Main Action and Team Status Thread [VICTORY!!!]

[Neo Emolga]

I'll try using the [α Alpha Key] on the {Lockbox, α Alpha emblem} at (11) Daz's Greenhouse!

You stealthily sneak by Daz and insert the [α Alpha Key] into the {Lockbox, α Alpha emblem}. Carefully and quietly, you turn the key, and the lock disengages with a click. You carefully open the lid of the box and look inside.

Within the box, you find yet another key on top of a few papers. You take it with you can see there's a β Beta emblem on it. You take it with you.

Item: [β Beta Key] has been added to the Team Inventory.

Meanwhile, you sift through the papers and start reading them.



The other pieces of paper are just as disturbing. As you go through the box, paper after paper, journal after journal, seems to be more of the same kind of deranged, angry, and twisted documentary thrashing that depicts the same kind of mindless rage toward faces, signed with the familiar name "Shadefetch."

You quickly leave before anyone notices you've been here...

[Neo Emolga]

NOTE: Just as a heads up, items that have been used up and don't need to be used again are getting removed from the inventory. This includes keys that have been used for locks. I don't want people to accidently think there's a second lock that requires the same key. :P

I guess I'll take the [Star Stone: Father Time] and [Star Stone: Mother Nature] and unlock the White Cabinet at the Windmill.

You take both Star Stones to the Serenity Town Windmill and insert them into place into the lock mechanism of the {White Cabinet}. Both stone fits and the lock disengages with a gentle click.

Items: [Star Stone: Father Time] and [Star Stone: Mother Nature] have been removed from the Team Inventory.

You open the cabinet and discover this is the secret place where Adis kept most of his exorcism tools. While some of them have been set aside, there is one item that stands out distinctively. It appears to be a silver and gold-trimmed canister that has a very heavenly and ornate appearance and design. You find a small, gold wheel switch on the side, and when you turn it, an amazing flame of pure, miraculous white fire lights up at the top of the canister and surrounds everything around you with a calm, tranquil, and comforting glow. When you let go, the flame extinguishes.

As you hold this holy fire lighter, you begin to truly feel this device has to be from some other, heavenly realm.

Item: [Ceremonial Fire Lighter] has been added to the Team Inventory.

[Neo Emolga]

I'll search #22 Srin's House

You arrive at Srin's modest-sized house near the outskirts of town. It's a small home that seems nearly forgotten about and has seen a bit of neglect over the years, but it's still intact.

When you search the interior, you can see that Srin and Trinka are a very happy couple. Their house, while small and perhaps a little worn-down, still seems like a cozy and welcoming place. The furniture, beds, rugs, and pictures on the walls may be a little secondhand in appearance, but it still feels like the home of a couple that may not have much, but are happy with what they have. It seems to surprise you that Srin, despite being the owner of the supermarket in town, simply prefers to live in a smaller home despite the fact he would have enough money to afford something better. So it leaves to question where the money goes.

You notice one empty room of the house, and it seems Srin and Trinka have kept it reserved for a child they simply haven't had yet. But from what you can gather, Srin and Trinka seem to love children and the simpler pleasures in life. You find that Srin is a song writer from the papers you find in his room while Trinka is more into flowers, gardening, and the like.

Outside, the conclusion about Trinka's love for gardening also holds true. You search around the property and come across a piece of paper tucked away into one of the cracks in the stone wall out by the garden. There is a message here that says "I'll be back for it soon." You take it out and it appears to be one of the thirds of the circle you came across before.

Item: [Design of the Sin Purge Circle, Piece 1 of 3] has been added to the Team Inventory.

You make one last check, but that seems to be all that you can find here.

[LKWayvern]

Interview number 5, Verlisa the Glaceon.

[Shieldbearer]

I consulted with my allies my next course of action. I shall investigate 21. Serenity Metalworks - a fitting place for one such as I.

[Neo Emolga]

Interview 55. Lablanc the Liepard about any current debts owed to her, and her thoughts about those Pokemon. When in doubt, imply that I'd be looking for some money when this all goes away, and it's good to know what kinda trouble I'd be in if I were late...

Interview Rapport: NEUTRAL
-1 Super Effective Against (Fighting vs Dark)
+1 Shared Pokémon Evolution State

You confront Leblanc the Liepard in the center of town, introducing yourself before inquiring about her debtors and the terms and conditions of her business. She seems a bit skeptical about you at first, but still feels there is some merit to your proposition.

"Oh, there are plenty," Leblanc tells you with a smug grin. "Oh, nothing for you to worry about, darling. My terms are simple and fair, but there are many in debt to me that simply don't know how to read the terms and conditions and when payments are due. So when the consequences occur, well, they have no one to blame but themselves."

"Blak is one such example," Leblanc tells you with a smile. "That Zangoose was determined to start some hotel and casino, thinking Pokémon would naturally flock to it and gamble their life savings away, so I loaned him what he needed. Well, some patrons did, at first, but with his regular patrons destitute, his source of income was cut off and he has had to rely on more... well, interesting means of acquiring income. I told him I wanted the money for the loan payments, and his attempt to pay it off essentially has been only meeting half of the minimal balance and interest payments, never mind the late fee penalty charges. Oh, if he had been smart about it, he probably would have paid if all off by now, plus interest, but that's his debt, not mine. In was all in the contract."

"As for the others..." Leblanc tells you, smiling just thinking about it, "Smide owes me some money, Gloan is in deep with his gambling addictions, Fetcher and Ralice owe me quite a bit, Talag essentially declared bankruptcy not too long ago, and Voren and Clyde owe me some sizable amounts. Oh, I have it all on the ledgers. Those are the top culprits, but there are a few others that need to pay the piper!"

"Now, if you wanted to apply for a loan," Leblanc tells you, smirking a bit, "my terms and conditions are reasonable. Long-term five-year loans will involve a higher 20% interest rate, but might be more manageable to acquire the minimum monthly payment as opposed to the cheaper 15% interest short-term three-year loan, but you will be paying more Poké in time. If you can't pay the minimum month payment, well, the unpaid debt will be added to the future payments, interest accrued. And, if by some unfortunate chance the amount of your debt payment doubles the amount of the original loan amount because of missed past payments and fines, well, I have authorization to demand the liquidation of your personal assets to pay for such. It may sound scary, oh, but trust me, darling, I'm far more charming to deal with Kneed. Unlike that oaf, I don't make it a personal mission to have my clients hunted down and physically beaten for their debts. Borrow wisely, and we'll both benefit!"

"You know where to find me if you're interested, darling!" Leblanc smiles to you as she struts off. "I'll have the paperwork all ready for you!"

[Neo Emolga]

#2 Bendra the Garchomp has been killed by the Stalkers.



Location: In Greenstone Park
State: Crushed

Zick looks at the crushed and mangled body of Bendra the Garchomp. The usually energetic and ambitious Jolten looks at the corpse with a very pale look on his face. Meanwhile, Adom looks upon the corpse, trying to draw a possible conclusion.

"How... did no one catch onto this!?" Zick exclaims to Adom, looking very stressed. "Cina, I could understand. Not too many Pokémon knew her and she didn't exactly have a large circle of friends. Plus the killer found a perfect opportunity to strike at her without getting scene. Same thing with Nulan and a lot of the others. But the mayor's wife!? In the middle of the park!?"

"I have already informed Pashner with the preliminary findings report," Adom tells the Jolteon. "I took care of the details and he already knows. You've got your hands full as is."

"Please tell me we both still have a job," Zick turns to Adom, looking panicked. "I didn't hear Pashner screaming all over town, so I'm not sure if that's good news or bad news."

"Pashner... seems to understand," Adom tells the stressed and anxious Jolteon. "But you're right, I anticipated him to be livid about this, but his reaction was mild compared to what I had expected. I don't want to speak too loudly, but the relationship between Pashner and Bendra wasn't-"

"Pray Arceus, please don't tell you're suggesting Pasher is-!"

"I'm not," Adom quickly interrupts. "There was plenty of animosity between the two of them before any of this happened. If anything, the situation with the Stalkers put an inevitable divorce on hold. But we can't... rule out Pashner as a possible suspect. We have both motive and with Pashner's strength and size, a possible cause of death. Not to mention Pashner was someone Bendra trusted. Or, at least to some degrees. Now, according to your findings, this would be Epitaph's work, wouldn't it?"

"...Yes," Zick nods, swallowing hard. "We... don't have very much about who Epitaph is, exactly. The signature matches Epitaph's pattern, but we just don't have any leads that are truly solid. I can say that this is the first time Epitaph has struck this high up on the food chain. It may not mean anything, or it may mean he or she is trying to up the ante and make it personal. I'm not sure what's going on in Pashner's mind, and if he's secretly plotting something or if he's just bottling up the real emotions here. If he even has emotions. This could be an attempt to strike at him, next!"

Zick examines the body one more time.

"So far, we don't have any witnesses," Zick explains. "Some Pokémon said there was some fog or mist around and no one saw anything during the night, not like too many Pokémon were out at that hour because of these killings going on. But I cannot possibly fathom what Bendra was doing up and about at that hour, though. She was perfectly aware of the situation regarding these Stalkers. Maybe she was being too arrogant, maybe she thought someone was watching over her, or... she could have been betrayed. And that doesn't rule out the fact Pashner might have been involved in some way..."

"There's too many possible theories at the moment," Adom tells the Jolteon. "All we can do is continue searching and hope we come across something before it's too late."

"That's what he said ten murders ago..." Zick mutters under his breath.

[Steven_Six]

Shaking off all the legal jumbo that just flooded my ears, I realise... Hey! We have the [β Beta Key] for the {Locked Cabinet, β Beta emblem}! So, I dash off to Daz's Greenhouse, Silo#1 to pop the lock.

[Neo Emolga]

Regardless of what we decide to do with Millie, we need to start finding as much ritual stuff as is Pokemon-ly possible. Which means lots of searching.

Search (47) The Vordin Mansion (Abandoned)

You come before the large Vordin Mansion on the outskirts of town. The large house has started to fall into disrepair and looks like it's long overdue for maintenance and renovations, but it's still at least capable of standing on its own.

You start by searching the interior. Oddly enough, walking through the house gives you unsettling vibes, as if the place is haunted. The atmosphere is unusually cold and you're easily beginning to see why the squatters chose the vacant Rolodon Apartment building across the street instead of this place. It's also no surprise why Vordin the Simisear must have left.

The Vordin Mansion is just downright creepy...

The mansion seem to have an unusual, black, tar-like substance trickling down the walls, in goopy piles on the floor, and dripping from the ceiling. And you're not sure what exactly it is or where it's coming from. It also smells unusually terrible, like a mix of decay and rotting eggs.

The cherry wood stain finish on the banisters, moldings, and hardwood floors has become a sickly mix of black and maroon, almost looking like the color of dried blood and scabs. Not a whole lot of furniture remains, but something has caused the wood to become warped and disfigured. Meanwhile, some of the metallic objects have become overrun with a red-pigmented rust.

You start searching from the attic, which has become a sickly graveyard of Vordin's abandoned furniture and crumbling family heirlooms. More of the black gel-like slime is here, and you're suspecting it has to be something about the roof that's the source of this disgusting goo. As you check the roof from the outside one of the broken, warped attic windows, it looks like the black roof tiles have been melting from the rain and any areas that had holes and water damage, which must have been quite a few in number, have become channels for this heavy, black goo to start dripping everywhere. You figure the filthy rainwater, rotting wood, and whatever these tiles were made of is probably what created this foul-smelling black goo.

You finish your search of the rest of the house. It appears Vordin probably left at a good time and most of the furniture in the house was cleared out. Whatever was forsaken and left behind has begun to crumble apart and has plenty of this black goo just plopping right on top of it, drip by drip.

After leaving the mansion, you search the exterior for anything interesting. You discover that the entrance to the basement is on the outside via a pair of metal, double rectangular doors. You open both of them and head downstairs via a cold, stone staircase.

You soon arrive before what begins to feel like the entrance to a dark, underground chapel, only there's a lot about it that feels and seems disturbingly twisted. However, before the hallway lets you proceed any further, you come across a dark, metal vault door that looks like it has the frozen, metallic depiction of Arceus, only the body is wretched and twisted, and it's missing its entire face. There also seems to be an inscription here.

"The SUNKEN God demands a face."

Locked Door: {Chapel of the SUNKEN God, Missing Face Left Half, Missing Face Right Half} has been noted in the Team Records.

You head out back into the welcoming daylight.

[VeloJello]

I'll probably change this before it comes up, but search (37) Renner Farm