The Stalkers RPG - Main Action and Team Status Thread [SEASON 3] *SWEET VICTORY!*

[Arrow-Jolteon]

Hmm... I guess I could try interviewing someone? Maybe #3 Vessi the Golduck [D]? idk

[Scytherwolf]

Rest again

[The Nonexistent Tazz]

I'll search #31 Redbarrel Foods Exterior.

[ARandomTool]

Rusty woke up and walked out of his room. He glanced back and considered another day of rest, but all his lazy nothing-doing was driving him stir-crazy, even with his spiritual company.
He considered the information he had absorbed through the "metaknowledge" tactic he had learned on another timeline, where you know stuff you logically shouldn't know because something bigger is whispering it into your ear, then glanced at the Lit Candle of the Departed.
"Sod it," he grumbled, taking the bright icicle, with that odd Mimyuku Statue in mind. He considered leaving Bless (that was her name now, he decided) behind, but decided against it. Never know, she might feel something he can't.

[Neo Emolga]

This time Julia is off to search (15) Rancha the Breloom's house!

You head to Rancha's house tonight. You start by searching the house from the outside, making your way around the exterior to see if you can find anything. From what you can see, the property is fairly large and seems to be maintained well for the most part, though considering the arid weather, it still seems dusty. It could be a whole lot worse, however.

You notice that Rancha seems to do a lot of gardening and has been trying to grow anything that can flourish in this kind of arid environment. However, it seems to be particularly challenging as not only is the arid climate harsh for plants, but the industrial air doesn't make things any better. Some of the plants seems to be doing okay, but there's plenty of others that definitely look like they're losing the fight.

You don't really find too much else on the outside, though in one of the bushes outside, you find a small bit of red fur that looks like it was tugged off by a snagging branch. The odd thing is you find this same fur in not just one spot, but several. It strikes you as odd, and it makes you think someone has been watching and snooping in on Rancha or possibly her husband Kexin. You decide to collect some of this red fur and keep it so Tashy can screen it.

Pokémon Sample [Red Fur] has been added to the Team Inventory.

You then head inside and take a look around the house itself. The wooden furniture is pretty nice, the floors are covered with a fine carpet, and everything seems pretty clean. You notice Rancha and her husband seem to cook a lot of their own food. In the trash bin, you notice Rancha has thrown out a blue porcelain bowl, though the only thing wrong with it is just a tiny chip along the edge. You get the feeling that to Rancha, this just can't be tolerated and thus, into the garbage it goes with the first sign of imperfection. You decide it might be needed for the Sin Purge Ritual and it doesn't hurt to grab extras, so you take it with you.

Item [Blue Bowl] has been added to the Team Inventory.

You search throughout the rest of the house, but only discover a few other things. On the side, Kexin seems to enjoy poetry, as he has quite a few books of it and likes to write it himself. It strikes you as odd considering his personality, though you can tell he doesn't like making this passion too obvious. You also notice that as a doctor, he takes a lot of his work home with him, but you get the idea he isn't really nice to deal with and doesn't have bedside manners. Quite the contrary, he seems to tease a lot of his patients.

You don't really find too much else around the house, so you decide to head back and return to base with your findings.

Julia the Weavile (M: Dark/Ice)

Health: 5/5
Sanity: 3/4
Perk: Repair | Learned Abilities: Exorcism
Failed Assassinations: 0/2

[Neo Emolga]

Full steam ahead! Or is it speed? I'm starting to think its speed... Whatever. I going to take this lovely Shroud of Mystery and bring it to that statue.

Filled with vigor and morale, even though the streets are dark night and there is still a creepy, shadowy feeling lingering in the air, none of that at all bothers you. You feel ready to take on the Grim Reaper at this rate!

You head to the Odd-looking statue with the Shroud of Misery in your paws and find the statue in question, still covered with the black blanket that Sarah used to safeguard anyone looking directly at it. You then place the Shroud of Misery over the black blanket, and then carefully remove the black blanket from underneath.

Item [Shroud of Misery] has been removed from the Team Inventory.

From what you notice, it seems the statue is supposed to resemble a Mimikyu, and the Shroud of Misery now completes it where before, the statue with the Mimikyu's exposed true form was the source of the disturbing gaze that was causing so much unrest. However, the Mimikyu itself is still made of stone. You look at it from the front, and suddenly it hits you. This Mimikyu was somehow petrified into this stone state. As a result, this effect not only killed the Mimikyu, but now its spirit is locked inside. However, with the shroud now returned, it is somewhat more complete. It seems part of the Mimikyu's spirit was in that cloak, and that's the only part of it that wasn't turned to stone like the rest of it was. It suddenly feels like it has slightly awoken, but it still very much trapped in this prison.

You're only able to make out slight, whispering words...

... ... thank... ... you... but... ... can... dle... need... ... candle... ... de... part... ed...

You nod, and even though the Mimikyu spirit is having a lot of difficulty communicating with you, you understand enough of its request. It needs the Candle of the Departed, and it seems like this may be the only thing that will release the spirit out of this stone prison it was put into. How this even happened is beyond you, but you have a feeling you'll be able to find out more if you bring exactly what the Mimikyu needs.

Objective {Mimikyu Statue: Lit Candle of the Departed} has been noted in the Team Records.

You decide to head back and let the others know about this.

Marta the Buizel (M: Water)

Health: 5/5
Sanity: 7/4
Perk: Lockpick | Learned Abilities: Investigate
Failed Assassinations: 0/2

[Neo Emolga]

I'm making milkshakes for whoever wants one! Chocolate, vanilla, or strawberry! Your choice! The bodyguard chooses the music, though! That's the deal!

I'm also going to put some good ol' H2O in this Ceramic Bowl and make it holy. And we'll see if this [Purple Scale] turns up with anything nefarious.

Tashy, after making a slew of absolutely incredible milkshakes, fills the blessed ceramic bowl with water from the faucet and begins to perform the Seinaru ritual needed to purify and make the water holy. After spending some time with it, all the impurities in the water are purged and it begins to glow with a holy light.

[Blessed Ceramic Bowl: <Empty>] has become [Blessed Ceramic Bowl: <Holy Water>]

She then takes the purple scale and goes through the screening process on it. She isn't too sure about what species of Pokémon it belongs to, but she analyzes it and uses her Seinaru to delve into it from all angles to see if there is any Stalker presence within it. However, after some time of running all kinds of Utopia screening tests on it, she confirms this is not related to the Stalkers after all.

Pokémon Sample [Purple Scale] does NOT belong to a Stalker. It has been removed from the Team Inventory.

[Neo Emolga]

I'll take vanilla. :D

Tashy is thrilled to see you when you arrive and is more than happy to make a fresh vanilla shake for you as soon as you come through the door. You take one sip and your taste buds are more than mesmerized from the absolutely beyond delicious flavor. Your mouth is partying like it's New Year's Eve, 1999 all over again!

As Tashy performs her Sin Purge Ritual preparations, you keep careful watch over her and make sure any sorry idiot that tries to attack her will get another Razor Leaf to the face again. And we all know what happened to the last Stalker that attempted that!

#45 Tashy the Furret will be defended against all Stalker attacks for this Night Cycle.

As before, she loves to jam to your favorite music playlist.

Eric the Bulbasaur (S: Grass/Poison)

Health: 4/4
Sanity: 4/4
Perk: Repair | Learned Abilities: Escort/Protect
Failed Assassinations: 0/2

[Neo Emolga]

I am continuing my investigation.

Noted! I gotcha covered. :)

[Neo Emolga]

Hmm... I guess I could try interviewing someone? Maybe #3 Vessi the Golduck [D]? idk

Interview Rapport: POSITIVE, INTIMIDATING
+1 Shared Evolution Stage
+Intimidation (Electric vs Water)

You track down Vessi the Golduck to the Simple Pleasures Diner, where she's the owner and general manager. She likes to meet and greet the customers while they eat and asks them if they need anything, sometimes even taking a moment to perform the role of a waitress just to make the customers happy.

You meet with her and she smiles, though she is a tiny bit taken back, looking at you like you're one tough cookie.

"Hey there, hot stuff, what can I help you with?" Vessi asks you.

You introduce yourself and ask her if she knows anything about the Stalkers or if she's seen anything suspicious lately. She nods as her expression seems to go a tiny bit grim. It seems like she's been keeping something bottled up for a while and no one has really talked about it with her until now. She requests you to join her in her office in the back of the building, where all the hustle and bustle of the diner is muffled, making it easier to converse with her.

"I'm seen a few things around town that bother me," Vessi tells you, looking a bit concerned. "I'm sure you've heard about Yandil, but I wanted to give you my take on him. I have quite a few regulars come to my diner and there's been talk about how Whitemill Manufacturing no longer has an overseer or director. We think the rumor is Yandil may be trying to work within Whitemill to make others think there's nothing wrong and so corporate doesn't try to intervene. Problem is the only other contact we have that works on the inside is Jeddi and... she's just not reliable and doesn't understand the severity of the situation. Everyone else is missing, dead, or we haven't been able to get a hold of them."

"Meanwhile, Yandil... he's always been a little weird, but he's gotten so, so strange lately," Vessi explains. "Cray, who lives in the Sandwoods Apartment building, tells me that Yandil never sleeps. He has even talked to Britera about it and somehow Yandil is able to just... survive without sleeping for days on end. I think the others are right. I really think he's a Stalker. Any normal Pokémon would just pass out or die if they just didn't sleep. We've been trying to spy on him but so many times, he slips out of sight and he's gone without a trace. It's so strange. I swear it's like he can teleport. Well, he is a Smeargle, after all. They can pick up on those kinds of things."

"Besides that, sometimes I head over to Redbarrel Foods, as they supply some of the food we use for the diner," Vessi explains. "The other day, I was on site to talk to the supplier about how much inventory I needed to schedule for the upcoming three months. Standard routine, that didn't raise any alarms. But when I was on the second floor, I passed by a large metallic door that I thought was probably a meat locker. And then, I could have sworn I thought I heard someone crying for help inside of it! I tried to open the door but it was locked. One of the staff saw me and told me it was a restricted area, but I tried to explain that I heard something on the other side. He listened in but the voice just stopped. He said it was just probably nothing and was likely thinking I was crazy! But I swear, there's something weird going on in that cold storage area! Someone could be freezing to death in there!"

"I agree with you, there's something very wrong going on in town and I know these Stalkers are behind it," Vessi tells you, hoping you'll be able to help. "So many Pokémon are in denial or just admit they can't do anything, but we can't treat the situation like that. I know, I wish things could just return to normal, too, but we're not going to get to that if we keep telling ourselves there's nothing wrong when there's certainly a lot going wrong out there!"

"Please, you need to check that meat locker at Redbarrel," Vessi pleads with you. "It's on the second floor, right by the north-side stairwell. I shudder to think there really might be someone in there and they could be dead by now..."

Arrow the Jolteon (M: Electric)

Health: 5/5
Sanity: 4/4
Perk: Security | Learned Abilities: Rescue/Escape
Failed Assassinations: 0/2