two coming by and mentioned it to everyone else. He and one or two of them were probably interested to see how we actually got to a live one before He did. He turns back to you. Tyler’s one of the trainers we got to only after He and the Little Ones did. I think he came by to pay his respects, too, but they went after him. He was able to get away, though, thanks to his Sableye, but they eventually got the drop on him. James shakes his head. We hadn’t really started gathering together yet, so it took us a while to find him and, by that time, he’d already found several other trainers who’d fallen victim to the Little Ones. He’d have a better idea who would actually know something that could help.

Yup, and I brought one of them with me, comes a new voice as its owner ducks into the tent with another ghost. Like James, these two have no indication of how they died and would have looked perfectly normal if they hadn’t been translucent. The first one, most likely Tyler by his first sentence, has the air of a stereotypical Pokémon trainer, though his outfit certainly helps foster the stereotype. He also seems rather light-hearted and up-beat for someone who’s dead. The second one looks considerably older than James, Angela, and Tyler, maybe in his late teens where Tyler was maybe thirteen and Angela and James looked closer to nine or ten. He also seemed slightly more unapproachable than the previous three, as he quickly picks the back corner of the tent and leans against it. Hey, James, Angela, living-person-who’s-hopefully-helping-us. I dunno if you’ve met before, but that’s Sam. He motions to the guy in the back. As far as I know, he’s the closest one to actually bringing the Leader down, but he did that ages ago, so I dunno if things’ve changed. Tyler shrugs lightly. Still, figured he might be able to help. So, would someone like to tell us what happened?

-------

Once the new arrivals were caught up, conversation moves to defeating the Leader and attention turns to Sam, who reluctantly goes to sit in the circle that had been formed during the explanation.

From what I remember, the Little Ones like to keep close to the Memorial Wall, but, once the Leader gives them orders, they follow without question. We’ve been lucky so far; they haven’t found us yet, but they will soon.

We saw them on our way here, Tyler pipes up. They were just past that trio of Kiddie Arenas. James and Angela exchange nervous looks, before turning to watch the tent’s entrance.

Sam continues, ignoring the interruption. Interestingly enough, I found that the Leader doesn’t seem to share their clinginess as he had no problem chasing after me himself and barely hesitated once we left the Sideshow Alley. He pauses briefly, staring out at the tent’s entrance as though listening for something before he speaks again. Anyway, there seems to be something of particular value to the Leader in the Ghost Kiddie Arena, although that is a rather obvious place to hide something. However, I’ve had a gut feeling about the House of Mirrors for a while. I dunno what’s there or why that particular place, but something’s telling me that place is important. He glances at the tent’s entrance again, even as the other three ghosts begin getting up and peeking out, and hands you two Pokeballs. I was able to grab these two before I had to leave my body behind. I expect them back. And with that, he and Tyler slip out of the tent and hurry away, Tyler waving cheerfully back at you three.

Angela turns back to you as James continues to scan the surrounding tents, but the two ghosts are visibly tense. You’ve got to go now, she whispers, glancing at James. The Little Ones are almost here and we’ve got to get going before they arrive. If you head to the back of this tent, there’s a path that’ll take you to the House of Mirrors or the Ghost Kiddie Arena. Just follow the white letters. She moves to the front of the tent and both she and James disappear into the maze of tents, too.

What will you do?

So here he was, plotting with ghosts to overthrow the leader of a gang of other little kid ghosts. How did this even happen? He still wasn't completely sure. Neither was Bishop. Sam and Tyler were two Pokémon trainer ghosts recruited to their cause by James and Angela, hopefully capable of adjusting strategies on the fly - essential tricks for any trainer. Tyler, the younger of the two seemed to be more co-operative than Silent Sam, standing in the corner like a loner. Yeah, he'd be helpful.

Until he actually spoke up, when he gave very useful information. The ghosts usually kept to the Memorial Wall when not under their leader's orders and were currently searching for Joshua and company. They were currently around the Kiddie Arenas, an area of the park that had previously been used to stage rental battles to teach young children how to battle. However, they were closing in fast... Sam explained that there were two possible places of interest right now. The House of Mirrors and the Kiddie Arena specialising in Ghost types. One was merely a suspicion, the other was a definite place he'd need to go... Joshua pondered this for a second before making his decision.

"I'm going to the House of Mirrors. I'll trust your judgement Sam. If there's something there, Bishop and I can figure it out pretty quickly with his Foresight. We'll go to the Kiddie Arenas afterwards. They're likely to be more guarded anyway." He looked at the two Pokéballs that Tyler had given him before leaving. What was inside? He had no time to check now, with the Little Ones coming. He would investigate in the House of Mirrors, he supposed. "Let's go, Bishop."

[poketim2]

((Since one of our PI updaters has been declared inactive, I am officially welcoming kaisap and Emp into my group. I hope you both continue to have a great time in Phantom Isle~!))


poketim2- Though Jitterz realizes that this battle will likely be a major challenge, he considers himself up to the task, and suggest that they minimize the "floppingz" of the Goldeen first, in order to prevent the shock waves from knocking the little Joltik to Kingdom Come. Brier agrees with this strategy, and helps out his little friend by flinging him toward the Goldeen. Suoni joins Jitterz in the assault, taking a deep breath before charging in.

Jitterz starts the battle with a Spider Web, which awes not only Brier, but Jitterz himself; has all this training been paying off? The web that comes out of Jitterz almost spans the entire crater! Not only that, but it seems to be strong enough to absorb the shockwaves that the Goldeen produces as it angrily tries to free itself from the web; the web shakes violently, but does not tear. Marcus and Suoni are both impressed, and Suoni takes an opportunity to fire off Confusion at the Goldeen... not only does the attack miss, but it looks surprisingly weak. Odd for such a powerful legendary Pokemon to be so poorly trained! In response, the Goldeen turns to Jitterz and fires off a Supersonic attack that fills the area with a horrifying screeching sound that immediately causes Marcus and Brier to put their hands to their ears; thankfully, Jitterz is able to curl up into a ball just in time and protect himself from the vicious ultrasonic waves, which pass by him harmlessly. Unfortunately, Suoni is strongly affected by the move, and floats off aimlessly, muttering about mushrooms growing in Wailmer noses. Jitterz sees a good opportunity unleashes a Thunder Wave right as the Goldeen lifts its tail for a Tail Whip, which hits the Goldeen right in the tail, paralyzing it from the tip of the tail downward. Despite the paralysis, however, the angry Goldeen still manages to complete its Tail Whip, which knocks off the Spider Web and thrusts Joltik backward with incredible force, lowering his defense. Little Jitterz jumps back to his feet, clearly not one to be intimidated, and fires off a Charge Beam at the Goldeen. Brier is floored the attack looks like it was taken straight out of an epic video game, with a giant, glowing beam that engulfs the Goldeen and blasts into the side of the crater opposite the flopping fish, leaving a giant dent in the crater on the other side. Brier cheers at the larger-than-life move that explodes from his tiny Joltik; this epic move has to destroy that Goldeen for sure! Surprisingly enough, while it is indeed super effective, the Goldeen is still flopping away, and though it is clearly damaged, it is far from out. Goldeen's tiny horn transforms into an epic lance as it skewers Jitterz with a mighty Peck; fortunately, even though the attack looks like it would be incredibly painful, Jitterz also seems to have been gifted in this world with a fairly epic defense, and though he squeals in pain, he is far from giving up.

Joltik is at roughly 4/5ths health, but his defense is lowered. Goldeen is at 3/5ths health, its tail still paralyzed. Suoni is confused and muttering utter nonsense, and likely will not be of help again for a few more turns. Marcus is trying to recall him into his Master Ball, but Suoni keeps dodging the light, screaming something about "EVIL LASER DRAGONS".

How will Brier and Jitterz respond?

"Either I'm a godly at train him or somethings up, but I suppect the prior." Brier said stepping back to avoid the web as it fell. As the thunder wave hit Brier felt reafermed with his thoughts. Then the heard the screech Jitterz let out shapped him back to reality. "No!! Are you alright?"

"Yezz," Jitterz buzzed righting himself.


"Okay, good, give me two seconds to think.If Jitterz is this strong, I bet he could do that, Brier thought. "Jitterz!! Pull sone boulders down onto it with String Shot and make sure to smash the last one in as hard as you can. Then another Charge Beam for good measure!"

"EVIL LASER DRAGONS"

"Uhh, little guy sure is loud, Brier said rubbing his ear.

[Marion Ette]

((I apologize for the super long delay for these updates! I appreciate your patience, and hope you enjoy this latest batch! Emp and poketim2, your updates are in my next post because of Serebii's 50000 character limit. Silly length limitations... XP))


Meetan - Alice calls out encouragingly to her little battler, hoping that he will continue to fight as hard as he possibly can for her. The little Torchic still seems fired up and ready to go, and he demonstrates his will to win with an impressive Double Team. Two copies of the Torchic appear out of nowhere, and the half-blinded Liepard seems quite confused and disoriented by the number of opponents that face her now. She seems to be wondering whether the number of Torchics has to do with her impaired vision or something else entirely. Either way, she decides to Pursue the nearest Torchic. She smirks as she lunges, sure that she will be making a direct hit, but her happiness fades away quickly as she phases right through the Torchic, which disappears the moment she makes impact! The Liepard growls, and though Alice cannot understand Liepard language, she's pretty sure that the creature is doing some pretty creative cursing. Both remaining Torchic show off their Agility raising their speed even higher and making them both more nimble. The Liepard decides to Scratch the poor Torchic, and manages not only to target the real one, but land the hit as well. Torchic is about to finish the round with a brutal Crossfire when the Liepard rushes up to Torchic, attempting to Fake him Out. Though the sight of her suddenly coming up on him does stop Torchic mid-attack, he manages to nimbly side-step the fake-out attack, avoiding the damaging flinching that could have occurred.

Alice cannot help but feel concerned for Rapid; after all, Houndoom were frightening creatures to Alice, and the numbers of them seemed to be increasing with every round. She calls out to Rapid, asking her if she's all right, and Rapid calls back;

"Don't worry about me, darlin'! Give that Purrloin's mama what she deserves, then we'll get outta' here! There's gotta' be an end to these things!" Sure enough, the sound of howling does seem to be diminishing. Six more Houndoom have jumped out of the bushes, Growling and Howling, preparing to attack Rapid. Rapid Stomps one of them hard in the ribs, but it seems as if their constant status-lowering cries are beginning to affect her, as this hit is not a OHKO as the first one was. Even so, she remains resilliant.

Alice is about to turn around and focus on her own battle when she notices a few lights shimmering off in the distance that were not there before... Strange.

How will Alice respond?


uhhhhh - Connor tries to throw up, to express his disgust in some fashion other than a mortified look, but nothing seems to come. Despite his horror, he maintains a level head, and recognizes that his top priority is to get the little 'floons out of the maze and to provide them the freedom they so desperately seek. Much as he would rather not be carried off by these hideous monstrosities, he knows that his own sense of direction and knowledge of the environment is not enough to get the Drifloons where they need to be, and though these "Harvesters" do not exactly seem like they will be pleasant people based on the welcoming committee, Connor reasons that the only way to find the exit is to allow the Fleshblim to carry him to their intended destination. Sam, the Drifloons and Gaspard follow as closely as they can, though the Fleshblims certainly seem to do their level best to lose them; twisting through dark, narrow, mirrored corridors with alarming precision and grace, the Drifloons and Gaspard have some difficulty keeping up, but with Gaspard leading the way, the 'floons are not about to let their tendency to wander trip them up now.

Ascending stairways and floating down pits; through corridors and wide-open spaces; the maze seems endless, and Gaspard and the 'floons seem to be getting tired from all the traveling. Fortunately, the Fleshblim do eventually stop; unfortunately, the strange door which they stop in front of is not inviting in the slightest. The sick smell of burning flesh and rubber (with a slight hint of leather) wafting from the slightly open crack sends Connor into another wave of nausea before the Fleshblim even open the door. The smell completely overpowers Connor as the door opens; though his eyes water from the stench, he is still able to see the strange room in its entirety. The well-styled room appears to have been carefully put together by an interior designer upon first glance. The deep red of the paintings, the deep, plush black of the rugs and the lovely white walls work quite harmoniously together. The black-and-ivory furniture is sleek and modern, from the large black desk to the matching armchairs surrounding it, reeking of good taste... and the smell of flesh. To Connor's horror, everything in this room – from the thoroughly bleached leather flesh of the walls to the hair and fur dyed black on the floor, to the fresh blood used for the paint, is all organic, and all stolen from corpses. Even the ceiling is an intricate weaving of the flesh presumably not smooth enough to utilize for the walls: flesh over the elbows, knuckles, face, that sort of thing. Clearly, the intent was to “artistically” display these pieces, but the effect is less than inspiring on Connor and his friends, who follow close behind the Fleshblim as they carry him into the room.

Connor is unceremoniously plopped into one of the sleek black armchairs by the three Fleshblim, who each float to a corner of the room. This leaves one corner unmanned... Or was it? When Connor looks in the direction of that corner, Connor sees the Balloon Man he met at the beginning of his adventure, somehow managing to twist a balloon animal from what appears to be Mr. Mime flesh. The Balloon Man, upon noticing Connor, narrows his eyes and points toward the desk, as if indicating to Connor that he is being disrespectful in some way. Odd that such a silent accusation would come to Connor when he was the one nearly choked to death by one of the Balloon Man's balloons... Yet Connor gets the sense, based on the feeling of eyes boring into the back of his head, that he should turn around and face whatever the Balloon Man is pointing at.

Sitting in the chair, his face full of stitches, a young woman that can only be described as “Frankenstein-like” sits in a beautifully fitted pinstripe suit, a matching hat tilted just so on her head of harlequin hair. She is a patchwork of beautiful women, yet, at as a whole, incredibly terrifying. Even so, an odd aura of grace and charm exudes from this horror, and though Connor knows intuitively that this woman is the worst kind of awful he could possibly imagine, he finds himself strangely attracted, as if by some sort of wicked magic.

“Oh, my dear friend, how good of you to stop in!” The young woman, for all the stitches in her throat, still manages to have a beautiful laugh. “I hope you like what I've done with the place. Not a mirror in sight! I am sure you are sick of them by now.” The young woman smirks. “I would tell you my name, but that would be irrelevant information, wouldn't it? What you need to know... what you probably already know by now... Is that I am the Harvester of Flesh. I do not deny it! Such is my nature.” The young woman points to the Balloon Man behind her. “The gentleman is the Harvester of Breath. We both welcome you to our humble abode... We do what we can to make things bright around here.”

The young woman sighs... A rattling, deadly sigh, yet somehow enchanting. “I wish you understood the necessity of our work, my dear. I really and truly wish you did. If we could live without causing harm to others, we would! But alas, if death were not necessary, it would not exist. If suffering were not necessary, we would not suffer. And so it is.”

Connor can hear the 'floons and Gaspard screaming behind him – Connor instinctively turns his head to look, but with an astonishing speed, the patchwork woman stills his head by gripping him at the base of his jaw. “No. You look at me. You look at me. You look because nothing else is worth looking at! ONLY ME!”

Suddenly, the “kind” Harvester is not quite so civil as she was before... Her two-tone eyes flare with anger at the thought of Connor's eyes wandering. It is not an easy decision... Should Connor physically attempt to break the hold and get a look at what is going on behind him, or somehow reason his way out of the situation? Given this Harvester's choice of décor and apparent mood swings, having her listen to reason may not be easy...

What will Connor do?


MarbleZone – Levin's internal monologue is incredibly harsh toward the Jellicent's living main course, but perhaps with some measure of justification; after all, not only had this man managed to eat himself into oblivion, but he also, through some dreadful mistake or utter lack of perception, got himself caught by whoever provides the “meals” around here. No one wants to live with the blood of another human being on their hands, but why should Wallace Dornez, who solved the Jellicent's riddle and used his own wit and cunning to survive thus far, risk all that for a man who had clearly messed up in some way or another? The whole situation just screamed massive liability. Wallace issues a double-edged apology to the man, insinuating strongly that he was far too overweight to escape... The man narrows his eyes at Wallace's remarks and unwillingness to help, and struggles against the gag to presumably make a retort, but to no avail. Meanwhile, Wallace considered himself better off following the orders of the Jellicent and pouring them their drinks. While he pours the wine, Crixus makes a moral choice of his own, seems intent on helping the man by attempting to untie his bonds. Wallace orders him to stop, but reluctantly admits to himself that perhaps he should do something to help this ill-fated man... Though any obvious attempts at freeing him would most certainly result in death for the two men and the Elekid. After all, Wallace's observations, while perceived by the captive as cruel, are quite true. How fast could a fat man possibly run? The Jellicent would catch and consume him for sure... As for Wallace, despite not having a lot of fat to weigh him down, he didn't want to take any chances, himself. He was going to have to think hard to find a possible solution. He considers including Oceanus as a potential accomplice, but thinks better of it. As far as Wallace was concerned, the only person he could ultimately trust was himself. Even if the butler had been helpful thus far, he had displayed his fair share of fear in the face of the Jellicent, and clearly cared for his own well-being despite having already been killed. No, if he was going to save this man, he and his Pokemon would have to do it themselves.

Wallace leans in close and explains the new plan to the living main course. Despite the fact that the man still looks irritated by the server's earlier comments, he nods, before going limp, face down on the table... For a split second, Wallace himself believes that the man is dead, but quickly realizes that he is following the instructions that Wallace has given. Wallace then calls out Magnus the Magby, immediately reassuring the mentally unstable pyromaniac that he would be able to cause massive, fiery destruction soon, but was needed currently to simply burn a piece of paper to give the illusion of smoke. At first, the Magby seems disinclined to obey such a silly order, but fortunately decides to be obedient for now. He seems far more thrilled with the order to release a deadly Smog in the room, which could potentially poison the hefty man within the room. Wallace and Crixus prepare their theatrics, with Crixus running out of the room so fast he pretends to nearly trip in his scrambling to escape. Wallace runs with elegance and haste, befitting a man of his position in danger.

The look on Oceanus' face seems to physically distort his expression so severely it is hard to recognize him as the same person; the mix of surprise and anger is so intense that Wallace would have difficulty meeting the man's gaze.

"Where are the drinks," he hisses to Wallace in a low tone as soon as he is in range. "Wallace, where are the drinks?"

Wallace instead goes into his planned delivery of the terrible news regarding the dinner... "The human" was emitting poison gas, and had somehow gone bad. The ghostly butler's eyes narrow even further, trying his best to hold in an inconceivable amount of rage.

"What, do you think that because I'm a ghost I would buy this bulls**t medical condition nonsense? Unless this human was part Gastly or had recently eaten a Koffing, then there is no way on Earth that he would be emitting poison gas. It just isn't within the realm of possibility. He was alive five minutes ago, Wallace! What the f**k did you do??" Oceanus lifts his hand quickly as if to strike Wallace, but immediately stops himself. The sudden propensity to violence shakes the ghostly butler out of his rage somewhat, and reawakens some bit of humanity. He sighs deeply, taking a long, shuddering breath; before he can speak again, however, Lady Morgane's voice rings out;

"Where are our drinks? I do say, that champagne is taking forever to pour! Will I have to pour the drinks myself?"

"One moment, dear lady! Our kitchen is very busy preparing dinner just the way you and your gentleman companions like it-"

"Is that so? Did a Slakoth train the lot of you to cook? I have half a mind to grab some appetizers to sate myself before the dinner begins... In fact, that friend of yours look delicious..." The grinning female Jellicent floats out of her seat, eyeing Wallace hungrily. She lifts her tentacles as if about to grab him, when suddenly, she recoils in horror and pain as she is Astonished from nowhere by a loud cry directed into her ear!

The Jellicents' attention are all turned toward a single Exploud, whose fists are clenched with complete, mind-boggling rage. At some distance behind him, the man who was destined to become a main course hops forward, his arm bindings missing, the gag dangling from his hand. His legs are still bound, but the man seems to be working on those ropes. Wallace is confused at the sight, before realizing that Crix's attempts at pulling the ropes may have been just enough to loosen the rope for the man to break free! He wasn't sticking to the plan, to be sure, but his Exploud looks incredibly powerful.

The man turns to Wallace and Oceanus his gaze pleading. "There isn't much time. We need to find my niece Calandra. I am afraid she might be in danger. Please... please come with me, both of you. Whatever they've promised you, it's a lie! I was promised a chance to sing on stage, and you see where it got me!"

The Jellicent surround the man, their eyes full of viciousness... Exploud, seeking to defend his master, Screeches so loudly that the Jellicent recoil at the sound. Even Wallace's hearing is impaired by the cry, but as Oceanus speaks, Wallace gets the general idea from lip reading.

"Well, you must have messed up terribly for them to do this to you. A sour note, perhaps? A bit of backtalk to the Mismagius that runs this place? Ruby's a tyrant, for sure, but most certainly not a liar. He has made it abundantly clear that those who forsake their duties will be punished severely." Oceanus glares angrily at the heavy man. "I want no part of this, and you shouldn't either, Wallace! Now, go get those drinks. The Jellicent will likely expend their energy hunting and killing this fool, so you might recover from your last mistake, dreadful though it was. Don't expect your luck to carry you much farther. Stay on the right path." Oceanus glares slightly, but there is a slight hint of concern in the gaze. Meanwhile, the battle between Exploud and the Jellicent rages on... Though the thoroughly pampered Jellicent seem to be slowed down by their spoiled, effortless lifestyle, they are still capable of some pretty powerful water attacks, and could likely use some help in the battle. Wallace and Crixus could attempt to help, or they could go back and get some drinks for the Jellicent, who will likely have forgotten his transgressions after the battle; in fact, they seem to be regarding Exploud and his trainer's attempts at defeating them as a twisted sort of "fun". He can hear some of them murmuring about how this is the most fun dinner they've had in awhile, with the added bonus of Exploud meat (a definite rarity).

What will Wallace and Crixus do?


Balmund - Much as Balmund loathed to admit it, what the ex-gangster had said about the balance of the world was more than likely true. Even if they somehow managed to ward off the Dusknoir long enough to make huge changes to this timeline, these changes would be compensated for somewhere else down the line. William nods with deep appreciation of Balmund's eventual agreement to the plan and his vow to keep William's daughter safe, his eyes focused on the father and child duo that were the target of their plan. With the two timelines meeting like this, there was bound to be a change in both; Balmund hopes to himself that whatever changes result will be positive, and yet the idea of balance continues to haunt him.

As William dismounts and gives his final goodbye to Balmund, the trainer from Blackthorn lets William know that he is a good man; probably better than he gives himself credit for. "Sh*t, man, it ain't like that. I'm just a father. That's all I am." William nods to Balmund, a small smirk on his face. "Give my regards to Kaida and her dad," he says in a tone which oddly balances between sarcastic and heavy, before turning around and walking towards the Ghost Train lobby. Though Balmund knows that his friend is walking towards certain death, there is little time to grieve; he would have to put on a smile and entertain once again, beginning with an enthusiastic order to Kurthnaga for a show-stopping Roar. The Aerodactyl wastes no time showing off his powerful roar; in some, the roar awakens an ancient, primordial fear... Trainers step back, and children run screaming. Of course, Kaida was not one to be intimidated, and waddles up to the Aerodactyl with wonder and excitement. Young William follows close behind, eyeing Kurthnaga and his owner warily.

"Daddy! Daddy! It's a real dinosaur, like in the books!" Kaida pauses, her wonderment overtaking her momentarily, before she exclaims; "FUGGIN' SWEEEET"

"Kaida!" William seems embarrassed at her daughter's outburst, but the excited Kaida seems uneffected by her father's attempts at quieting her. She unhooks the single Pokeball on her belt, asking, "Daddy, Daddy, can Dino and I ride him? Dino loves dinosaurs!!"

"I know Dino does, sweetie, but we don't know if this man'll let us ride his Aerodactyl..." Young William scoffs. "Besides, we have no idea if that guy even has real control of that thing, for all his bravado..."

"Dino'll bite him if he acts bad!" Kaida giggles. "Pleeeeeease, Daddy?"

Though William tries to appear the mature adult, he seems to share, in the glint of his eyes, the same excitement that Kaida does. "We can go ask him about it, but Daddy's not making any promises, okay? I don't want you getting hur-"

"YAAAY!" Kaida runs up to Kurth at full speed, about to hug the Aerodactyl's leg when William gently but firmly holds her back.

"Hey, man..." Young William looks up at Balmund, trying to maintain an intimidating stance despite not being atop a vicious prehistoric Pokemon. "Y'think my little girl and I can take a ride on that thing? Is it tame?" Kaida looks up pleadingly at Kurth, as if he would be the one to answer the question. She gives him the biggest, saddest eyes she can muster, complete with a pouting lower lip.

How will Balmund respond?


Dark Searchman – Hyrem orders his three allies to act as one, attacking the wall simultaneously with a vicious Waterfall attack. The trio quickly sync up, blasting the wall with their high-powered water attacks simultaneously. Unlike the Bubble attack, which irritated the eyes, these more heavily-powered water moves seem to actually bruise the eyes, rendering them useless. You are unable to count the exact number of eyes that the attack takes out, but it seems like at least 40, especially with all three combatants giving it all they've got. Hyrem then watches the eyes Lock On to the female Frillish; not one to appreciate the spotlight, the female Frillish shudders at the thought of all eyes being on her, but remains undeterred. Meanwhile, the Harvester herself Detects an attack that will be coming from Delilah, and the gaze of the eyes stop her dead in her tracks before she can initiate the next move. Fortunately, the two Frillish are still able to level a nasty Surf towards the eyes, which also has sufficient power to bruise and render them ineffective. These eyes fall like marbles from the costume, while undamaged eyes from the wall fly in to replace them. The Harvester, while receiving new eyes, appears to be somewhat vulnerable as this process occurs; Hyrem uses the moment to try and figure out where Tuner and TA may be located based on the laughter that he seems to be hearing, yet he realizes quickly that locating them from the laughter will be impossible, as the sound seems to be originating from within Hyrem's own mind; position does not affect how loud or how soft the laughter is. Disheartened, but concerned about why the laughter would be inside his head, Hyrem finds his focus interrupted by an incredible pain from his eye sockets, which sends him reeling. His vision is now blurred to the point of almost-complete nearsightedness, and the battle is now far more difficult to see. That said, Hyrem cannot miss the eyes from the wall blasting the female Frillish dead-on with Zap Cannon; she cries out in horrific pain as the electricity courses through her body, damaging and paralyzing her. The Harvester herself recovers quickly from her moment of weakness, firing a massive Aurora Beam at Delilah... though the attack would not normally be terribly effective, the Harvester's many eyes seem to have found Delilah's weak spot, and the poor Chinchou is hit right in the left antenna, which flickers from the hit like a blinking car light. Hyrem gets the feeling that any electric-based attacks that Delilah attempts from here on out may be less powerful than before.

The aura in the room is heavy... The premonition of an attack that Hyrem and his comrades felt before is especially strong now. If the female Frillish is to survive the next round, she will likely need help.

Costume: 1/20 eyes paralyzed, 11/20 eyes irritated
Wall: 118 eyes remain

What will Hyrem do?


gmoyes - If what Mew was saying is true, then the real world would be just another game to whatever escaped from this virtual prison... and just like the Red Version in which Alex was currently trapped, the Hacker would more and likely bend the rules to his own benefit. If the laws of nature are tampered with, disastrous consequences could result, and Alex had to do his best to prevent such an event from occurring.

At first, Alex is unsure about Red's suggestion to try to tap into the game and see what the attacks do, and yet he had to admit he must have some connection with the mechanics if he was able to concentrate and speak in textboxes. Perhaps whatever method he used to perform that task could be further improved to understand the mechanics of the glitch. Alex decides to stare at the menu screen for awhile, concentrating as he did when he attempted to speak through textboxes. As naturally as breathing, the menu screen begins to "speak" to Alex, gradually revealing secrets within the code to the pseudo-Porygon as he goes deeper and deeper into his focus. He is able to visualize the random number generator which is called upon to produce attacks for "glitch", and as Alex focuses in on that generator, visualizing it as if it were a giant wheel of numbers, some of the options begin to reveal themselves within the virtual being's mind:

-A roll of 1 causes you to perform SELFDESTRUCT and faint instantly. Probably not the best number to shoot for.
-A roll from 2-16 will cause your opponent to fire off a powerful attack of a random type. You sense that each number in this bracket corresponds to a certain elemental type, but cannot discern which number corresponds to which attack. Again, probably not the best numbers to shoot for.

Before Alex can find out more, a textbox pops up announcing that the enemy Mew used GLITCH. The world around the combatants shakes and distorts violently as Mew channels its power to attack Alex; the number 42 appears in his mind briefly before he feels a distinct change within himself. He finds himself craving sunlight, and feeling decidedly... green. It does not take long for him to realize that Mew's roll has changed his type to grass. This must be what a roll of 42 does in the context of glitch. With that knowledge, perhaps he could have more control of the outcome of the battle... He senses that if he knows what a number does, he can call upon it in battle to help him out. Spending a round concentrating may help expand his knowledge, but will leave him open to attack. Any number called upon by the glitch RNG will be known by him after the move is used. Knowing these things, he has a few options. He may either spend a round to concentrate, select GLITCH and hope that he rolls a good number, or beat the system by concentrating hard upon a number he already knows.

As Alex processes the mechanics of the battle, a text box pops up from Red. "Are you okay?" The trainer seems concerned, and despite the expressionless sprite and text, Alex can sense the emotion coming from Red. "What happened when Mew used that move? Do you know what's going on?"

What will Alex do?


Shadowshocker - Shadow takes a moment to internally analyze the information Merle has provided. While Merle's death seems like a case of sheer misfortune resulting from a rather easily explainable act of nature, the circumstances surrounding the death of Joy are far more mysterious and strange. Shadow considers the likelihood that these events occurred after the tragic events of the Ghost Train, which may draw a potential link between the hauntings of the park and the strange behavior of the Mandibuzz that murdered one of their own. Not only was the death itself provoking a number of questions in Shadow's mind, but also the sheer uncertainty that Joy's spirit would even be waiting for them if he and his companions went to search for her. Would she have remained trapped in the parking complex, or did she wander, as her trainer's spirit did? Even if she was in the parking garage, would she even want to see her trainer again, as Merle so desperately wanted to see her? Then again, given how loving Merle was toward her precious Joy, it was doubtful that Joy would be anything but happy to see her trainer once again.

Shadow decides to ask a few more questions, just to make sure he has all the information necessary to begin this expedition. He asks about any previous attempts to locate Joy, and what information has been obtained from these attempts. Merle sighs, choking back a few tears. "All I know was that we were on the third floor, near the exit into the hotel. I remember because I ran into the hotel looking for help for my poor Joy, but nobody was there... and she had... she had already passed, so quickly, it would have been no use... I tried getting back to that exit and retracing my steps, but for some reason, I am having difficulty finding it."

"I can lead you there," Pyrrhos offers. "We're on the right floor, so it should not take long to get there." Shadow then mentions his concern about Merle's current state, if she was to follow them. After a long moment of silence, Pyrrhos makes a motion for Shadow to discreetly keep his eyes on him and away from Merle, and with as soft and gentle a voice as he can muster, addresses Merle. "Dear, would you mind standing up straight and stretching out your arms? I would like to take a look at you."

Merle groans with some measure of resistance, but apparently gives into Pyrrhos' request, as Shadow can see the face of the Chandelure grow pale with disgust. The Chandelure narrows his eyes with intense focus, his purple flames flaring white. He carefully floats toward Merle, holding out his candle appendages in front of her. "Come to the flame and be purified," he chants, before the white flame jumps from his candles to Merle, consuming her in light and heat. She screams for a moment, and for a split second, Shadow worries that the Chandelure has somehow murdered or consumed the poor soul that had previously begged the scientist for help; however, the flame soon fades, and Merle's spirit looks decidedly less disfigured. In fact, with her face restored to its former beauty, Shadow cannot help but admit that the ghostly lady is actually quite attractive when her guts aren't spilling all over the floor. Though tears still stream for her eyes, she manages a smile for Pyrrhos' act of kindness.

"Somehow I feel... lighter," she says. "Thank you."

Pyrrhos shrugs, floating down the corridor. "Come along then, you two. We have a Vullaby to find." Motioning for Shadow and Merle to follow, the Chandelure floats through corridors, leading the pair through twists and turns, before finally coming to a dead end. The ghostly fire type stares at the rather ordinary-looking hotel wall for a few long moments, before turning to Merle and Shadow, a look of obvious concern on his face.

"Well, this is where the exit should be. In all my years of living in this hotel, the exit to the parking garage has always been here. Why... Hm." The Chandelure holds his flame up to the wall, searching for anything out of the ordinary. He taps the candle against the wall, which appears to be solid. "Either a very good illusion, or the most silent construction that has ever happened here. We could try breaking through it, or we can look for another way into the garage. That said, if we do try to break through this wall, I want it to be controlled... I don't need this entire hotel collapsing because of some silly wall that should not even be here in the first place!" The Chandelure on the other side grimaces. "My one fear is that if we come breaking through, whatever is on the other side will know that we are coming... Clearly, there is a reason this wall has been erected, but why...?"

How will Shadow and his operatives respond?


Itzatrap - After some thought, Rob realizes that the images on the wall are actually rebus puzzles, hinting at the names of three distinct Pokemon through the use of images and simple mathematical signs. Rob reasons through each puzzle, fitting the pieces together in his mind, as Melantha and the hologram Panpour look on supportively. Finally, Rob declares the three Pokemon he believes are the answers to the riddles; Farfetch'd, Dewgong and Yamask. Rob, Melantha and Panpour set off separately to locate the the appropriate buttons. Rob, who heads in the direction of the Generation I Pokemon, searches the wall and eventually finds Farfetch'd, pressing the button beneath. It is not long before Rob is then able to locate Dewgong, whose image is close to Farfetch'd. Soon after Rob presses these two buttons, Absol scampers up to him, indicating with a tilt of her head that the Yamask button has been pressed. Panpour stares at the ceiling, as if anticipating something. Sure enough, after all three buttons are pressed, the sign containing the rebus puzzles falls loose, floating to the ground uselessly. Unlike the previous puzzle, however, there does not appear to be any doors opening. Perhaps the trio picked the wrong Pokemon... However, on closer inspection of where the sign used to be, Rob and Melantha can see that words have been etched on the ceiling:

SAGESTORM
AREDVIRGO
CHOLERAMEN
ETERNALCUT

Either Rob and Melantha's captors have a very odd sense of poetry, or these lines may hold the key to opening the door. Panpour scampers up to Rob, eager to see him reason through the puzzle. For a hologram, this little one sure seems to show some pretty convincing emotions. What kind of being could have constructed such a convincing piece of technology..?

What will Rob and Melantha do?


Monster Guy (mon1010) - Scott pumps a fist in the air to celebrate such an encouraging round, but only does so briefly in order to ensure that he keeps a steady hold on the Gulpin he is protecting. Though the little green stomach with eyes seems to share in Scott's enthusiasm, the trainer is keenly aware that if he does not continue to maintain the advantage, there could be serious consequences for himself, the mysterious female trainer, and their Pokemon.

The young woman orders Melanie to use her Ember on the Arcanine plush; normally, such an attack would not be very effective on an Arcanine, but it becomes clear that this imposter is not so thrilled with fire, the spirit within shrieking horrifically as the plushie catches flame. Abandoning its plush disguise in order to avoid further injury, the purple hand pulls the rest of the body out, revealing the identity of the Arcanine plush as a Haunter, further validating Scott's observations. Meanwhile, Shaana tries to achieve another super effective hit with Pursuit, but the clever Banette dodges out of the way just in time, sneaking into the shadows for an attempt at Shadow Sneak... Fortunately, Melanie is aware of the Banette's presence, and gently knocks Shaana out of the way of the attack before it hits! Unfortunately, this leaves Melanie open to the Haunter's nasty Lick, which, while disgusting, thankfully does not manage to paralyze the young hellhound.

Melanie once again performs an Ember attack, this time on the Banette, in order to utilize what remained of the creature's costume to her advantage. Indeed, the costume catches fire immediately, in addition to the Banette's cloth body, which causes the Banette great distress and pain, as it attempts to remove the burning bits of cotton and felt from itself. Shaana does not meet with the same success as Melanie, as her Psybeam is dodged easily by the Haunter, who is no longer weighted down by his disguise. Turning to the troublesome Houndour, Haunter finally achieves a successful Hypnosis on Melanie, who falls asleep almost immediately. Poor Shaana also finds herself suffering a super-effective Faint Attack performed by the burning Banette, which nearly knocks the poor creature down. Even so, Shaana is far from giving up. Melanie's trainer screams and shouts in attempt to wake up her sleeping Pokemon, to no avail. "Dammit, why are you such a heavy sleeper," she whines, stamping her foot in frustration. While Melanie snores away, Shaana gets revenge for Melanie and her trainer by hitting Haunter dead on with a super effective Psybeam, which causes the spectral poison type to reel backwards with pain, the light and power of the beam overtaking its body. The Banette, realizing that the pair is in trouble, decides on a last-ditch effort in hopes of allowing Haunter to win the battle for it... The creature whips out a needle and stabs it into its plush flesh, laying a terrible Curse on Melanie before collapsing to the ground, sacrificing the rest of its health to perform the terrible attack. Haunter, upon seeing its comrade fall, viciously slams Shaana with a Shadow Punch, its concentrated anger and super effective attributes doing a number on the poor Munna.

The Banette has fortunately been defeated, but its collapse is not all good news; the Curse that it has laid on Melanie is already eating away at her health as she sleeps, causing her to cringe and moan through her snores. Even so, she is currently the healthiest combatant on the field. Haunter looks to be in terrible shape, but unfortunately, the two super effective attacks that Shaana took this round, in addition to the wear and tear of previous rounds seems to have been enough to bring her to half her original health. With one round to go before Haunter closes in, it's now or never for Shaana and Melanie. Their trainers will have to play it smart this upcoming round.

What will Scott and Shaana do?


takkupanda - Marcelo is somewhat skeptical of the current situation, and rightfully so, given the information provided to him by the Pokedex. Did Wurmple really store those berries? Berries were a staple food for nearly all Pokemon, but the Pokedex did not expressly indicate that Wurmples ate berries, instead suggesting that they lived mostly off of tree sap. Even if the little caterpillar-like Pokemon did eat berries, what assurance did Marcelo have that Wurmple was alone in that nest? Everything about this situation screamed "trap", but before Marcelo could go searching for any potential Pokemon lying in wait to maul him, he had to address the fact that the little Wurmple wanted a battle. Marcelo was reluctant to give him one, given that Broly's level and type advantage would likely result in a horrible and painful loss to the Wurmple... Yet poison sting, despite its small amount of direct damage, could be very harmful to Broly if he were to get poisoned. The trainer decides to order Broly to issue a warning Roar first. The puppy Pokemon manages a surprisingly mighty and intimidating roar given his size, which causes the Wurmple's eyes to immediately bug out in fear. Seeming to be hit with the realization of what exactly it was getting itself into, the Wurmple scurries as fast as it can into the den, scurrying deep within the pile of berries, hiding beneath them. A tiny mechanism is triggered upon the Wurmple's entry into the den, and dirt falls from above the den until it completely conceals the entrance, sealing the Wurmple inside. It seems as if the dirt was intentionally piled up by little, circular hands to close in after those that enter, likely to dissuade potential predators... Seems as if this Wurmple is surprisingly intelligent. An aspiring engineer of sorts, even. That said, Marcelo doubts the Wurmple was able to do all of this alone. Perhaps it had a friend to help it...?

Wurmple has fled the battle, but now the berries are trapped within the burrow where Wurmple resides. There do not appear to be any berries in the immediate vicinity, other than those buried with the Wurmple. Marcelo and Broly could try to remove the dirt somehow and go after the berries in the den, or continue searching for a tree that bears what they seek.

How will Marcelo and Broly react?


kaisap112/tau - Noriko identifies the Murkrow from before that had stolen Nook's treasure, resting on the shoulder of a floating coat. The young woman turns to Quinn, asking if he happens to be seeing the same strange apparation that she is... Only to receive no response. Perhaps the young man was stunned to silence by such an odd event, or simply did not want to give away his location. Meanwhile, Banzai's violent reaction to the spectre comforts Noriko somewhat; at least she wasn't the only one to find this whole situation incredibly creepy! Even worse, the loud, eerie laugh that emanates from the coat causes Noriko to jump. The talking coat affectionately converses with its Murkrow, which is apparently named Charity, about the potential usefulness of Nook the Zigzagoon. Noriko wonders why the strange being would consider a hyperactive raccoon-like creature with a short attention span particularly interesting or special, but either way, she had to do something before this ghost pirate convinced Nook to follow him. It is surprising that Quinn does not step in to defend his Pokemon, or assert his rights as trainer. In fact, he says nothing at all, continuing to remain still and silent. Formulating a plan, perhaps...? Noriko cannot help but feel a bit flustered. They needed to act now!

Mustering up her courage, Noriko intervenes, telling the spirit to leave Nook alone and to respect the fact that the little Zigzagoon already has a trainer. Noriko tries to call Nook over and turns to Quinn, wondering why he still was not doing anything to stop this madness, even after Noriko had clearly revealed their position and demanded Nook's safe return. Who could daydream at a time like this? Looking over at Quinn, he did appear as if he were dazed... Perhaps he had begun to feel ill. Noriko tries to get a good look at her friend, but the sound of the pirate ghost laughing distracts her. She turns toward the disembodied coat, only to see it flying towards Quinn at top speed, tackling him face-first into the ground. Noriko rushes over to her friend instinctively in an attempt to help him up, trying desperately to rip the coat off of him. Banzai and Nook rush over as well, attempting to aid Noriko in her attempts to save Quinn from whatever this coat was trying to do to him... Before Noriko or Quinn's Pokemon can make any significant progress, however, Quinn begins pushing them away, as he rolls over to reveal that his face has been completely obscured by a strange golden mask. Quinn begins to stand, and it is obvious now to Noriko that the once-disembodied coat, hat and boots now fits perfectly on her dear friend. Even his stance seems to have changed to a more bent, weathered pose. The golden mask, which bears the face of a salty-looking middle-aged man with a formidable beard, has an unsettling glare that chills Noriko to the core. From behind the mask, Quinn finally speaks... but with the same accent that the ghost had been using before.

"Ay, lass. I would be the ickle rascal's trainer, now, wouldn't I? Wouldn't want to keep the lady waitin' for her adventure, now, would I? Didn't y'say we best be off?" The confused Nook sniffs his now-possessed trainer as Charity the Murkrow takes a place on his shoulder. The Masked Quinn now makes confident strides toward the Ghost Ship attraction, Banzai clawing and scratching at the coat in hopes that it will somehow release its grip on Quinn, to no avail. In fact, the poor scratchcat is dragged along by his claws as he clings to the coattails of his possessed trainer, trying to claw his back paws into the ground in order to keep Quinn from walking any farther. The sight would be humorous if the situation were not so dire. Nook, on the other hand, seems trusting enough, walking alongside his now-possessed trainer, eager to begin an adventure. Quinn notices Banzai's attempts at slowing him down, and immediately recalls the poor Pokemon, who turns to Noriko with pleading eyes before he is sucked back into his Pokeball.

What will Noriko do?

[Marion Ette]

emp - ((Welcome to my group, Emp! I hope you enjoy your time at PI... Your descriptions of your Eevee pups are so cute that I can barely stand it.))

Wes arrives on the shoreline of the Haunted Theme Park, dripping wet and smelling of the ocean as he dismounts his faithful Wailmer, Shamu. With him is an equally drenched cardboard box, a few holes cut into the top of the lid in order to let the precious cargo within breathe more easily. The young trainer had not anticipated such a sudden and abrupt change in the tides upon approaching the island, especially when so close to shore, but at least he and his Pokemon managed to wash ashore safe and sound. Looking out at the dark ocean, it seems as if the water is tumultuous only directly surrounding the island... The sea looks lighter and calmer the farther away it is from his current location. Certainly odd, and perhaps not natural, but probably not something to dwell too extensively on. After rewarding his blubbery whale-like friend with a delicious snack and recalling him to his Pokeball, Wes is able to really take in the sights and sounds of the Theme Park, expecting bright lights, the distant sight of a roller coaster inching up the steep incline of lofty tracks or plummeting with screaming passangers, and the faint sounds of music, rides and laughter. Instead, he is met with an eerie silence, and though he can barely make out the sight of roller coaster tracks and the silouhettes of signs in the distance, there is no movement on the tracks, or lights illuminating the park, despite the dark and dreary mist that has consumed the island. The trainer senses that something is decidedly off about the whole situation... He attributes the absence of other trainers and Pokemon to coming in the off-season, but even then, the pervasiveness of the silence and utter desolation which surrounds him implies a much more sinister reason for the missing people. Even so, Wes intends on bringing out some lively companions of his own, in the form of seven Eevee pups, each with their own distinct personalities. The energetic pups stand in stark contrast to their rather dead environment, and Wes finds himself having to constantly guide them to order, preventing any stray pups from piddling on flowerbeds, eating strange berries and wandering off towards whatever looked interesting (which was practically everything to a young Eevee pup). Finding it easier to carry the bundle of fluffy Pokemon as opposed to herding them like a group of Mareep, Wes gathers the Eevee up in his arms, making his way to his intended destination: The Big Wheel.

Certainly, if Wes is looking to pawn off his pups to some responsible young trainers looking for a friend, there was no better place to look than the marvelous observation wheel near the center of the park. Known as the Big Wheel, it certainly lived up to its name; the highest point of the wheel reached far into the fog, where Wes imagined that the view was incredibly impressive on a clearer day. The architecture of the Big Wheel seems reminiscent of an earlier time, with ornate paintings of Pokemon on each gondola in a style typical of amusement parks in the early 1900s. Even the gondolas, with their intricate carvings and meticulous metal work, seem to have been crafted long before the park was opened. In fact, Wes' eye is caught by a small plaque at the base of the Big Wheel, which explains that the ride was transported to Phantom Isle all the way from Whale Island's Shell Harbor, where it used to serve as an attraction for shopgoers in days gone by. The park purchased the Big Wheel, which had fallen into disrepair after various poor attempts at maintaining the ride, and apparently rennovated it for the park, adding more gondolas and restoring the paint to how it originally looked in photographs of its early days... Given its current delapidated state, Wes couldn't help but wonder how terribly broken-down it must have been before the Theme Park got its hands on the attraction. The signs around the Big Wheel advertise fun for all ages, and encourages trainers to make new friends by sharing the expansive gondola with unfamiliar faces. Unfortunately for Wes, there seem to be no faces, familiar or otherwise, with which to share the ride. With no one around, and with the pups acting particularly boisterous today, perhaps it would be all right to let each Eevee have its own gondola to run around in. The trainer admits to himself that he probably will not be winning the Trainer of the Year Award for separating his Eevees like this, but with no one around, what were the chances of anything going wrong? Besides, the Eevees certainly do not mind the idea of riding the Big Wheel by themselves, and are more than willing to show off their courage and daring, despite their immaturity.

Wes lines up his pups, and they each hop excitedly into a gondola of their own, though some need Wes' help in order to be lifted their respective gondola and clear the extraordinary height. Though a sign near the ride advises that small children and Pokemon should not go on the ride unaccompanied, the Eevee seem eager to go on the ride, and with the gondola so well-encased with strong, plastic windows that could not be opened, it was difficult to imagine something bad happening. As Wes finally jumps into his own gondola with Peeta, the runt of the litter, the thought briefly crosses his mind that with no one around, there was a good chance that he would have to wait around for awhile for the ride to even start. As Wes sets Peeta in his lap and waits patiently, scratching the little pup behind the ears, the sound of carnival music slowly groaning to life breaks the silence and immediately causes Peeta's ears to perk up, his deep brown eyes focusing intently in the direction of the noise. The gondola begins to slowly push forward, gaining momentum slowly as the ride begins, despite no apparent operator around to start the ride. As the ride slowly begins, Wes gets the funny feeling that he is not alone... Turning to his left, a strange looking Pokemon that appears to be a skeletal mass suspended in a cage of green goo turns to him with an odd little smile. Wes has no idea how this Pokemon could have gotten into the gondola unnoticed, and yet there it was, sitting calmly beside him. A telepathic message echoes in the trainer's head, as the Reuniclus greets him with a soft, masculine voice, which seems rather charming to Wes' ears despite the odd way in which he hears it;

Funny thing about the Big Wheel... A lot like life, isn't it? Full of ups and downs, and yet... it starts to all become so familiar. One big circle. Mechanical deja vu. The Reuniclus stares out the window, looking thoughtful. Makes one oddly nostalgic, doesn't it? Makes one think of the past...

The Reuniclus turns to Wes, a large grin on his face. Tell me... If you could change one thing about your life, what would it be? Somehow, Wes can sense a deep, ominous gravity to the question being asked.

How will Wes respond?


poketim2 - ((I will let it go this time since you've been gone awhile, but in the future, please use size 1 font when responding to updates. Also, while you technically made length requirement, you did it with dialog... It might be good to add more description in the future, just so that I have a better idea of what you are doing. It helps me to write better when I have more in the way of description from you.))

Though Brier would like to think that his training regimen is the reason that Jitterz has become so powerful, he suspects it has more to do with some kind of strange influence from their current environment. Brier tries to come up with a plan to take advantage of his Joltik's newfound strength, and decides to creatively use his Pokemon's String Shot in order to drag boulders down onto the Goldeen's head. Jitterz agrees to this plan, and fires a single string towards the heaviest-looking boulder he can find, pulling it toward the crater in which he is battling the Goldeen. Surprisingly, the tiny Joltik is able to pull the incredibly large and heavy boulder; in some ways, the sight is rather amusing, given how impossible such an event would normally be. With its tail still paralyzed, the Goldeen's mobility is not as great, and the rock comes crashing down on the giant Goldeen's body, causing it to roar out in pain. Unfortunately, some of the shrapnel from the boulder hitting the ground manages to hit the confused Suoni as well, who is too dazed to even think of dodging out of the way. On the positive side, the rock debris is enough to smack the Jirachi out of its confusion, and the Jirachi offers a Helping Hand to Jitterz, using its psychic powers to further amplify Jitterz' power. The angry Goldeen tries using a Supersonic attack to confuse Jitterz, but fortunately the Joltik covers its little ears just in time to avoid being confused, though the loud noise hurts Brier's ears. It was time for Joltik to use another String Shot to drop a boulder on Goldeen, but this time, it needed to be extra hard. Though the Goldeen tries to roll out of the way, it is still hit in one of its side fins, which shows significant tear and damage after Jitterz viciously smashes the boulder onto Goldeen. Suoni tries to add insult to injury with a Psychic attack, but even though its psychic powers make content, the Jirachi is not strong enough to lift the Goldeen or really manipuate it in any way, rendering the attack useless. Goldeen, sick of Suoni's meddling, nearly gores the poor thing with a vicious Horn Attack, but Suoni dodges out of the way just in time before meeting a rather terrible fate.

For a change of pace, Brier orders Jitterz to use a Charge Beam in order to do some super effective damage on the Goldeen. The gigantic beam of electric energy hits Goldeen dead-on, filling its body with deadly electricity and doing a heavy amount of damage to the fishlike creature. Jirachi makes a Wish to remove the damage it took from the rock debris, holding its hands in prayer as if beseeching the stars for their healing light, despite it being broad daylight outside. The Goldeen turns toward Jirachi and unleashes a Peck attack with its giant horn, hitting the poor creature head on and taking it from near full health to near fainting in one hit. Marcus cries out for his Pokemon as Jirachi smashes into the wall at the force of the horn, cringing in pain, barely hanging on to consciousness. Even if the wish Jirachi made comes true, it would likely not be able to take another hit. "Marc, MARCUS," the trainer cries out in anguish.

The Goldeen is hurting badly, likely at roughly 1/5th health. It may not last through another round. Jitterz stands strong at 4/5ths health. Suoni is very badly hurt, with only a sliver of health remaining.

How will Brier and Jitterz respond?

[Balmund]

Balmund - Much as Balmund loathed to admit it, what the ex-gangster had said about the balance of the world was more than likely true. Even if they somehow managed to ward off the Dusknoir long enough to make huge changes to this timeline, these changes would be compensated for somewhere else down the line. William nods with deep appreciation of Balmund's eventual agreement to the plan and his vow to keep William's daughter safe, his eyes focused on the father and child duo that were the target of their plan. With the two timelines meeting like this, there was bound to be a change in both; Balmund hopes to himself that whatever changes result will be positive, and yet the idea of balance continues to haunt him.

As William dismounts and gives his final goodbye to Balmund, the trainer from Blackthorn lets William know that he is a good man; probably better than he gives himself credit for. "Sh*t, man, it ain't like that. I'm just a father. That's all I am." William nods to Balmund, a small smirk on his face. "Give my regards to Kaida and her dad," he says in a tone which oddly balances between sarcastic and heavy, before turning around and walking towards the Ghost Train lobby. Though Balmund knows that his friend is walking towards certain death, there is little time to grieve; he would have to put on a smile and entertain once again, beginning with an enthusiastic order to Kurthnaga for a show-stopping Roar. The Aerodactyl wastes no time showing off his powerful roar; in some, the roar awakens an ancient, primordial fear... Trainers step back, and children run screaming. Of course, Kaida was not one to be intimidated, and waddles up to the Aerodactyl with wonder and excitement. Young William follows close behind, eyeing Kurthnaga and his owner warily.

"Daddy! Daddy! It's a real dinosaur, like in the books!" Kaida pauses, her wonderment overtaking her momentarily, before she exclaims; "FUGGIN' SWEEEET"

"Kaida!" William seems embarrassed at her daughter's outburst, but the excited Kaida seems uneffected by her father's attempts at quieting her. She unhooks the single Pokeball on her belt, asking, "Daddy, Daddy, can Dino and I ride him? Dino loves dinosaurs!!"

"I know Dino does, sweetie, but we don't know if this man'll let us ride his Aerodactyl..." Young William scoffs. "Besides, we have no idea if that guy even has real control of that thing, for all his bravado..."

"Dino'll bite him if he acts bad!" Kaida giggles. "Pleeeeeease, Daddy?"

Though William tries to appear the mature adult, he seems to share, in the glint of his eyes, the same excitement that Kaida does. "We can go ask him about it, but Daddy's not making any promises, okay? I don't want you getting hur-"

"YAAAY!" Kaida runs up to Kurth at full speed, about to hug the Aerodactyl's leg when William gently but firmly holds her back.

"Hey, man..." Young William looks up at Balmund, trying to maintain an intimidating stance despite not being atop a vicious prehistoric Pokemon. "Y'think my little girl and I can take a ride on that thing? Is it tame?" Kaida looks up pleadingly at Kurth, as if he would be the one to answer the question. She gives him the biggest, saddest eyes she can muster, complete with a pouting lower lip.

How will Balmund respond?

As William heads off into the Ghost Train to what was certainly a death sentence, Balmund put on his game face as he determined himself to keep his promise to the very end. Still, deep down he hoped William could make it out alive nonetheless. May Averil watch over him good; she was a truly strong one without a shadow of a doubt.

Kurth roars mightily, doing an excellent job at attracting attention, even making several trainers back off a bit while small children instead ran around crying in terror; a scene which greatly pleased the ancient Aerodactyl - he loved being feared. Of course, Kaida did not seem scared at all as expected, instead waddling up to the prehistoric Pokémon in amazement while young William followed behind, understandably wary of whatever might happen. She practically begs William to let her ride Kurth, and though he tries to act like the mature one of them both, he seemed to share, in the glint of his eyes, the same excitement. This was perfect. Balmund had initially hoped they would at least want to just be allowed to pet or hug Kurth, and then work from there, but their immediate interest in riding would it much easier for him.

Trying to look as intimidating as possible, he asks Balmund if he and his daughter could possibly ride Kurth, and most importantly, if the prehistoric Pokémon is tame and safe to ride on, all the while Kaida herself looked at Kurth with the saddest puppy eyes she could possibly muster, appealing to the monster's sense of charity.

Balmund gets off of his Pokémon, ever smiling wide. "I'd say you definitely can." He answered young William. "Is he tame though? I don't know. You are you a tame, good boy, right, Kurth?" He asked his Pokémon in a bit of a sarcastic tone, to which he growled in protest, moving his head in to Bite him for his insolence, though made deliberately too slow, too obvious, and too half-hearted, allowing Balmund to simply push his snout away with his hand in laughter. "Allow me to introduce myself." He turned again to the father and daughter pair. "My name is Duke, Dragon Tamer Duke, from Blackthorn City, and I can tell you two looove dragons too." He lowered down to Kaida's level. "So just this once, I can let you, Dino, and your badass Dad, soar the skies like no one else in this park has ever done before atop a big, mean Aerodactyl. And I'll follow close by, side by side, on my awesome Sally-mence. Would you like that?" He turned his gaze back to William. "Would you?"

[Marion Ette]

Balmund - Kurth's mighty roar works better than even Balmund himself had anticipated; not only were both Kaida and William attracted by the fierce looking Aerodactyl, but Kaida was already begging her father to take a ride. William, in his attempts to play the adult, asks Balmund whether or not Kurth would be safe for him and his daughter to ride. Dismounting his Pokemon with the smoothness and grace of an experienced dragon tamer, Balmund smiles wide at the young William and his child, stating with pride and confidence that they most certainly can. After all, Kurth was a tame, good boy, wasn't he? The Aerodactyl, irritated by the docile character assessment, plays at trying to bite his trainer, but in such a way that Kurth is easily brushed aside by the laughing Balmund, who pushes Kurth's nose as if he were a giant puppy. To most parents, such a display would be a little disconcerting, even in jest... However, the look William gives is one of recognition, of a familiar sort of interaction that he likely performed every day with his own Haxorus. To the experienced trainer, William can sense the incredibly strong bond between Balmund and Kurth, such that the two could essentially joke around without either getting hurt. This seems to be enough reassurance for the protective father. Balmund then introduces himself as Dragon Tamer Duke from Blackthorn City, and William, try his he might, looks visibly impressed.

"From Blackthorn, huh... You have that look, I s'pose," He calmly comments. Despite the grit in his voice, Balmund can sense the statement is meant as a compliment. When Balmund addresses Kaida and tells her that he loooooves dragons too, she gives him a little pssssh and rolls her eyes.

"Well, duuuuh! Everyone loves dragons, silly," Kaida says with a big smile. Despite the bit of attitude, she grins so bright and wide that it's difficult to feel angry at her for a bit of freshness. When Balmund mentions that, just this once, she will let her, Dino and her father ride the Aerodactyl, her eyes grow so wide that they threaten to pop out of the sockets. "Really? No kiddin'?" Kaida puts her hand on her hip, looking the little gangster already. At the mention of Kaida's "badass dad", William raises one eyebrow, a small smirk on his face. He seems conflicted between displaying his pride and trying to further validate Balmund's statement by maintaining a rough, unflappable exterior. Ultimately, he turns to his daughter, repeating Balmund's question.

"Well, Kaida, do you wanna ride the-"

"YEAH!"

"Guess I didn't need to ask," William remarks with a grin. "Well, if my baby wants to ride an Aerodactyl, who am I to say no?" William gently picks up his daughter, and after exchanging a look with Balmund to ensure that the action is all right, gently places his precious little girl on the back of Kurthnaga.

"Easy does it, baby. Don't touch his head, and remember, treat him gentle! He may be big and bad, but he needs to be treated carefully, just like little Dino." With the mention of Dino, Kaida smiles and holds up the Pokeball she had formerly been carrying on her belt, and William helps her use the Pokeball to call out her Pokemon friend. Out of the ball pops a small baby Axew, probably no older than a month or so, with big, curious eyes. Though the creature is young and innocent, the glint in his eyes is vaguely reminiscent of the powerful Averil. In fact, the similarities in bone structure and fang placement suggest that Dino may be her offspring. Dino cries out happily at the sight of Kaida, and immediately jumps into her arms.

"Thick as thieves, those two," he comments to Balmund. "Such a strong bond already... Damn impressive, I'd say." The proud father can't help but grin at his daughter's ability to connect with the tiny Axew. As Kaida pets Dino on the head, she seems eager to explain to Balmund about her friend.

"This is Dino. He's like a dinosaur, only better. I named him myself! My dad's Hack-a-saur-us had two babies, but one is in heaven with Rayquaza. He's Dino's guardian angel! That's what daddy says."

William nods in affirmation of the statement. "Dino's very blessed to have a brother in heaven, huh?" Kaida responds with a nod of her own as she hugs the wiggly infant dragon in her arms. William mounts Kurthnaga after his daughter, taking a protective stance around her and Dino, making sure to hold on to her with one arm and gently but firmly get a hold of Kurth with the other. The pair seem all set to go, and Kaida laughs and sings and nearly bursts with energy... that is, until she suddenly grows quiet. Balmund immediately knows something's wrong when the Axew in her arms calls out in alarm, Kaida's eyes suddenly growing dark and strange.

"Daddy... The shadows, they're... they're talking..." Kaida's voice, suddenly drained of all emotion and vigor, emanates from her body like a hollow echo. "They say I need to go... but I don't want to go, Daddy! I don't want to go with them! I wanna stay and ride the dinosaur with you!"

"Kaida... Kaida, what are you talking about?" William turns his daughter to look at him, and is shocked and the tears streaming from his normally brave and jolly daughter's face. Though he cannot see the strange shadows rising from the ground, Balmund sure as hell can... Two more Dusknoir, similar to the ones that he had fought with the older version of William, rise from the ground, surrounding Kurth on both sides. The young Kaida shrinks away from them, clinging to her father and to Kurth for dear life as they reach out for her, attempting to snatch her away. Though William does not have any idea what might be assailing his daughter, he holds her close, attempting as best he can to console her.

What will Balmund do?

[Meetan]

((I apologize for the super long delay for these updates! I appreciate your patience, and hope you enjoy this latest batch! Emp and poketim2, your updates are in my next post because of Serebii's 50000 character limit. Silly length limitations... XP))


Meetan - Alice calls out encouragingly to her little battler, hoping that he will continue to fight as hard as he possibly can for her. The little Torchic still seems fired up and ready to go, and he demonstrates his will to win with an impressive Double Team. Two copies of the Torchic appear out of nowhere, and the half-blinded Liepard seems quite confused and disoriented by the number of opponents that face her now. She seems to be wondering whether the number of Torchics has to do with her impaired vision or something else entirely. Either way, she decides to Pursue the nearest Torchic. She smirks as she lunges, sure that she will be making a direct hit, but her happiness fades away quickly as she phases right through the Torchic, which disappears the moment she makes impact! The Liepard growls, and though Alice cannot understand Liepard language, she's pretty sure that the creature is doing some pretty creative cursing. Both remaining Torchic show off their Agility raising their speed even higher and making them both more nimble. The Liepard decides to Scratch the poor Torchic, and manages not only to target the real one, but land the hit as well. Torchic is about to finish the round with a brutal Crossfire when the Liepard rushes up to Torchic, attempting to Fake him Out. Though the sight of her suddenly coming up on him does stop Torchic mid-attack, he manages to nimbly side-step the fake-out attack, avoiding the damaging flinching that could have occurred.

Alice cannot help but feel concerned for Rapid; after all, Houndoom were frightening creatures to Alice, and the numbers of them seemed to be increasing with every round. She calls out to Rapid, asking her if she's all right, and Rapid calls back;

"Don't worry about me, darlin'! Give that Purrloin's mama what she deserves, then we'll get outta' here! There's gotta' be an end to these things!" Sure enough, the sound of howling does seem to be diminishing. Six more Houndoom have jumped out of the bushes, Growling and Howling, preparing to attack Rapid. Rapid Stomps one of them hard in the ribs, but it seems as if their constant status-lowering cries are beginning to affect her, as this hit is not a OHKO as the first one was. Even so, she remains resilliant.

Alice is about to turn around and focus on her own battle when she notices a few lights shimmering off in the distance that were not there before... Strange.

How will Alice respond?

((Don't worry, Marion! Your absences never feel like long since I'm loving the adventure so much. Plus, it kinda coincided with my own busy time and creative!fail, so. xP Thanks for the update!))

Alice smirks proudly as Liepard fails to land the hit on her fire bird, wishing she knew exactly what it was growling, if only so she could understand how a Pokemon swore. Wincing as it finally lands a hit, the trainer's glad to see that Torchic ignores it and carries on, although this pride falters when he's tricked by a Fake Out attack.

Her attention shifts as Rapid calls out to her reassuringly, and although she tries not to worry too much, it's clear that the pack of Houndoom are wearing the faux Rapidash down. Her attacks aren't as powerful as before, although she seems to be handling herself okay... Turning back to her own battle, or intending to before they lose their advantage, she is once again distracted by strange lights in the distance. They're dazzling, and the teenager was sure that they weren't there before...

"Torchic!" The bird chirps, trying to draw his owner's concentration back.
"Yeah! Use Low Kick, then Bounce and Crossfire!" Alice babbles, almost stumbling over her orders. Torchic puffs out his chest and goes for it, but the trainer looks back at the lights again. So odd, scary, but so pretty.

"Rapid! Look at those!" Alice calls out, pointing towards the mystifying view. She's trying to keep her eyes on the battle, but there's so much to focus on, and it's proving difficult.

((Stats.))

[Shadowshocker]

Shadowshocker - Shadow takes a moment to internally analyze the information Merle has provided. While Merle's death seems like a case of sheer misfortune resulting from a rather easily explainable act of nature, the circumstances surrounding the death of Joy are far more mysterious and strange. Shadow considers the likelihood that these events occurred after the tragic events of the Ghost Train, which may draw a potential link between the hauntings of the park and the strange behavior of the Mandibuzz that murdered one of their own. Not only was the death itself provoking a number of questions in Shadow's mind, but also the sheer uncertainty that Joy's spirit would even be waiting for them if he and his companions went to search for her. Would she have remained trapped in the parking complex, or did she wander, as her trainer's spirit did? Even if she was in the parking garage, would she even want to see her trainer again, as Merle so desperately wanted to see her? Then again, given how loving Merle was toward her precious Joy, it was doubtful that Joy would be anything but happy to see her trainer once again.

Shadow decides to ask a few more questions, just to make sure he has all the information necessary to begin this expedition. He asks about any previous attempts to locate Joy, and what information has been obtained from these attempts. Merle sighs, choking back a few tears. "All I know was that we were on the third floor, near the exit into the hotel. I remember because I ran into the hotel looking for help for my poor Joy, but nobody was there... and she had... she had already passed, so quickly, it would have been no use... I tried getting back to that exit and retracing my steps, but for some reason, I am having difficulty finding it."

"I can lead you there," Pyrrhos offers. "We're on the right floor, so it should not take long to get there." Shadow then mentions his concern about Merle's current state, if she was to follow them. After a long moment of silence, Pyrrhos makes a motion for Shadow to discreetly keep his eyes on him and away from Merle, and with as soft and gentle a voice as he can muster, addresses Merle. "Dear, would you mind standing up straight and stretching out your arms? I would like to take a look at you."

Merle groans with some measure of resistance, but apparently gives into Pyrrhos' request, as Shadow can see the face of the Chandelure grow pale with disgust. The Chandelure narrows his eyes with intense focus, his purple flames flaring white. He carefully floats toward Merle, holding out his candle appendages in front of her. "Come to the flame and be purified," he chants, before the white flame jumps from his candles to Merle, consuming her in light and heat. She screams for a moment, and for a split second, Shadow worries that the Chandelure has somehow murdered or consumed the poor soul that had previously begged the scientist for help; however, the flame soon fades, and Merle's spirit looks decidedly less disfigured. In fact, with her face restored to its former beauty, Shadow cannot help but admit that the ghostly lady is actually quite attractive when her guts aren't spilling all over the floor. Though tears still stream for her eyes, she manages a smile for Pyrrhos' act of kindness.

"Somehow I feel... lighter," she says. "Thank you."

Pyrrhos shrugs, floating down the corridor. "Come along then, you two. We have a Vullaby to find." Motioning for Shadow and Merle to follow, the Chandelure floats through corridors, leading the pair through twists and turns, before finally coming to a dead end. The ghostly fire type stares at the rather ordinary-looking hotel wall for a few long moments, before turning to Merle and Shadow, a look of obvious concern on his face.

"Well, this is where the exit should be. In all my years of living in this hotel, the exit to the parking garage has always been here. Why... Hm." The Chandelure holds his flame up to the wall, searching for anything out of the ordinary. He taps the candle against the wall, which appears to be solid. "Either a very good illusion, or the most silent construction that has ever happened here. We could try breaking through it, or we can look for another way into the garage. That said, if we do try to break through this wall, I want it to be controlled... I don't need this entire hotel collapsing because of some silly wall that should not even be here in the first place!" The Chandelure on the other side grimaces. "My one fear is that if we come breaking through, whatever is on the other side will know that we are coming... Clearly, there is a reason this wall has been erected, but why...?"

How will Shadow and his operatives respond?

At the chandelier's confusion Shadow proceeded to perform his observations. By all means and appearances, the wall seemed to be normal; its oddity primarily due to how it apparently escaped Pyrrhos' notice. Perhaps ghosts had no need for parking and, therefore, that portion of the hotel was not a part of daily scheduled surveillance? Pyrrhos' species seemed to be incapable of phasing, but on the other hand it might not have been wise to suggest separating the guide from the group. Did someone not want the undesired presence of others? If so, and there was a reason for keeping intruders out, Shadow doubted that an alternative route would yield any more positive outcome. Dahlia was testing her talons on his shoulder, indicating her impatience. The only way to proceed would be to break through, but given Pyrrhos' warning and the dilapidated state of the hotel, the stronger operatives could clearly not be used. Faithful as he was, the scientist didn't think that using his Shadow Force Dusknoir was wise either; group-phasing was something he hadn't ever attempted and wasn't willing to do so in spectral domains.

"The key lies in breaking the wall down as subtly as possible. If so, I've got someone in mind," muttered the scientist, selecting a pink orb on his waist, "Durin!" With a pop and a solid clang, the Ferroseed emerged with no more than the blank, unperturbed gaze in his eyes.

"Ferroseed normally attach themselves to cave walls and drain their mineral nutrients, so this should theoretically work. Durin, attach to the wall and force your Spikes into it to get a good hold and crack the surface. Then weaken the structure by infecting it with your Leech Seed, and inject more of your Spikes. Once that's all good and cracked, Scherza, crumble it with your Fury Attack."

"I'm going ta blast ya inta thin gruel!" crowed the parrot.