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

[EmeraldSky]

Lita drops the key in her bag to show her teammates later and decides to continue by searching #2: The Police Station

[Neo Emolga]

Interview #34. Joff the Infernape.

Interview Rapport: NEUTRAL
+1 Shared Pokémon Type
-1 Not very effective against (Bug to Fire)
-1 Not very effective against (Bug to Fighting)
+1 Shared Pokémon evolution stage

From what you can tell about Joff, he's definitely the hard-working type that takes pride in his work and strives to build a better living for himself. It also seemed that he was working hard to provide for his wife Pari and his son Rem... before they were killed by the Stalkers. Lately, it seems like he hasn't talked to anyone for a while, and from your perspective, he continues to work hard, not only to keep his life going...

...but to keep his mind off of the tragedy that has befallen his family.

You approach him at his workplace and introduce yourself. At first, he is reluctant to speak, but after looking to you after pausing his metal-working, he nods.

"Well, hello, Jeff," he replies to you. "I haven't been much for conversation recently. Almost everyone knows why, some people don't care, but I haven't seen you around so you might not be aware of all the things that have been going around in this forsaken town."

He looks around, still trying to gather his thoughts.

"They found Pari and Rem..." he began, struggling to say the words, "...crushed to... pieces. In fact, the only thing they had to identify them with was the... necklace I gave to Pari and... Rem's... scarf. The one Pari... made for him."

It takes him a long time before he's able to speak again. He seems a little lost in thought, but after he gathers his thoughts, he looks to you for a few seconds, mutters words to himself, shakes his head, but eventually makes up his mind. He asks you to wait just a moment before going into one of his hidden drawers and giving you what appears to be a ornate container filled with about six cups of water.

"Adis... Adis gave this to me for safekeeping," Joff tells you, handing you the container of water. "It's holy water. I'm... I'm not sure what he wanted me to keep this for. He told me he was going to come back for it later... but now he's gone too. I have no clue what to do with it now, but I think you can probably make better use of it than I can. Please, just make sure whatever you do with it, it doesn't go to waste..."

Item: [Holy Water Container] has been added to the Team Inventory.

"I don't know who these Stalkers are," Joff tells you. "But please, stop them, do whatever you have to and put an end to these bastards. For Adis. For everyone. But especially... for Pari and Rem..."

After speaking with you, it looks like he won't be able to pick up work again until later.

"Thanks for listening to me," Joff tells you, stepping awake. "I just need some time alone now..."

[Neo Emolga]

Search #31: Dassy's Workshop

As you approach Dassy's Workshop, you can sense that Dassy the Goodra must be a very friendly Pokémon considering the way she has tried to decorate her store and house with flowers, banners, and other decorative objects to invite Pokémon to come in, but the condition of her house indicates it has fallen on hard times and business isn't nearly as good as she was hoping it would be.

While renovations could use work, Dassy has been at least trying to keep the grounds and her personal flower garden in good shape. Outside, it almost seems nothing is out of the ordinary, but you come across a small pouch that has been hidden underneath the steps to her front door. It almost seems like it was put there beyond Dassy's knowledge. You open the pouch and it appears to be another white bowl that is striking similar to the one Carly found at the library.

Item: [Ivory Bowl] has been added to the Team Inventory

Checking the inside of Dassy's house reinforces more of the conclusion that it seems Dassy is a nice Pokémon, but just struggles financially. Most of the shelves of her store are well-stocked with items that Dassy just can't seem to sell. You even take note that the prices of her goods have been crossed out several times to be replaced with lower values.

[Neo Emolga]

Oo, what's this? Looks important...
It looks like a... sudoku puzzle, or something?
Anyways... Next! Investigate number 50, Cyancreek Lake!

As you approach Cyancreek Lake, you feel a creepy stillness come over you as you recognize the sensation that this used to be a place of relaxation and peacefulness now overcome with the feeling of death and eeriness. You circle around the perimeter of the lake and notice there are a few disturbances in the muddy ground, but there's nothing distinctive enough about them to draw a conclusion. In one area, you can almost see someone had written something in the mud, but recent rainfall wiped out most of the message, making it completely illegible. All you know is that those letter-shaped markings couldn't have been an accident...

Halfway through your check, you see something glint as it's been hidden in the grass besides the waters. You can tell it was hidden here intentionally, but whoever hid it must have been too distracted to do a very good job at covering the metallic object they tried to conceal. You uncover it, and discover it is a lockbox with a heart-shaped hole with a divide running halfway through it, implying two pieces of some heart-shaped object need to be placed here. Unfortunately, the lockbox doesn't budge when you try to lift it. You can only leave it here for now...

Locked container {Buried Lockbox, Missing Heart Left Half, Missing Heart Right Half} has been noted in the Team Reports.

[The Nonexistent Tazz]

I use the Cross Arch key on the Locked Book in #30 Serenity Town Church

[Neo Emolga]

Lita drops the key in her bag to show her teammates later and decides to continue by searching #2: The Police Station

As you approach the Serenity Town Police Station, you see that nothing seems too suspicious about the exterior of the gray, stone building. You check around the sides and back, but nothing seems to be out of place.

Searching the inside, you Sheriff Adom and Deputy Zick don't seem to be at their desks at the moment, likely out in the field trying to make sense of the current situation. Sheriff Adom's desk is stuffed with papers regarding several of the findings regarding the victims. You find one page in particular that seems to stand out the most:

"Dear Mayor Pashner,

The recent mix of killings from the Stalkers seems to reveal they have murder signatures. We found several victims decapitated, other victims drowned, a few burned to death, others crushed to a pulp, a few with their throats slit and their hearts removed, and a few where their eyes impaled and smiles carved into their mouths.

There has to be a pattern here, but I'm not sure. Most of these are Deputy Zick's findings and I've been trying to make sense of it, but there's a lot going on in that Jolteon's head that I'm just not sure about. He thinks quickly and is trying to make the best conclusion, but he doesn't want to give me information he feels might be "jumping the gun" too much. As a result, I have to say things still seem inconclusive. He's been working a lot of overtime and until he gives me a finalized report, I have been focusing more on security and trying to prevent yet another murder.

~Adom

As your investigation continues, you carry on to what seems to be Deputy Zick's desk, which has been cluttered with paper, notes, and scribbles. His investigation notes are hard to make out simply because he has a lot of things crossed off, arrows drawn from one word to the next, and things seemingly out of order or in orders you don't catch onto. But one piece of paper seems to stand out from the rest and looks like it's a report that he's been working on for a while as a "final draft" of sorts.

"Adom,

Okay, I think I'm finally onto something.

I've sorted out the ways these Stalkers have been killing Pokémon around Serenity Town. We have quite a few bodies, more than I'd like to count, but they seem to all have six different signatures.

- Decapitation
- Eyes impaled and carved smiles
- Cremations
- Slit throats and hearts removed
- Bodies crushed
- Drownings

I've been over this several times, but all of the bodies have fallen into one of these signatures. They're pretty clear. Because of that and other things I've found, I'm drawing one conclusion out of this.

There are SIX Stalkers out in Serenity Town.

I know, it sounds like a lot and it's a little freaky when I think about it. I did a little work and after reviewing some of the bodies, I found certain names coming up. I think they're Stalker call-signs or something like that.

"Shadefetch" - I found a few of their ramblings going on about erasing identity. Their note about "no more smiles, scowls, laughter, or voices" on Farsal the Panpour's decapitated body seem to connect whoever this is with the decapitations.

"Undone" - I found a note with "happy to not see the ugliness - by Undone" on the body of Ketter. He had his eyes impaled and yes, it's something I haven't been able to unsee when I'm trying to sleep.

"NTH" - Whoever this is, they're obsessed with numbers. NTH seems to be a scorekeeper, as I think he's been tracking the kills of the other Stalkers, which is probably why they've resorted to using call-signs. I have no idea what their goal is, but I'm thinking maybe I don't want to know. Well, actually, I do, but I doubt it's pretty. Also, there seems to be a link to NTH with the cremations. NTH will use the ashes of the victims and make numbers with them.

"Koax" - Koax has to be a poet or something. It's creepy, but Koax will kill someone by slitting their throat, will rip their heart out, write a poem either on the body or besides it, and then sign it with "Koax." I also find ripped papers and poems of theirs everywhere. Some of them I've been able to complete for the most part, but others were missing too many pieces. It's annoying what a little rain and wind can do to compromise a crime scene.

"Epitaph" - I don't know who "Epitaph" is, but they're disgusting. They're the ones responsible for mashing up the bodies. They ramble on a lot about Pokémon eating Pokémon and then just saying "we're all just meat, Epitaph." I'll definitely be able to sleep better once this "Epitaph" is out of existence.

"Non" - I've only found Non's name once. Whoever this is, Non is responsible for the drowned Pokémon. I don't know how Non does it, though. By the time the bodies are found, whatever was used to drown them was washed away. I've also tried to keep a lookout sentry monitoring the lake, but they never catch Non in the act.

That's all I have for now. I'll be trying to keep in touch with you as I find more stuff, but a lot of this is pretty perplexing.

~Zick

[Pokemon Trainer Sarah]

Interview 23. Vam the Oddish

[Neo Emolga]

I use the Cross Arch key on the Locked Book in #30 Serenity Town Church

Upon arriving at the Serenity Town Church, you use the [Ꙉ Cross Arch Key] on the {Locked Book}. The key fits in perfectly, and the book opens.

Most of the pages in this ancient, secret tome seem to be holy rituals of sorts. There are some for exorcisms, blessings, and holy purging rituals, but one in particular, a loose page that comes out of the book, seems to bear a lot more significance:



It appears Adis was definitely keeping this ready to use at any moment, but never got the chance to use it...

Item: =Divine Judgment Ritual Statement= has been noted in the Team Reports.

[EmeraldSky]

Lita copies down the relevant portions of the police notes for the group to discuss later.

Search #3: Verlisa's Treasures Store

[Chakramaster]

Huh? Well other than this Ivory Bowl, nothing looks too out of the ordinary. I can only wonder what this is for or where it even came from

I guess for now while I'm here I should question Dassy.

I interview #48. Dassy the Goodra. I also question Dassy about the Ivory Bowl found under her steps. Trying to get any information I could given the situation.