Phantom Isle - The Haunted Theme Park

[Meetan]

Meetan - The strange, shimmering lights that approach on the horizon capture Alice's attention almost immediately. The soft, purple glow has a mesmerizing effect, but Torchic is quick to break Alice out of her reverie. Realizing quickly that her priority should be on the battle as opposed to the pretty, shiny lights that have yet to reach them, Alice calls out her orders to Torchic, and the little bird immediately flies into action with a brutal Low Kick. Lashing out with enough grace and force to make Chun Li jealous, the little bird kicks the Liepard right in the chest, nearly knocking the breath right out of the mother Pokemon. She reels backward, her eyes filled with shock at the Torchic's capabilities, but she is not about to start licking her wounds now, especially in the face of the trainer that took away her baby! She raises her paw and attempts to Scratch her fiery tormenter in retaliation, but the Torchic dodges out of the way in top form, lifting himself up in the air with a well-timed Bounce. The Liepard Growls with frustration, but Torchic does not seem to hear, having bounced so high up in the air. The landing, however, is not quite so spectacular as his last move... He comes falling down right next to the Torchic, hitting the ground with a thud. Though he does not take damage from the fall, he is dazed enough that the Liepard is able to take advantage of the situation, concentrating her anger into a Slash attack that rips across poor Torchic's back. Torchic responds to the move with a very special move that he had learned at Eastertime, after being given a very hot cross bun by his trainer... The special Crossfire attack looks very similar to the fighting move cross chop, but with an added bit of flaming goodness. The Liepard tries to dodge the heavy flames, but still ends up getting her tail and hind quarters singed, the smell of burned hair coming off strongly from the injury. Unfortunately for Torchic and Alice, the burn does not seem to have gone through to the skin, though clearly some solid damage has been done. Liepard tries to get some Assurance that the battle will go her way, but the dark display of disdain is deftly dodged by the adroit defender (alliteration is awesome!)

As the battle rages on, Alice calls out to Rapid, urging her to look at the lights that were approaching. Though the remaining Houndoom from the pack that had pursued them latch onto Rapid's legs and viciously gnaw at them, desperately trying to bite through the metal, Rapid is completely mesmerized by the lights, her mechanical eyes focused on their approach. Though they are not moving fast, they do appear to be getting gradually larger and brighter as time goes on.

"Alice, darlin'... I don't like the look'a those lights..." The mechanical head tilts with an uneasy curiosity, which would normally be an adorable little gesture were it not so robotic. "They look familiar t'me... Like I seen 'em before..." Rapid takes a step toward the lights, but suddenly shakes her head violently, as if awakening out of a trance. She violently Thrashes off the remaining Houndoom, and charges over to Alice, something in her normally expressionless eyes seeming oddly panicked.

"We gotta hurry, puddin'... You finish up with this mean mother hubbard, and then we're runnin'. I dunno where... but we gotta get away from those things!" A mechanical, high-pitched whinny echoes forth from within the possessed merry-go-round horse, strongly indicating her unease. "Them candle varmints is nothin' but trouble!"

What will Alice do?

Alliteration indeed was an awesome thing that the role player could appreciate, having studied English in most of her school life and still using it in and out of university at a frequent basis. However, an awesome thing that the character could appreciate was how well her Torchic was doing, and she cheered, well and truly hyped.

"You are so kickass, Torchic! One of the many reasons I love you!" She insisted, fists clenched and shaking. Her bird chirped, beating his tiny wings happily. At least those rioting Houndoom and the creaking Rapidash could not come between them as previously anticipated. "Let's take this thing out! Use your Agility, then when you get into close range, use Low Kick and Crossfire again!"

She was immune to grim noises that would make others shudder, at least, but candle varmints? "Are those Litwicks?" She asked. That would sound about right, or at least one of their illusions. Then again, ghost Pokemon could usually take on any shape they wished to haunt in. "Candles... This place is full of firey things. That I don't like. Except you, Torchic, you're a babe."

She felt the need to clarify. Once upon a time he wouldn't have been much liked either, even if she had adopted the cute and rare bundle out of choice and whim. But now? They were tight. And she would very much appreciate it if he beat the mother hubbard before those candle varmints came close, and jumped at her head. Or set her on fire. Or something.

((Stats, yo.))

[MarbleZone]

MarbleZone - All of his life, Levin was the type to look out for his own interests first. In a selfish, cruel world full of people who only care about themselves, it made sense to look out for himself, especially if no one else would. At first, he does what Levin would do; go back on his path of getting the drinks and follow Oceanus' advice, lest he get himself into further trouble with the Jellicent and/or Ruby. Even if the beautiful Calandra was in danger, and her uncle had nearly been eaten for dinner, why should he concern himself? It was not as though he got either of them into this mess... Indeed, their own choices had sealed their fates, independent of his influence. Crix had different ideas, resolutely disobeying his trainer for the sake of Calandra and her uncle, his eyes communicating a strong inner morality that stuck him to the ground beside the fat man. Despite Levin's normal, logical thought processes, the doubts begin setting in... Did Calandra truly deserve to die just because she wanted to sing on stage? Simply because she trusted Orfeo, and wanted an audience that wouldn't be brutally murdered by her voice? Even if it was far from his obligation to help her, there was a pang in his heart that could not be denied. Yes, he had helped the fat man, and with the Exploud's intervention, the pair were even now, in Levin's eyes... but there was something distinctly unfair about such small errors in judgment leading to such horrible consequences, as Wallace had learned at the hands of Lady Morgane. Had the fat man taken just a second longer to call out his trusted Pokemon...

Letting Crix convince him to take the more honorable path, even if it potentially led to his demise, Wallace resolves that he has work to do. Levin goes on to thank his partner for opening his eyes to what is truly important; indeed, though the little Elekid had grown so much under Levin's care, Crix was helping Levin grow as a trainer, as well. Oceanus, sighing heavily, anticipates Levin's words before they even come out of his mouth. After listening to Levin's assertion that Ruby will likely do all he can to prevent him from getting a reward and that Calandra's life was more important than adhering to his duties, Oceanus nods solomnly, heading to the kitchen to go get the drinks himself.

"It's your funeral," he mutters as he struts away, clenching his fists and gritting his teeth as if holding in anger and irritation. Without further hesitation, Levin orders Crix to perform a series of Thundershocks on the awful Lady Morgane, while urging the fat man to look for an opening as soon as he can, unless he just so happens to have some intel that will help him.

"Just cover your ears. You too... Crix, was it?" The heavyset fellow grins at the Elekid, clearly having taken a liking already to the little electric Pokemon. Elekid follows the order while utilizing its Thundershock against the Lady, which courses through her big pink body with super-effective force. As the Elekid covers his ears (and presumably Levin as well), the man and his Exploud Yawn in unison with incredible force, and Levin is immediately reminded of Calandra and her strange singing ability. Perhaps the ability to use one's voice as a weapon ran in the family somehow... Either way, all the other Pokemon in the room start yawning themselves, the catchy nature of the yawn subconsciously filling all the Jellicent in the room with the desire to take a nice, long, leisurely nap. Even Oceanus seems to yawn a bit after hearing the pair, his ghostly shoulders drooping with fatigue. When it is safe to uncover their ears, Levin and Crixus do so, only to have the heavy man tell them, "Focus on that pink one. She looks stronger than the others. We'll deal with the rest." With that statement, the two of you engage in separate battles for the moment.

Lady Morgane laughs condescendingly at the Elekid, her heart-shaped mouth distorted into a smirk. "That is the best you can do, you filthy little commoner??" Crix, undeterred by the Lady's harsh words, tries to let loose another Thundershock, but the vicious pink jellyfish dodges out of the way, Recovering from the damage she took initially! "Insipid fool," she taunts, Absorbing some of Crix's energy, despite the fact that she had healed what damage she had taken... Perhaps it was fitting of a creature who lived such an excessive, indulgent life to recover far more HP than was necessary. Levin could tell that she was trying to make a point; no matter how much damage Crix doled out, she could compensate for it... and more. "You can't... *Yawn* win against me..." The tired Lady Morgane yawns in spite of herself; it seems as if the tactic was beginning to work.

As long as Crix can survive the time it takes for Lady Morgane to fall asleep, he and Levin should be free and clear to escape while the Jellicent are sleeping. That said, Lady Morgane does not look pleased at all, and though she wasted a turn last round to be a bully, it seems as if she is only just warming up...

How will Levin and Crix respond?

The battle had just started and Levin could already tell this wasn't going to be about winning, but simply surviving. Lady Morgane on her own seemed more than capable of holding her ground even with the type disadvantage, so what to say whenthe other two rejoined the struggle? It was suicide to try and beat them. Fortunately, the fat man agreed and knew a way of providing an opening.

Taking orders from a person like that annoyed Levin slightly, but he knew better than to argue by now. Reluctantly, he covered his ears, as did Crix. What happened afterwards was yet another paranormal event, the kind he'd learned to expect from just about everybody around him by now... The man and his Exploud Yawned simultaneously, their combined efforts filling even Oceanus with overwhelming drowsiness. How could a human use a Pokemon ability? Then again, his niece could kill with her voice! Did that mean... She was actually emulating Perish Song?

His impromptu ally urges him to focus his attention on Morgane, claiming he can deal with the others. If that's true, all the better... if not, at least they'll be busy eating him and maybe I can slip by.
Suddenly, the female Jellicent's offense forces him to focus on the battle again, snapping him out of his musing. Recovering what little damage the Thundershocks had dealt, and adding insult to injury with an Absorb on top of it, was a clear message to her opponents. Whatever Levin and Crix dished out, she was confident she could take it... and probably she could. Yet, the drowsiness seemed to be getting the better or her, sleepiness beginning to creep in as she gloated about her superiority. Getting her to fully fall asleep would be the critical point of the match, but they had to survive until then - whenever "then" was.

Crix was back on his feet after the last attack rocked him. It was a simple Absorb, but it had still dealt its share of damage - attesting to the power of the opponent, even if she was just playing around for the moment. Levin had to think this through carefully... He knew Crix could unleash a devastating Thunder at times - a move recently learned and not yet mastered, that was triggered mostly by strong emotions rather than used at will. As powerful as it was, it was unreliable at this point, and who knew if all the energy it required would even pay off? If he used Thunder, draining himself out, but failed to incapacitate the opponent, they'd be done for. That wouldn't do. What could they do to buy them time then?...

Maybe... we don't need to hurt her too much to slow her down. Maybe we need to literally make her slower!

He got it. It was risky, since it was the first time Crix would use it in an actual battle, but if it worked... it could keep Morgane busy for long enough until she succumbed to Yawn!

- Crix, quick! Stun her with a Thunder Wave, then trap her in your Electroweb, two of them if you have to! It's the only way to buy us time!

He wasn't delusional; under normal circumstances, the Jellicent would probably be able to break free from the web; but with sleep seeping in, and if his Thunder Wave managed to cripple her beforehand, maybe it'd be enough to get her to fall... and there would be his opening! It had better work, too; all this commotion surely wouldn't go unnoticed to the other ghostly guests if it went on for much longer, and then his odds would be even worse!

[Ex-Admiral Insane]

[color=slategray][size=1]
Ex-Admiral Insane:
The twins wait expectantly for your answer again, rocking back and forth on their heels as you take some time to come to terms with your new ghostly status. Rags picks up on your shock and panic and begins to look extremely worried, especially when he glances back at that alleyway again.

Making a note to keep Rags in eyesight, you finally agree to play their game, prompting them to cheer and beam at you, oblivious to your panic and fear. When you mention that Rags wasn’t participating, though, they pout briefly before brightening again, clearly excited to begin playing.

Hide and seek! Hide and seek! one girl chants as her sister explains. All three of us are hiding and the seeker is any Dusknoir. The only safe place is the picture wall. If you get caught, you lose. She giggles.

It’s a really easy game, the previously-chanting twin chimes in. And Rags can play, too, if he wants. He just has to follow your voice. She smiles up at you. Somehow, you doubt the game is that easy, but you have no chance to ask the twins anything as Rags makes a frightened noise and hurries towards you, incorporeal and invisible though you may be. The girls immediately shriek in laughter and run, yelling It’s already started as they streak away. You quickly lose sight of them in the maze of tents, though that’s more of an absent observation; most of your attention is focused on the floating Pokémon coming from the alleyway Rags had been watching. Its single red eye slowly scanned the area, quickly finding you and Rags, and it begins approaching, a hand reaching out for the two of you.

What will you do?

Lucas' first reaction was one of awe. As he stood there, gazing at the pokémon's eyes that seemd to attract him like a moth to a fire. He started forgetting what he had just been told by the two girls. Rags let out a soft, faint cry and unknowingly snapped his trainer out of his mesmerized state.

The trainer widened his eyes and after taking a quick glance at his pokémon, he looked up again at the ghost that stood just a few feet away. It's hands were now reaching for the both of them.
Now it was Lucas' turn to let out a small wail. He suddenly remembered what the pokédex had said before: Dusknoir take people with them to the spirit world.
In his current spectral state, Lucas thought he may be targeted by the Dusknoir and taken to the spirit world. This gave him reason enough to run off frightened with the two little spectres.
Looking back, he couldn't see where the two little girls had run off to. The tents practically made this area a gigantic maze and by the sounds of it, it had Dusknoir acting as patrol-men.

With fear of having his existence ended so quickly, he ran off yelling; "Run Rags!" despite knowing that Rags wouldn't be able to hear him anyway.

He tried his best to remember which way he came from. He took the next left and the following right, believing it to be the right way towards the picture wall.
"What was it, they said? The Dusknoir are the seekers and you lose when they catch you? The only safe place is the picture wall?"
Having thought so, his mind was made up. He now had two reasons to head back to the picture wall. Primarily to remain safe from the ghosts, despite the irony of him being one at the moment, and secondly to find his, now presumable, corpse.

Though he had almost left his pokémon behind in a cowardly fashion, he knew that there wasn't much he could have done anyway. Unless his pokémon was able to hear his commands and Lucas wasn't the target of every ghost pokémon in the area, Rags was going to have to fend for himself until Lucas could regain his physical state and give proper orders. After all, the Dusknoir shouldn't be able to kidnap a non-ghost type pokémon and thus have little interest in harming little Rags. That was the one small piece of hope he had clung to.

[Emp]

Emp - ((I will be sure to let you know if I consider anything you write to be self-updating. I'm happy with what you've been writing so far~))

Wes admires the dusty, weather-worn plaque, thinking back to a place that he used to call home before some bad monetary decisions forced him on the road. It was his sincere hope that the pups that surrounded him would net enough cash for him to once again live in the beautiful seaside property that was once his, allowing him to inhale the fresh, calming scent of seawater when he awoke every morning, instead of the dim, musty stench of cheap hotels and trainer hostels. They were little, fuzzy goldmines after all, and he had already seen from reading through Cable Club records and the Weekly FizzEconomist that Eevees were in high demand, usually netting 10 or so candies a pop. All he needed to do was find buyers, and he would be back in the lap of luxury once again. Of course, Wes is not so lucky finding a potential Eevee enthusiast, though he does find - much to his surprise - a strange new psychic acquaintance with an eerie little question for the destitute trainer. Tell me... If you could change one thing about your life, what would it be?

Wes grasps the importance of the question immediately and swallows hard, realizing the implications of answering could be far beyond the norm with such a strange and powerful Pokemon asking the question. This was no mere small talk, and Wes was not about to divulge this information lightly. Of course, the teen realizes quickly that even if he does not say the word, the Reuniclus can likely sense his thoughts, given the fact that he has already displayed telepathic abilities. Unable to retreat into his head or shut off his brain, Wes finds his attempts not to think about his past only forces the memories to surface more quickly. The images are so crisp and distinct in Wes' mind that it was almost as if he could jump back in time to when they occurred. Wes could remember meeting Honii for the first time in the Forest of Adventure, his paws thick with sticky sweetness; how young and inexperienced the little bear had been when Wes found himself compelled to protect the little creature from a vicious Beedrill! That Teddiursa had grown to be one of Wes' strongest allies and dearest friends, and he would never consider defending him and welcoming him into his team as something he would change: not then, not now, not ever. He then reminsces about meeting trainer and lifetime friend Zak Bennet in the Safari Sector of Adventure Island where the two young men, along with their guide Sheena, fought off massive, dangerous fossil Pokemon who had mutated in the presence of a mysterious crystal which seemed to be responsible for shiny coloring and massive growth mutations in various Pokemon. Wes, Zak and Sheena managed to seal off the cave, though not without first incurring the wrath of a larger-than-life Aerodactyl, and the pair had each received a wonderful Pokemon in exchange for their participation in saving Adventure Island from the gigantic, Pokemon-eating, land-destroying monsters. While Zak had obtained a Gible, Wes had obtained a wonderful little Squirtle named Raph. How could Wes regret that adventure?

Really, all in all, Wes had lived a wonderful life in the world of Fizzytopia, full of adventure, good friends and the most amazing Pokemon a young man could ask for. Together with his prized Pokemon, he had filled his trophy cabinets with prizes and ribbons; of course, he had to sell those cabinets and pile all those precious awards back into his trainer bag after-

Yes. That was it. That was the answer to the question; there was no way that Wes could deny it. Recently, in a fit of youthful impulsivity, he had squandered his entire fortune, and was left destitute, wandering the streets with his Pokemon. Wes knew that many trainers happily lived this life, seeing no reason to spend precious capital on a home when there was so much traveling to do in the profession of trainer. Unfortunately, Wes's heart is full of longing for the gorgeous shores of Shell Island where his Pokemon used to swim and play before he had made some of the worst mistakes of his life. Too many spins of the Roulette table, too many bids that went way over his head, too many trips to the Coins for Prizes Boutique, where the rare and expensive items glistened and gleamed throughout the shop like baubles on a Christmas tree. Looking down at his ratty sneakers, warn from weeks of traveling on foot and the lack of means to replace them, he resolves to be honest with the strange psychic Pokemon that had decided to take residence in his gondola.

"If I could change one thing about my life? I’d want to be rich," Wes admits. Perhaps not the most philanthropic or deep choice, but certainly an honest one. The Reuniclus seems to appreciate your honesty, nodding in response to your answer with a serene smile.

I hope that you will find what you seek in the mist, the Reuniclus chants, a twinkle in his small, black eyes. The time is right for letting one's heart go searching. I have a wish of my own, you see... The Reuniclus audibly sighs within Wes' mind, looking out the gondola window with an expression that strikes Wes as almost melancholic. In all my years of living, being, obtaining more knowledge, there is only one thing missing that would have made my life complete-

Before the Reuniclus can finish his musings, the windows of the gondola become thick with smoke. Despite how thoroughly sealed the windows appear, the smoke begins seeping in through the barely visible cracks, even phasing through the windows themselves, ghostlike and ethereal... Peeta cries out in alarm, running towards the window, but there is no way out of the gondola... Not without falling to one's death, anyhow. There is not much time for panicking; the smoke fills the gondola so fast that Wes does not even have time to come up with a plan of escape. The effects of inhaling the smoke are immediate, and before he can even attempt to calm his little Eevee pup down or ask the Reuniclus for clarification on this potentially deadly situation, he completely blacks out, fainted dead away.

---

Wes awakens on a finely-carved marble bench in the middle of hundreds of lights, a cacophony of sounds and the overwhelming smell of alcohol and cigarettes. The feeling of seven tiny faces pressing themselves against Wes' and licking startles him into waking, as his Eevees paw at his chest, standing up on their little hind legs in order to look up at him with concern in their big, brown eyes. Wes' eyes gradually focus in on his environment, and on the green, floating blob that obscures his vision once the pups have decided to cease their licking; the face of a Solosis blinks with great curiosity before looking at Wes with recognition, telepathically issuing an eager greeting through the transmission of the image of a smiling face. Though his abilities are far less developed, and the enchanting male voice has yet to take form, Wes can't help but shake the strange feeling that the Reuniclus he encountered on the Big Wheel shared identities with the Solosis that greets him now... but what could have happened to the Reuniclus in that missed that devolved him so completely?. The cell-like creature points with his eyes toward their surroundings, which Wes can now see is no ordinary Casino... men and women in period costumes (or so Wes assumes) from the 1920s, with cigarettes in one hand and a lever in the other, gamble on various slot machines, laughing, smoking and drinking the time away. The machines are incredibly well-designed and made of only the finest materials, though they give off a rather ominous vibe with the use of blacks and reds in the color pallate and the consistent use of skull imagery on the sides and as images for the reels. Even the carved winged houndooms acting as the base of the old-timey stools glare unsettlingly at Wes, their pointed tails curled around the body of the stool looking as if they'll unwrap, the wooden legs so smooth and realistic that they may lunge at any second. At first, the Casino simply appears as a charming, eccentric nod to an old-time Casino parlor with a bit of a morbid twist, but as Wes digs his sneakered feet into the plush red carpet and stands up to get a better view of things, he begins to realize that the Casino is not all that appears on the surface. The woman at the machine closest to Wes cries out in horror as the black, wrought-iron slot machine displays three red skulls in a row, and the total under a meter labeled "LIFETIME" goes down from "2000 years" to "0". A pair of Golurk outfitted in tuxedos emerge from the shadows and forcibly grab the woman from the slot machine as she begs them for mercy, though not a shred of compassion can be seen in either of their emotionless, stony faces. She offers them the long string of pearls around her neck, the gold pin in her hat, all to no avail. The other Casino members blissfully ignore the horrific display, gambling their lives away... quite literally, it seems. The woman is dragged into the back room with one of the Golurks, as the other slams the door behind them and resumes its patrol.

Of course, there are other slot machines, and Wes can see that there are signs pointing Casino-goers to the appropriate places; a large key is posted on the wall, which outlines all the different types of "currency" accepted at this strange place. Wes cannot help but wonder what he has gotten himself into; the Solosis, apparently having heard his thoughts, levitates an ominious-looking black card over to Wes, with the now-defunct Phantom Isle Hotel logo emblazoned in red over the black backdrop. You have obtained the Members-Only Casino Card. It seems as if the Solosis is just in time, as the Golurk on patrol approaches Wes, holding out his large hand in a silent request for proof of membership. Though the Golurk certainly appears intimidating, perhaps it could direct you to a machine that would dispense what you seek.

How will Wes respond?

Wes was at odds with himself as the words seemed to swim from the depths of his subconscious to his immediate thoughts like prey drawn to a Chinchou’s lure. Caught fast in a moral dilemma he could barely make sound the of his conscience’s preaching under the swelling desire to win back his fortune. The war waged within the trainer’s head was fleeting as he settled on an answer to the embryo’s question – there was no turning back. Wes swallowed, the tingling feeling of his mind being probed taking shape once more. The Reuniclus’s beady black eyes gave flicker as its brainwaves droned through his throbbing head, ‘I hope that you will find what you seek in the mist. The time is right for letting one's heart go searching. I have a wish of my own, you see...’ Wes’s examined the cell-like Pokémon curiously as they broke contact, a forlorn guise etched on his face as he gazed through the foggy window pane. The kid’s interest flared once again, the Pokémon’s façade almost as mysterious as his cryptic musing. ’ In all my years of living, being, obtaining more knowledge, there is only one thing missing that would have made my life complete-

Hanging onto the Reuniclus’s every word, Wes jerked back in panic as a thick haze stifled the Pokémon’s thoughts – the glass steaming up in seconds. The ferris wheel had reached its crest and broke into the plume of dark fog, Wes’s heart giving another start as the mist starts to seep through the tight cracks at the gondola’s doors. The trainer’s nails dug into his seat as tensions rose, the smoke enough to rouse an agitated Peeta who bound about the cart whimpering as he tapped the windows with his paw to no avail. Then his pupils dilated as realisation he’d only been thinking of himself dawned on him as quick as the layers of thick fog. What about the other pups!? Surely if they weren’t already in grave danger they’d be scared out of their wits right about now. Wes’s heart sank as his eyes swept around the gondola desperately: A door handle, an escape hatch, anything! But before a getaway plan can come into fruition the fog becomes too thick to see through. The trainer lets out a stifled cough as he keels onto the floor, smoke filling his lungs fast and quickly sending him to oblivion…

***

Wes let off a low groan as he strained to open his eyes. He could only pry his heavy lids a few millimetres as hundreds of lights dazzled in his peripheral like a swarm of Volbeat. His other senses weren’t let off lightly either; nostrils flaring to the scent of liquor and cigarette smoke; ears ringing under the musical discord and head throbbing under what could only be described as a bad hangover. Trying to recall how he’d ended up on the marble bench was tricky, the events of yesterday were a blur. With another low groan the kid attempted to swipe off whatever had pressed down on his chest, wincing as the sensation rippled down his body. The Eevee lick against his face and nuzzle their heads against his hands – rousing him upright and sending memories of the Big Wheel ride flooding back. Wes looks idly at his shoes as he attempts to rub the spots out of his eyes, “What went on in there?” he breathed. Sitting up straight the trainer quickly caught sight of the green blob Pokémon he’d encountered – only it had devolved into an infantile stage. Wes gazed ahead watchfully as the cell Pokémon blinked in return, identifying the trainer and signalling off a trace of emotion which felt a lot fuzzier than his previous telekinetic encounter – but Wes was certain it shared the same signature. How had the multiplying Pokémon regressed into a Solosis? Could this be one of the Reuniclus’s offspring? Or perhaps he’d fallen into one of its memories or even through time itself… Wes didn’t give much thought to the ever thickening mystery as he scoped his surroundings with a growing curiosity.

The trainer’s eyes, puffy from all the smoke, swept tentatively across the bizarre scene. From left to right, the further his neck turned the more his face crumpled in confusion. He’d landed in a casino straight out of an old movie, ladies and gentlemen dressed in suits and dresses straight from the roaring twenties – taking quick drags on their cigarettes and shots of amber liquor as they casually drew on slot machine leavers and rolled dice against felt tables. Wes felt an uncontrollable smirk grow on his face – eyeing up the pristine gambling machinery with a stark sense of admiration. The whole room emanated a grandeur the likes of which made Jirachi’s Casino look like a rundown gambling den – black machines with scarlet trimmings with even the stools fashioned to resemble Houndoom. As Wes homed in on the silver barbs protruding from the seat a sharp sensation of foreboding started to run through him. He pulled nervously at his collar as the ☠ painted on the sides of the slot machines and the spinning reels seemed to stare deep into his soul – their empty sockets threatening to drain away his life force.

The idea of an enthralling old-timey casino parlour had quickly shifted to something more sinister, the trainer digging his feet into the luxurious red carpet - threatening to leave mucky footprints as he pushed to his feet and scoped the surroundings with greater scrutiny. The trainer quickly decides Eevee loitering is out of the question here and starts to recall the litter of pups until- He quickly claps his ears as a shrill scream, barely audible over the noise of the casino, draws him toward the lady playing the nearest fruit machine. The slots weren’t in her favour by the looks of it, stopping on three skulls in a row with the meter branded “LIFETIME” suddenly plummeting from 2000 to 0. Wes’s heart gave a wrench as a pair of towering figures donning jet-black tuxedos rounded on the woman, restraining her and dragging her into a back room by her arms. Despite her desperate screams and efforts to bargain the soulless drones paid no attention, even the other casino members seemed to turn a blind eye! Before Wes could even get his head around what was going on, the two golem break apart – one of them dragging the woman into the back room despite her attempts to latch onto the doorframe. The doors slam shut stifling the woman’s screams as the other Golurk continues its patrol, eyes sweeping across the casino like yellow flashlights.

Wes swallowed heavy, looking for somewhere to hide with the creeping suspicion he didn’t belong starting to take shape. He gave a start as something flat pressed against his slacked fingers, eyes darting toward the object which he quickly identified as a Members-Only Casino Card. Shooting a grin toward the cell-like Pokémon, Wes snatched the levitating pass, slowly running his thumb down its glossy surface. He quickly recognised the Phantom Isle Hotel Logo inscribed in red against the dark face, a resort that had closed its doors long ago. Before the trainer has time to speculate he suddenly finds himself in the shadow of one of the guards. With a sheepish look he creaks his neck until he meets the golem’s yellow sockets. The Pokémon’s fist uncoiled in gesture for the trainer’s ID, Wes cracking a nervous smile as he held up his newfound members card. Still feeling rather lost the kid thumped his chest in an effort to speak up, “I’m looking to do some high stake’s coin betting…” he declared casually, “Does your establishment offer anything similar to the Horse Racing or Canine Dash you’d find at Jirachi’s Casino?”

FB

[allishinca]

Allishinca:
The battle looks to be wrapping up as the Vulpix stumbles again, closing its eyes and shaking its head in an attempt to clear it, which renders your Sableye's Leer ineffective. Another Poisoned Jab lands almost immediately afterwards, though, sending the fox Pokémon down, though it struggles to get back to its feet. Pluto then retreats and takes a moment to see whether he can Detect anything and ends up turning towards the doorway, ignoring the Vulpix's attempts at standing; the wild Pokémon was obviously in no condition to continue fighting. Or your starter just didn't think it was any danger anymore.

Either way, just as you're preparing to toss the Pokeball, several purple balls of fire rush into the room, a handful breaking off to hover near the ceiling, while another three bee-line straight for the Vulpix. For a moment, you think they're more Will-o-Wisps and Codi prepares himself to cover your eyes again, but a second glance proves them to be floating candles. No, not candles; Pokémon, floating-candle-like Pokémon. One of which is hovering protectively over the now-unconscious Vulpix and glaring at you three. It begins to chatter angrily at you, saying something about how humans were uncaring and evil and should leave before they made you and how could you do such a thing to such a poor kit, Codi translates. There was also something about how the Vulpix was only trying to find a way to the top of the building to find its mother and how it wasn’t strong enough yet and how it would now have to spend a lot of time recovering and how the human really should leave before it decided to make sure it never left. One of the candles shook its head when the first one threatened you, while the other seemed to just be ignoring the rant. The others floating near the ceiling looked to be glancing between you, the one speaking, and the Vulpix on the floor.

What will you do?

The small fox Pokemon toppled down but managed to regain some composer. In a final act of desperation, the Vulpix stood defiantly, nullifying Pluto's Leer. This did not deter Pluto, how immediately struck with another Poison Jab, sending the fox back to the ground. With shaking legs, the Vulpix again try to stand back up. Pluto attempted to Detect any future attacks, but instead found himself drawn to the doorway. The red fur shook violently, but could not pick itself up. Pluto no loner saw his opponent as a threat, and instead growled towards the bedroom entrance. Alli rolled the Pokeball in her hands and was just about to toss it when several purple balls of fire rush into the room.

"Will-O-Wisps?" Questioned Alli, who did not have much time to think before her eyes were covered by Codi. Despite his pain, he had lunged forward at the sight of the fireballs, but after a quick double take, he noticed that they were not Will-O-Wisps at all. They were strange, candle-shaped Pokemon. Codi uncovered Alli's eyes, who in turned pulled forth her Pokedex.

Litwick. The Candle Pokemon. Ghost/Fire Type.

A group of Litwick floated up to the ceiling, leaving three that dashed towards the Vulpix. One Litwick hovers over the unconscious Vulpix while glaring at Alli. Pluto growled back towards it, putting himself between the Pokemon and his trainer. It begins to make a chattering noise, venting its fury. Alli is not sure how to respond, and turns towards Codi. Codi had repositioned himself sitting up against the wall, as his burns still sting.

"Uh, it's taking really fast. Something about how humans are evil?" Pluto was also listening in, and turned around and glared at Codi, who did not notice. "They're saying we should leave, and that the little fox... was looking for its mother. She's on the top of the building, I guess.” Pluto crawled over to Codi, as to stop him. "The little Vulpix isn't strong enough yet, and now it will have to recover. Hm, now they're saying we should leave again." Pluto kicked Codi in the side. "What? It's not like I agree with them. The dang thing gave us enough trouble with those Will-O-Wisps, anyway." Pluto was not concerned with Codi's opinion, and instead turned towards Alli.

Pluto could not see his trainer's expression from behind, but watched carefully as she proceeded forward, towards the Vulpix. There were three Litwicks around the kit. The one who had ranted, a second Litwick who was shaking its head, and a third who appeared to be looking off into the distance. Alli was weary of the frustrated Litwick as she bent down by the Vulpix.

"Well I wasn't trying to harm it, I just wanted to take the little fella with me. If you're worried about recovery, I'll give it thesis here Potion [1/1]." Alli stroked the kit's fur as Pluto smiled proudly. Codi lightly shoved the little darkness Pokemon, who brushed off his pride like it was nothing. "And for the poison, you have this Antidote [1/1]."

"Hey! Why don't I get something?! I could use a Casteliacone over here!"

"Oh Codi, just use Heal Bell." Codi's jaw dropped in an exasperated response. Pluto returned the previous gesture, and nudged Codi's arm. Codi looked down at Pluto for a moment, then away in annoyance.

After a sigh, the Lopunny simply retorted with; "Oh, whatever," and the two friends smiled at each other, admitting defeat. "She's always trying to capture cute Pokemon. She gets that from you, 'cause you're so greedy." Pluto curtly mumbled something back. "Well I'm not trying to be the good roll model here."

"Hey Codi, ask them if we could carry the little fox up to its mother. We should give this place a thorough examination before we leave, anyway."

Profile

[Dark Searchman]

Dark Searchman - As Hyrem's physical vision becomes more and more impaired, the laughter resonating within his mind becomes more and more clear, like a radio dial being turned to hone in on an exact station. With this clarity comes an onslaught of hazy mental imagery... At first, all Hyrem can make out are various colors and shades, the beginnings of thoughts that run together, as if in a dream; the blinding pain from Hyrem's eyes shakes him out of it, and he screams in tortured agony, feeling as if tiny claws were pulling Hyrem's eyes out of their sockets. No matter how terrible the pain becomes, however, Hyrem stays strong for his Pokemon; after all, if he let the pain take over and gave up the fight, all hope would most certainly be lost. Despite his blurred vision, he can see the horrific zap cannon electrify the pink Frillish. Delilah, distracted with concern for her friend and battle partner, is also hit hard by an attack that Hyrem can't miss; this time, a colorful aurora beam that manages to get the Chinchou's light flickering despite her type advantage.

The ominous future sight attack hangs heavy in the air; despite not being psychic himself, even Hyrem can feel the weight of it bearing down, the inevitable attack pushing Hyrem to act fast. The male Frillish immediately jumps into action, unleashing a mighty Waterfall in an attempt to distract the eyes on the wall. Unfortunately, a number of eyes seem to anticipate the Frillish's attack, blinking with their mechanical eyelids just in time to avoid major damage. Only a few eyes are destroyed from the torrent of water as a result. Even so, the attack certainly gets the eyes' attention, and they focus on the male Frillish with another Zap Cannon; this time, however, the Frillish is quick on his feet, and dodges the concentrated beam with an agile burst from his tentacles. Meanwhile, Hyrem uses the opportunity to attempt to heal Delilah and the male Frillish's sister; he reaches out with his berries in an attempt to give them both the appropriate berry for their wounds. Hyrem's Chinchou is quick to consume her berry, which seems to bring a bit of light back to her antennae and life back into her eyes, but the poor paralyzed Frillish is slow to approach Hyrem due to her condition. In the moments Hyrem reaches out to the Frillish to try and deliver her berry, The Harvester, full of rage at Hyrem's attempts to undo the damage she and her eyes had done, immediately begins to Glare at him... before Hyrem can even react, however, he feels himself being shoved away in the nick of time by Delilah! Fortunately, both human and Pokemon avoid the effects of the glare, and Delilah is able to escort the Frillish over to Hyrem, gently helping her consume the berry to heal her paralysis. Though the pink jellyfish Pokemon is still heavily damaged, she at least would be better able to dodge any attacks that might come her way. Speaking of which...

The ground begins to shake, as the ominous Future Sight manifests in the form of a brilliant white light that engulfs the pair of Frillish and Delilah. The male Frillish appears to be hit hardest by the attack, as he cries out in pain; it seems as if most of the eyes were focusing on him when they decided to perform the devastating attack, and he reels back from the blast, but remains strong despite the terrible damage. Delilah squeaks out, clearly upset by the attack, but thankfully stays fighting fit despite the onslaught, as well. Though the pink Frillish tries to move out of the way, the blinding light seems somehow attached to her very being, and moves with her no matter where she goes. The attack is not as powerful as what her brother was forced to endure, but it is strong enough to knock her to the floor of the Harvester's lair, her body limp as a rag doll's. The male Frillish cries out to his sister and urges her to get up in Frillish language, but it's no use; she is out cold. Female Frillish is KOed.

The Harvester notices that the pink Frillish is out for the count, and makes her way over to the unconscious Pokemon, a wide grin spreading across her face. The male Frillish tries to intercept the Harvester before she can lay a hand on his sister, but the eyes are intent on stopping him; they unleash a Signal Beam at the Frillish in an attempt to prevent him from reaching the Harvester, but he Dodges deftly out of the way. Delilah, who also fears for her pink friend's life, makes a beeline over to the Harvester, blocking her path. The male Frillish joins Delilah's side, crying out in Frillish language, I won't let you hurt her any more! The vicious Harvester Locks On to the male Frillish, responding in human speech; "Your insolence has been noted."

The moment the Harvester speaks, the colorful visions that had previously haunted Hyrem's mind return, only with higher focus... It is as if memories of his life are once flashing before his very eyes, as they did when he was first infected with the disease that was gradually transforming him into a mindless zombie. He sees himself obtaining his very first Pokemon, a Treecko named Trick... Wait, that's not right! A Duskull named Reaper..? Hyrem tries to focus, but he cannot seem to remember his own starter Pokemon, despite the fact that dozens of different memories come to him of obtaining his first Pokemon, or even of being another trainer's first Pokemon... Now he knows that can't be right. The false memories overwhelm Hyrem, twisting and turning in his head, confounding his own sense of reality. Getting a solid grasp of his own memories will take time and concentration, which would prevent him from being able to relay orders or attempt to help the female Frillish. However, if he does not try to recapture his own mind, he runs the risk of losing it altogether...

Costume: 1/20 eyes paralyzed, 11/20 eyes irritated
Wall: 115 eyes remain

What will Hyrem do?

As the threat of the deadly Future Sight loomed over Hyrem like a flock of Mandibuzz, he needed to make sure everyone would be able to survive the attack, and that meant providing some much-needed healing, especially for the pink Frillish, who was paralyzed. Delilah was able to quickly eat her berry, but in order to give a berry to Frillish Hyrem had to go to her. However, the Harvester sees this attempt and tries to paralyze him with a Glare, but Delilah was quick enough to push Hyrem out of the way, and she was even able to dodge the effects herself! She then helps the pink Frillish over to Hyrem as the blue one distracts the Harvester with a Waterfall attack on the wall, which wasn't able to get past the eyes' defenses and only took out a few of them, though it did get them angry enough to fire a Zap Cannon at the blue jellyfish. This time, he's able to dodge the attack, but...

All of a sudden, Future Sight appeared and covered the entire room in a white light. No amount of dodging would stop the attack, the three Water Pokemon all took damage, the blue Frillish taking the most damage, but it was the pink Frillish that would get overwhelmed by the attack and lose consciousness. Despite her brother's attempts to arouse her, she stays on the floor, unable to do anything. Then the Harvester moves in to do ... whatever she was going to do, which likely wasn't going to be pretty, but the blue Frillish moves up to block her path; even being the target of a Signal Beam from the eyes didn't stop him as he dodged that attack as well then moved in front of the Harvester, Delilah already there. "I won't let you hurt her anymore!" he says in Frillish language. "You monster, you won't get away with this!" added Delilah. The Harvester wasn't fazed by this, however, and Locked On to Frillish before saying, "Your insolence has been noted."

Delilah then looked back to see Hyrem writhing in pain, struggling with ... something. Whatever it was, it would keep Hyrem too busy to call out any attacks, that she knew! She would have to rely on her own judgement now and protect Hyrem ... the Frillish ... everyone counted on her! She could see that the Harvester was planning on finishing the other Frillish off too, from the way she targeted him with the Lock-On spell ... not if she had anything to say about it! Whatever attack would come (likely another Zap Cannon, but there were plenty of attacks the Harvester could use; no guarantee it would be one the Chinchou could withstand herself) she would move in front of Frillish at the last second and take the attack meant for him. Then she would try and use the now turbulent waters here to make a Surf attack, and hopefully Frillish would try to add his attack to hers and combine it. It was pretty potent when she and a Corphish combined the attack, maybe it would have similar effects here too!

As Hyrem heard the words spoken earlier by the Harvester, his memories started flashing before him for some reason. He longed to get this whole thing over with so he could hug Trick once again like he did that day when he first got the Treeck- Wait, Trick!? Nah, that can't be right! That'd mean I would be ... well, I'd still be pretty darn cool, but I'd be just as snarky as Sothe! And I like my own snark, thank you very much! Okay, I think we got it right, Hyrem would want to have fun with Reaper all over agai- Wait, a Duskull!? Ew, no, no way that's going to fly with me! Come on, Hyrem, concentrate already! Wait, he ... he can't remember his first Pokemon ... Oh, come on, who is it? Hyrem struggles to think. What are my real memories?? Why are all these memories here? They aren't mine, they're someone else's! More memories of getting his first Pokemon surface, each of them different than the last. Oh, how he longed to be with his trainer again, as this human's beloved first Pokem- okay, now it's just getting WEIRD. As the memories twist and turn and threaten to distort what Hyrem believes to be real, he holds his head in pain and closes his eyes tightly, trying to focus. If he lost the battle in his own mind, he would cease to exist, and we can't have that, now can we, dear readers? These aren't mine! Hyrem shouts inside his mind. Stop it, stop it, please make it stop!! He starts crying in frustration and pain and collapses to the floor ... tossing ... turning ... writhing ... struggling to break free from the onslaught of artificial memories. Then, when it seemed like he would have enough, he summoned as much strength as he could muster, and, with all of his willpower, he tries to force these fake memories out as he lets loose a scream from the top of his lungs:

"GET OUT OF MY HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAD!!!!!"

...

Well, that oughta do it ... right?

[uhhhhh]

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?

As the Fleshblims continue to drag Connor to their intended destination, the photographer wonders what exactly does this "Harvester" want to do with him. He tries to think of something, but his mind draws to a blank. Whatever they wanted though, it seemed that it was important enough that the Fleshblims had to drag him to where they are and not outright kill him instead... though this does not necessarily strike out the possibility that they just wanted to kill him themselves. He winced at the thought. As they continue to traverse around the mirror maze, Connor still couldn't help but cough violently at the Fleshblim's rotten stench.

Gaspard, Sam, and other Drifloons meanwhile were having a difficult time in catching up with the Fleshblims. With how fast they were going, the various twists and turns they are making, and their intention to lose the group, it was not an easy task for Gaspard to catch up to his partner despite the little Aipom being naturally agile. Not only that, but he and the other Drifloons were beginning to tire out from following them. Just where were these Fleshblims taking Connor?

Connor, Gaspard, Sam, and the other Drifloons didn't have to wait long however, as they finally reached their destination: a rather strange door. Gaspard panted and sighed in relief that he had managed to catch up to his partner. "So... this is where the Harvester is..." Connor finally spoke for the first time after being dragged. The scent of burning flesh and rubber seeps out of the cracks of the door and towards Connor and Gaspard who both were disgusted by the scent, "Ugh. That scent again..." The Fleshblims finally open the door and though Connor's eyes watered from the stench, he could still clearly what was inside the room... and then subsequently was horrified at what he saw.

The room they entered was surprisingly stylish at first glance. The red paintings, the black rugs, the white walls... even the furniture was very classy. If this was just a very stylish room made by an interior designer, Connor would have been impressed, maybe even take a photo of it... unfortunately, this was not the case as the scent of dead flesh was very strong that it surrounded the entire room. The photographer then notices in horror what materials were used in creating such a beautiful room. "No... no," was all he could mutter. Indeed, as Connor thought, various skin and fur from many different corpses were used as materials for creating the very room he was seeing now. As to where the corpses came from... he only looked at the Drifloons behind him. The Fleshblims then carried him into the room and dropped him on one of the armchairs. The hideous balloons then splitted up to three of the corners of the room, leaving one corner unattended... not.

Connor looked at the seemingly empty corner to find the Balloon Man that he had met previously on the entrance who was twisting a balloon animal using the skin of what appears to be Mr. Mine, "You! You’re the one from the hallway near the entrance!” the man just glared at Connor, “Hey, I should be the one that’s angry here. You almost killed me and Gaspard with that balloon of yours! What’s the deal mister?!” the Balloon Man just pointed towards the desk and Connor could feel the eyes behind him stare at what was in front of him too. Connor was already furious but he did what the Balloon Man is trying to tell him to do as looked at whatever he was pointing only to see a woman in stitches. He was stunned at first, despite all of those stitches around her, he found her quite... beautiful. He shook his head quickly though, getting those thoughts out of his head and reminding himself of his, Gaspard’s, and the Drifloon’s situation.

“Oh, my dear friend, how good of you to stop in! 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 while Connor got angrier by the minute, “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.” “Harvester of Flesh... I see. Makes sense considering what rooms and the Driflblims are made of...” The Harvester of Flesh then continued on as he introduced the Balloon Man to Connor... or rather the Harvester of Breath, “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.” “And I wish you didn’t,” Connor grimly thought as he glared at her.

The woman sighs in front of him, “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’s eyes widened at her words. Was this really their justification in killing people and Pokemon alike? He couldn’t accept their reasoning, no. The thought that their lives were lost to these... monsters infuriated him even more. After a few seconds, Connor then finally spoke, "Oh I understand very well what you’re doing. And it’s a disgrace. This room, the Fleshblims, all of it. I wouldn’t even photograph the place even if you paid me. I see no beauty in this,” he spat out the words to them, “Anyway, THIS is how you justify killing all these people and pokemon, skinning their corpses and turning it into carpets and wallpapers? Yes, death and suffering is a necessary part of life and we can’t remove that... However, this does not mean that YOU can use that as an excuse to rip someone’s life out of them! It just doesn’t work that way and you know it!” Connor took a moment to breath in before he continued, “Not to mention that you couldn’t just leave them dead either. You had the gall to revive them into Drifloons, trapping them inside the maze and have them slowly lose their memories! Now tell me, why do this? What’s so goddamn important to you that you had to do all of these to them?! Answer me!" he screamed.

Then, the photographer had heard Gaspard and the other Drifloons behind him scream, he got up from his seat as he tried to turn his head to see the problem, but the lady immediately gripped his head tightly to face her, “No. You look at me. You look at me. You look because nothing else is worth looking at! ONLY ME!” He had had it with them as something inside him snapped. Not only are they trying to make Gapsard and the Drifloons suffer, but they had the nerve to stop him from helping them out too. There was no reasoning to this woman anymore. “Gaspard, Sam, everyone, hang in there. I’m coming!” He grabbed her arm and with a strong force had rudely tossed it aside, “No, YOU listen to me. Do that again and I’ll punch your poor excuse of a face.” he said as he turned around to go to Gaspard’s group.

[fishyfool]

fishyfool/seakittenyfool:
Determined to uncover or unravel your past, you head straight for the little tent said to be the Fortune Teller’s place of business, ignoring the few presences you pass by on your way there. They, however, are curious about you, especially at the way you don’t seem to notice them at all, and silently follow you to the Fortune Teller’s door, waiting outside as you slowly enter.

You briefly glance around the space, noting the bare walls and the deep purple cloth edged with gold covering the table, before you turn your attention to the woman sitting behind the table. She stares at you, as though trying to see beyond the present, her blue eyes not quite seeming to focus on you, before she shakes her head and appears to return to the current time.

“Fate certainly has not been kind to you, has it?” she murmurs rhetorically, motioning for you take a seat as she continues speaking. “That you are still moving forward despite everything…” she trails off, eyeing you for several moments, before moving on.

“Why did you search me out?” she asks, never moving her gaze from yours as she sets an elbow on the table and rests her head on her hand. “And how do you think I may be able to help you?” She pauses. “What exactly are you looking for by coming here?”

What will you do?

On the outskirts of the tent, the few errant spirits curious on the veiled stranger hung back slightly as they tailed Alex to the canvas structure, opting to stay out of the way of this conspicuously fearless human as he entered the tent, neckerchief continuing to hide his face but for the eyes as they gazed listlessly around the cloth, before gliding towards the table, a purple cloth gilded covering it, and then to the one he had came here for. The medium's blue eyes seemed to regard through him, or perhaps, he thought, regarding his soul, before she shakes her head lightly.

"Fate certainly has not been kind to you, has it?" she questioned quite rhetorically, motioning to the seat before the table as Alex sat, a simple nod confirming this. "That you are still moving forwards despite everything..."

Alex closed his eyes momentarily, what static memories he had coming to light as he began to reminisce. The first journey into a tomb with his Chimchar and Snover, leaving with a Lunatone. Their Cortoza adventures, surrounding Harpe's rather painful ordeal with a corrupt executive, now deceased, and his monstrous dragons whom gave his team a good battle. The obtainment of a shiny Tyrogue. All good memories, balanced by the bad ones.

The sacrifice his Golem made to stop the rampage of a truly terrifying three headed beast he later learned could have been a feral Hydreigon, the monstrosity having torn its greedy master apart before turning on them, the finger of whom was now worn to remember her. The encounter with his darker spectre of his past with the Order and their living nightmare, his very murky and muddled past given physical form. The very first static memory he could recall, his hands gripping the fading heart of another human, torn from the very chest, one whose name he couldn't recall...

"Why did you search me out? And how do you think I may be able to help you? What exactly are you looking for by coming here?"

He was roused from his meditation by the fortune teller's questions, eyes opening once more as he sifted the static with the chaotic, the reason he sought her out.

"I've heard you are a psychic with admirable ability, and I've came for aid." Alex gave a dry gulp before lowering his neckerchief to expose his face to the air, partly to be more open to the woman, partly because his face was getting a little damp beneath.

"My memory has been tampered with in some form two years ago. What I recall from after this incident and now is as static as that of many people, both good and bad..." he paused as he took another breath, and also to muster a little more courage, "...but prior to this, my own childhood and personal family, and other memories of such...are muddled, to put it simply. The tampering gave me manufactured memories, and too many of them, weaving them amidst my real memories to create a maelstrom of confusion and amnesia. I heard of you from the grapevine, so to speak, and sought you for a reason.

"From what I have heard, your abilities as a medium are without equal. I wish to be able to purge myself of my false memories and to unravel my actual past, rather than a mess of conflictive thought, and in doing so put my mind and soul at figurative rest. I've tried the use of other psychic pokemon to try and cleanse my mind, but all have only had poor results and a couple have even required therapy themselves. I was hoping you could help me in uncovering the truth of myself from the ideals of those responsible for making me into the mess I am today."

[gmoyes]

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?

Alex focused on the pop-up menu at his side. If he was going to fight, he needed to make sure what type of weapon he was given with the Glitch move. Soon enough, his vision dove into the mechanics behind the battle. Then he saw a large RNG that was designated to Glitch. Each number represented a move. Better start at the beginning, he thought.

The first move was Selfdestruct. Probably something he should avoid unless as a last resort. The next 15 moves were strong, but he could sense that each of them had some sort of drawback. Again, probably something he should avoid. There was obviously one of each type, but before he could delve deeper into the moves, the RNG suddenly jumped to number 42. His attention was jolted back to the battle as the Mew attacked. Sure enough it used Glitch and Alex braced himself to what would come out of it.

He was confused for a moment when the attack struck and his health bar remained unaffected and no message like ‘ALEX’s DEFENCE FELL’ popped up. But he did feel different, sort of like when he used Conversion back when he was battling the Geodude, however this time he felt more… plant like than rock type. That move must have changed his type to grass. Just then Red ‘spoke’ up concerned about him.

Alex drew up another text box. “I HAVEN’T TAKEN A HIT, BUT I SEEMS LIKE I’M NOW A GRASS TYPE. DON’T WORRY, I’VE GOT THIS. REMEMBER PLAN B.” Theoretically, they could stuff him full of X-Specials, X-Speeds and so on or spam hyper potions to stall it, but he figured it would be rather cheap doing that against Mew and certainly didn’t fit with the point that was supposed to be made here. Still, sacrificing FREEDOM to revive himself was the best back-up plan they had. And that line there made him cringe as he thought of the implications of it.

Alex thought about the RNG that ran Glitch. The 42 that popped up must have been the one that Mew just used and turned him into a grass type. Besides that, the only other move he really knew was number 1 and a rough idea of the next 15. Certainly not enough info to know that move to do.

Then he expanded his thoughts through the game’s fourth wall. If he were a programmer, how would he organize the RNG? Moves 2-16 had similar characteristics, so maybe beside the Selfdestruct at the number one spot, every other move is in groups of 15 that are pretty much the same as each other, just different types. So the groups would be 2-16, 17-31, 32-46, 47-61 and so on. Chances were that the order of the moves between each set didn’t change between each set. So if he used 42 as a base point, potentially moves from 32-46 all changes the opponent’s type. In that set, 42 is the 11th number in that set, so potentially, the 11th number of every set would be grass typed. So the choice came down to take another turn to analyze the RNG and be open for another attack, or choose a number on the RNG and see what it does, but it would be only one move at a time. At least when Mew uses a move, he would know what that move does.

He decided that he could afford one more turn analyzing moves, but he needed to figure out how to analyze the most efficiently. First thing he thought of was to figure out if the moves did match up in sets and to figure out what each set did. Attack 27 was the 11th attack of the second set. He would focus on this one to see if this was also a grass type move and see what exactly the move did. If it was a grass typed move, then that supported that all moves were the same order between sets. Then all he had to do was find a bug typed move and he’d be good. If worse came to worse, he could use 42 himself to change Mew into a grass type so it would be open to a range of different types. He just had to hold on and hope that he didn’t take a huge hit. He didn’t know if the Mew was running on chance or picking effective moves from the list like he was, so he hoped that his plan would work. If the attacks weren’t set up as he thought they did, he would have a hard fight ahead of him.

As he focused on the code, he smirked to himself as he realized that the number that helped him was 42. 42 seemed to be the answer to everything. If that was on purpose or not, it was kind of funny.

[Plight of Leon]

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

Also, Blaze, Celebii, hope you don't mind my putting you two into a joint adventure. If you'd rather I split you two up, then just say so.

~!~

Plight of Leon/BlazeVA:
Neither believing in any deity nor believing that people could return as spirits, you enter the Haunted Amusement Park in order to investigate the Ghost Train, the site of the disaster that had set this place on its path from normal and popular theme park to possibly haunted and supernatural. Both of your Pokémon have misgivings about this place but they follow you to the Ghost Train anyway, warily and cautiously keeping an eye out for anything that could show up on the way.

As you walk, a whisper on the wind seems to solidify until it is audible. An atheist? And one who doesn’t believe in ghosts either. A slight chuckle. We can certainly have fun with this one, can’t we? You end up brushing it off as a figment of your imagination, though the goose bumps rising on your arms may indicate otherwise. Or maybe they’re just responding to the dropping temperature that seems to be localized on you, as neither of your Pokémon seem affected. You shiver slightly as something else ends up settling itself around your shoulders for a moment and, this time, your Pokémon notice your reaction. There’s nothing visible to describe, though, and you continue onwards, maybe the slightest bit unnerved.

As you get closer to the Ghost Train, a breeze picks up again and you hear that voice that you’d brushed off earlier return. The Ghost Train? It sounds disapproving, before returning to normal. In that case, maybe we’ll see you on the other side. There’s a light pressure on your neck as the voice fades away, Surgei seeming to stumble in his flight as though something had pushed him or the air around him had shifted. Curious, you reach up to feel where that pressure had been and find blood on your fingers. Was this the work of that voice?

Not even five minutes later, you arrive at the attraction and it serves as a welcome distraction from the thoughts that had begun creeping into your mind. On the platform leading to the burned-out train, another trainer stood, possibly a familiar one, with an Eevee huddling near his feet and a Hoothoot perched on his shoulder. He looks like he’s here to investigate the Ghost Train, too.

What will you do?

Blaze walked towards the Ghost Train in some sort of haste, he wanted to make sure that he got to it quickly. He had come for answers and to help people. Well, dead people anyways. It was funny, because how could Blaze help something that he didn't believe existed. Well, he did, but he believed that it was not supernatural. He looked around cautiously for anything that might be coming his way, but didn't find anything at all. 'Strange, I guess this theme park isn't haunted after all!'

But as Blaze walked, he though he heard something in the wind that was blowing. It was preposterous of course, at the wind doesn't speak at all, it is just a movement of molecules in the air...but isn't that sound itself? The wind's voice began to become more and more solid till it was a definite audible voice...or as close to it as it could be anyways. An atheist? And one who doesn't believe in ghost either. Hehehehe. We can certainly have fun with this one, can't we? Blaze's heart stopped a beat before coming back online. 'Did the wind just say something!? No, it couldn't be. That is an impossibility. It was just a figment of my imagination.' But the goosebumps on his arms definitely were not a figment of his imagination. But, maybe that was just from the cold that seemed to be settling in around Blaze. In fact, it seemed to have gotten much colder in a matter of seconds. But, it seemed to be just Blaze who was affected. Neither Marche nor Surgei were affected, and they were both weak to Ice. If there was a drop in temperature, they would surely feel it. Blaze then shivers slightly as something seems to settle itself on Blaze's shoulders. Marche notices this, and looks at Blaze. There wasn't anything visual though that would suggest that Blaze was just in any danger, and he couldn't sense anything at the moment. He though it was just Blaze being cold, and forgot about it. But Blaze was a little unnerved by it all.

As he walked farther on towards the Ghost Train, the breeze picks up again and the voice that blaze had though was just his imagination picks up as well. The Ghost Train? It sounded like it was disappointed or dissatisfied with such as place, but returned to normal. In that case, maybe we'll see you on the other side. Blaze felt a light pressure on his neck after that, and he noticed Surgei faltered in his flight for a moment as well, as if something pushed him or the air had shifted suddenly. Blaze lifted his fingers and put them to his neck, and found blood on them. 'Is this the work of that voice? Was it trying to kill me?'

Blaze arrives at the attraction sooner than later, and sees a familiar face waving towards him; it was Celebi, a trainer who he had met before on a couple of occasions. He runs over to him, scanning his Pokemon with the blue and silver Pokedex, before looking at his neck. "Blaze what happened to your neck? It's drenched in blood. Do you need treatment? My Wartortle knows Heal Pulse."

"Drenched? What are you talking about, it was only a little bit..."

Blaze raises his fingers again, and touches the base of his neck in the front, and finds blood there too as well. It does seem that his neck was drenched in blood.

"Yeah, if your Wartortle can do that, it would be a great help."

He then looked at Marche and Surgei.

"You guys didn't sense anything weird or see anything did you?"

"No Blaze, I detected no spirits around you. I have never heard of a spirit being able to mask it presence either. I didn't even notice the blood on your neck either."

"I can't do whatever Marche can do, but I did feel like something pushed me. It was only brief though."

"We better check you out Surgei then. You might be injured and we don't know it. If you are injured, we need to heal you up before we do anything else."

Blaze then looks at Celebii. "I guess you are here to investigate the Ghost Train as well. In that case, we should team up to do it. It would be safer that way. Once we are all set, we should try investigating the attraction and see if we can find anything."

[Son_of_Shadows]

Son_of_Shadows:
Bishop’s eyes begin to glow red as he uses Foresight to scan your surroundings, searching for anything that could be considered helpful. You, meanwhile, prepare for battle, turning to face the entrance of the tent and trusting Bishop to alert you if anything approaches from behind. The steps get louder and louder as whoever it was came closer, the steady sound making the atmosphere tense. It only gets worse when your Hoothoot makes a confused sound and tells you that, aside from the fact that there is a maze within the tent, there is nothing else. Or, at least, nothing else that looks particularly useful in helping to take down a ghostly child and his army.

You barely have time to swear before the leader child enters the tent, smirking at the sight of you and Bishop waiting for him. I did tell you that there was nothing here, he says smugly, stopping just inside the entrance. He seems to have come alone, but you can feel other presences waiting outside. And now you’ve got nowhere to run. He motions briefly as Bishop screeches a warning, both of you ducking to the right as a horde of Gastly come streaming into the tent, bringing with them a purple fog. You glance back at where the leader child had been standing and immediately notice the missing doorway.

A second later, Bishop screeches another warning, but he’s a little too late. Even as you dodge, you can feel something ice-cold pass through your left shoulder and you land slightly off-balance, a sudden bout of dizziness almost sending you to the floor. You hear the leader child speak again as the dizziness passes, Bishop trying desperately to keep an eye on every direction. Aw, is that all it’d take? I thought it’d be harder ‘cuz you got away, but I guess not… You can almost see the mocking disappointment.

Almost as though in response, the two Pokeballs Sam had given you shake violently, bringing your attention to them. The Pokémon within seem almost…eager to get out.

What will you do?

A trap. It had to have been a trap. Bishop's Foresight revealed nothing of interest but the maze. And now the leader child and a small army of Gastly were on top of them. The fog the Gastlies brought was incredibly disorienting too, and Joshua felt close to passing out. And then the mocking began. Aw, is that all it’d take? I thought it’d be harder ‘cuz you got away, but I guess not…

I'm going to beat the stuffing out of this little s***. Wait, he's a ghost. Damn it! Yeah, his mind was definitely going. Wasn't that just wonderful? The Pokéballs were shaking however. The balls given to him by Sam. Sam who had sent him into this tent. Sam who was supposedly his ally. Sam who had sent Joshua into a trap.

Yeah, he wasn't touching these things. Backup plan time.

"Steven, Teleport us away from this tent!" He threw down his own Pokéball, causing his Munna to appear in a burst of light. "See you around, kid. We're not done yet, you'll find."

OOC: Sorry for the wait and relative shortness. I've got nothing. Life.

[Marion Ette]

CyberBlastoise - Normally, an outdated calendar was nothing to be afraid of. After all, the Phantom Isle Hotel had been around for ages, and it would be logical for such things to be left about, particularly in a place that had supposedly been abandoned for years - and yet, the calendar looked new. It shines with the white, pristine gloss of freshly-printed pages. Given almost 30 years of age, this calendar should be falling apart, or yellowing at the very least. It was hard to believe that something left on the counter of an abandoned hotel would be this well-preserved. On top of that, the supposedly "abandoned" nature of the Hotel seems to be coming more and more into question... Bill's ears catch the sound of the lobby elevator rising to the upper floors, a progressively softer ping! indicating each level it travels away from the floor. Murmurs and footsteps from the staircases echo in Bill's ears. Of course, it could have simply been that the occupants of the hotel were merely sleeping or relaxing in their rooms when Bill arrived, but the very aura of the lobby was different. There was less dust, less clutter... a sense of life that was previously absent. Either a troupe of cleaning ladies had swarmed the lobby while Bill was upstairs and managed to completely turn the place around in the roughly 15 minutes he was away, or something dramatic had happened. It seemed proposterous at first, but time travel was becoming more and more of a plausible explanation. Now that Bill thought about it, even though he was not one for fashion, the shoulder pads, massively curly hair and huge, dangling earrings that the woman wore as part of her ensemble certainly seemed characteristic of the date on the calendar. Of course, now was not the time to dwell on big earrings, or the music that begins wafting in through the speakers in the lobby... Or the sound of the Taco Time taco theme blaring outside the door, as a taco truck parks itself dangerously close to the entrance.

Tacos, tacos, fun, fun, fun!
Tacos by the ton, ton, ton,
on your couch or on the run,
TACO TIME FOR EVERYONE!

Taco time...? Wait, no! Now was not the time for tacos! If Bill was going to get any solid answers about the sudden change in his surroundings, he was going to have to make his way to the sixth floor.

As Bill and his buddy Gold make their way up the stairs, he suddenly finds himself unceremoniously pushed aside, his partner nearly trampled by a pair of bulky hotel security guards, racing one after the other up the stairs without so much as an "excuse me". Despite their rudeness, however, Bill can sense that their lack of apology and sudden push up the stairs might somehow be warranted, as the sounds of gasps and screams become steadily more apparant the higher Bill climbs. Before Bill can reach so much as the fifth floor, however, he is stopped by one of the security guards who pushed Bill aside earlier, who is using his body to block the stairwell.

"Can't climb no higher, I'm afraid," he states matter-of-factly to Bill, as he reaches for a bag full of Taco Time tacos. "Got a situation here." As the security guard says this, he holds his free hand in front of Bill, giving him a stern look as he waves in a group of police officers that have recently climbed the stairs behind him. As he waves the police officers in, a man in a dark coat with messy brown hair flashes the man a badge, and also receives a gesture to enter through the stairwell. The man with the badge turns around and urges someone behind Bill to hurry up, and Bill feels an unsettling stare at his back... He realizes that whoever was being spoken to by the man seemed to be staring intently at the back of Bill's head. Turning around, Bill comes face to face with a Gothitelle, who indeed seems to be looking at him with incredible intensity. The Gothitelle turns to the man in the dark coat and stares at him for a few moments, and the man nods as if the ladylike Pokemon had communicated something to him.

"The man with the Totodile is with me," he says, briefly giving Bill a rather strange look. The security guard seems skeptical, and turns to Bill; "Is'sat so?" He asks, his mouth curling into a bit of a sneer before biting into a rather greasy-looking taco.

How will Bill respond?


kaisap112 - There was no denying that Quinn had somehow become possessed by the spirit of the pirate, despite all efforts to prevent the possession from happening. Even if Quinn had retained his body and voice, the accent and the words he uses strongly indicate that his mind is under the control of the pirate spirit. Though Noriko begs the oblivious little Nook to open his eyes and see that something awful has happened to his trainer, the Zigzagoon looks back at Noriko with a confused expression... He trusted Quinn, and he trusted the pirate, so the two inhabiting the same body would have double the trustworthiness! ...Right? He barks with concern toward Noriko in response to her pleas, clearly unhappy to see her so upset, though he does not seem to fully understand why.

Noriko first attempts to make the pirate let go of her friend by shouting an order at the spirit, though the voice behind the pirate mask merely chuckles darkly in response, the possessed body continuing its strides toward Salty Sam's Pirate Ship. Charity also makes a point to give the young female trainer a particularly nasty glare before turning to the possessed Quinn and affectionately pecking at his ear. Since the direct order did not seem to have much of an effect, Noriko would have to think of another tactic... If shouting and demanding would not result in giving her what she wanted, perhaps a bit of bargaining would help her get her friend back. Swallowing her anger and forcing a smile, Noriko attempts to reason with the pirate, stating that perhaps they could come to some form of agreement. After all, this spirit was of a pirate, not a barbarian... Right?

This statement catches the interest of the possessed Quinn, who turns to Noriko with an odd little smile. "So, yer' wantin' ta be a member of me crew. Is that it, lassie? And the price for yer' services is the safe return'a yer... What is it? Brother? Betrothed? Pimp? None a' me concern, I s'pose." Quinn laughs wickedly. "Well, now, that all depends. What talents might ya' have that you can bring aboard me ship? Ladies are bad luck aboard a vessel, y'understand. The only lady I normally bring with me is ol' Charity here... And Lady Luck, a'course. She's the jealous type." The pirate turns back around, making his way once again toward the ship; "Give me a good reason, lassie, and I'll consider takin' ya' with me. But first..." The pirate Quinn licks his lips, "I'm gettin' me some tacos."

Tacos...? It is then that Noriko notices the taco truck that has somehow managed to park itself next to Salty Sam's Pirate Ship. The pirate Quinn already seems to have made his way to the window, and Noriko can overhear him ordering two Seaking fish taco combos, "and a lemonade for the bonnie lass over there," with a nod in Noriko's direction. The shadowy figure at the window hands the pirate his order after mere seconds of waiting, which includes two disgustingly greasy bags and a rather delicious-looking can of Lemonade. Quinn holds the lemonade toward Noriko with a grin.

"Least I can do for ya', lass," he comments with the very slightest bit of remorse, though the tone fades immediately as he laughs it away. "Now, what do they call you? You say me name is Quinn, is it? Then that is what you'll call me fer' now."

How will Noriko respond?


Balmund - Balmund cannot shake the feeling that the strange events unfolding around him are a sign that whatever force was responsible for these happenings expected compensation for the imbalance he had helped to put into motion. Though Balmund understood the need for balance in all things, he also understood that as a human being, accepting that kind of fate without a fight was something that he simply could not do. No matter how many waves of enemies were destined to come after him as a result of his choices, he would face them one by one, and hopefully defeat them in the process. If there was to be a happy ending, Balmund hoped it would be for everyone.

Orchrist has been trained so thoroughly by Balmund that she does not require orders; rather, she moves into action immediately, balancing a quick-thinking strategic mind with the adrenaline of her newfound bloodlust. She Coils in preparation for her next big attack, taking a brief moment to prep her muscles for the incredibly vicious strike. The two Dusknoir act quickly, coordinating a Will-o-Wisp barrage that strikes both Orchrist and Vega with searing burns. Undeterred and focused by the orders of his trainer, Vega works through the burn and strikes the Dusknoir nearest to him with Dragonbreath, which certainly gets the chubby ghost's attention. In fact, the powerful dragonbreath attack seems to have been supported by a tiny cloud of fiery dragon energy, which Balmund can recognize as Dragon Rage, though he cannot quite tell where such an attack would have come from... Though he is barely able to make out the outline of a small, ghostly creature moving around the Dusknoir's feet, taunting it with fangs that are abnormally large given the creature's body.

Further enraged by her burned state and in the perfect state to strike, Orchrist is prudent enough to let the Dusknoir move first so as to build enough energy to make the attack count. Vega, on the other hand, strikes quickly, Sucker Punching the Dusknoir nearest him with devastating accuracy. The two Dusknoir, still working in sync, simultaneously attempt to Hex Orchrist and Vega; though the Seviper has the reflexes necessary to narrowly avoid the horrifying purple glare of the Dusknoir, Vega is not so lucky, given his close proximity to the Dusknoir, and finds his burns adding substantially to the damage of their powerful ghostly move. At the perfect moment, Orchrist enacts her Payback on the Dusknoir nearest her, which is filled with such rage and power that Balmund himself winces a bit at the Dusknoir's horrifying cry of pain.

The sound of a motor in the distance draws Balmund's attention, and indeed, the other combatants are similarly drawn to the sound. Everyone pauses for a moment to figure out what on Earth could be moving in the utter silence of their time-stopped world. Suddenly, a taco truck with the words "TACO TIME" painted in big, red letters and a spinning plastic taco on the top of the truck comes barreling through the battlefield, the Taco Time taco theme playing at full blast. Orchrist cries out in pain as the insane taco truck manages to run over her tail in its unpredictable, zig-zagging path through the time-stopped park, as it runs over mascots and carefully-manicured bushes, though where it could possibly be heading is a mystery. When time moves again, Balmund will certainly be curious to see how the parents beside the excited, time-frozen child standing in front of the freshly-made roadkill version of Dolan Ducklett will explain the sudden, inexplicable death of the beloved character once the flow of time is restored. The two Dusknoir look at each other and shrug, while Orchrist inspects her tail quickly with a concerned look, though she is quick to turn her attention back to the battle at hand. She is fortunate not to have taken the hit head-on, but the damage to her tail will likely affect her ability to use tail-based attacks in this battle. At least the taco truck managed to drop a few bags of greasy tacos in its mad rush to wherever it happened to be heading...

How will Balmund react?


Shadowshocker - The scientist notes the Chandelure's uncanny ability to phase through objects, as such a talent may come in handy in the future as they adventure together. Though Pyrrhos offers to escort Merle and let Shadow catch up later, as far as Shadow was concerned, separating from the group was highly unwise, particularly given the mysterious circumstances behind the blockade, and the definite feeling that some entity was trying to keep others out of the parking garage. If that happened to be the case, then the scientist and his companions should stick together, in the event that said entity took issue with their sudden and destructive entry. Even if the two ghosts would make adequate scouts, it was ultimately safer for the three of them to remain close, and Shadow voices this opinion clearly and logically, while suggesting that Pyrrhos provide some firepower on his end of the door to help weaken the foundations if he would like to do so. The Chandelure nods, providing a Burst of Flame that burns his side of the door somewhat, leaving char marks all over. On the other side of the door, Durin is able to hit dead center with his Seed Bomb, while the coordinated Scherza and Dahlia simultaneously Drill Peck the wall down, which Scherza does as an impressive Mirror of her partner, after quoting a fellow master of mimicry. Between the bombing, the pecking and the burst of fire, roughly 80% of the door crumbles, with only bits and pieces remaining stuck to the wall. There is now more than enough room for Shadow and his companions to make their way through, as long as they mind the splinters above their heads.

Making their way through the now destroyed barrier, Shadow and his two companions remain on alert, making their way up the stairs to the glass door advertising "Level 3" of the Parking Garage. Merle looks at the sign with a contemplative expression, trying to think back to the fateful night upon which her dearest friend was killed. "It has to be this floor," Merle finally comments, her voice resolute. "I remember running down three flights of stairs to try to get to the lobby and find help, but no one was there."

"It is not that no one was there, Merle..." Pyrrhos sighs. "It is that you simply could not see us, and it is incredibly difficult for us to make ourselves visible to those who cannot percei-"

"But you could hear me, couldn't you? I was shouting for help!! Why didn't your little ghostly buddies help me when I was crying out to you all??" Merle glares at Pyrrhos, and the Chandelure is taken aback by her sudden show of rage.

"Shhh, Merle, stop it," the Chandelure chides. "Even if we did try to help you, it would have been too late... and we had no idea where you wanted us to go, or what you wanted us to do. You were just screaming-"

"Why didn't you ASK me? Why didn't you at least TRY?" Merle stomps her foot and snarls at Pyrrhos, who crosses his chandelier-like appendages as if a human crossing his arms.

"We DID try, Merle, whether you believe it or not. Now, please... If there are enemies about, they may hear you. Please stop arguing with the past. Nothing will change its mind." At this statement, Merle quiets down somewhat, though her ghostly face is still burning with rage.

As Shadow and his companions enter the parking garage, all is silent... A few abandoned cars litter the garage, covered in dust and grime from years of abandonment. At first, there appears to be nothing of interest in the silent parking structure, until the sound of a moving vehicle sends Shadow and his companions out of the road and onto a sidewalk for pedestrians. The three watch as a taco truck blasts through the parking garage, ascending the structure at speeds much higher than the limits that nearby road signs have imposed. It seems odd that it would be driving so quickly by so many empty spots, but perhaps the truck had business on some higher floor... Were ghosts even capable of ordering tacos? Certainly food for thought.

Either way, the sound of the taco truck zooming by alerts a group of shadowy beings hanging in the rafters, who were previously invisible due to being shrouded in darkness. Their glowing red eyes shine in the dim parking lot, as three shadow-like Mandibuzz swoop down toward the group; one flies toward Pyrrhos, one toward Shadow, and one toward Merle. In the split second that Shadow has to look at them before they attack, he recognizes immediately what they are; clearly, these are Shadow Pokemon, whose hearts have somehow been closed off... Why these Shadow Mandibuzz would be in the Parking Garage, however, is a mystery, and one that the scientist does not have much time to dwell on, given that any time spent pondering is time not getting out of the way of an imminent Mandibuzz attack!

How will Shadow react?


Meetan - Meetan cheers for her Torchic with shaking fists and clenched teeth, the thrill of battle overwhelming her with emotion and anticipation. Ordering an Agility to boost the little chick's speed, the Torchic immediately darts into action, further increasing his nimbleness with an impressive show of dexterity. This newfound speed is just enough to get out of the way of the angry Liepard's Slash, which lands mere centimeters away from the Torchic, even going so far as to nick one of the feathers on his head. In a state of increasing momentum, the young chick-like Pokemon does not find it difficult to land a Low Kick square to the Liepard's stomach, which knocks the leopard off of her feet and to the ground, such is its super-effective force. The wounded Liepard is at least able to Growl from her position, though her vicious attempts at intimidation do nothing to prevent the Crossfire that burns horribly through her body. With a shuddering groan, the Liepard finally passes into unconsciousness, bits of her fur still alight with flame as she does. It seems as if Alice's trust in Torchic has been well-placed, and as the little bird flares out his feathers with pride, Alice can't help but feel that her belief in him helped him gather the strength to defeat his opponent. Level up for Torchic.

The unconscious body of the mother Liepard is suddenly run over by a passing taco truck, which parks itself briefly on the carcass. A shadowy hand reaches out from the truck, placing a Taco Princess Crown on the trainer's head before it speeds away, leaving the poor, flattened Liepard on the ground. The crown may be made of cardboard, and a bit small for Alice's head, but something about its position on her head makes Alice feel like royalty for some reason... Rapid admires the crown on Alice's head a moment, and while her expression never really changes much, Alice can sense the aura of amusement radiating from the mechanical Rapidash. Even so, that amusement is short-lived; the ethereal purple flames were closing in, and it was clear to Alice now that a group of Litwick, Lampent and Chandelure were making their way over to the trainer and her formerly inanimate companion. Rapid nudges Alice, gently but insistantly, as she encourages her to mount the mechanical horse so that they can make a quick getaway... but a sudden Confuse Ray fired off from one of the Chandelure sends the mechanical horse into a strange, trance-like state. The Litwick and Lampent use their own powerful Confuse Rays on Alice and Torchic, and the disoriented Alice is compelled to follow the pretty, shiny lights in her confusion, though she is unaware of where they are leading her...

***

As Alice finally snaps out of confusion, she realize that she is up against the wall in a small, sparsely decorated room, surrounded by Litwick and Lampent on all sides. Torchic, who is still confused, seems to be banging his head against the dingy white wall which Alice finds herself against. At the center of the room is Rapid... or, at least, what used to be Rapid, but the aura of life that once emanated from her is now gone. The poor horse, once full of life, now appears to be nothing more than an empty shell. The Litwick evolutionary family seem irritated based on their language to one another and their agitated motions, suggesting that Rapid's current state has them in a dither. One of the Chandelure turn towards Alice, and speaks to her in human language;

"Ma'am, I do hope you understand how grave your situation is. You are wanted for the capture of a lady Liepard's child who is under our protection, and now for grave injuries which ultimately (though inadvertantly) have led to her death. You are sentenced to be consumed, both body and soul, by the Merry Reapers. If you wish to keep your soul in tact, you will help us find the soul that you call 'Rapid', which has evaded our grasp for far too long." The Chandelure gives Alice an ominous glare, as its comrades, who surround Alice, flicker with a rather intimidating eeriness of their own.

It seems near impossible to beat so many Pokemon, particularly with a confused Torchic. That said, perhaps Alice does at least seem to have the opportunity to speak with what she can only assume is the "leader" of these Pokemon, which is an invaluable opportunity, indeed...

What will Alice do?


MarbleZone - Levin is under no delusions of grandeur; there was no way that this battle was going to end with his Elekid magnificently defeating this pompous, overpowered jellyfish. What Levin needed was just the right moves to stall his opponent until the mighty yawn from the fat man and his Pokemon sent the Lady into a deep sleep sufficient for their escape. The man's Pokemon-like power reminds Levin of the fact that his niece seemed to have the ability to murder others with her voice... This brings a strange realization to Levin. Perhaps Calandra was somehow able to imitate Perish Song with her voice, though the mechanizations of such a talent were far beyond the scope of Levin's knowledge... If there was even an explanation beyond "paranormal event". There was certainly something of interest going on with that man and his niece, but now was not the time to think about it. If Levin was going to get out of this situation alive, he had to rely on Crix, and make the right orders to incapacitate the Jellicent.

Lady Morgane leisurely blows a Bubblebeam in Crix's direction, which despite Crix's narrow dodge, is certainly intimidating enough to give the Elekid slight pause; the bubbles the lady blows explode with such force that they sound like mini sonicbooms. Not letting the Jellicent's power intimidate him, Crix fires off a Thunder Wave aimed at the large body of the Lady, which makes perfect, direct contact. The Jellicent shudders with paralysis, and Crix takes the opportunity to further slow the Jellicent down by wrapping her in an Electroweb. Despite her paralysis and binding, however, the Lady is still more than capable of attacking, and proves this by summoning an Ominous Wind that knocks Crix off his feet and momentarily to the ground, though the little Elekid is far from being knocked out. The Jellicent somehow looks stronger after letting those eerie winds blow back her opponent, as if they provided her with some sort of renewed strength. Crix definitely gets the impression from the attack that it's better to be safe than sorry, and fires off yet another Electroweb, which the pink creature has trouble dodging and ultimately succumbs to. Completely wrapped in electrically charged thread and thoroughly paralyzed, the Jellicent is unable to counter for this round.

Despite the Ominous Wind, the round seems to have gone well for Levin and Crix. It will not be long before Lady Morgane falls asleep, but they need to outlast her just a little bit longer. As for the fat man, his Exploud seems to have gone a similar strategy, utilizing Supersonic sounds to confuse and disorient the Jellicent around him. Even his trainer seems capable of emulating the sound, which helps a great deal in ensuring that all the Jellicent around them are thoroughly confused... if not by the attack, then by the fact that it's a human performing it. Meanwhile, on the stage beneath the balcony where Levin, the fat man and the Jellicent are battling, a life-size taco truck has been wheeled up as an odd sort of decoration, as a pimple-faced teenager in a giant taco suit with a little sombrero on his head practices singing the Taco Time theme song into the microphone. Levin finds himself distracted by the strange scene, in which the infuriated Ruby floats up the stage, ranting and raving about how he was not consulted about a taco truck being brought on stage and a no-talent hack singing stupid theme songs at his impeccably high-class venue. Suddenly, the "prop" taco truck somehow drives away at top speed, breaking through the stage, as the man in the taco suit runs after it, with Ruby rolling his eyes at the destruction, shouting for his workers to report to the stage and fix this terrible mess, as he mutters about how much he hates this time of year.

No more distractions! There was a battle to attend to, and Levin is all too aware of what could happen if he loses his focus for too long...

How will Levin react?


Emp - Wes is fully aware of the fact that this casino far outranked Jirachi's in terms of splendor and polish; however, it also outranked Jirachi's Casino when it came to the risks the Casino demanded of its patrons. Recalling the pups one by one with the mentality that such a posh place was not necessarily appropriate for a group of rambunctious young Eevee, the young man is interrupted as he watches a woman run out of "lifetime" right before his eyes. Seeing her horrified reaction amidst a sea of expressionless, apathetic faces, was more than enough to help Wes comprehend the gravity of the situation he finds himself in. Fortunately, the strange Solosis whose telepathic signature mimics the Reuniclus that Wes interacted with before his strange journey is quick to provide Wes with a pass to verify his membership to this sinister establishment, which at least prevents him from being forcibly kicked out right off the bat. Wes could not be certain if this was the exact same Pokemon that he had encountered before, or an offspring, but neither explanation seemed easily plausible. Either way, the Solosis seemed to recognize him somehow, and his friendly nature was enough to reassure Wes that the help he provides was at least genuine, even if his identity was questionable.

When the sharply-dressed Golurk makes its way over to the scruffy-looking trainer, it seems rather surprised that Wes is actually able to provide him with the appropriate card; giving him the once-over, it points to Wes' clothes and gives a rather disparaging look, but after scanning the card with his glowing yellow eyes, it seems satisfied enough, though Wes cannot help but notice the fact that the Golurk's focus remains on the muddy tracks that his footprints have left in the formerly pristine blood-red carpet, even while he asks the ghostly security guard for directions to some races he could potentially bet on. After giving the matter some thought, the Golurk points in the direction of a large, red door at the far end of the Casino, over which a sign advertises "Houndoom Races". The Golurk seems hesitant, however, and bows its head, though Wes does not seem quite clear on why the intimidating-looking Pokemon seemed reluctant to point Wes in that direction. It also draws Wes' attention to a blue door with little orange Magikarp painted all over it, which also has the words "MAGIKARP RACES" featured prominently in orange paint to match the little 'karp Pokemon. The Solosis seems focused on a pair of smartly-dressed young men nearby, who smoke their cigars nervously as they converse in hushed tones with one another. The Golurk nods toward the Solosis, as if to silently confirm something, though the motion is so slight that Wes only barely notices it. Wes cannot help but be intrigued by this conversation between the men, which is just loud enough for him to hear;

"Taco truck? You're... you're kidding me, right? Our entire pack, wiped out by a-"

"By a taco truck. Yes. I dunno who the Hell was drivin' that thing, but it broke right through the kennel and now we got 7 Houndoom in the hospital. Blood and tacos everywhere. It was a mess, man, a total-"

"Spare me the details, you idiot. We're losin' money to those b******s racin' MAGIKARP with every wasted second. We have to race SOMETHING or we'll be out ten grand, easy!"

"Yeah, but what? Where are we gonna find Pokemon to race?"

Solosis turns to Wes, though his expression, rather than insistant, is serene and nonjudgmental. It seems as if the little cell-like creature has no preference in terms of action, and indeed, Wes could choose to try and engage the men whose Houndoom are in the hospital, or simply make his way to the Magikarp races and ignore them altogether. Or, if neither race appeals to Wes, he could ask the Golurk for directions to a different form of gambling.

How will Wes react?


Dark Searchman - Delilah perceives her trainer's distress, and while she cannot understand exactly what is going on in his mind, she is able to understand that he needs to rely on her right now in order to get them both through this terrifying ordeal. The Harvester was after the unconscious pink Frillish, and the blue Frillish's "insolence" marks him as the Harvester's next target; the blue Frillish might be of some help, but given the Harvester's intense focus on him, Delilah was in the best position to attack her. Of course, if she let the male Frillish take whatever hit follows the Harvester's Lock-on, it could potentially mean fighting this battle alone... She would need to take one for the team, if only to make sure that her remaining conscious partner wasn't taken out as his sister was. It would be horrible if she was the only one left to protect two bodies, as the ultimate decision of which one to protect would likely not be an easy one for the young Chinchou.

Delilah prepares for a difficult task, which is to utimately take the attack meant for the male Frillish, who has gone into a state of complete and total Defense, not only for himself, but for his fallen sister, as well. Before she is able to position herself appropriately, however, a strange white submarine with the words "TACO TIME" written on the side in big, red letters with a spinning, taco-shaped periscope atop the sub makes its way through the caverns; how it managed to make its way into the Harvester's lair is a mystery, but the Taco Time Taco Sub is no stranger to danger, and a man in a taco-shaped wetsuit comes swimming out of the sub, which is parked at the far end of the lair. He quickly sets to work on plucking eyes out of the wall, placing them in a bag labeled "TACO INGREDIENTS". The Harvester is immediately riled by the taco scuba man who apparently has seen fit to come to her corner of Phantom Isle to harvest eyes for tacos, and fires her Zap Cannon at the man instead of at her intended target! As the taco scuba man falls limp to the ground, the taco sub zooms away, with Taco Time apparently showing little dedication to its employees. Hyrem makes a mental note to himself that he should never apply to work there.

Delilah and the male Frillish take their moment of opportunity to strike back at the Harvester; though Delilah and the Frillish had not been battling together a long time, the Frillish is perceptive enough to sense that Delilah wanted to coordinate her attacks with his, and at her signal, the pair unleash a dual Surf attack upon the Harvester, completely wiping out the eyes that exist on her body. Of course, more come to take their place, as the wall's numbers further deplete in order to provide the Harvester with a means of sight. The remaining eyes on the wall glow with that familiar, eerie white light, implying another Future Sight attack. Though the eyes are at half their original number, the attack should still not be underestimated by Delilah or the male Frillish. The Harvester turns her focus back on the remaining Pokemon, her multitude of eyes beginning to display traces of fear and panic; realizing that her reserves are down, she decides to take drastic measures to try to defeat her foes and prevent all of her eyes from being destroyed. Theye eyes begin blinking rapidly, before they darken and shrivel up within her body. At first, this looks like a good thing, but the reality is that she is sacrificing all of the eyes on her body in a terrible Curse, which immediately begins afflicting Delilah and the Male Frillish with a sense of increasing pain... This curse, combined with the impending Future Sight, could spell big trouble for Hyrem and his comrades if he does not act quickly.

Meanwhile, Hyrem himself is overwhelmed by conflicting, confusing memories, many of which are not his own. With Delilah at the helm of battle, Hyrem tries to take the helm of his own mind, working through the false memories to find himself. Summoning as much inner strength as he can possibly muster, he screams, at the top of his lungs, for the memories to get out of his head. The forceful cry, while not 100% effective, gives Hyrem the strength to at least hold himself together for another couple of rounds, though Hyrem fears that if the memories come back, they will likely return stronger than before.

Costume: 20/20
Wall: 60 eyes remain

What will Hyrem do?


uhhhhh - Much as the Harvester of Flesh attempts to be "civil" to Connor, the young photographer has absolutely hit his limit. The normally amiable, good-natured trainer fills with rage at the disgusting display that surrounds him; how many lives had been lost in the pursuit of this fickle Harvester's desire for beauty and style? Even if she was oddly captivating, Connor could not be enchanted by this strange woman given all that he knew about what she had done, and how much suffering the Drifloons had endured because of her actions. This monster did not deserve to call herself beautiful. The more she speaks, the more intense Connor's rage becomes, until he simply cannot hold in the ire and venom welling up within him. He spits out his words with contempt, calling their actions a disgrace; his voice rises with each word, until he finds himself screaming at the Harvester of Flesh, asking what was so goddamn important that she felt the need to not only destroy their bodies, but torment their souls, as well. The Harvester of Flesh seems hurt by Connor's words, though the fact that his screaming is focused on her seems to make her strangely... happy. It is when Connor diverts his attention that her anger becomes apparent, and she screams at the top of her lungs for the photographer to pay attention to her... only her. Despite the force with which she turns his head... Despite the intimidating nature of her face, her body, her entire abode... Something inside Connor snaps. He was not about to take this like a frightened little boy. He was going to stand up to the Harvester like a man... Even if it meant never living to the adulthood he emulated. He suddenly grabs her arm and tosses it aside, shouting that if she ever tries that again, he will punch her poor excuse for a face, as he immediately goes to check on Gaspard and the 'floons.

For a moment, the Harvester of Flesh is completely and utterly stunned. She was so used to being the one in control that such incredible insolence was almost foreign to her. For a brief moment, she stands in shock, as Connor takes in the scene unravelling in front of him; the flesh of the Mr. Mime, which now appears fully inflated, seems to have taken on a life of its own, as it narrowly misses Gaspard with a Psywave attack. The Drifloons seem to be trying to attack the Mr. Mime with an Ominous Wind created between them, which blows by Gaspard without having any effect (as the Drifloons anticipated), though the Mr. Mime throws up a powerful Light Screen to deflect some of the damage. In the moment that Connor takes in the scene, Gaspard suddenly takes on a shocked expression, looking behind Connor with a look of fear and dread, before immediately rushing to Connor's aid, knocking him out of the way of a powerful strike attack from the sewn-together maiden he had so recently insulted. Growling like an animal, the eyes of the Harvester turn wild with rage, as she bears her claws, which appear to be an odd fusion of long manicure nails and actual Pokemon claws. For the moment, the Harvester of Breath appears to be a passive watcher in this entire battle, and even excuses himself for a moment... The sound of someone greeting him outside the door confuses Connor. Who else could possibly be in this mirror maze? Whoever it was, the Balloon Man comes back looking rather chipper, with a giant, greasy bag full of tacos with the "TACO TIME" brand emblazoned on the front of the bag. He watches the battle unfold while eating a strange-looking taco full of eyes, and while he does not seem an immediate threat at this time, the Mr. Mime he has created is certainly not pulling any punches... and there was the issue of the very, very angry Harvester who sees fit to attack on her own.

How will Connor react?


gmoyes - Alex thinks through the system in a logical, orderly fashion, piecing together what he knows to make inferences regarding the rest of the RNG's effects. Alex assures Red that he's got the battle under control, and indeed, the analytical mind of the young researcher is working in overdrive (with the enhancement of his newfound form) to crack the code and win the battle. If 42 corresponded with a grass type conversion, then 27 would more than likely correspond with a powerful grass-type attack. Alex focuses hard on the number 27, and feels the warm glow of sunlight surrounding him. "ALEX has taken in sunlight" appears beneath the Porygon, confirming that he, indeed, was channeling energy for a powerful Solarbeam. Mew, on the other hand, rolls a 28. Mew summons a Rock Slide to damage Alex, which thankfully for Porygon, is not a super-effective move, only taking a small chunk from Alex's health meter. Alex unleashes his Solarbeam, which, while powerful, only takes out about a 6th of Mew's health. Mew rolls a 48 for its next Glitch move, which brings up the text box "MEW used STRING SHOT!" Alex finds himself feeling slower than usual, as his speed stat drops from the status-lowering move. Fortunately, Mew's rolls do not seem to imply that the psychic Pokemon knows the effects of what the GLITCH will do, though Alex still cannot be certain that Mew isn't learning along with Alex about the system and its inner workings...

A pixelated truck, similar to the infamous truck parked near the SS Anne, rolls by the empty space, an odd, 8-bit version of the Taco Time Taco Theme playing in the background. The truck parks near the battle, and the sprite of a woman with a pixel taco hat comes out of the truck, walking over to Red. Red looks confused as the woman hands Red a pixelated Taco and a Soda Pop, before walking back to the truck and driving away. Though Red briefly considers grabbing Alex and getting into the truck with her in hopes that it would mean a way out of this Hellish world, something about that truck just didn't seem right... Like they would end up in a worse place than here if they tried to get in it. Either way, Red shrugs and hands Alex the Soda Pop, while he keeps the taco for himself. Obtained 1x Soda Pop. Mew looks longingly out at the truck, as if catching sight of an old friend. The whole experience is... weird. Thankfully, the truck is soon out of sight, and the battle resumes as normal.

Fortunately for Alex, it seems as if his intellect has not let him down this time. He was correct about the grass type move, and now seems to have a little bit more information given Mew's attacks. Though Red is not quite seeing where Alex's strategy is going, given that the current battle simply looks like an exchange of random attacks, since Alex holds the advantage, he seems content to continue letting Alex work out his own strategy. What will Alex decide to do next?

[MarbleZone]

MarbleZone - Levin is under no delusions of grandeur; there was no way that this battle was going to end with his Elekid magnificently defeating this pompous, overpowered jellyfish. What Levin needed was just the right moves to stall his opponent until the mighty yawn from the fat man and his Pokemon sent the Lady into a deep sleep sufficient for their escape. The man's Pokemon-like power reminds Levin of the fact that his niece seemed to have the ability to murder others with her voice... This brings a strange realization to Levin. Perhaps Calandra was somehow able to imitate Perish Song with her voice, though the mechanizations of such a talent were far beyond the scope of Levin's knowledge... If there was even an explanation beyond "paranormal event". There was certainly something of interest going on with that man and his niece, but now was not the time to think about it. If Levin was going to get out of this situation alive, he had to rely on Crix, and make the right orders to incapacitate the Jellicent.

Lady Morgane leisurely blows a Bubblebeam in Crix's direction, which despite Crix's narrow dodge, is certainly intimidating enough to give the Elekid slight pause; the bubbles the lady blows explode with such force that they sound like mini sonicbooms. Not letting the Jellicent's power intimidate him, Crix fires off a Thunder Wave aimed at the large body of the Lady, which makes perfect, direct contact. The Jellicent shudders with paralysis, and Crix takes the opportunity to further slow the Jellicent down by wrapping her in an Electroweb. Despite her paralysis and binding, however, the Lady is still more than capable of attacking, and proves this by summoning an Ominous Wind that knocks Crix off his feet and momentarily to the ground, though the little Elekid is far from being knocked out. The Jellicent somehow looks stronger after letting those eerie winds blow back her opponent, as if they provided her with some sort of renewed strength. Crix definitely gets the impression from the attack that it's better to be safe than sorry, and fires off yet another Electroweb, which the pink creature has trouble dodging and ultimately succumbs to. Completely wrapped in electrically charged thread and thoroughly paralyzed, the Jellicent is unable to counter for this round.

Despite the Ominous Wind, the round seems to have gone well for Levin and Crix. It will not be long before Lady Morgane falls asleep, but they need to outlast her just a little bit longer. As for the fat man, his Exploud seems to have gone a similar strategy, utilizing Supersonic sounds to confuse and disorient the Jellicent around him. Even his trainer seems capable of emulating the sound, which helps a great deal in ensuring that all the Jellicent around them are thoroughly confused... if not by the attack, then by the fact that it's a human performing it. Meanwhile, on the stage beneath the balcony where Levin, the fat man and the Jellicent are battling, a life-size taco truck has been wheeled up as an odd sort of decoration, as a pimple-faced teenager in a giant taco suit with a little sombrero on his head practices singing the Taco Time theme song into the microphone. Levin finds himself distracted by the strange scene, in which the infuriated Ruby floats up the stage, ranting and raving about how he was not consulted about a taco truck being brought on stage and a no-talent hack singing stupid theme songs at his impeccably high-class venue. Suddenly, the "prop" taco truck somehow drives away at top speed, breaking through the stage, as the man in the taco suit runs after it, with Ruby rolling his eyes at the destruction, shouting for his workers to report to the stage and fix this terrible mess, as he mutters about how much he hates this time of year.

No more distractions! There was a battle to attend to, and Levin is all too aware of what could happen if he loses his focus for too long...

How will Levin react?

This place was getting to him; there was only so much stress a man like him could take before his mind started to give in; he was even beginning to see stuff like taco trucks… wait, what? Oh look, there was Ruby down there looking mighty pissed, floating over to a nerdy-looking teenager whose brightest idea today was to run up the stage and sing the Taco Time theme music, in a voice that, in his own way, sounded as murderous as Calandra’s… Aw, and now he’s gone. The mind truly is an amazing thing , to make him imagine all that! That was his imagination ,right?...
Anyway, back to the issue at hand.

Somehow, some way, things were actually going in their favour; despite the massive power disadvantage, Crix was holding up and managed to pin down the enormous Jellicent under two layers of Electroweb and a Thunder Wave. Despite Ominous Wind’s rare effect having powered up the opponent, the small Elekid proved himself strong enough to keep the threat at bay, and even dodge a ridiculously powerful Bubblebeam. To be fair, Levin had never expected the Electric-Type to hold his own so well.

The fat man and his Exploud were proving equally useful, their combined powers further stalling the remaining male Jellicent with a disorienting Supersonic – but somehow, neither himself nor Crix seemed to be affected by the soundwaves. That was some impressive voice control… Why wasn’t this guy performing in the freak show again?

But the work was far from done. Morgane was trapped but unless they could keep her down, she’d likely break free before the Yawn finally worked its magic. He had to think fast; would another layer of Electroweb be enough? Perhaps another Thunder Wave?

- Hey Crix what do you think we shou… Crix?!

The Elekid was panting, but smiling at the same time. It was the kind of smile Levin hadn’t seen on his partner since the days of his youth, back when he was impetuous and hot-headed – a grin of excitement. Something was changing, and not just the flow of the battle… The small Electric-Type started glowing brightly, and… growing?!

Wait, is this?...

The light subsided, and Crix was no longer the same. Standing almost as tall as Levin, he let out a cry of triumph – not his usually “Elek, Elekid!”, but rather a resounding…

- ELECTABUZZ!!

Levin stood in disbelief for a brief moment, overtaken by a feeling of victory. After more than one year of travelling together, it was the incomprehensible nature of Phantom Isle that finally triggered Crix’s long-awaited evolution. But a nagging concern suddenly took center stage when the Electabuzz stepped forward, his body crackling with energy, heedless of instructions.

- Crix, what are you… Wait! Stop, she's about to fall asleep!

He remembered that look and determination, but thought those days to be behind them; Crix was changing plans mid-battle and letting the confidence in his newfound powers get the best of him. Snap out of it! Dammit, you’re supposed to be the failsafe to my own ego!

Crix approached the still-trapped Morgane and began to charge up, then unleashed a move Levin had never seen him use – not his regular Thundershock, but a massive Thunder, that rose ominously in the air. Levin could only pray that, when it came crashing down, it would hit its intended target; otherwise the immense energy required would go to waste, and then…

[Shadowshocker]

Shadowshocker - The scientist notes the Chandelure's uncanny ability to phase through objects, as such a talent may come in handy in the future as they adventure together. Though Pyrrhos offers to escort Merle and let Shadow catch up later, as far as Shadow was concerned, separating from the group was highly unwise, particularly given the mysterious circumstances behind the blockade, and the definite feeling that some entity was trying to keep others out of the parking garage. If that happened to be the case, then the scientist and his companions should stick together, in the event that said entity took issue with their sudden and destructive entry. Even if the two ghosts would make adequate scouts, it was ultimately safer for the three of them to remain close, and Shadow voices this opinion clearly and logically, while suggesting that Pyrrhos provide some firepower on his end of the door to help weaken the foundations if he would like to do so. The Chandelure nods, providing a Burst of Flame that burns his side of the door somewhat, leaving char marks all over. On the other side of the door, Durin is able to hit dead center with his Seed Bomb, while the coordinated Scherza and Dahlia simultaneously Drill Peck the wall down, which Scherza does as an impressive Mirror of her partner, after quoting a fellow master of mimicry. Between the bombing, the pecking and the burst of fire, roughly 80% of the door crumbles, with only bits and pieces remaining stuck to the wall. There is now more than enough room for Shadow and his companions to make their way through, as long as they mind the splinters above their heads.

Making their way through the now destroyed barrier, Shadow and his two companions remain on alert, making their way up the stairs to the glass door advertising "Level 3" of the Parking Garage. Merle looks at the sign with a contemplative expression, trying to think back to the fateful night upon which her dearest friend was killed. "It has to be this floor," Merle finally comments, her voice resolute. "I remember running down three flights of stairs to try to get to the lobby and find help, but no one was there."

"It is not that no one was there, Merle..." Pyrrhos sighs. "It is that you simply could not see us, and it is incredibly difficult for us to make ourselves visible to those who cannot percei-"

"But you could hear me, couldn't you? I was shouting for help!! Why didn't your little ghostly buddies help me when I was crying out to you all??" Merle glares at Pyrrhos, and the Chandelure is taken aback by her sudden show of rage.

"Shhh, Merle, stop it," the Chandelure chides. "Even if we did try to help you, it would have been too late... and we had no idea where you wanted us to go, or what you wanted us to do. You were just screaming-"

"Why didn't you ASK me? Why didn't you at least TRY?" Merle stomps her foot and snarls at Pyrrhos, who crosses his chandelier-like appendages as if a human crossing his arms.

"We DID try, Merle, whether you believe it or not. Now, please... If there are enemies about, they may hear you. Please stop arguing with the past. Nothing will change its mind." At this statement, Merle quiets down somewhat, though her ghostly face is still burning with rage.

As Shadow and his companions enter the parking garage, all is silent... A few abandoned cars litter the garage, covered in dust and grime from years of abandonment. At first, there appears to be nothing of interest in the silent parking structure, until the sound of a moving vehicle sends Shadow and his companions out of the road and onto a sidewalk for pedestrians. The three watch as a taco truck blasts through the parking garage, ascending the structure at speeds much higher than the limits that nearby road signs have imposed. It seems odd that it would be driving so quickly by so many empty spots, but perhaps the truck had business on some higher floor... Were ghosts even capable of ordering tacos? Certainly food for thought.

Either way, the sound of the taco truck zooming by alerts a group of shadowy beings hanging in the rafters, who were previously invisible due to being shrouded in darkness. Their glowing red eyes shine in the dim parking lot, as three shadow-like Mandibuzz swoop down toward the group; one flies toward Pyrrhos, one toward Shadow, and one toward Merle. In the split second that Shadow has to look at them before they attack, he recognizes immediately what they are; clearly, these are Shadow Pokemon, whose hearts have somehow been closed off... Why these Shadow Mandibuzz would be in the Parking Garage, however, is a mystery, and one that the scientist does not have much time to dwell on, given that any time spent pondering is time not getting out of the way of an imminent Mandibuzz attack!

How will Shadow react?

While the team proceeded forward, now joined by the silently stalwart Durin, Shadow quietly witnessed the exchange between Merle and Pyrrhos. They had been on the right track, but if conflict was beginning to simmer between the ghost girl and her caretaker, it could mean compounded trouble. Still, it was hard to decide whose side to take. Pyrrhos had a point since he had proven to the scientist how difficult it was for both realms of the living and the beyond to connect, but had it been himself in Merle's shoes, could he have made the rational decision? Instinctively Shadow's hands went for his shoulders, gently stroking Scherza and Dahlia by their down feathers in attempted reassurance, though for whom the comfort was intended Shadow could not truly say. Dahlia merely growled through her beak while Scherza chirped brightly; Durin, as enigmatically quiet as ever, rolled on with no impediment from the dilapidated surface, undisturbed by the grime that flaked on his steely shell.

Now they reached the scene of the crime, where as Merle had informed them, a group of Mandibuzz made and staked their territory. A frown of concern mixed with annoyance riled Shadow's forehead as he identified the dark, feral glint in their predatory glares. Shadow Pokemon; a simple, yet difficult answer to half the problems he'd come across in his adventures. What was it with him and flocks of deranged avians, anyway?

"Pyrrhos, cover for Merle! I don't know if she's immune from attacks, but it's a fact that Dark-types have the advantage on ghosts," declared Shadow. "Everyone, it's battle stations! Durin, call up a Stealth Rock network for those Mandibuzz to crash into. Scherza, shake them up with your Growl, and Dahlia, hit them with Confuse Ray. While they're all distracted, blow them all away with a combination of Twister, Heat Wave and Seed Bomb. We're going to have to deal with this quick!"

[gmoyes]

gmoyes - Alex thinks through the system in a logical, orderly fashion, piecing together what he knows to make inferences regarding the rest of the RNG's effects. Alex assures Red that he's got the battle under control, and indeed, the analytical mind of the young researcher is working in overdrive (with the enhancement of his newfound form) to crack the code and win the battle. If 42 corresponded with a grass type conversion, then 27 would more than likely correspond with a powerful grass-type attack. Alex focuses hard on the number 27, and feels the warm glow of sunlight surrounding him. "ALEX has taken in sunlight" appears beneath the Porygon, confirming that he, indeed, was channeling energy for a powerful Solarbeam. Mew, on the other hand, rolls a 28. Mew summons a Rock Slide to damage Alex, which thankfully for Porygon, is not a super-effective move, only taking a small chunk from Alex's health meter. Alex unleashes his Solarbeam, which, while powerful, only takes out about a 6th of Mew's health. Mew rolls a 48 for its next Glitch move, which brings up the text box "MEW used STRING SHOT!" Alex finds himself feeling slower than usual, as his speed stat drops from the status-lowering move. Fortunately, Mew's rolls do not seem to imply that the psychic Pokemon knows the effects of what the GLITCH will do, though Alex still cannot be certain that Mew isn't learning along with Alex about the system and its inner workings...

A pixelated truck, similar to the infamous truck parked near the SS Anne, rolls by the empty space, an odd, 8-bit version of the Taco Time Taco Theme playing in the background. The truck parks near the battle, and the sprite of a woman with a pixel taco hat comes out of the truck, walking over to Red. Red looks confused as the woman hands Red a pixelated Taco and a Soda Pop, before walking back to the truck and driving away. Though Red briefly considers grabbing Alex and getting into the truck with her in hopes that it would mean a way out of this Hellish world, something about that truck just didn't seem right... Like they would end up in a worse place than here if they tried to get in it. Either way, Red shrugs and hands Alex the Soda Pop, while he keeps the taco for himself. Obtained 1x Soda Pop. Mew looks longingly out at the truck, as if catching sight of an old friend. The whole experience is... weird. Thankfully, the truck is soon out of sight, and the battle resumes as normal.

Fortunately for Alex, it seems as if his intellect has not let him down this time. He was correct about the grass type move, and now seems to have a little bit more information given Mew's attacks. Though Red is not quite seeing where Alex's strategy is going, given that the current battle simply looks like an exchange of random attacks, since Alex holds the advantage, he seems content to continue letting Alex work out his own strategy. What will Alex decide to do next?

(Picking up soda pop. It sure is going to mess with Alex's head when he pulls it out of his bag later XD )

Alex prayed to Arceus that his thought process was correct in that the order of moves within each set of 15 was the same. If it wasn’t, this could be a costly battle. He focused and called upon move number 27. He was ecstatic that right after he called up the move the words ‘ALEX has taken in sunlight.’ were displayed below him, though it made him cringe slightly that he had to charge the Solarbeam for a turn before releasing it, leaving the Mew with a wide opportunity to attack him. Still, it proved his theory right that moves were in the same order between sets. Now he just had to figure out where the bug typed moves were.

After he made his move, his opponent ended up rolling number 28, one up from the he was using. The result was the move Rock Slide. The attack struck him, though with his current grass typing it didn’t do much damage. He made a mental note that all attacks one up from grass typed moves were rock typed. They wouldn’t be the most useful of moves, but they’d probably be better than spamming Solarbeam. It was also interesting to see that even though Mew had a higher base speed stat than he did, he was moving before it did. The Mew must be at a lower level than he was, which was a good thing. And so far, it seemed that the psychic type wasn’t trying to cheat the RNG to roll favourable numbers. Things were looking up for him.

They immediately jumped to the next turn where Alex unleashed his Solarbeam. Though it was a strong attack, he was disappointed to see that it only took off a sixth off its health bar even with the same type attack bonus. Still, it was the strongest attack of the match so far. He remembered that in the first generation, grass typed moves ran off physical attack which Porygon weren’t that good at. Unfortunately, bug typed moves were also physical, but they were the best bet he had.

Next, the Mew rolled number 48 on the RNG which called up the move String Shot. While the attack lowered his speed and chances were that he was now slower than his opponent, Alex knew that he saw his chance to win the match. He was somewhat glad for his expressionless face because he knew that if he didn’t, his opponent would know that he broke the system. He was thankful that his luck showed up at the right time he needed it. Now all he needed to do was-

Just then the battle music changed to some sort of jingle. Looking around, Alex saw a white truck pull up to the battle. He just stared as a pixilated woman wearing a taco shaped hat got out of the vehicle and walked over to Red to give him a taco and a bottle of pop. All three participants of the battle just stared as the woman got back in the truck and took off as fast as she came. Alex summed up what all of them were thinking. “WHAT. THE. &!@*.” He looked back at Red and saw him offering the soda pop to him. “DOES IT LOOK LIKE I CAN HOLD ON TO THAT?” Not only did he didn’t have hands, but there wasn’t even an option for Pokémon to hold items. Still, he told Red to hold on to it for later. He also looked longingly at the taco missing the ability to eat.

He shook his head and focused back on the battle. He hoped the distraction didn’t make him forget anything. The fact that moves stayed in the same order in sets was confirmed. Move number 48 was String Shot. That was all he really needed to figure this out. He mentally counted out the sets: 1, 2-16, 17-31, 32-46, 47-61. Set 17-31 seemed to have decent powered moves while moves 47- 61 were status moves. Number 48 was number 2 in the last set, so the bug typed moves must have been the second one in every set. So moves 3, 18, 33, 48 and so on were bug typed. Moves 12, 27, 42, 57 and so on were grass and moves 14, 28, 43, 58 and so on were rock. If he wanted to, he could change Mew into a Bug type to wail on it with rock typed moves or to a rock type to hit it with grass typed moves, but he figured that wasting a turn doing that wouldn’t be worth it. So he had to hit it now with bug typed moves.

“OK RED, I’VE GOT THIS.” He felt confident. All he needed to do now was to spam number 18 until he won. Of course, something might happen that could screw over the plan, but for now everything was going their way.

[Dark Searchman]

Dark Searchman - Delilah perceives her trainer's distress, and while she cannot understand exactly what is going on in his mind, she is able to understand that he needs to rely on her right now in order to get them both through this terrifying ordeal. The Harvester was after the unconscious pink Frillish, and the blue Frillish's "insolence" marks him as the Harvester's next target; the blue Frillish might be of some help, but given the Harvester's intense focus on him, Delilah was in the best position to attack her. Of course, if she let the male Frillish take whatever hit follows the Harvester's Lock-on, it could potentially mean fighting this battle alone... She would need to take one for the team, if only to make sure that her remaining conscious partner wasn't taken out as his sister was. It would be horrible if she was the only one left to protect two bodies, as the ultimate decision of which one to protect would likely not be an easy one for the young Chinchou.

Delilah prepares for a difficult task, which is to utimately take the attack meant for the male Frillish, who has gone into a state of complete and total Defense, not only for himself, but for his fallen sister, as well. Before she is able to position herself appropriately, however, a strange white submarine with the words "TACO TIME" written on the side in big, red letters with a spinning, taco-shaped periscope atop the sub makes its way through the caverns; how it managed to make its way into the Harvester's lair is a mystery, but the Taco Time Taco Sub is no stranger to danger, and a man in a taco-shaped wetsuit comes swimming out of the sub, which is parked at the far end of the lair. He quickly sets to work on plucking eyes out of the wall, placing them in a bag labeled "TACO INGREDIENTS". The Harvester is immediately riled by the taco scuba man who apparently has seen fit to come to her corner of Phantom Isle to harvest eyes for tacos, and fires her Zap Cannon at the man instead of at her intended target! As the taco scuba man falls limp to the ground, the taco sub zooms away, with Taco Time apparently showing little dedication to its employees. Hyrem makes a mental note to himself that he should never apply to work there.

Delilah and the male Frillish take their moment of opportunity to strike back at the Harvester; though Delilah and the Frillish had not been battling together a long time, the Frillish is perceptive enough to sense that Delilah wanted to coordinate her attacks with his, and at her signal, the pair unleash a dual Surf attack upon the Harvester, completely wiping out the eyes that exist on her body. Of course, more come to take their place, as the wall's numbers further deplete in order to provide the Harvester with a means of sight. The remaining eyes on the wall glow with that familiar, eerie white light, implying another Future Sight attack. Though the eyes are at half their original number, the attack should still not be underestimated by Delilah or the male Frillish. The Harvester turns her focus back on the remaining Pokemon, her multitude of eyes beginning to display traces of fear and panic; realizing that her reserves are down, she decides to take drastic measures to try to defeat her foes and prevent all of her eyes from being destroyed. Theye eyes begin blinking rapidly, before they darken and shrivel up within her body. At first, this looks like a good thing, but the reality is that she is sacrificing all of the eyes on her body in a terrible Curse, which immediately begins afflicting Delilah and the Male Frillish with a sense of increasing pain... This curse, combined with the impending Future Sight, could spell big trouble for Hyrem and his comrades if he does not act quickly.

Meanwhile, Hyrem himself is overwhelmed by conflicting, confusing memories, many of which are not his own. With Delilah at the helm of battle, Hyrem tries to take the helm of his own mind, working through the false memories to find himself. Summoning as much inner strength as he can possibly muster, he screams, at the top of his lungs, for the memories to get out of his head. The forceful cry, while not 100% effective, gives Hyrem the strength to at least hold himself together for another couple of rounds, though Hyrem fears that if the memories come back, they will likely return stronger than before.

Costume: 20/20
Wall: 60 eyes remain

What will Hyrem do?

As the memories threaten to overcome Hyrem with their conflicting tales and various former lives, it required all of his will to force them out of his head, saving his sanity ... just in time for him to see a weird submarine with the words "TACO TIME" emblazoned on it. How'd that get in here?! And where's the exit it made?! I WANT OUT OF THIS PLACE!!! Ahem, anyway, a man in a taco wetsuit (why would any sane person wear that?) suddenly comes out of the sub and starts snatching eyes out of the wall, placing them into a large bag labeled "TACO INGREDIENTS". ...Now I know not to go there at all. Needless to say, the Harvester of Eyes was furious and, instead of attacking Frillish like she planned on doing, fired her Zap Cannon on the taco guy! Who would find himself abandoned by the Taco sub. Yup, definitely not going to work there.

But anyway, break for Delilah and Frillish! Now that the Harvester was distracted, they had the time to combine their Surf attacks and engulf the Mantine costume with it, obliterating all of the eyes on it, with more eyes from the wall to take their place. With sixty eyes left on the wall, they all glow with a white light again... another onslaught of Future Sight was nigh! Even worse, the Harvester started getting desperate and sacrificed all of the eyes on her body... now Frillish and Delilah were suffering a Curse! Between the two attacks and Hyrem's fear that the mental attacks of the memories will come back stronger soon, they had to finish this now. The team would only have a couple of rounds before they would all be swamped with attacks ... and they wouldn't survive anything like that.

But just from how he exerted so much to gain back his mind, Hyrem fell to his knees in exhaustion. I... I can't... I can't go on like this... They're going to come back, I know it! And I won't be able to stop them again... His heart sinks further in despair, and he realizes all too late just how much he was in over his head. I... we're just not strong enough. There's not enough time! He then covers his eyes again, not only as a desperate effort to keep his eyes in for as long as he can, but also to hide his tears. "I'm sorry ... Delilah ... I just ... I'm tired..." his voice cracked as he started crying quietly. He was at his limit. There's just no other way to say it. He was ready to die at that point, despite how much he didn't want to die. He didn't want to leave everybody... All his Pokemon ... They would be left under the spell of the Harvester of Eyes. And there wasn't anything he could do about it.

Delilah looked back and saw her trainer in such a state, and she found herself very uncomfortable. She had never seen Hyrem like this. Even during all the adversity they faced in Whale Island, nothing had brought him to tears like this. Not ever. She looked to the two lights dangling in front of her face; they had always given a smile to Hyrem's face, but even now they flickered slightly. They weren't going to be bright enough to put light back into his soul now. But he needed her now, more than ever before. How could she help, though? Everything he had been through here was horrific, and just shining lights his way wasn't going to do much. She felt so limited; was there really nothing she could do? No, there had to be something! She had been doing training with Hyrem and getting stronger before he came here, but it just wasn't showing results when they were needed the most! They were shown when she beat an Espeon, but against this? Were they really powerless? No, she had to be strong ... for Hyrem. For all of her friends! They were all counting on her to come through and keep him safe. With that thought in her mind, her lights started glowing even more than ever...

And then she started to glow.

Hyrem could only continue sobbing quietly. He was still in despair when he heard some chattering. A bright light shone between his fingers while they were covering his eyes before his hands felt something smooth rub against his hands, then one of them being gently grabbed by what felt like a mouth and moved away from his face. He removed the other hand and opened his eyes to see a very bright light dangling from the face of a Lanturn, her ruby red eyes looking at him lovingly. "De... Delilah?" he said in disbelief, to which she responded by nuzzling his face. "So you're a Lanturn now? You evolved ... for me ... Oh, Delilah, thank you so much!" he said while giving her a soft hug. "Thank you... I'm sorry I worried you. Now how about we beat these eyes and get outta here?"

"Laaaaaa!" she chattered before swimming back to rejoin Frillish. "All right then!" Hyrem declared. "We've gotta wrap this up quickly, and we'll start with all the eyes on the wall! Delilah, use Thunderbolt to get as many eyes as you can, and do another one if one Thunderbolt doesn't get them all! Frillish, use two Surf attacks to cover what Delilah might've missed, if there are any left! If you've gotten them all already, go for the Harvester with your attacks! Now GO!" And with that, he kicks his way toward the Harvester in an attempt to gouge out some of the eyes on her and/or serve as a possible distraction. Wait, WHAT?! That's WAY too reckless, Hyrem! Have you lost your mind?!

Oh, wait... Maybe you did... Probably not in the way the Harvester of Eyes intended, however...

[Marion Ette]

Phantom Isle
The Haunted Theme Park

Ghost Train: Enter if you dare - The Ghost Train, the site of the disaster responsible for the closure of the theme park. Ghostly visits from children lost are reported to have scared many a construction crew away from this site while some of the strongest and darkest Pokémon of all are rumoured to dwell within the burnt out remains of this once popular ride.

The Devil pulls the strings which make us dance;
We find delight in the most loathsome things;
Some furtherance of Hell each new day brings,
And yet we feel no horror in that rank advance. - Charles Baudelaire

In the bleak, desolate air of the abandoned theme park, the sound of "Purple Haze" being hummed slightly off-key travels across the deserted path to the infamous main station for the Ghost Train, as a rather musically-inclined Dusclops named Liliana bobs her head side-to-side to the beat of the music she hums. Above her head, the inspiration for her chosen melody hovers gloomily, concealing what little light remained in the evening sky. Beside the Dusclops, a strange-looking young woman with ivory skin, lavender hair and pale grey eyes walks silently in time with her Pokemon, clearly deep in thought, though astonishingly just as unperturbed about her surroundings as her cheerful ghost-type partner. Indeed, the woman known as Marion Ette was all too familiar with surroundings like this, given her chosen specialty. In fact, something about the thick, ominous air, laden with invisible stares and a decidedly haunted presence, was somehow comforting to the trainer who had spent her early years growing up in a haunted mansion, and who now calls a small cottage on the Hidden Mansion grounds her home away from home. Haunted locales always made Marion feel more at ease... She had always thought that the living were capable of far more terrifying things than the dead. Of course, Marion expected to feel decidedly less comfortable at the site of the Ghost Train... Even with her years of experience in the field and natural disposition to the supernatural, there was something about that incident that supposedly sent chills down the spine of even the most hardened of paranormal investigators, and it was this fact about the site of the wreckage that drew Marion like a moth to a light. The depth of the tragedy that occurred here, and the incredible impact of the events that followed, filled Marion with a morbid sort of curiosity. Certainly, there were tragedies that claimed more lives than the Ghost Train that had occurred in the past, but none in recent memory had an aftermath so terrible that the area had to be so thoroughly abandoned, even with the current technology and the amazing abilities of more recently-discovered Pokemon, solely because of supernatural forces. As a researcher into the world of ghost-type Pokemon, this was practically the equivalent of Mecca - a sacred pilgrimage she absolutely must undergo to prove her dedication to the field. She had to prove herself here, now, in Phantom Isle.

Phantom Isle. The words send chills down many a spine, given the Isle's reputation as one of the most haunted places in all of Fizzytopia... and, perhaps, in all the world. Friends of Marion's had come back with strange, horrifying tales of supernatural happenings, and the young trainer had to admit that she had felt left out when they would gather at the Bar, that look of unshakable horror in their eyes as they recounted their adventures. As odd as it sounded... Marion envied that horror. She envied the ability to say that she had experienced something that intense and lived to tell about it. It was something she felt she was destined to do.

Marion nods toward Liliana as the entrance to the Main Station comes into view, and the ghostly Pokemon suddenly stops humming completely. All of Marion's Pokemon knew that it was one of their trainer's research practices that whenever she entered a strongly haunted area, she and her Pokemon minimized the amount of noise they made, so as not to irritate the spirits around them, who generally preferred silence to the sounds of humans and Pokemon stomping about. Marion inhales deeply, yet quietly as the pair cross the threshold into the station, her mind whirling with thoughts regarding their current scenario. If she and her loyal Dusclops were to make a discovery here regarding the true nature of the Incident, not only might it help put some of these disquieted souls to rest, but the resulting publication would likely provide Marion with all manner of distinctions and acclaims in her circle of ghost-type researchers; that said, with the potential for great reward came the potential for even greater risk. Marion knew that the forces gathered here were likely well beyond the scope of what even she had encountered before, but Marion believed in a bit of cautious confidence. After all, her Pokemon had been training hard, and they were strong enough to face greater challenges than they ever could before.

Marion gives Liliana a second nod, and the Dusclops understands this second nod as an order to unleash her Foresight into the Station, in the hopes of potentially catching sight of any concealed ghosts in the area. It was a risky move, but if Marion's beloved Pokemon partner caught sight of something interesting, it could very well be worth the use of the move.

[yougirasu]

Phantom Isle
The Haunted Theme Park

House of Mirrors: Reflections aren't the only things you'll find in these mirrors...

Parting the waves, Yougi stood fearlessly on the bow of the small ship that was transporting him to his first free adventure. He stands boldly with one leg resting on the barrier of the deck, his gaze cast out towards the purple mist in the distance. It had been two years since his original adventure, a troubling trip through the Desert of Illusion, and now he was returning to a troubled island. Now that he believed that he could relieve it of its troubles, having never liked horror movies, he wasn’t that intent on getting into unsavoury situations. But still, he wanted an adventure. He’d spent most of the trip prowling the tiny boat, his anticipation refusing to let him keep still for more than a moment. His longest ‘quiet’ period being the minutes he spent arranging a playlist for his time on the island, selecting ironic songs to keep him calm. Or as calm as he might get. It wasn’t until the rumbling of the engine cut out underneath him and the ship fell silent against the waves, that he grew curious as to what was happening. He looked around to see the helmsman stepping out of his cabin.
“End o’ the line mate.” He called out to Yougi.
“But we’re in the middle in nowhere.”
“Aye, and you’ll be needing these.” The man called out in reply, throwing down a pair of oars and a plastic bundle.
Yougi picked everything up, giving the sailor a dirty look as he realised that he’d been given a rubber dinghy and that he’d be the power behind the rest of the trip. He was thankful that the seas were quite calm today and took a deep breath.

The pebbles on the beach crunched beneath his feet as Yougi finally walked on dry land. He strode up, out of the purple haze that had concealed his arrival with a scowl on his face. He hadn’t had a smooth landing on the shore and now the bottom of his jeans were damp, something that he despised. Adding to that, he’d had to stick the dinghy under a heavy rock, since he couldn’t leave it in the water and it would just blow away otherwise. He just hoped that the rock was heavy enough. By this point though, he was really feeling the nerves over his first big adventure. He had to remind himself that he had five friends behind him, metaphorically speaking, and they made a solid team. He moved up from the beach, into the wilds surrounding it. Eventually finding a path, hidden amongst overgrown plant life, nature having begun to reclaim the island over the years. Using the sounds of the sea as his guide, he followed the path towards his destination.

He walked for a good five minutes before a silhouette came into view, several tall, dark rides boldly standing out against the purple haze in the distance. The place seemed to be deserted and Yougi wondered if the place was truly closed, contrary to popular belief. There was an odd flicker from within the park as the place began to resonate, lights flickering on and then off again as he stood there watching the park. These lights gave the rides a large shadow on the mist before fading from view. He carried on walking, wondering how a park that had been closed all this time still had power. But by the time that he had reached the gate, the park had roared into life. Lights and music were all around him, pushing any thoughts over their power source out of his head, pulling him in.
Stepping through the entrance, Yougi viewed a sign that mentioned the various times that boats would leave the island.
‘Trust me to have missed all of them when I was on the mainland.’ He thought to himself as he walked forwards, spotting an information board with a map. He studied the park closely, ignoring the You Are Here marker and looking across at the various rides and attractions that he could visit. The Rollerquaza, Mantine Mania, Pirate Ship and Big Wheel were taken straight off the list, since he didn’t want anything to do with heights or water, and he kept trimming things. The Helter Skelter, Fortune Teller, Circus and Sideshow Alley were quick to follow. Eventually though, he was left with the choice of the Ghost Train of the Hall of Mirrors. He decided that he didn’t want to sit in a cart, his legs having cramped up as he’d been rowing, and, after making a note of the path to take, he set off towards the Hall of Mirrors.

Once he’d reached his destination, he looked the place over. It looked similar to any other House of Mirrors with a big bold sign and plenty of decorative and enticing mirrors on the front. But the location still unnerved Yougi as a shiver ran down his spine. Trying to push this aside, he took a moment to step in front of one mirror outside, staring in at his reflection before noticing how the mirror was warping the shape of his reflection. It brought a childish grin to his face before he turned towards the entrance. He really wanted to enjoy the house, but as he stepped in, he couldn’t shake the discouraging thoughts within his head. He just hoped that he didn’t get lost within this maze of misdirection.

[Sneasel12]

As the newest Phantom Isle ZA I’d like to welcome you all to my little group of the damned updatees. We’re going to have a frightfully good time.

myahoo: I’ll be picking up your adventure from where Food Guy left off, my apologies if things are a little odd and updates slightly short as I try to find a story from where you left off. If there’s anything major I need to know about in terms of changes since then please let me know.

Awakening from your blackout you find yourself face to face with a gigantic doll, causing you to jump backwards with a yelp. Upon attempting to calm yourself down you see nothing but more and more dolls in what you can only assume to be a gigantic dollhouse. What is of more of a concern, however, is what you don’t see, as Wildfire is nowhere to be found. Whereever the fortune teller took you, she certainly didn’t want you bringing your Pokemon with.

Standing, you can’t quite tell what the dolls are made out of... not porcelain, nor are the plastic, yet they still shine in what little light there is in the room. Beyond that, they seem like fairly normal dolls, albeit large and rather realistic, though their eyes leave you feeling a bit unnerved. You decide your first priority should be finding your missing Pokemon, and take to looking around the general area, but there is nothing but these life sized dolls and small piles of something shiny and possibly metallic. It soon becomes blatantly obvious that for now you are on your own, and that whatever the fortune teller is planning, it’s something you neither want yourself nor your Pokemon involved in. But as your mind races to the thought of escape you realize the dollhouse seemingly has no doors or windows, lit only by a single swaying lamp far above your head. Trapped and defenseless you are at the fortune teller’s whim unless you can come up with something fast...

...whatever shall you do?


-----

Marion Ette: I’m so glad I get to update for one of FB’s resident ghostly gals. I do hope my updates live up to your spectacularly spooky standards.

Phantom Isle, the site of the most devastating disaster to happen memorable years, the very fallout of which made the island the supernatural equivalent of Chernobyl, and thus the perfect place to study the phenomenon of the Ghost type. Walking calmly through the very park that would make most any trainer shudder with fear for their very existence, you find yourself heading towards the Ghost Train, Phantom Isle’s very own Ground Zero. The humming of your Dusclops, Liliana, fills the air, eerily echoing in the distance, the very haze above that inspires her tune seems to shift in the air, moving with your every step towards the long since abandoned ride. With a nod you signal Liliana to halt her melody, and though the Dusclops ceases, the sound does not, ringing through the air for a moment before becoming slower, crackling with slight static as the PA system picks up the tune where the Ghost left off. With your head rushing with thoughts of answers and the fame that could follow, it takes you a moment to even notice the lingering sound, and as you snap to you decide to play things very cautiously, the haunts of the park seeming to take particular notice in your presence.

Just inside the station you issue a second nod, and Liliana immediately fills the air with a luminous glow. You hope that the Foresight will alert you to the specters that seem to be watching you, but with a glance around, there is nothing. The air becomes still as the motionless station only adds to the feeling that something is very wrong here.

CRACK! A thundering sound echoes overhead, giving your calm demeanor a bit of a prod, as the haze above you circles into a funnel rushing down upon you. The fog comes into war with the glow Liliana is letting off, struggling for a moment as it forms a dome above you before crashing down like a tidal wave, washing over you before fading into the sky again, the resonant energy of the Foresight sucked up by the paranormal forces which clearly don’t want you tampering with the very delicate balance of the area.

The initial shock fades as Liliana spies something making a bit of movement in one of the carts ahead, the sound of whimpering heard lightly underneath the buzzing music of the speakers. Unsure from the distance as to what could be rocking the cart, you are however very certain that whatever it is, it wasn’t there but a moment ago...

...whatever shall you do?

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Yougirasu: Welcome to my group, I’m thrilled to have you as one of my first updatees. Hope I can keep you feeling the same throughout your adventure.

Watching out over the calm sea that surrounds Phantom Isle you approach the nightmarish rock, a distinct thick haze covering the mass of land, concealing all but the ferris wheel, which you can make out slowly turning in the distance despite the many years the park has been closed. With still quite a ways to go before reaching the island your ship halts its progress and the helmsman shouts for you to make your own way from here, leaving you to row for quite some time before reaching the eery shores. Your jeans now damp from your poor landing on the shore, you find the heaviest rock you can move to stick the dinghy under, attempting to ensure a way off the isle should things not go to your liking. After a walk that seems to last for eternity iself without the park getting any closer, the silhouette begins to darken and take shape, only for the darkened buildings and rides to light up like a multicolored inferno of bulbs the moment you step through the gate. The park has been waiting for another visitor, it would seem.

Undeterred though slightly curious of the electricity that gives the park life, you find yourself passing a sign with all of the boat arrival and departure times, which you briefly wish you had known about before making the trek as to avoid the slight soreness in your arms from the hard push of the oars against the water on the way in. Nearby you locate a standing map of the park, and, after eliminating the more dangerous and just plain unsavory attractions, you decide to head for the Hall of Mirrors, a fairly short walk away.

Upon reaching the attraction, it becomes painfully obvious that this is no fun house, as the mirrors on the front of the building twist your face into a grin that could only belong on a comic villain. As you step in you shake your head to try to lose all the unnerving thoughts of the place behind you, and attempt to find your way through the maze of reflections. Looking about some of the mirrors are shattered into many pieces, as others appear so new it would appear they were put in just earlier in the day, which does not help your mind focus on the labyrinth before you, causing you to smack into walls every now and again where you thought there were open passageways.

The sound of your footsteps echoes through the hallways, giving the chaotic maze an even greater sense of dismay, as every few moments you swear there are sounds that aren’t in timing with the rest, and as you stop to take a moment, you look around to find four very familiar faces only inches from yours. Putting your hands out ever so slightly you find yourself touching walls on all sides, with no idea how you became stuck between them. A moment later the chuckle of a young girl echoes through your head and the wall directly in front of you begins to melt to the floor, allowing you an exit for now. The melting mirror hardens on the ground before you into the seemingly innocent phrase “Won’t you play with me?” before the chuckling rings through your ears once more...

...whatever shall you do?

[yougirasu]

Yougirasu: Welcome to my group, I’m thrilled to have you as one of my first updatees. Hope I can keep you feeling the same throughout your adventure.

Watching out over the calm sea that surrounds Phantom Isle you approach the nightmarish rock, a distinct thick haze covering the mass of land, concealing all but the ferris wheel, which you can make out slowly turning in the distance despite the many years the park has been closed. With still quite a ways to go before reaching the island your ship halts its progress and the helmsman shouts for you to make your own way from here, leaving you to row for quite some time before reaching the eery shores. Your jeans now damp from your poor landing on the shore, you find the heaviest rock you can move to stick the dinghy under, attempting to ensure a way off the isle should things not go to your liking. After a walk that seems to last for eternity iself without the park getting any closer, the silhouette begins to darken and take shape, only for the darkened buildings and rides to light up like a multicolored inferno of bulbs the moment you step through the gate. The park has been waiting for another visitor, it would seem.

Undeterred though slightly curious of the electricity that gives the park life, you find yourself passing a sign with all of the boat arrival and departure times, which you briefly wish you had known about before making the trek as to avoid the slight soreness in your arms from the hard push of the oars against the water on the way in. Nearby you locate a standing map of the park, and, after eliminating the more dangerous and just plain unsavory attractions, you decide to head for the Hall of Mirrors, a fairly short walk away.

Upon reaching the attraction, it becomes painfully obvious that this is no fun house, as the mirrors on the front of the building twist your face into a grin that could only belong on a comic villain. As you step in you shake your head to try to lose all the unnerving thoughts of the place behind you, and attempt to find your way through the maze of reflections. Looking about some of the mirrors are shattered into many pieces, as others appear so new it would appear they were put in just earlier in the day, which does not help your mind focus on the labyrinth before you, causing you to smack into walls every now and again where you thought there were open passageways.

The sound of your footsteps echoes through the hallways, giving the chaotic maze an even greater sense of dismay, as every few moments you swear there are sounds that aren’t in timing with the rest, and as you stop to take a moment, you look around to find four very familiar faces only inches from yours. Putting your hands out ever so slightly you find yourself touching walls on all sides, with no idea how you became stuck between them. A moment later the chuckle of a young girl echoes through your head and the wall directly in front of you begins to melt to the floor, allowing you an exit for now. The melting mirror hardens on the ground before you into the seemingly innocent phrase “Won’t you play with me?” before the chuckling rings through your ears once more...

...whatever shall you do?

As Yougi stepped into the Hall of Mirrors, he began to move through the hallways at a brisk pace, not wanting to linger because of his uneasy feelings. His eyes were drawn towards the various mirrors that he passed along the way. A large number of them had lengthy cracks running through them, whilst others had been completely shattered to reveal the wood that supported them. Weirdest of all were the fresh mirrors that were overly perfect. These mirrors were flawless, to the point where they looked like they'd only just been fitted. These specific ones sent shivers down his already trembling spine, the eerie location gnawing away at him. His focus was slipping, and he was paying the price. With every distraction, every momentary lapse in concentration, Yougi was punished. He'd walk straight into a mirror that he might not have noticed, they might not have even been there before. Every time his face smacked into the mirrors, the sounds rang around him.

He had no idea of the path backwards, or if it existed now, so Yougi could do little but continue forwards. He began to notice his footsteps, each one bouncing around the corridor he was in, joining the faded echoes from the previous mirror he'd struck. The rapid, off-beat sounds bounced around him, barraging his senses. He was losing his focus, unable to concentrate on his own thoughts. He longed for a moment’s peace. Instead, an uneasy feeling washed over him. Something seemed to have joined with his footsteps, occasionally appearing out of tempo with the echoes. He had no clue what it was, although, deep down, he hoped it was something simple like another visitor or rubble tumbling away from a decrepit wall. Yet, in addition to this, something was catching his eye within the mirrors. He didn't see anything specifically, but there seemed to be flashes of something deep in the corners of his eye. He could have sworn he saw something, yet whenever his head span around to look towards this oddity, he was only met by his own gaze. His reflection looking back at him as his hair settled back down.

He was disorientated, deafened and confused beyond belief. What Yougi really needed now was some peace, something he decided to give himself. Taking a moment to let things settle, he stopped moving and waited for the last echoes to fade. His head drooped as a sigh escaped from his body. His mind began to clear, no longer pressured by noises and sights. It was a calming moment as he thought over logical explanations for everything so far. He took a deep breath as the thumping of a headache began to emerge from the silence around him. This caused him to open his eyes and realise something.

Straight ahead of him, a few inches from his face, his reflection gazed out at him. Yougi panicked, knowing for certain that he had not been stood in front of a mirror just a few moments ago. His head streaked to the left. His gaze was a gain met by a second reflection. The same thing occurred to his right. He began to twist around, spinning on the spot as he wildly stared at the mirrors that surrounded him. His hands pressed themselves up against every pane as he turned, desperately seeking release as his clammy hands left faint imprints on the mirrors.

Still seeking a release from the predicament that he was in, Yougi froze as a voice echoed through his body. The haunting, yet gleeful chuckle of a young girl resonated all around. His body felt like a block of ice as all the blood seemed to drain from him. His hands grew clammier, although he was unsure if that was physically possible, as he struggled to figure out what was going on. He looked forwards at his own reflection, noting how pale his face had become and how the sweat on his brow glistened. Yet, as his gaze met that of his reflection, the figure before him began to ripple as though someone had thrown a pebble in a pond. The mirror stood there quivering before it rushed downwards, like falling water that was no longer being forced from a fountain. Yougi now had an exit, although it wasn't one of his own design. Yet, he didn't feel relieved. Instead, his eyes dropped to the puddle that the oozing mirror had formed, that wasn't a puddle at all.
"Won't you play with me?" Yougi said, reading the reflecting message that lay on the floor of his new path. He struggled to take in the words that the mirror had spelt out and keep the calm that he had found earlier. His efforts were thwarted as the chilling laughter surrounded him, washing over his body as the disembodied giggle barraged his senses.

As the laughter faded, Yougi was left wondering how to proceed. He was regaining the calm that he had again lost, taking deep, calming breaths as he considered his options. The simplest choice was to take the path that had opened up before him, tackling anything that came his way. But, he didn't like this. He didn't think things would end very well down this chosen path, especially as a trap had forced him into this predicament. The other option was for him to release one of his Pokémon and charge through the maze, destroying the mirrors and defeating the purpose of the location. Although, he doubted that this was supposed to be something that happened within a Hall of Mirrors. But, with this option, he lacked a Pokémon with a sturdy hide. Sure, he had Aerodactyl with him, who had a thicker hide than most due to being a rock type, but the location didn't exactly offer him enough room.

Out of the two choices that he had, Yougi didn't feel that it was worth risking the health of his Pokémon when he had a path that he could take. He didn't like it, but it was the best option for everyone he had with him. So, he cautiously edged towards the pathway, peering out through the gap. He expected some sort of trap, a razor sharp pendulum perhaps, to trigger as he entered, spiriting him away into another life. But nothing appeared, at least for the moment. So, with hesitation and a heavy heart, Yougi stepped out into the corridor, ready to follow the path that had been laid out for him.